Veggie Burger Recipe

Veggie Burger Recipe

This veggie burger recipe will show you how to make your own Gardenburgers and save cash, homes. Plus the benefit of knowing what’s in your veggie burgers. Mostly the saving cash, though, because not only are beans and oatmeal super duper cheap, you can cram lots of leftovers in these with no deleterious effects!

In all seriousness: A recent study found that a LOT of popular veggie
burgers contain a high level of hexane – which is a neurotoxin. For a list of veggie burgers containing hexane as well as more information on the study, click here.

Use any nuts or seeds you have handy; any vegetables you have; any leftover cooked grain. RE: that last one — you can also just use more oatmeal like I did since I am a bad planner sometimes and had no leftover cooked grains because I used them all the day before when I was practicing. Good grief. Anyway, these still turned out great even though there was way more oatmeal in them than the recipe calls for.

The only thing to keep in mind are the ratios. If you add in too much extra non-sticky things like vegetables and nuts, you’ll throw off the bean glue: other stuff ratio and the burgers won’t stick together properly.

VIDEO RECIPE

Watch on YouTube: Veggie Burger Recipe!

VEGGIE BURGER RECIPE (PRINTABLE)

Print

Homemade Veggie Burgers

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 7 reviews

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked beans (any variety), drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (or other seeds or nuts, minced to about the same size as sunflower seeds)
  • 1/2 cup minced onion
  • 1/2 cup grated carrot or another vegetable
  • 1/2 cup cooked brown rice or other grain
  • 1/2 cup oatmeal
  • 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
  • 2 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar
  • 1/2 cup breadcrumbs or wheat germ for dredging
  • Optional seasonings: 1/4 teaspoon thyme, rosemary; 1 teaspoon chili powder; 1/2 teaspoon cumin; black pepper
  • 12 tablespoons vegetable oil, for cooking

Instructions

  1. Mash up the beans as best you can with a large spoon against the side of the bowl. Use a food processor if you got one.
  2. Mix everything else in there (except the dredging material) and mix it up good. It should be pretty sticky and stick-togethery. You can taste it now and see if you want to add salt or hot sauce or any other herbs or spices. The soy sauce should be enough for salt, though.
  3. Anyway, shape it into four large patties or maybe six smaller ones. Coat both sides of the patties in the crumbs or wheat germ. Let them sit around and coagulate for a while — as long as you can bear it.
  4. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
  5. Fry on both sides until very crisp and brown; this will take about 3-4 minutes on each side I bet. Serve as you would any burger.
  6. Alternately you can bake them at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. I recommend brushing with a teeny bit of oil if you do this though, just so you get some appealing color and texture on the outside.
  7. AND, you can freeze them after cooking and microwave them sonsabitches for lunch later.

Nutrition

  • Calories: 298
  • Fat: 15
  • Carbohydrates: 34
  • Fiber: 5
  • Protein: 8

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

72 Comments

  1. Shelley on February 22, 2011 at 4:33 pm

    Wow- these look so much more appetizing that those frozen hocky puck looking things you find in the store. I’m an avowed carnivore but I just may have to give these a try. I think you’ve convinced me!

    • Hilah Cooking on February 22, 2011 at 9:38 pm

      They are really good, Shelley! And yes, they look much more like burgers than the frozen ones so that’s nice. 🙂

  2. Traci on February 22, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    Hi! I can’t wait to make these. How many Tbs. of flour should be used?

    • Hilah Cooking on February 22, 2011 at 9:37 pm

      Hi Traci! It’s 2 tablespoons. I’ll fix the recipe now. Thanks!

      • Traci on February 22, 2011 at 9:43 pm

        Thanks! I’m making these tonight for sure. I already have everything except the seeds, so I think I’m going to try with hemp seeds… I’ve had hemp seed burgers and they’re fantastic. I’ll post an update tomorrow.

        • Hilah Cooking on February 22, 2011 at 11:07 pm

          Oh yeah, let me know how that goes! I’ve never cooked with hemp seeds before.

  3. Great Stone Face on February 22, 2011 at 9:07 pm

    How much whole wheat flour?

    • Hilah Cooking on February 22, 2011 at 9:37 pm

      Two tablespoons. Did I not put that on the recipe? Doh.

  4. Randy on February 22, 2011 at 11:03 pm

    Alright, the cast iron skillet is back! I love seeing you use yours because my two most prized posessions are the two cast iron skillets my grandmother gave me. And it’s not just nostalgia…you can’t make cornbread or a roux for gumbo in anything else.

    BTW, two more coincidences indicating we might be related. My grandmother’s name was Goldie and she was a fantastic cook. When she was in her nineties and all her grandkids started asking for her recipes, she became fond of using cooking terms such as a butt load of this and a big ass that. It was doubly funny because her doing so pissed off my mother.

    • Hilah Cooking on February 22, 2011 at 11:06 pm

      Aw, that’s sweet, Randy. Thanks for sharing that story!

  5. Randy on February 23, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    Holy Great Hilah Recipe Convergence! Another week, another Hilah recipe to try out. As I was looking in my pantry to make sure I had an onion, I spotted a sweet potato left from last week. What a no-brainer: here comes a burger and fries, Hilah Style. Looking in the freezer to make sure I had beans (which I usually always have on hand so I can make your vegan chili at almost anytime), I spot some corn, also left from last week. Since you encouraged substitutions, I went the Southwestern route and used black beans with corn and jalapenos for the vegetables, cilantro for the herbs and pecans for the nuts. Soy sauce had to stand in for the liquid aminos. Not having any wheat germ, but still having a little instant masa left over from making yourtamale recipe, I coated the patties with that. With all those substitutions I worried about being one of those idiots posting complaints on cooking blogs about how they’d made a given recipe and made substitutions for 5 out of 6 ingredients (“I didn’t have any avacados so I used oranges”, “my family doesn’t like veal so I used squid”) and then whine pathetically that “it was awful”. I’m happy to say that a burger and fries, Hilah Style was pretty damned fantastic. Next time I go to the grocery store, I’ll pick up some wheat germ and liquid aminos.

    • Hilah Cooking on February 23, 2011 at 6:56 pm

      Whoot! Healthiest burger and fries on the planet! I bet your corny burgers were fantastic – with pecans and cilantro, too?! Heaven on a bun, sir.
      Wait.
      You DID put it on a bun, right? 😉

      • Randy on February 23, 2011 at 9:41 pm

        Oh, yeah. Homemade kaiser rolls! Light on the condiments: chipotle mayo and romaine. Also, I didn’t have any cooked rice, so I did like you did in the video and doubled the oatmeal. Didn’t have any Louisiana hot sauce and pondered over whether to use Valentina Mexican hot sauce or sriracha. Sriracha worked really well. I still can’t get over how much better your recipe tastes and looks than store-bought veggie burgers (the FDA must not require listing cardboard as an ingredient).

        • Hilah Cooking on February 24, 2011 at 2:17 am

          You MADE your own ROLLS?! Touche.
          PS Sriracha goes in everything. No question!

          • Randy on February 24, 2011 at 3:38 am

            I got tired of buying too soft, insipid buns at the supermarket that fall apart when topped with a juicy ground beef patty. They aren’t difficult to make. I use the King Arthur Flour recipe:
            http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/kaiser-rolls-recipe
            I make a double batch and freeze them individually.



    • Paula on March 19, 2024 at 8:15 pm

      Your substitution examples made me LOL!! Yes, I have seen those types of responses on recipes and… you just have to wonder.

  6. Josh on February 23, 2011 at 8:49 pm

    Wow, those look like “beefy” veggie bean burgers! Pretty excited to try..what about some jalapeno or cayenne pepper to give it some heat?? Would that work?

    • Hilah Cooking on February 24, 2011 at 2:16 am

      Hellz yeah it would, Josh! Chop you up some jalapenos in there, man! Enjoy!

  7. Jane on February 24, 2011 at 1:57 am

    I just made these for dinner and they were AWESOME. Even my pioneer, meat-loving husband loved them (he ate two, in fact)!

    • Hilah Cooking on February 24, 2011 at 2:19 am

      YES! My secret plan to slowly turn the Almirall Sisters’ boyfriends into vegans is close to completion.

  8. Great Stone Face on February 24, 2011 at 10:45 pm

    This was dinner tonight, on a potato bun with a dab of Rudy’s Sause and watermelon rind pickles on the side. Very tasty! The burger had the crunch of a pan-fried hamburger, which was great.
    I couldn’t get any sunflower seeds, so I used pine nuts. For seasoning, I used ras el-hanout. Leftover burgers are in our freezer for another day.
    Here is my blog entry and here are photos of my process. Thanks!

    • Hilah Cooking on February 25, 2011 at 2:17 pm

      I’m so glad you liked them! Yes, you can use just about anything in them and they are always great – different, but great. I fully support your condiment choices, too. I had one with a super spicy bbq sauce sent to me from Kansas City and it was amazing. Thanks for sharing your photos!

  9. Nate on February 25, 2011 at 7:26 pm

    I saw your site mentioned on Think Traffic this morning, so I thought I’d check you out. What’s the first thing I saw? Your bean burger recipe. I’ve been searching for one for –ummm…ever?– and this is one looks the best! I feel really lucky to have found your site. I’ll be trying the recipe soon. Enjoy Traffic School!

    • Hilah Cooking on February 25, 2011 at 8:43 pm

      Hi Nate! I’m so happy to be able to help! And we’re really looking forward to Traffic School. Thanks!

  10. Kenny Eller on February 27, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    Hola Hilah! I’m making a selection of burgers tonight for a cookout for my little niece (she gets minis) and will include this recipe! Wish me luck:)

    • Kenny Eller on February 28, 2011 at 2:28 am

      Ok, they turned out GREAT! Everyone loved them! Thanks Hilah!

      • Hilah Cooking on February 28, 2011 at 3:32 pm

        Yay Kenny! That’s great news. Great news makes me happy. Thanks for sharing your great news!

        • Kenny Eller on March 1, 2011 at 8:11 pm

          Yes, now I am a human Veggie Burger factory, as the requests keep rolling in. We had 9 people over and 5 of the 9 had your recipe above! Kinda shocked me (as I also made cheeseburgers/bacon cheesburgers/etc), but they all loved it!

          • Hilah Cooking on March 2, 2011 at 1:07 am

            That is fantastic, Kenny! 🙂



  11. Ken C. on February 27, 2011 at 10:08 pm

    Thank you so much on the info!!! I had no idea about the toxin! The scary part is I almost always eat some of the brands. I am looking forward to making those awesome looking burgers. Thanks again for the info!!!

    • Hilah Cooking on February 28, 2011 at 3:33 pm

      Let me know how you like the recipe, Ken! Thanks for commenting.

  12. Cindy on March 7, 2011 at 4:28 pm

    I made these yesterday and my meat eating husband said they were his favorite ones I’m made so far (my 4 yo son and myself are anti-meat…poor meat eating husband suffers, HA!). I also used my potato smasher to mash the hello out of the lentils I used 🙂 Thanks!

    • Hilah Cooking on March 10, 2011 at 5:30 pm

      Awesome, Cindy! That makes me really happy and I bet it made y’all happy, too. Let me know if you come up with any awesome variations!

  13. lori on March 10, 2011 at 5:20 am

    just wonder’n what type beans didja use? I know u said “n.e kind” but which did U use? [looked like pintos?]

    • Hilah Cooking on March 10, 2011 at 5:21 pm

      Yes, Lori! You know your beans – they were pintos.

  14. Part-time Veggie on March 28, 2011 at 4:34 am

    Gah, you are so hilarious. A 7 minute video about making two veggie burgers shouldn’t be so friggin hilarious.

    best part– “…uh, to protect my ovaries. Ummm…okay. TMI. Anyways.”

    or — “Say bye Goldie. Shes not (slight pause) looking at you.”

    and now i’m hungry for a veggie burger at 1am. sigh. occupational hazard of a foodie.

    • Hilah Cooking on March 28, 2011 at 12:55 pm

      EVERYTHING should be HILARIOUS!!! I think so, anyway. 😉 Thanks for writing!
      -h

  15. Stuart Carter on April 15, 2011 at 8:26 am

    to keep the burgers veg*n and to add some binding power, add a tablespoon or two of milled flax seed – they also add lots of omega-3s!

    • Hilah Cooking on April 16, 2011 at 8:30 am

      GREAT idea, Stuart! They do have a powerful goo-making factor. Plus good for you!

      • Stuart Carter on April 16, 2011 at 11:38 am

        speaking as a rampant carnivore, they are just about the best tasting non-meat burgers EVAR. Trufax *nods*.

  16. Ashleigh on March 22, 2012 at 9:18 pm

    Ive been searching for a recipe like this for years actually and I agree with Stuart. I made them tonight on the BBQ. And it worked. I think youre a genius. I think I might also make them tomorrow night cuz I cant stop thinking about them. Im not sure if Ill ever eat a beef burger again. I know it sounds like Im exaggerating, but Im not.

    • Hilah on March 23, 2012 at 9:43 am

      That is rad as hell, Ashleigh! Awesome to know they can be done a grill. Did you freeze them first?
      I think I need to make me another batch of these now – it’s been too long.
      Thanks for writing!

  17. Mother Effingby on June 5, 2012 at 8:15 pm

    Thank you! I have a daughter who is almost completely vegetarian, and this is something she would absolutely love. With guacamole. And maybe mushrooms.






    • Hilah on June 6, 2012 at 1:04 pm

      Oh good! I hope you try it! They are so versatile and everyone who’s tried them has been very happy. Especially with guacamole.

  18. SJ on June 17, 2012 at 9:26 pm

    Thanks Hilah… I’m definitely going to try this. I want to do veggie burgers over BBQ in a park over a weekend sometime. Any suggestions would be most helpful.

    • Hilah on June 18, 2012 at 2:12 pm

      I’ve not tried doing these on a BBQ grill – I’m worried that they might fall apart unless you used one of those grill trays that goes over the regular rack. Or, if you’re okay with eggs, you might add an egg to the mixture to help them hold together better.
      Oh! Just occurred to me: maybe cook them on the stove ahead of time so they’re more solid, then reheat on the grill to get some smoky flavor.
      Good luck! Have fun!

  19. ana on July 22, 2012 at 7:44 pm

    Hilah, great burger. I mashed the beans in my hands — this made excellent bean glue.

    • Hilah on July 23, 2012 at 9:08 am

      Oh perfect, Ana! I love getting my hands involved in the kitchen. I bet it was fun. 🙂

  20. Tilde on October 26, 2012 at 3:14 pm

    I made these tonight and they tasted really nice! I’m very glad for the recipe, it’s great for me who’s a vegetarian, thank you 🙂






    • Hilah on October 29, 2012 at 10:04 am

      Thanks, Tilde! I’m happy you enjoyed them!

  21. Patrick C. on November 11, 2012 at 4:28 pm

    Hi Hilah! Wow these things are amazing, and I am so happy with them. The only experiment I have done is change the liquid make up a little.

    I use:
    2 tablespoon soy sauce
    1 tablespoon water
    1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
    1 teaspoon vinegar

    Wow! It adds a nice kick!

    I have though about trying to make a BBQ’d varriation? Like using honey or mollasses? Paired with something really savory? -What say you? 🙂

    Love the recipes, and glad I found your website!






    • Hilah on November 12, 2012 at 10:16 am

      Thanks for the suggestions, Patrick! I never thought to add Sriracha in the burgers.
      I wonder about adding a minced chipotle in adobo Рthat would add the smoky BBQ taste plus a little sweetness. Add a smidge of molasses, top with pepperjack cheese maybe and roasted jalape̱os РYUM. Great idea, buddy!

  22. Sara on November 19, 2012 at 5:55 pm

    Thanks for a great recipe, I made these on Saturday for a party and they were super yummy! My boyfriend who “needs” meat loved them too! That’s always a good sign.

    • Hilah on November 20, 2012 at 10:16 am

      Indubitable, Sara! Thanks for sharing. 🙂 Glad your friends liked them, too.

  23. Rejean on December 9, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    hey Hilah! I love your videos and you are sooo funny! but i was wondering, these patties are also considered vegan, right? (:
    well have a great day! and i look forward to many more awesome vids!

    • Hilah on December 9, 2012 at 1:19 pm

      Yes indeed they are, Rajean! Hope you like them. 🙂

  24. Donna cutsinger on June 30, 2013 at 3:56 pm

    thank you very much for taking the time to send me your veggie burger .. That met alot to me..have a blessed day

    • Hilah on July 1, 2013 at 4:21 pm

      Hope you try it!

  25. Carrie on October 7, 2013 at 12:31 pm

    I made these with leftover beans and rice I had and they are so good!






    • Hilah on October 7, 2013 at 12:32 pm

      Great! These are a wonderful way to use leftovers.

  26. Gene Cox on October 11, 2013 at 5:26 pm

    I have searched for a veggie-burger which tastes good is seems like all my life. I like to stay vegetarian whenever possible, as long as it does not cause undue problems socially. Your discussion gave me some good ideas on how to achieve that. As always, you are a genius, Hilah.






    • Hilah on October 12, 2013 at 10:04 am

      This one is so good, and versatile, you’ll love it and so will your meat-eating friends. 🙂

  27. Alexandra on June 21, 2014 at 2:19 pm

    Hilah, these burgers changed my life! Seriously, they are the best recipe I have tried in a long time. Definitely going into my family’s rotation of healthy, homemade vegan/vegetarian recipes.
    XOXO, Alexandra.






    • Hilah on June 22, 2014 at 10:48 am

      That’s great, Alexandra! Thanks for writing. 🙂

  28. ana on August 7, 2014 at 4:02 pm

    Hilah, I’ve been making these burgers for a couple of years, with so many variations, and I am so happy with them. Thank you! When looking in my sparse cabinet, I wondered if I could make them with lentils instead of beans. Have you ever tried this? Would the lentils stick together well like the beans and cook okay or should I stick with lentils for soup and vegetarian meatloaf and go and buy more beans for these burgers? Thank you.

    • Hilah on August 9, 2014 at 5:45 pm

      Hey Ana,
      I think lentils would work, but they won’t be as sticky as beans so you will probably have to add some more liquid and oats to make them hold together. Let me know if you try it!

    • The Other Randy on August 10, 2014 at 5:08 pm

      I tried using lentils as a substitute for beans. Unfortunately, I only tried once and found that the lentils dry out much more than beans do. I wish I could remember how much water I used. I’m fairly certain that doubling the amount of water wasn’t enough. On the other hand, I’ve made lentil sloppy joes using a cup and a half of lentils and about 8 oz. of liquid and that yields the consistency that you’d expect for them, ie. too wet for burgers.

  29. Melissa on January 16, 2016 at 12:48 pm

    Lately every recipe I’ve tried from other sites, have been kind of blah – but let me just say, this was great! Faith in online recipes restored.
    I made some minor adjustments to make these gluten free, such as GF oats, flour, breadcrumbs, and tamari (instead of soy sauce), and they turned out perfect.
    I will definitely be making these again; maybe I’ll freeze some up so that I have some set aside for days where I’m short on time (or feeling lazy and don’t want to cook).
    Now off to search for more recipes…

    Thanks Hilah!






    • Hilah on January 16, 2016 at 3:00 pm

      That’s great, Melissa! Really glad you found my recipe 🙂

  30. Tamara on July 12, 2016 at 1:34 am

    I hate to be a pain, but the only seeds or nuts I have are almonds and I don’t want to use them, is their anything else I can replace it with?

    • Hilah on July 13, 2016 at 2:55 pm

      Hey Tamara! You can just add a little more oats instead. It won’t be a big deal if you leave the nuts out.

Leave a Comment

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.