Say goodbye to mushy and bland veggie burgers! These vegan black bean quinoa burgers are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside with just the right amount of spice. They’re easy to make with just a few pantry staple ingredients and are naturally gluten free.
I’ve had a lot of veggie burgers in my life. Store bought, homemade, from a restaurant. Some good, some bad, but there is always one commonality. They’re all mushy.
The burger patty itself seems to fall apart as soon as you take a bite, so I’ve been working on perfecting the perfect vegan black bean burger for quite a while now.
This recipe is incredibly simple, healthy, and almost entirely hands off. It’s made almost exclusively from pantry staples and is freezer friendly so you have enough to last the whole week!
And while there are so many vegan burger brands out there, making them homemade and from scratch is way more fun!
The burger is made from a base of quinoa and black beans, with plenty of onion, garlic and spices to add flavor and a bit of rice flour to hold it all together.
I like to serve it with my spicy tahini dressing for a little kick (I just sounded like my mother, lol) and a side of jicama fries. Anyway, let’s get cooking!
How to make homemade veggie burgers
First, you’ll want to cook the quinoa according to these instructions.
Roughly chop the onion and add to the food processor with the garlic. Pulse a few times to break up until no large chunks of the garlic remain.
Drain and rinse the black beans and add to the food processor.
When the quinoa is done, allow to cool slightly (stick it in the fridge to speed up the process) and then add to the food processor with all remaining ingredients aside from the flour.
Pulse just a few times to combine the ingredients and break up the cilantro and beans slightly. If you don’t want any bean chunks in the burgers you can process more until it’s very well combined.
Once the mixture is combined (but not mushy), transfer to a bowl and add in the flour. Start with 1/4 cup and add up to 1/3 cup if the mixture seems too wet. You don’t want it to be dry, so keep it on the moist side just to be safe. Mix together to combine.
Divide the dough into 6 even patties, I like to use this large cookie scoop to ensure even sized patties.
Add to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. For a little extra flavor, you can brush the tops of the burgers with a bit of barbecue sauce for extra flavor. This is optional, but really takes the burgers to the next level.
Bake for 15 minutes, flip and bake an additional 15-20 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when the outside is a bit crispy and a darker brown color.
If you want to add cheese your burger (my favorite dairy free/vegan cheese slices is by the brand Follow Your Heart), add a slice to the top of the patty about 2-3 minutes before taking them out of the oven to allow it to melt slightly.
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve these roasted black bean quinoa burgers in a very traditional way with all the best toppings. Tomato, ketchup, cheese, lettuce, onion and my spicy tahini dressing.
These burgers have a Mexican flavor with the cilantro and salsa, so they pair well with chips, salsa and guacamole as well!
Burgers are an all year round kind of food, but I particularly love them in the summer. You can serve these at a barbecue with my three bean salad, lemony pasta salad, or strawberry spinach salad.
Add some spice!
On their own, the burger patties are not super spicy which is why I like to pair them with my spicy tahini dressing or chipotle aioli.
You can also add 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or a chopped up jalapeno to the food processor for more spice.
How to keep a vegan burger from falling apart
One of the keys to preventing this is to ensure the burgers have just the right amount of moisture. Too much and they’ll mush when you bite in, but not enough and they’ll be dry and crumbly. When adding the flour, start small and add a bit more at a time.
Second, we need some sort of binding agent. The black beans actually do a pretty good job of that, but we’ll also use a bit of cornstarch to really hold everything together!
Make them on the stove!
I prefer to bake these vegan burgers, but if you’re in a pinch, you can cook these vegan black bean burgers on the stove instead of in the oven.
If you do that, I suggest upping the flour content to about 1/3-1/2 cup to prevent the burgers from falling apart. Add about 1 tbsp of oil to a hot pan and cook the burgers on each side for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
How to store
Once prepared, this recipe will store in the fridge for 5 days, but you can also freeze them!
After cooking, let the burgers cool and then transfer to an air tight container or zip lock bag (with parchment paper in between each burger) and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
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The Ultimate Vegan Black Bean Quinoa Burger
by: claire cary
Ingredients
- ½ cup dry quinoa
- 1 can black beans
- 2 cloves garlic
- ⅓ cup chopped red onion
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika*
- ½ – 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 3 tbsp salsa any kind works!
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4-6 tbsp brown rice flour*
- 1 tbsp tapioca, arrowroot or corn starch
- Optional: 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper for spice
- Spicy tahini dressing to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cook the quinoa according to these instructions. (Using a 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water). You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa.
- Roughly chop the onion and add to the food processor with the garlic.
- Pulse a few times to break up until no large chunks of the garlic remain.
- Drain and rinse the black beans until the water runs clear and add to the food processor. Add all remaining ingredients aside from the flour and quinoa. Pulse to combine.
- When the quinoa is done, pulse it into the mixture, just to combine, you don't want it overly mushy.
- Once the mixture is combined (but not mushy), transfer to a bowl and add in the flour. Start with 3-4 tbsp and add up to 6 tbsp if the mixture seems too wet. You don't want it to be dry, so keep it on the moist side just to be safe. Mix together to combine.
- Divide the dough into 6 even patties, I like to use this large cookie scoop to ensure even sized patties.
- Add to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Optional: lightly brush barbecue sauce on top of the burgers for extra flavor!
- Bake for 15 minutes, flip, and bake an additional 15-20 minutes. Careful not to over-bake, you don't want them to dry out.
- Serve with tomato, lettuce, cheese and spicy tahini dressing on a bun. Enjoy!
Haydn says
An excellent recipe. I am vegan but have never made a vegan burger before. I always like a black bean burger when I go out to eat, when I can find them, so thought I’d try to make one at home. This one is delicious. I used almond flour in my version as that is all I had on hand and it worked well.
I love spicy food so this recipe suited me really well.
Claire Cary says
Perfect! Good to know the almond flour worked well!
Anne says
This is a great tasting flavorful veggie burger and is not mushy in texture like other recipes I’ve tried. I did not add garlic or oil and used AP flour. This will be my go to recipe.
Claire Cary says
Thanks Anne! Glad it worked out well with those changes!