Vegan and Gluten-Free Veggie Burgers
These vegan and gluten-free veggie burgers are rich and flavorful, and not pretending to be meat! Despite that, they're still great done up with all the fixings of a burger. Though, they're also great just on their own.
I have a confession... I'm not vegan (can we still be friends?). Despite that, I still love these things. In fact, these are so tasty that my meat-loving, veggie burger hating father willingly ate one of them, and thought it was pretty good! Though part of that is just because over the course of the last several years my mom and I broke this man like a wild horse by constantly giving him whole grain pasta, etc. Ten years ago he wouldn't eat bell peppers. Still, if he didn't like them he wouldn't have eaten the whole thing!
This recipe makes 8 large veggie burger patties. Each one has a little over 13 grams of protein and a whopping 10 grams of fiber. These patties get most of their protein from quinoa, hempseeds, and black beans. Both quinoa and hemp seeds are a source of complete protein, which means they contain all 9 essential amino acids. The chia seeds in this recipe also contain a little complete protein. The chia seeds also have soluble fiber and omega 3 fatty acids!
I don't recommend using canned black beans for this recipe. They tend to be too mushy and salty. I have nothing against canned beans. As a rule, I'm pretty lazy, so I use them pretty frequently. I just don't think they work well in this recipe. I'll tell you how to cook them yourself though, its not too complicated. Important: don't salt the water you cook your beans in. Cooking them in salted water will make them tough.
Looking for a side dish to go with these vegan and gluten-free veggie burgers? How about some crispy oven fries! https://bit.ly/33ZqA4Y
Great for lunch or dinner, and perfect for meal prepping!
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried black beans
- 1 1/4 cup cooked quinoa
- 3 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 large carrot
- 2 small/medium zucchinis
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup hulled hemp seeds
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 large onion
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp ancho chili powder
- 2 tbsp cornmeal
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 4 tbsp oil (I like using avocado oil but coconut, peanut, or olive oil would work too)
Instructions
- Soak black beans overnight.
- Drain the soaking liquid from the beans and place in a large pot. Add water until it comes up 2 to 3 inches over the beans, bring to a boil. Cook at a gentle, not rolling, boil for about 1 hr, or until beans are soft but not mushy. It might take a little more time if your beans are old.
- Boil quinoa according to package directions. Usually: it calls for it to be rinsed well. Cook with 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa for usually 15 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 425°F
Drain the beans and add all of them and 1 1/4 cups of quinoa to a large bowl. Also add the chia seeds. Let cool, mixing them around a little occasionally to let more of the moisture evaporate. It'll take about 20 minutes to cool enough to handle. 
While the beans and quinoa cool, grate the carrot and zucchini and add one tsp of the salt. Place in a strainer and let sit for 15 or 20 minutes. Then, squeeze out as much liquid as you can and add to the bowl. - Grate the half an onion and add to the bowl.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, excluding the oil, to the bowl.
Mix very well with your hands, don't be afraid of smushing some of the black beans up a little, that's what you want! Some will stay whole, which is also what you want.- Take some of the oil and grease a sheet pan well.
- Divide the bean mixture into 8 even sections, press into a ball and place on the sheet pan, smash into patties around a half-inch thick.
Use a pastry brush to brush a generous amount of oil on top of the patties.- Place in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and carefully flip each patty. Place back in the oven and bake another 10 minutes,
Enjoy!