These zesty quinoa burgers are full of flavor and super easy to make! Pile on your favorite burger toppings for a delicious vegan dinner that everyone will love.
One of my talents is making a veggie burger out of just about whatever I have in the kitchen at any given time. Beans, sweet potatoes, even tempeh...I can turn them all in to burgers!
But I have a few secret ingredients that I like to include when I can, to make my burgers extra delicious. Quinoa is one of them!
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Why Use Quinoa in a Burger?
Quinoa improves homemade veggie burgers in a few key ways.
- Texture. Bean burgers are great, but they can get a bit mushy and sometimes lack texture. Quinoa breaks up all that mashed bean, for a burger that you'll really enjoy biting into.
- Flavor. Quinoa itself has a mild, nutty flavor that I really enjoy in my burgers. For even more flavor, I like to cook my quinoa in vegetable broth instead of water!
- Nutrition. Quinoa packs a heavier nutritional punch than other ingredients you might use as fillers in your veggie burgers (like panko breadcrumbs).
Ingredients You'll Need
- Rolled oats.
- Quinoa. I used red quinoa, because the color really works well for burgers, but white or black quinoa (or a mix) will work just fine!
- Kidney beans. We're using precooked or canned kidney beans. Feel free to substitute another type of bean if that's what you've got! Black beans, lentils, chickpeas, and cannellini beans would all work fine.
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- Tomato paste.
- Spices. We're using mild chili powder and ground cumin.
- Red wine vinegar. Feel free to substitute another type of vinegar, such as apple cider or white vinegar.
- Hot sauce. Use as much or as little of this as you'd like, or leave it out for heat-free burgers. I'm a fan of Cholula with this recipe, but feel free to use your favorite hot sauce.
- Salt & pepper.
- Canola oil. You can substitute just about any high-heat oil, such as corn, olive, or coconut oil. You could even make these burgers oil free if you cook them using a really good nonstick pan.
- Burger buns. Check the ingredients list to make sure your buns are vegan. I used Dave's Killer Bread buns for my burgers.
- Toppings. Get creative here and use your favorites! Try lettuce, tomato, avocado, vegan mayo and vegan cheese!
Tip: Want to keep these quinoa burgers gluten-free? Just use certified gluten-free oats and gluten-free burger buns!
How They're Made
- Start by cooking your quinoa. You can find details on how to do that here. Once the quinoa is cooked, set it aside while you gather the rest of your ingredients.
Tip: For the most flavor, I recommend cooking your quinoa in broth for this recipe, but this isn't strictly necessary.
- Place the oats into a food processor bowl.
- Blend the oats to a powder.
- Add your quinoa, some red beans, onion, garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, red wine vinegar, and salt. You can optionally add some hot sauce too!
- Pulse the food processor just until everything is finely chopped and mixed. Don't overdo it! You want to keep some texture in the mixture.
- Oil up a skillet and place it over medium heat.
- Shape your quinoa burger mixture into patties and place them in the skillet. Let them cook for about 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and crisp.
- Stuff the patties into buns. Pile the toppings onto your quinoa burgers and dig in!
Tip: This recipe makes 6 medium-sized burgers, but you could also make it into 4 giant patties!
Leftovers & Storage
Leftovers quinoa burger patties will keep in a sealed bag or container in the fridge for about 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
You can also store the burger mixture before cooking but after blending. Before shaping the burger mixture into patties, transfer it to a sealed container and refrigerate or freeze. Then, when you're ready, thaw the mixture, shape it into patties, and cook them according to the recipe.
More Vegan Quinoa Recipes
- Quinoa Chili
- Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
- Vegan Cabbage Rolls
- Lentil Quinoa Tacos
- Curried Quinoa Fried Rice
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Spicy Tex-Mex Quinoa Burgers
These zesty quinoa burgers are full of flavor and super easy to make! Pile on your favorite burger toppings for a delicious vegan dinner that everyone will love.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- 1 ½ cups cooked quinoa (preferably cooked in vegetable broth)
- 1 cup cooked or canned red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- Hot sauce, to taste (optional)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon canola oil (or high-heat oil of choice)
For Serving
- 6 burger buns
- Toppings of choice, such as lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, vegan mayo, and vegan cheese
Instructions
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Place the oats into the bowl of a food processor and blend to a powder.
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Add the quinoa, beans, onion, garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, vinegar, hot sauce, salt, and pepper.
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Pulse the food processor to finely chop and mix the ingredients, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as need. Don't overblend — keep some texture in the mixture.
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Lightly oil the bottom of a medium nonstick skillet and place it over medium heat.
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Give the oil a minute to heat up, then shape the burger mixture into patties, transferring each directly to the skillet. Only add as many patties as you can fit without crowding. Cook the rest in a second batch.
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Cook the patties for about 5 minutes on each side, until browned and lightly crisp.
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Remove the patties from the skillet and stuff them into buns. Top with toppings of choice and serve.
Hi can you freeze these once made?
Yup! I like to stack them up with small pieces of parchment paper in between, then put the whole stack into a sealed container. They should be good for about 3 months.
Hi Alissa , I tried the shiteki mushroom wontons at first and now for Xmas I made my in laws this quinoa burger , they loved it ! It’s so easy to make with easy pantry items. The seitan recipes from other websites are way too complicated and difficult to source the items. I love how you have metric conversions too to make halving proportions easier. Ah, a tip my in-law did second time with the wonton was to steam them before cooking as they all fell open the first time. Thankyou so much for the amazing recipes on your website. It’s my go now whenever I am stuck for ideas.
These look great! Would cannalini beans, or black beans work too? And could they be baked? Thanks for your advice (and all your wonderful recipes)
Oops, sorry! I jumped to the recipe, so didn't see that my questions were already answered!
No problem! Enjoy the burgers!
Excellent recipe. Very tasty burgers that hold together well. So glad I found your site. Thanks much!