I recently switched from “mostly vegetarian1” to not. However, I still eat a shitton of veggies . . . they’re, honestly, my favorite food. If I have a choice to snack on sliced bell pepper or chips? I’m actually going to choose the bell pepper. You may hate me for this. It’s ok.
Sandwiches have a very special place in my heart — burgers, especially. However, I actually prefer a well-made veggie burger over most any beef alternative. Boca or Morningstar? They’re ok in a pinch, just like throwing a frozen 1/4 pound patty on the grill is ok in a pinch. But, if you have the time, you can really create something special.
And, since I know some of you are having issues either getting veggies into your own diet, or have issues with family memebers not eating veggies – this may be a half-decent way to trick those family members. These don’t taste like burgers – but they look a whole lot like burgers, and, I promise, they’re quite tasty.
So, I’m linking up with my stalker Eve, from Beautiful Spitup to give y’all my favorite veggie burger recipe.
Avocado/Spinach Black Bean Burgers
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
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Ingredients
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- One medium onion, finely chopped
- One small zucchini, shredded
- Two medium carrots, washed & shredded
- One red bell pepper, finely chopped
- Two avocado, diced
- 8 ounces of baby spinach, finely chopped
- 2 (16 ounce) cans of black beans, drained
- 1 (8 ounce) package of crumbled feta
- 2 eggs
- A hefty sprinkle of Parmesean cheese
- At least 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
- At least 1 teaspoon of Old Bay or creole seasoning
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Instructions
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- Preheat oven to 450
- Place all ingredients into a very large bowl, and mash with a baby-food masher until the avocado & black beans aren’t really distinguishable as avocado & black beans
- Mix the well-mashed mixture until you’re at an even consistency
- Press, firmly, into patties and place on a greased backing sheet
- Bake for 20 minutes
- Very carefully, flip burgers
- Start grill on medium heat
- Bake for 15 minutes
- Take burgers out of oven and place on grill
- Grill for 5-8 minutes / side (they’d be just fine straight from the oven, but I like the little bit of char that you get)
- Serve on buns or wrap into tortillas
That sounds wonderful! I was a vegetarian for about 10 years. Lacto-ovo veggie. Except for my yearly gyro from the Greek festival(yeah, go figure how that makes sense). And then I added fish and chicken.
Now, I’ll occasionally have red meat, but that’s very rare(but well done).
You know, this was my second go-round at vegetarianism . . . but, the one exception I always made was the Greek Easter . . . spit-roasted lamb is really a delicacy. 🙂
This sounds good and it might be something that my husband would eat. I’ll have to run the ingredients past him and see what he says (he’s usually anti vegetables).
I’m curious if you got to try this — these burgers are really quite tasty . . . but very different than beef burgers.
SOunds so so good!! i am going to be trying this recipe out!
I actually thought about you when I’ve been messing with the recipe . . . see, I used to include breadcrumbs to help “bulk” things up, which works, and makes the burgers easier to deal with, but adds gluten.
I’m fairly confident these were gluten-free . . . but I’m hardly an expert.
aw you are so sweet – they are actually gluten free 🙂
Yum! These sound amazing!
(And I only hate you a teeny tiny bit for loving veggies more than chips.)
Don’t worry – I do like chips, aplenty, and they’re much easier to get my hands on. It’s easy to open a bag of chips . . . to eat veggies, there’s the washing, and the peeling, and the slicing . . .
Oh this sounds delish! I’ll have to make it sometime when my hubs isn’t home. He hates veggies. I have to hide them like he’s five or something. Glad you linked up!
Did you get a chance to try these?
How well do they reheat? They sound perfect for lunch. (Minus the grilling part – that’s not happening at work).
These actually reheat really nicely. I typically make a big batch . . . I only grill half of what I bake, and that’s dinner for the night. Then, I have the leftovers some later time (usually broiled, but microwaving would work just fine at the office).
The only thing is that you might have to re-form the patties if you didn’t really, really compact them prior to baking.
Snap peas are my bell peppers. I’ll take them over salty snacks, but my sweet tooth trumps all!
Lately, I’ve been able to avoid my sweet tooth . . . as in, just ignore that it’s there. Because, once I start to give into it, there’s no going back….
Wow there are SO many awesome veggies in that I may have to try it. My kids don’t eat nearly enough from that food group.
I’m fortunate, right now, that my kids love veggies (mind you, my oldest is 25 months). I am a little worried, though, if either of them know that there is cake, somewhere, that’s all they want.
Wow! I’m really glad I magically clicked myself into this recipe! SOLD.
Yay, for new people! I hope you got a chance to try it . . . I need to make them again.
I was the exact same way, went from vegetarian (still eating fish) to know eating white meat only. I still prefer meals without meat. I am definitely trying this recipe… you need a picture so I can pin it on Pinterest.
I’ll always strive for meals with more veggies than anything else, and I’ll eat lots of meatless meals. The big thing is, when I’m eating out or with family . . . I don’t want to be “that guys that’s the vegetarian, so we need to cook especially for him.”
And, yeah, I need to get better about taking pictures of my cooking process. I used to be really good about livetweeting my recipe adventures.
Thanks for the recipe! I actually just started my vegetarian diet and veggie burgers are one of my favorites…
Were you able to try them? I actually prefer veggie burgers over “real” burgers . . . most of the time.
I admit, I’m super intrigued. Skye eats Boca burgers all the time but weirdly I’ve never considered making my own veggie burgers! If I stop being lazy (unlikely but possibly possible) I’ll have to try this!
Let me know if you ever do get a chance to try these. I used to eat a lot of Boca . . . but I just can’t, anymore . . . these are a lot more satisfying.
Hmmm…I’m intrigued. I have a black bean burger recipe too, but it’s somewhat…mushy. Which is why I’m not going to BAKE them before grilling them. Doh!
It was an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives that lead me to baking before grilling. I’ve always had very, very yummy, but mushy burgers, that didn’t hold up well to the grill or griddle. The baking needs to be well-monitored (else things burn), but it fixes the consistency issues.