Easy Vegan and Gluten-Free Plant-Based Bean Burgers that Don’t Fall Apart

I have probably made more veggie and bean burgers than most people, as I have an entire chapter in my cookbook Vegan Under Pressure on how to make burgers and patties. There isn’t a whole lot of magic in making them although people often don’t understand that you need something to help them “stick together”. 
For me, bean burgers are another way to include more legumes in my eating plan. Often I use the last of the batch of beans or lentils that I have cooked for the week to make these burgers. In this case, it was black and pinto beans that were a bit soggier than usual (more like refried beans than whole beans), so some of the amounts might vary for you.
Also, sadly, I did not have any cilantro to add but you certainly could.  The key to making these firm is ground flax seed but you could use ground chia seed or even pysllium husk. 

I know that they aren’t so beautiful. You could make them look prettier by adding fresh herbs, or even stirring in corn after you have blended the other ingredients. For me, once they are happily ensconced in a tortilla, bun or lettuce,  how they look doesn’t matter much. I am so happy that they hold together. 

The recipe:

Vegan Gluten-Free Bean Burgers that Stay Firm

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 1 1/2 cups cooked or canned beans
• 1/4 each medium onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds or nuts or seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 to 3 slices hot pepper, optional
• 1 to 2 teaspoons coconut or Bragg liquid amino acids
• 2 tablespoons flax seed, ground grind the 2 tablespoons and set aside
• 1 tablespoon hemp seed, optional
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 to 2 tablespoons tomato paste, optional
• 2 to 4 tablespoons cilantro leaves
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup rolled oats

Instructions

 

• Add the onion, garlic, sunflower seeds, cumin and hot pepper , if using, to a food processor and pulse until the onion is chopped fine.
• Add the beans, Bragg, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast and tomato paste, if using, and cilantro leaves, if you have them, and process until combine but the beans still have some texture. You might want to pulse so that it doesn't get to mushy.

  Remove from the processor and add to a bowl.
• Combine the bean mixture with the ground flax seeds and stir. Let sit a minute for the flax to firm up. Then add the oats until you have a firm mixture.

  Get the lid to a wide mouth mason jar and line it with plastic. Scoop the bean mixture with a 1/3 or 1/2 cup measure into the lined lid to form nice burgers. There ought to be at least 4 burgers but maybe even 5 or 6, depending upon how thick or thin you make them.
• Cook in a 375 degree F. oven for 10 to 12 minutes on the first side. If the burgers seem done, turn them carefully and cook another 10 to 12 minutes.

  Let cool and use as is, or freeze them, putting waxed paper or parchment between the burgers.

  NOTE: I have not grilled these so I cannot comment how they would be on the grill.

  To eat from frozen, I usually bake them on a lower temperature or toast them

  These are very versatile and you can season them any way that you want. Sometimes, the more spices the better: chili powder, ground coriander, black pepper, etc.

Notes