This is the most delicious veggie burger recipe we’ve made. These taste amazing and are packed with vegetables, with nearly 1 cup of veggies in every patty.
I’m planting my flag and calling these the best veggie burgers. Have you ever noticed that most veggie burger recipes are almost 100% beans?
I love a good bean burger, but I wanted to pack in as many veggies as possible for this recipe, and we did it! We add more than 8 cups of vegetables to this recipe, which means 1 cup of veggies for every burger.
Key Ingredients
- Vegetables: I add mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, onion, garlic, and spinach to these burgers. I’m not trying to imitate a meat burger for this recipe (that discredits how delicious vegetables can be). Instead, we will use lots of tasty and nutritious vegetables to make the burger patties.
- Black beans: This recipe uses one can of drained black beans as the base. That’s about 1 ½ cups of beans added to our 8 cups of vegetables! You can also use home cooked black beans.
- Walnuts: I want lots of texture in the burgers, and walnuts help with that. They also add some sticking power and richness. You can substitute the walnuts in this recipe for other nuts or use sunflower seeds.
- Breadcrumbs: Help hold our burgers together. Veggie and bean burgers don’t hold together as well as meat burgers, but the breadcrumbs in this recipe help a lot!
- Eggs or flax eggs: I make this recipe with eggs, but we have tested it with homemade flax eggs, and they work! This recipe is vegetarian when made with eggs and vegan with flax eggs. Use what works best for you.
- Spices and tomato paste: Smoked paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper combine to make these burgers a little smoky and incredibly delicious. Tomato paste adds color, sweetness, and an umami flavor to the burgers (highly recommended!).
- Cooked rice: Adds more texture to the veggie burgers. I love brown rice, but you can substitute plain rice, cooked quinoa, or grains like farro or barley.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make the Best Veggie Burgers
These homemade veggie burgers take longer to prepare than regular burgers, but they are worth it (trust me). See our easy black bean burgers if you want a quick plant-based burger patty!
Tip 1: Remove extra moisture. To make the best veggie burgers, we will take every step to remove excess moisture. Too much moisture makes vegetable patties soft, smooshy, and not great. So, to remove it, we do two things:
- Finely chop and roast the veggies until dried out and toasted.
- Roast black beans until dried out and the skins split open.
Tip 2: Use a food processor. To make these veggie burgers as simple as possible, I use my food processor to finely chop all my vegetables (remember, we have 8 cups). I add all the veggies, a bit of oil, and spices, then pulse until tiny bits.
Tip 3: Roast the veggies. Then, I spread the vegetables onto a baking sheet and roast them until they cook, dry out, and smell a little toasty. They take about 30 minutes in the oven.
Tip 4: Roast your beans. Since the oven is already on, we want to dry our black beans. They take about 15 minutes. Then, we will combine the black beans with roasted veggies, fresh spinach, walnuts, breadcrumbs, eggs, tomato paste, and fresh herbs in the food processor to make the base of our vegetable patties.
Tip 5: Finish with rice and greens. When blended, I transfer everything to a bowl, then stir in cooked brown rice. I love the extra texture of the rice! See my photo below. The spinach and herbs make these veggie burgers so pretty, and the rice adds perfect texture.
How to Cook Veggie Burgers
Cooking these homemade vegetable burgers is easy. No matter how you cook them, take care as you handle them. They hold up well but are less firm than burgers made with meat. Some crumbling around the edges might happen when you flip. I push anything that falls back into the patty. To cook these burgers, you have a few options:
- Stovetop: Use a skillet over medium-low heat and cook until golden on both sides. This is my preferred method. I love the golden crust you get when cooking them in a skillet.
- Oven: To bake them, use a 400°F oven for about 30 minutes, flipping halfway.
- Grill: To grill these veggie burgers, I recommend placing a cast iron pan onto your grill. The burgers might fall apart on you if you put them directly on the grates.
More Meatless Recipes
- Vegan Meatballs (made with lentils)
- Vegetable Lasagna
- Easy Vegetarian Chili
- Homemade Veggie Enchiladas
- Chipotle Bean Chili
Best Veggie Burger We've Ever Made
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These are the best veggie burgers we’ve made. There’s no getting around the fact that veggie burgers take longer to make than regular hamburgers, but these vegetable-packed burgers are well worth it (trust me). The steps are easy, so stick with me. You can do this! I love serving them with spicy mayo or this burger sauce.
I use a food processor to make veggie burgers and highly recommend that you use one, too. If you only have a blender, you can use it to chop the veggies and other ingredients, but you will need to scrape the sides down a few more times (the food processor really is the better tool for this recipe).
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
1 (15-ounce) can black beans or 1 ½ cups cooked black beans
8 ounces (225g) mushrooms
1 medium carrot
1 ½ cups (85g) broccoli florets
1/4 medium onion
2 medium garlic cloves
2 tablespoons (30g) olive oil or avocado oil, plus more for cooking
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder, try homemade chili powder
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/3 cup (35g) walnuts
2 cups packed (85g) spinach leaves
1/4 cup fresh parsley, or other fresh herbs
1/2 cup (35g) panko or homemade breadcrumbs
2 large eggs or use 2 homemade flax eggs
1 tablespoon (15g) tomato paste
3/4 cup (115g) cooked brown rice
Directions
- Prepare Veggies and Beans
1Preheat your oven to 400°F (204°C). Position two racks so you can fit both baking sheets in at once. Then, line two baking sheets with foil, parchment, or a silicone mat.
2Drain the beans and spread them on one of the prepared baking sheets.
3Wipe the mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Remove tough stems, then roughly chop.
4Roughly chop up the carrot, broccoli, and onion into 1/2-inch pieces.
5Add the mushrooms, chopped vegetables, garlic, olive oil, smoked paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper to the food processor. Pulse until coarsely ground (10 to 20 times). Put the ground vegetable mixture on the second baking sheet and pat it into a thin, even layer.
6Slide both baking sheets (beans and veggies) into the preheated oven.
7Roast the beans until dry with slightly split skins, about 15 minutes.
8Roast the vegetables until they look dry and toasted, about 30 minutes. Stir them a few times and press them back into a thin layer to prevent the outer edges from over-browning.
9Let both the roasted vegetables and beans cool on the counter.
- Make Burger Mix
1While the beans and vegetables roast, rinse the food processor bowl and pat it dry.
2Place the walnuts, spinach, and fresh parsley into the clean food processor bowl. Pulse briefly until roughly chopped, resembling the size of breadcrumbs.
3Add cooled beans and pulse 5 to 10 times until the beans look crumbly with large crumbs.
4Add the roasted vegetables, breadcrumbs, eggs, and tomato paste. Pulse until everything is just combined. You want to keep some texture and avoid over-processing it into a smooth paste.
5Transfer the mixture to a bowl and gently fold in the cooked rice.
- Cook Burgers
1Divide the veggie burger mixture into 8 equal portions (each portion should be about 3 ¼ ounces or 90 grams). Form each portion into a patty that’s about 1/2-inch thick.
2Place a skillet over medium-low heat and add oil (about 1 tablespoon for 4 burgers). Carefully place the patties in the skillet and cook on each side for 4 to 6 minutes until heated through, firm, and browned. As you flip them, a few bits might fall. Gently press any loose bits back into the sides of the patties.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Cooked veggie burgers last, in an airtight container, in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze them for up to 3 months. To freeze the patties, cook them, cool them, and then wrap them individually in foil and place them into a freezer-safe container or bag.
- Reheating: To reheat the frozen patties, bake at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through. Or reheat the frozen patties over medium-low heat in a skillet for 5 to 10 minutes per side or until heated through.
- Make ahead: You can keep the burger mixture or formed patties in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Alternatively, you can form, cook, and freeze the patties for up to 3 months. (I prefer freezing cooked patties.)
- How to cook brown rice: Forget the package directions and cook it like you would pasta. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water, add the brown rice, and then let it cook, uncovered, at a simmer for 30 minutes. Drain and add it back to the pot off the heat with a lid covering it so it steams for an additional 10 minutes (this method is from Saveur, making perfect brown rice.)
- Vegan/egg-free veggie burgers: Use 2 homemade flax eggs. See this recipe for how to make flax eggs.
- Baking the burgers: Lightly brush with oil, then bake at 400°F for about until the patties are golden on the outside, about 30 minutes, flipping halfway.
- Grilling the burgers: Cooking them directly on BBQ grates can cause them to crumble. Use a cast-iron skillet with some oil to cook the burgers on the grill (indirect, medium heat is best).
- Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
These are delicious! Made a few adjustments for what I had wanted/ needed. I pre toasted the walnuts as I prefer their flavour then.I left out the rice, personally, and increased the panko to 3/4 cup instead. I also had pre chopped the spinach, put it in a bowl, tossed with some light salt, to get some of the excess moisture out of the leaves by squeezing to release before chopping it up again with the walnuts and parsley. I used regualr paprika instead of the smoked paprika.
Too spicy, even tho cut spice amounts in half. Falls apart too easily. Not worth the effort
Hi Lee, I am not sure what caused your burgers to be so spicy. The only think I can think of is the chili powder. We use a generic chili powder, which are generally mild. Is it possible you used a chipotle chili powder or cayenne?
I love how these taste but am unable to keep them from falling apart when I try to fry them. Should I add more bread crumbs? Thanks!
Hi Candy, Some crumbling is inevitable (I just push them back together in the pan), but they should still hold together as patties. You can press the patties together more firmly, chop the veggies/bean mixture a bit longer, and if they still have issues, add a bit more moisture with a tiny bit more egg. Also chilling them before cooking helps them firm up a bit, which makes them a bit less delicate.
I’ve never had a veggie burger before until these and they were amazing! I’m so thankful for this recipe!!
Wow, that’s amazing, Tara! Thanks for trusting us 🙂
Hello, Can these be made with dry mushrooms? Would I need to rehydrate them first? thanks
Yes, they would be great. Definitely rehydrate them first.
I’ve made many different veggie burgers and these are the very best. The recipe is quicker and easier than it seems at first glance. They are perfect in taste and texture. What a winner! The video was worth watching too.
Hi Patti, We are so happy you watched out video and found it helpful! We love these veggie burgers so much! Thanks for coming back and letting us know how the recipe worked out.
These are SO good!!! They taste amazing and stay together so well in the pan. I didn’t use any walnuts or substitutes, and they still turned out great.
Perfect! Glad you love them as much as we do 🙂
It was just okay. Don’t think I’ll be making them again.
Thanks for coming back, Dale. Sorry you did not enjoy them as much as we do.
What could be substituted for the mushrooms in this recipe? Any suggestions?
Hi Cyndi, Mushrooms are a pretty major ingredient here. You can try more beans or zucchini.
hey, this seems an amazing recipe but before i try it i was wondering if the calorie count was accurate. can someone confirm? i don’t really feel like double checking everything.
Really good! Held together great. I baked the batch and then reheated leftovers in fry pan. Might add a bit more seasoning next time and will use my usual method for cooking the rice – the Saveur method didn’t turn out great for me. Served on a bun with sirracha, mayo, lettuce and tomato. LOVE all the veggies crammed into this burger! Takes time, but easy to multi-task on other things during the various steps – and definitely worth the effort IMO!
I made a double-batch so the effort, stretched! Delicious.
I absolutely love these burgers , so glad I found this recipe!!! And my family loved them too !!
The best veg burgers I have made, and I’ve tried many recipes. I do add to the spices . They stay together perfectly and are yummy without a bun too. Christine
The flavor of the burgers was very good. Both my husband and I enjoyed them. Unfortunately it is quite time intensive. Thanks for the recipe.
So happy you enjoyed them! 🙂
Thank you very much.
You are so welcome!
Impressed by the amount of veggies that are in this burger. Texture is perfect and mixture held together well which is often not the case. Taste was good but very mild — might up the seasoning next time. As has been mentioned, very time consuming! Even more so for me with a small kitchen, small food processor, and limited work space. Will make again but only when I have a full afternoon free for cooking.
I really don’t understand why people are raving about this recipe, it’s taken an age and they taste super bland. Very disappointed.
Hi Natalie, We are sorry you did not enjoy them. Out family loves them. Maybe you needed some more spices/seasoning? Thanks for your feedback!
This recipe looks amazing and I’m excited to try it. I rarely have fresh mushrooms in the house, but always have dried ones, and always have frozen brocoli florets. I’m wondering if I could get away with using the dried mushrooms and frozen broc which might balance out moisture level.
Hi Nancy, Frozen broccoli is fine (just thaw and treat it like raw broccoli). For the dried mushrooms, I’d rehydrate them, and then use them as if you had fresh.
I found this recipe very laborous and time intense for the end result. They were mushy and the flavour was “meh”. I assume you won’t post this review as I only read raving reviews. However I think it is fair to let would be cooks be warned that not everyone loved this recipe. PS My family also thought it was not very good.
Hi Rae, We are sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe as much as our family does. You are right that there are quite a few extra steps, but that’s to get in as many veggies as we can. For a much simpler recipe, try our black bean burgers, which you can make in under 30 minutes.
Can I freeze them without cooking? Haven’t tried yet but will let you know what I think.
You can, but we have found that cooking the patties and then freezing is a bit better in the end.
Love these!! Definitely time-intensive but I figure the next time I make these I will be more efficient. They held together, which feels like a small miracle for homemade veg burgers! Made them for friends and everyone thought they were yummy.
Thank you for the yummy recipe!
I’m not a vegetarian but every once in a while I get a hankering for a veggie burger, the ones in restaurants are usually dry and tasteless, I made these this morning and was blown away! The perfect balance of flavors and texture. The only thing I added was a 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes. Although there are a lot of steps, this recipe is going on my regular rotation.
Easy prep, accessable ingredients, no chemistry necessary and ballanced for maximum flavor experience. Thank you for sharing, this is in the recipe rotation permanently.
I’ve made these time and time again, always doubling the recipe and freezing the rest! They’re the best veggie burgers no doubt. Making these again today.
Making these today. Will they be okay without the oil? Trying to cut out as much fat as possible. Thank you for the recipe it looks delicious and so healthy.
Hi Gail, You can try without the oil (although I do think I would prefer this when the oil is left in).