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The Best Beanless Veggie Burgers

in Recipes

Veggie burgers – I feel like the first thing that pops into my mind when I envision a veggie burger is black beans. I happen to be a huge fan of black bean burgers, so this isn’t a problem for me. BUT it’s come to my attention that a) not everyone is a fan of black beans, and b) some people have allergies to black beans, which means they totally miss out on the awesomeness that is veggie burgers.

So I was thinking about how to address this issue (no one should miss out on veggie burgers, right?), and the idea of cauliflower sort of drifted into my mind. Like anything else, vegetables can be sort of trendy (trust me, that’s totally a thing), and in my veggie-loving mind, cauliflower is very much of the moment.

Enter the beanless veggie burger, featuring instead – you guessed it – cauliflower! Yay! So first things first: we’re talking about a burger here, right? So even though it’s made of vegetables, it needs to be appropriately. . . meaty. I can’t think of many vegetables that fit that description better than mushrooms, so clearly those are also involved here.

Next, we need some texture (and a little protein wouldn’t hurt either.) Red quinoa and toasted hazelnuts do the trick nicely. I’m a BIG fan of adding toasted nuts to anything possible – it adds such a nice layer of earthiness. Add in some chopped kale for some additional color and overall healthiness and you are well on your way to a delicious, meat-free burger experience.

As a side note, flipping these burgers during the baking process can be super frustrating/annoying. They will break apart, guaranteed. So, if and when this happens to you, don’t panic – just form the flipped fragments back into a burger shape and top with the cheese. It will melt during the second round of baking and hold everything together. Problem solved:)

Print

The Best Beanless Veggie Burgers

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 package mushrooms
  • 1/2 head cauliflower
  • 1 cup chopped kale
  • 1/4 cup red quinoa
  • 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
  • 1 egg (lightly beaten)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 3 tbsp chopped dill (fresh)

Garnish

  • Sliced gouda
  • Avocado
  • Fresh spinach
  • Spicy sour cream (see below)

Instructions

Prep

  1. Cook the quinoa in half a cup of water. Set aside. Chop the onion and garlic, set aside. Chop the mushrooms into fairly small pieces and set those aside as well.

  2. Slice the head of cauliflower in half; save one half to use for something else. With the half you're using, separate the florets from the stalks and chop the florets into pieces. 

  3. Remove the kale stems and finely chop the leaves. 

Cook

  1. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

  2. Add the mushrooms. Cook until they have released their liquid and most of it has evaporated. 

  3. Next, add the cauliflower and the hazelnuts. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes.

  4. Remove from heat and add the kale; stir to combine. 

  5. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix the egg, the quinoa, and the dill. 

  6. Once the cauliflower mixture has cooled a bit, add it to the bowl with the egg and quinoa. Mix well.

Make the Burgers

  1. Preheat the oven to 425. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

  2. Form the mixture into burgers - it should make around five. 

  3. Bake for 10 minutes, then carefully flip, top with the sliced cheese, and bake for 9 more minutes. 

  4. Serve on onion rolls garnished with avocado, spinach leaves and spicy sour cream (just equal parts sour cream and sriracha.)

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