I enjoy eating a really good burger with lettuce, tomato, mayo, pickles and a touch of mustard. But I don’t always have ground beef on hand, or maybe I’m having vegetarian company, and lets face it, beans are good for you and good for your wallet.
So when my friend Melissa said she had a tasty, easy, version of vegetarian bean burgers on the menu for dinner, I asked her if she would show me her ways. She did not disappoint. Her bean burgers were just what they promised. Healthy, delicious, and just what we wanted to eat.
Vegetarian Bean Burgers With a Twist
I, of course, have amended her recipe just a touch, but for good reason. First I’m a huge fan of nutritional yeast.
If you haven’t had it, it’s worth keeping around and finding places to fit it in to your diet. It is rich in B vitamins, it’s a complete protein, it contains all kinds of minerals including iron, riboflavin, niacin, folate, and even more things our body can use.
We also love it on popcorn and eggs. It’s often used in vegan cheese too.
So I added some of that. Also, like most people, my sweet friend diced onions and mashed her bean mixture with a fork. It turns out many bean burger recipes say to mash them. But I don’t. I chucked all the ingredients into my food processor. I figured it would be easier, and would keep my kids from discovering the onions.
I’m also a fan of making things high in protein when I can, so I added another egg. They turned out lovely!
In fact I think bean burgers may actually be very versatile. So if you like them spicy, try added a little curry powder or pepper.
I was skeptical of how my sweet husband would react to having a burger made of beans. He’s definitely a fan of real burger, but he actually enjoyed them. In fact he packed several in his lunch and even shared with a friend.
So, if you are skeptical of trying a vegetarian burger, maybe this one is for you! I even tried eating it like a steak and it was good. So enjoy a visit into a healthy, tasty vegetarian realm. Save yourself some money, and add in that wholesome bean fiber.
Vegetarian Bean Burgers
Ingredients
- 2 cans beans (I used black and pinto)
- 1 onion
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp soy sauce
- 10 saltines (about one sleeve)
Instructions
- Drain some of the liquid in the beans. Place beans, chopped onion, eggs, salt, garlic, nutritional yeast, and soy sauce into your food processor and mix them well.
- Place the saltines in a zip lock bag and mash them into small pieces then mix them with your bean mixture.
- Poor bean mixture into a frying pan or onto a griddle on medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes on each side. Or until cooked all the way through. If you want your burgers more crispy cook them in a tablespoon or two of oil.
- Serve on a burger bun with fixings, or by its self with a side.