I live with the biggest carnivore in town. He needs meat like I need rice (and cardamom, cinnamon, ginger beer and plantains). So burgers in this kitchen are normally a seriously meaty affair. As in stack ’em up with triple meat and loose that thing called bread, meaty affair. So when I tell you that these black bean burgers (and the black-eyed bean version) are the only non meat burgers I have got him to eat it is clear that they have got to be the bees knees right? Even if I say so myself.
I tend to avoid eggs and breadcrumbs in vegetarian burgers preferring to use pureed vegetables and oats in these instead. The pureed peppers and tomatoes not only add flavour to these burgers but also add a great deal of juiciness to them. To get the burgers to keep their shape (without the egg) I simple shape them, then freeze for a couple of hrs before cooking them directly from frozen which works every single time.
My two biggest tips for the perfect black bean burgers are don’t over process the black beans when grinding them down and throw in a handful of chopped cashews before shaping. This really gives a lovely texture and a little bit of the bite to the burgers. I make a huge batch of these and just leave then in the freezer for those impromptu get togethers, barbeques and boys nights that OH hosts along with his home brew.
These would be good for friends on vegan and gluten free diets at your good bye to summer bbq’s . And when served alongside some baked sweet potato fries and chipotle ketchup everything becomes all right with the world. Seriously. This is my second recipe in the pantry staple spotlight on black beans. How to cook black beans. Save
