Homemade GardenBurgers Recipe

My homemade GardenBurger recipe is extremely close to the original GardenBurger, which I was powerless over as a vegetarian teenager. I don’t even know if that original burger is still made. I couldn’t find them recently when I was really craving one. So I made my own.

gardenburger recipe

My dad used to make a really good sandwich with them, adding mayonnaise and fresh basil leaves along with the standard lettuce/onion/tomato. So good! And at Crown and Anchor pub in Austin, I have spent many nights (and days) drinking beer and eating their veggie burger which is a GardenBurger, deep fried so it’s super crunchy outside and also kind of tastes like French fries, which is a plus.

The basis of the GardenBurger is (was?) rice, mushrooms, and cheese. My version uses all those things, too! I have tried to make all my veggie burgers (my first and most popular veggie burger recipe; my black bean quinoa burger) without egg so that they are more easily suited for vegans. But a homemade GardenBurger recipe needs the cheese to help hold them together. If you are vegan, use a shredded “cheez” instead.

(Testing notes: Originally I tried to make these with cooked brown lentils instead of rice to get more protein, but I couldn’t get them to hold together very well. Someday I will try using half rice and half lentils and maybe get the best of both worlds? If you’re an experimenter and decide to try it, please let me know how it goes!)

homemade gardenburger recipe

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Homemade GardenBurgers Recipe

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4.9 from 10 reviews

  • Author: Hilah
  • Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale

2 cups cooked short grain brown rice (1 cup raw cooked with 2 cups water for 45 minutes)

8 ounces button mushrooms

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 tablespoon butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup instant or rolled oats

4 ounces cheese, grated (about 1 cup)

Instructions

Cook the rice if you don’t have any already made.

Meanwhile, clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth and finely chop the mushrooms and onion. You should get about 3 cups of minced mushrooms.

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and onion and cover. Cook about 1 minutes or until the mushrooms have started to release their liquid. Add the garlic and salt and cook, stirring, another 2-3 minutes until the mushrooms have reduced to about half their original volume.

Transfer mixture to a large bowl and add oatmeal and rice.

Stir in the cheese. It may melt a little, that’s okay.

Let mixture cool to room temperature then shape into burgers. Chill on waxed paper to firm up.

Griddle them with some butter or oil (more makes them better!) until crisp outside and warm throughout. Make a sandwich of some sort!

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1
  • Calories: 300
  • Fat: 13
  • Carbohydrates: 29
  • Protein: 17

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20 Comments

  1. Rebecca on November 11, 2019 at 6:10 am

    This gardenburger recipe is the best I have made, hands down. I use baby portabella mushrooms in place of regular button mushrooms, as they add more flavor to the burgers. Vegan “cheez” and regular cheese are equally good in these burgers. Since my husband can’t eat onion, I increase the garlic to 3 cloves. I often make these in a double batch and freeze them. Then I just defrost what I need and fry in a little butter and olive oil. YUM!!






    • Hilah on November 12, 2019 at 5:18 pm

      So glad you like this recipe, Rebecca! I need to make these again, too.

  2. Jackie on July 4, 2020 at 12:15 pm

    I made these today and they were great! I added some undercooked quinoa to the mix and then let the mix sit in the fridge all afternoon. They cooked really nicely in the pan, and the texture was perfect. I’m glad I have leftover mix so we can have them again tomorrow! Thanks!






  3. Joanne Nicolazzo on September 16, 2020 at 9:59 am

    These are so good! I miss gardenburgers (Cannot find them anywhere anymore) and don’t really care for other brands. These taste just like them. I’m on my second batch.
    I’m having trouble getting them to stick together though. They end up sort of like gardenburger sloppy-joe’s if you know what I mean. I don’t mind because they’re delicious, but they’re kind of hard to cook; they totally fall apart.
    Batch 2 I added an egg which helped marginally. I wonder if I’m using the wrong brand of rice or something that’s too fluffy? I’m following the recipe exactly except I don’t add garlic because I’m not crazy about it but that should not affect the texture. Anybody got any ideas? Either way I’m gonna keep making these 🙂

    • Hilah on September 16, 2020 at 11:56 am

      Oh good! I think they taste just like the real garden burgers, too. I haven’t had a problem with these totally falling apart like you’re describing, but they are a little delicate. When I mix everything together, I usually do it while the rice and mushrooms are still warm so the cheese kind of melts into glue, then cool the dough before shaping it and cook them while they’re cold from the fridge. You could try putting part of the dough through a food processor first to make more “glue” or maybe grind the oats into a coarse flour?

    • Barb on March 16, 2023 at 5:58 pm

      This happened to me as well. Not sure what to do. I thought about adding egg whites.

    • Jake D on October 10, 2023 at 2:29 pm

      Haven’t made yet (planning for tomorrow) but I would think sticky rice should suffice? Did you find a solution?

  4. Joss F. on July 9, 2022 at 9:46 am

    I christened my new barbecue with these last year . I’m a dedicated carnivore and LOVE these burgers! Some of mine fell apart, most did not. who cares? they taste delicious and everyone loved them, They freeze perfectly! I did try using more finely shredded cheese and that did help a bit on my second and third batches!






    • Hilah on July 26, 2022 at 7:57 pm

      I’m so happy to hear that! These are very popular with my friends, too.

  5. Joss F on July 10, 2022 at 9:33 pm

    I made them again for friends and they were a big hit, I grilled them on copper sheets on the barbecue and they held together really well. using a combination of gruyere ( which goes great with the mushrooms ) and sharp cheddar for the sweetness was perfect. Thank you Hilah






  6. BS on July 30, 2022 at 5:42 pm

    These are excellent! They are so close to the original I can’t tell the difference. Going to share this recipe with everybody I know.






    • Hilah on August 5, 2022 at 8:00 pm

      Awesome! Now I want to make them again, too!

  7. Miva on January 1, 2023 at 5:35 pm

    Garden burgers are still made, they are only sold at restaurant supply stores, so you have to buy 50 at a time. They are also the veggie burger at Red Robin. Can’t wait to make this recipe tomorrow!

  8. Annie on January 19, 2023 at 8:07 pm

    When I went to college their cafe would serve these and I had one maybe 3-4 times a week, they were my *favorite*. i’ve been craving them for years and couldn’t find any but I made this recipe and it made my year, they taste basically identical. I was so nostalgic and happy, thank you so much!!






    • Hilah on January 20, 2023 at 8:22 am

      YES!! This garden burger reminds me of college years, too!

  9. Heather on May 5, 2023 at 11:23 am

    I’m so excited to try this recipe (especially after all of the comments) I don’t know what to do with myself! I’ve been eating Morningstar Farms Veggie Burgers for about a year thinking something wasn’t right. Then it dawned on me, the brand name was Gardenburger!! I am trying today! I’ll definitely leave a review. My BFF and I used to eat these constantly. AND they had them at TGIFs back in the day. Can’t wait!

  10. Marilyn on January 18, 2024 at 1:50 am

    I am giving you 5 stars for figuring this recipe out. I just found it, so I haven’t made them yet., but boy do I miss those. I even contacted corporate…..but to no avail.






  11. Bobby on January 20, 2024 at 6:27 pm

    I had my first Gardenburger in September of 1991 at a little drive-in called Byron’s in Honolulu. This was back when Gardenburger was more niche, having originated at Paul Wenner’s restaurant in Oregon. Definately before Gardenburger showed up in the freezer sections everywhere.

    Byron’s deep fried them and stacked them with mayo, lots of onions, lots of pickles, and a bit of lettuce. I’m omnivore and love my burgers, but…..this was different.

    So why do I remember this? It was THAT good!! And I’ve been chasing that original experience ever since. Something changed between the time they were distributed by Chef Wenner, probably shipping to drive-in’s and mom and pop operations from his small restaurant kitchen, to when they ended up in grocery stores. I still bought them, and ate them, but they weren’t the same, and there was nothing I could do to make them the same. And then, they just disappeared. I haven’t seen them since the “before lockdown times”….probably 2019.

    I appreciate this recipe so much. It’s the first one I’ve seen that rings true, and I’ve been looking for the original since, well, the internet was a baby. I’m gonna make a batch and look forward to tasting the result! I’m hoping I can get close to that first Gardenburger I remember.






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