These zesty quinoa burgers are full of flavor and super easy to make! Pile on your favorite burger toppings for a delicious 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!
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 breadcrumbs).
How to Make Tex-Mex Quinoa Burgers
Start by cooking your quinoa. You can find details on how to do that here.
For the most flavor, I recommend cooking your quinoa in broth for this recipe, but this isn’t strictly necessary. Once the quinoa is cooked, set it aside while you gather the rest of your ingredients.
Now place some oats into a food processor bowl and blend them 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.
Now it’s time for grilling! Oil up a skillet and place it over medium heat. Shape your 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 and pile on your favorite toppings.
Quinoa Veggie Burger FAQ & Tips
- Can these burgers be made gluten-free? Yup! Just use certified gluten-free oats and gluten-free burger buns.
- These burgers are great for using leftover quinoa that you’ve got from another recipe.
- Not into red beans? Substitute another variety! Black beans, pinto beans, or chickpeas would all work well.
- This recipe makes 6 medium-sized burgers. You could also make it into 4 giant patties!
- Can the patties be frozen? They sure can! You have two options:
- After cooking: Stack the patties with sheets of parchment paper separating them. Put the stack in a sealed container or freezer bag and freeze.
- Before cooking but after blending: Before shaping the burger mixture into patties, transfer it to a sealed container and freeze. I like to cook just as many burgers as I need at a given time and freeze the leftover burger mix. Then, when you’re ready, thaw the mixture, shape it into patties, and cook them!
Like this recipe? If so, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter. And please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you make it!
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 dinner that everyone will love.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup rolled oats
- 1 1/2 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, and vegan may
Instructions
Place the oats into the bowl of a food processor and blend to a powder.
Add the quinoa, beans, onion, garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, vinegar, hot sauce, salt, and pepper.
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.
Lightly oil the bottom of a medium nonstick skillet and place it over medium heat.
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.
Cook the patties for about 5 minutes on each side, until browned and lightly crisp.
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.