Where I share my favorite black-bean burger recipe

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

Ingredients

  • 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

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 450
  2. 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
  3. Mix the well-mashed mixture until you’re at an even consistency
  4. Press, firmly, into patties and place on a greased backing sheet
  5. Bake for 20 minutes
  6. Very carefully, flip burgers
  7. Start grill on medium heat
  8. Bake for 15 minutes
  9. Take burgers out of oven and place on grill
  10. 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)
  11. Serve on buns or wrap into tortillas

1 I actually defined myself as a pescatarian, as I ate fish to ensure that I was getting enough protein, but I also wasn’t very strict about checking to see what was in the food I was eating. Because of this, I believe I’ve had no small portion of animal product: gelatin, clarification & stabilization agents in red wine . . . nevermind chicken broth or beef broth in something that “might have been” a vegetarian soup . . . you get the idea.

27 comments

  1. 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).

    1. 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. 🙂

  2. 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).

    1. 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.

    1. 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 . . .

  3. 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!

    1. 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.

    1. 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….

    1. 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.

  4. 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.

    1. 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.

  5. 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!

    1. 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.

  6. 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!

    1. 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.

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