I’m really enjoying Lukas Volger’s new cookbook, Start Simple: Eleven Everyday Ingredients for Countless Weeknight Meals. It came out two months ago, a positively bizarre time in which we entered and left our homes with abandon, casually hugged friends we were happy to see, and if our nose became itchy, we’d scratch it and not stand paralyzed in panic afterward. What salad days! Volger’s new book wasn’t created with pandemic cooking in mind — what was, really — but it feels just right for right now because each chapter focuses on a staple our local store is miraculously not out of (tofu, tortillas, beans, greens, squash, and more), and the recipes have refreshingly short ingredient lists and unfussy assemblies. Volger’s vegetarian cooking is very doable, the kind of do-ability that comes from the fact that this is clearly the food he cooks for himself at home, so all of the kinks are smoothed out. Everything sounds so good — smoky chickpea salad with olives and lemon and black beans with scallion-lime vinaigrette from the bean section are on my shortlist — you might find yourself wondering why this unwavering simplicity isn’t the goal of every cookbook.
Volger also led to a vegetable burger I am delighted to share here — no surprise as he once wrote a whole book on them. Yes, I got your email and I, too, found it strange that my website didn’t have a veggie burger recipe. There are a gazillion recipes on the web but they so often feel heavy to me, or with unwieldy ingredient lists. It had been too long since I made one that left us feeling great. This carrot and white bean burger is perfect — including an actual vegetable (one that stores well), two cans of beans, and a few other pantry staples, and it comes together easily. We didn’t have hamburger buns but I’d actually baked sandwich bread (weird flex but here we are) and it totally works, especially with smashed avocado, hot sauce, and lettuce. Next time I will not forget to pickle red onions, because I definitely wanted them here. Add a few shakes of hot sauce (the dark stuff you see here is Valentina) and you end up up with a colorful, flavorful, meal that feels like spring… on this side of the kitchen window, too.
As for me, if you’ve checked in on me because you’ve heard that things are getting worse in NYC, thank you. If you’ve checked in because it’s been a little quiet here, I am flattered to be missed. We are (ptu ptu) healthy and lucky so far — I hope you are too. We haven’t quite figured out how to homeschool (you can go ahead and put air quotes around that — sorry, kids) two children while having two full-time jobs and no childcare in a 2BR, so things might be a little slow here, but if this is the biggest challenge we face, I think we’re going to be okay. Friday (3/27) at 3pm EST I’m going to attempt my first Instagram Live demo of a recipe or two with the “team” I have around (husband doing the filming, kids, perhaps, doing prep); if you watch live, you can ask questions and I’ll do my best to answer. I’ll drop a link here once it’s saved to IGTV. Stay home, stay well, and treat yourself to something delicious, please. On the left: Pantry Recipes, which lean heavily on staples. On the right, Savory Projects, for those with more time on your hands.
Previously
Six months ago: Cinnamon Sugar Scones
One year ago: Extra-Billowy Dutch Baby Pancake
Two years ago: Melting Potatoes
Three years ago: Easiest French Fries and Peanut Butter Swirled Brownies
Four years ago: Nolita-Style Avocado Toast and Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart
Five years ago: Black-Bottom Oatmeal Pie and Potatoes with Soft Eggs and Bacon Vinaigrette
Six years ago: Double-Chocolate Banana Bread and Sizzling Chicken Fajitas
Seven years ago: Coconut Bread and Chocolate-Hazelnut Macaroon Torte
Eight years ago: Carrot Cake Pancakes
Nine years ago: Oat and Maple Syrup Scones
Ten years ago: Baked Rigatoni with Tiny Meatballs, St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake, Breakfast Pizza
Eleven years ago: Pita Bread, Layer Cake Tips + The Biggest Birthday Cake, Yet and Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Cornbread
Twelve years ago: Hazelnut Brown Butter Cake, Chard and White Bean Stew, Pasta with Cauliflower, Walnuts, and Feta
Twelve years ago: Skillet Irish Soda Bread and Lighter-Than-Air Chocolate Cake
Carrot and White Bean Burgers
- Olive oil
- 1/2 cup panko-style breadcrumbs
- 3 shallots, or 1 small onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup packed grated carrot (from 2 medium carrots)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- Two 15-ounce cans cannellini or other white beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 large egg, beaten
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Burger accompaniments, as you like
Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the skillet, followed by the shallot or onion. Cook until softened and lightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, salt, and carrots and stir frequently until the carrots are soft and a bit blistered, another 8 to 10 minutes. Add the vinegar, scraping up all the browned bits until the pan is dry. Remove from heat and add the bowl with the toasted panko. Add beans and use a wooden spoon or spatula to very coarsely mash the mixture until a bit pasty and the mixture coheres in places—there should still be plenty of beans intact. Add pepper, and more salt if needed, to aste. Stir in the egg. Shape into 6 patties (I used a 1/2 cup measure as a scoop) for the size burger you see here; 4 patties for really large burgers (to warn, I found this size a little unwieldy), or 8 to 10 for slider-size.
To cook the veggie burgers, heat a thin layer of olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat and carefully cook until browned and slightly firm to the touch, 3 to 4 minutes per side. It may be necessary to cook in batches. Serve hot or at room temperature, with whatever you like on or with veggie burgers.
Glad you and your family are doing okay, Deb!!
I love your blog and have been following since before either of us had kids. I have been homeschooling for 6 years now and here is my best advice: keep up with math and make sure your kids are still reading. That’s it. You got this! (All the other stuff is easy to catch up on. So your son didn’t learn his 6th grade science? He’s not going to be a brain surgeon tomorrow anyway, there’s time to catch up on that.)
Follow this excellent advice all you sudden “homeschoolers”. I’m a veteran homeschooler (2 girls K-12, both graduated from college). Live life with your kids and you will be surprised how much learning is taking place!
Glad you’re doing well! Do you have instructions for baking rather than cooking the burgers on the stovetop? I’m terrible at getting stovetop burgers/fritters/pancakes just right.
I haven’t tried it but I think it would work, but they’ll be softer. It will be hard for them to stay together without that deeply browned in oil edge.
Also, I wrote too quickly and should have said–THANK YOU! for this recipe that uses exactly what we have in our rapidly emptying pantry, yet looks so good.
Emily, If you have an electric skillet, set it to 365 degrees. If you only have a skillet and cook top, test with water droplets like you were going to cook pancakes. Good Luck!
Quick question for you… if I don’t have panko (I’m as shocked as you are), what can I use to substitute? I do have bulghar, Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, or homemade sourdough country bread…
Homemade sourdough. My favorite for a panko swap is white sandwich bread. Crusts removed. Torn into chunks. Dry or stale them — we don’t want color on it but you can dry/toast it and then grind it into crumbs, it’s basically exactly like panko.
I’ve made these burgers several times, and one time i replaced the panko with oats and they were perfect!
Hello fellow Emily who’s bad at cooking things on the stovetop! I came to ask the same question for the same reason. They do look delicious but I would feel so much more confident baking them. Thanks, Deb!
I’m also challenged with pan frying veggie burgers. I baked mine at 425 for about 35 minutes flipping halfway through and they browned up nicely.
In case you’re still thinking about this 8 months later, I made this recipe many times over the summer (we were sharing a house with another family so meals became a bit bigger than I am used to) and I found baking much easier because it could be done in one big batch. I arranged them on a pan with a nonstick liner, 350 for 10 minutes, then added cheese on top to melt and baked for 10 minutes more. They were a hit every time.
Continue to stay safe. We all have ‘things’ in the pantry that we haven’t used in awhile. Good time to dig those out.
Awww, thank you Deb for coming to our rescue today in such a timely fashion. With 8 people on lock down in the house and lamb-burgers on the menu tonight (someone mistakenly grabbed minced lamb instead of beef while dashing through the shop) the two vegetarians were most unhappy. But now, we can absolutely manage this recipe. Looking forward to a new favorite!
Do you have any options for making vegan without the egg?
Would Aquafaba work? I think I’ve seen that used as a veggie burger binder elsewhere…
I’d suggest a flax egg, that’s what I plan to use! :)
lf they’re on the soft side a spoonful of finely ground flax seeds night be just the thing to hold them together and firm them up at the same time
I forgot the egg, and it worked fine. They were a little fragile, so I put them on the buns prior to serving rather than letting everyone do it themselves.
Have you tried chia substitute for eggs? We use it all the time – 1 TBSP chia seeds + 3 TBSP hot water. Mix together and let sit for 10 minutes or so until they gel up. Then add to your recipe (whatever it might be). We’ve used in turkey burgers and corn bread.
Looks yummy! Do you think they’d freeze?
Probably. I’d cook them first. They’re on the soft side, more Dr. Praegers than Gardenburger brand (not sure if my references hold up, however, I don’t buy many veggie burgers these days).
Yes!! I make the NYT’s white bean burgers all the time which are similar to this recipe. Freeze them as patties and cook them up individually. Defrosting them right in the pan.
These freeze great. Simply wrap in plastic and/or foil. When you’re ready to use, add the frozen patties directly into a hot skillet without thawing first. Fry in a bit of oil for a few minutes on each side. Covering the pan with a lid for part of the frying also helps the heat cook the pattie’s inside better.
What can I sub for apple cider vinegar? Can it be omitted? I don’t have any and I’m making limited trips to the store at this time.
Hi Susa, I would think lemon juice or any other mild vinegar would work :)
I can’t speak directly to this recipe because I haven’t made it, but I have successfully subbed using a mix of 50/50 white vingear and water + a pinch of sugar. it’s not perfect but gives you that balance of mild acid/sweetness!
Thanks, it makes sense.
Is there any reason black beans wouldn’t work for this? Thanks so much!
I am pretty sure it wouldn’t matter what kind of beans. You’ll just have a different flavor based on the bean.
These look great. Think they would work without the bread crumbs? Or do you have suggestions for a substitution? Thank you!
Hi TJ,
I’d personally try cracker crumbs if you have them. My mom used to use them in croquettes. (Like saltines or another bland cracker crushed up).
Stale tortilla chips whirled in a food processor make great substitute for crumbs in veggie burgers, if you have any random mostly empty bags at the back of your pantry like I do.
Katharine – just think what Dorito crumbs could do here!
Darn it, now I want Doritos & I’m Not. Going. Out.
Oats! Quick cooking, old fashioned, whatever ya got!
Yum! I am obsessed with Start Simple, and havent had a chance to do the veggie burgers yet…
I’m so excited to try this! Fingers crossed that I have some beans in my cupboard! If not, what about some leftover baked potato? These times call for improvisation!
Also glad to hear from you! I really need to “hear” your wit and see a new recipe! Sending hugs!
Would this work with other types of beans? I panic-bought a ton pink, red, and pinto beans…
So glad you’re all doing well, and good thoughts to you (and everyone) that it continues. I’ve been cooking my way through the site, as I’m sure many of us are, which is a delicious way to de-stress and keep a nearly 4 year old occupied (for 10 minutes, at least). Can’t wait to try this!
Glad you are surviving the isolation. Any suggestions for an alternative binder? We can’t use eggs for allergy reasons. Be well!
Thanks. Not confident about a flax egg swap, the usual, here. It might work but I don’t know if it will hold together well, as they are soft to begin with.
I have successfully made your okonomiyaki with flax eggs many times. I know that’s not quite the same, but it gives me hope it will work here.
Flax eggs in okonomiyaki! What an amazing idea! It never occurred to me, even though I’ve been sitting here craving okonomiyaki and trying not to use any of the eggs I’m going to need for Passover.
So…how long will we need to wait for that bread recipe? It looks wonderful. Burgers look pretty darn good too! 😀 glad everyone is well.
I’ve only got dried beans – how much should I use instead of canned? Thanks! :)
It should be a scant 4 cups: a little under 2 from each can.
One 15-16 oz canned beans generally measures out to about one and a half to one and three-quarters. If you’re cooking dry beans, probably about a third of a cup would cook up to one cup? Maybe less? It depends on the bean.
Haven’t tried this but here’s a detailed guide on substituting dried beans for canned, from Serious Eats:
https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/04/is-there-a-ratio-for-converting-between-dried.html
Yes yes we all need pantry recipes, but I am holding out hope the Irish soda bread scones/English muffins you’ve shown on instagram…
Made these on a whim because a friend shared the recipe, I had no dinner plans, and had all the ingredients on hand, and I really loved them! The texture was smooth enough to hold together and feel great on my palette, but just chunky enough to still have great texture; and it took about 25 minutes start to finish which is a MAJOR plus in my book!
Also a hot tip: we don’t have tomato paste right now! How? We kept cubes of it frozen and thought we could never possibly run out 🙃
This also works with tahini instead if you have some laying around. Obviously, it will affect the taste but we are frying these bad bois up rn.
Deb, I adore you and my partner only recently found out you are not an IRL friend because I talk about you with such familiarity 😂 keep it up, ily!
Thank you for this! Missing tomato paste here too, but I have lots of tahini.
Ashley,
I had to laugh at this, my husband also was a bit surprised to find out I don’t actually know Deb as I have been talking about her for many years as if she personally corresponds with me.
Add me to list- all I have to say is “Deb says …..” he knows who I’m talking about. Thank you to everyone who has a comment suggestion you’ve made my heart happy brought tears of gratitude. I’m in a state with beautiful weather & the residents are being stupid about staying home Gov won’t give order to stay home period I’m scared. Deb’s post always make me happy & the way all of us who love Deb & cooking make me feel happy for a moment. Keep safe healthy Deb you are a National/International treasure gift. Give NYC a big hug love the city people
Haha people also ask me “Who’s Deb? Is she a friend of yours?” …but my family all know exactly who she is, because I refer to her so often! (Deb, I met you very briefly on your first book tour – so I KIND of know you, right?)
Love it! We, too, have a one-sided first-name relationship with Deb.
Thank you for the Pantry Recipes collection! That’s exactly what I need right this moment! And guess what? I have everything this recipe needs. Stay well to you Deb and everyone!
I don’t have cannellini beans at the moment, but plenty of chickpeas. Do you think they would work here? Thanks!
Probably try peeling them I read some where that cooking them in their liquid for a few minutes really helps flavor & she “peels” them. I know who has time do a google search hope this helps.
Yes, absolutely.
Glad to hear you are all ok so far – don’t know if I can sell veggie burgers to my crowd but they look great to me!
We are living mostly off a well-stocked freezer, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice. Yesterday was my first bread baking, your everyday chocolate cake is being held in reserve for when I really need it – I’m debating whether I’m required to share it.
It means so much to hear from you in these physically social distancing times. I imagine that your home space feels crowded but hearing from you is a breath of fresh air, perfect recipe or not.
Seriously the best vegetarian recipe I have ever eaten at my daughter’s home was Beet Burgers. I figured I would not like them, but hey, no use at least not giving them a try. Four ingredients and no cooking until you fry them up. Two fresh large unpeeled beets grated, two tablespoons flour, two tablespoons nutritional yeast and two eggs, salt and herbs (I like cumin and garlic powder). Mix all together and let sit 15 minutes. Form into 4 patties and fry in a little hot oil in non stick or cast iron skillet 5 minutes each side or until browned. So, so good. Your carrot bean burgers look real tasty too, even if they are a bit more work. Love these type burgers. The beet one I wrote about fills you up but in a light and happy way. Thanks for all you do and stay healthy!
I’m excited to try this when we have beers in the garden. 4/5 of my household loves beets.
I would love to know how to grow beers in my garden. They never quite produce as one would hope.)
Ha! Laura, I caught the second one that came out as beers, but missed the first. I mean, beer gardens are a big deal in Michigan.
Glad you guys are all OK. On the Homeschool front, take a look at the Twitter hashtag #SFFParentsLockdown it has a bunch of great free resources for all ages-Jacob would probably enjoy Daniel J. Older reading aloud fro Dactyl Hill Squad, and Melissa Marr is reading stories she wrote for her youngest.
Hi, now days every country facing the lock down situation, beside of this you cooking skill helps us to stay home with a reason of prepare Dilicious foods,thanks for sharing such a wonderful food recipe.
Can you make these for pesach with Matza meal?
I’d think so! Might need more.
Glad to hear you are safe and well! Quick question: If I am starting with dry white beans, what quantity of cooked beans should I use for the recipe?
It should be a scant 4 cups: a little under 2 from each can.
Deb!!!!! I see your name in my inbox “and my heart leaps.” Way to do your part to keep us grounded and centered, let us off the Superachiever #crushtheday hook, give us creative cooking projects to try that we never had time for preCovid; give us tasty, simple, healthy recipes to get us off the slippery slope of “handful of chocolate-covered almonds, 1/2 bag of potato chips, spoonful of hummus for protein, dinner solved “ that my self -isolating brain is saying is ”perfectly ok”In these crazy times. most of all for making me laugh out loud like a friend I’ve known for ages who I never have to be anything but my own raggedy-glorious self with. Virtual hug, virtual martini. ❤️
Hurray that you and your family are safe and healthy. It’s so great to hear from you. I’ve been reading your blog for years and have made many of your delicious recipes. Thank you so much for the new one. I can’t wait to try it. I hope that you and your family continue to stay healthy.
Excited to try this different-than-the-norm veggie burger! But Deb, could you post your recipe for homemade sandwich bread?! Thanks!
It’s not ready yet. :)
Thank you, Deb.
Black eyed peas seems like a reasonable replacement. Do you see any issues with that?
I think so, too. I happen to have a bunch of dried black-eyed peas from our Rancho Gordo holiday box. Whoever tries it first can report back!
Nope, go for it.
Thank you for the new recipe, Deb. I head to your site every morning as part of my “what’s useful and entertaining” routine with my coffee. You have a unique voice. I will make these gems today.
Thanks, and all the best for safety and quick healing to NYC from the midwest.
Thank you, Deb. I, and many of my friends, very much appreciate your posts and recipes. You are part of my “What’s useful and entertaining” morning web meandering with my coffee. You have a unique voice; inimitable.
I will make this today. Yum. From the midwest to you and NYC: stay safe and a fervent hope for speedy return to generalized wellness.
I have carrots, I have white beans, and I can’t decide if I love the sound of these, but I’ve never met a pantry-based meal that I didn’t like, these are going on the menu tonight!
Also, as someone who was homeschooled, my favorite day of “school” was the day my brother said he didn’t want to do school and my mom said, “ok,” and we watched the Oceans Trilogy instead. We both graduated college with honors, believe it or not 😂 That to say, you’ll do great, they’ll do great, the beauty of hs is that it doesn’t need to look like a classroom.
If wanting to use homemade breadcrumbs, better to use dry or fresh here? Thanks.
Fresh but dry them out. My favorite for a panko swap is to use a soft white sandwich bread. Remove the crust, tear it into chunks, dry or stale them (you can use the oven but don’t want to brown them). Then pulse it in a food processor or crush it in to crumbs. It’s exactly like panko.
Looks amazing and perfect for my wintered-over carrots in my garden. What do you think about using regular bread crumbs? Thank you for inspiration and love
I find them too fine and firm. My favorite for a panko swap is to use a soft white sandwich bread. Remove the crust, tear it into chunks, dry or stale them (you can use the oven but don’t want to brown them). Then pulse it in a food processor or crush it in to crumbs. It’s exactly like panko.
This is just the recipe I needed! I somehow ended up with a LOT of carrots and white beans after my two big grocery runs. Thanks!
Thank you! I have a couple limp carrots destined for this recipe. Can you share what sauce you used to top these burgers?
We used smashed avocado, some coarse mustard… I listed more topping ideas in the post.
I’m in the middle of making these right now! They are DELICIOUS! Thank you so much Deb! I might try them next with half beans half potato since I need to use up a potato.
Do you think this could be made as a loaf instead of individual patties – or too soft?
I’m actually not sure; I’ve never baked a loaf like this before. But maybe muffins would work?
Can any of the lovely people that follow Deb recommend a Gluten free (GF) substitute for panko? I don’t have celiac but gluten seems to really inflame my arthritis… thanks!
https://www.amazon.com/Ians-Gluten-Italian-Panko-Breadcrumb/dp/B00CNVJOBA This brand is excellent. They have a non-flavored, plain variety, too. This is what I’ll be using.
Our local Safeway sells gluten-free Panko in the same section with all the other bread crumb products.
Yes, we used gluten free Panko here and it was great!
Deb – can you tell me what cues you feel tell you that the burger is cooked through? With veggie burgers that have egg in them, I never know how to figure this out because there isn’t an interior color I can look to for reassurance. Thanks so much, illana
I just want it to be brown and crisp on both sides and assume the center is pretty hot from there.
NOM. I’m going to spice these up similar to falafel and tuck them into a pita with those pickled onions and garlic sauce (or tzatziki, if I had cucumbers).
NOM. I’m going to make these like falafel and toss in a pita with some of those pickled onions and garlic sauce (it’d be tzatziki if I had cucumbers).
Do you think homemade breadcrumbs would work here? No panko on hand but I do have a butt of a sourdough loaf.
Yes. I would use the non-crust part of a loaf. Generic white sandwich bread, torn into chunks and staled or gently dried (not browned) in the oven, then crushed makes what I find to be the closest panko swap.
Thanks Deb for a terrific recipe for the times. Just made these for dinner and followed your instructions. I’ve only made one other bean burger recipe that was much less effort. Next time I’m using the Cuisinart for 2 of the steps: 1) grating the carrots and 2) mashing up 2/3 of the mixture before forming into patties. I found it difficult to mash up the beans as the recipe stated, so the burgers I cooked tonight fell apart. With the remaining 1/2 recipe I mashed up 2/3 of it in the Cuisinart and the patties came together beautifully. After we have those, I’ll decide if the recipe is a keeper.
I also found they were a little crumbly. I used about 1/4 cup of the mixture for the burger but I think next time I’d mash the beans a bit more. The taste was superb though!
Mine fell apart too : ( I was wondering whether I should have added another egg, but maybe more bean mashing would have helped.
Very delicious! They did fall apart, except for one of the six. I think next time I will try the food processor method Ellen recommends!
Thanks food friends :)
These were great. I followed Ellen’s advice of using the food processor for the carrots and mashing a portion of the beans (actually, I also used it to grate the onion since it was already out) which definitely helped cut down on prep time. I also added a bunch of spices to the bean mix and we ate them with a spicy mayo, lettuce, and the smashed avocado. Will definitely be making again! My boyfriend was apprehensive at first but was shocked at how much he liked them.
I just heard this entry shout out to be tagged as Put An Egg On It! So glad to hear you and yours are well, Deb.
Love the recipe! Quick question though – you toast panko, but then put it inside the patties where it gets rehydrated and really loses on any discernible quality (except adding fat inside the patties due to it being a bit saturated with oil).
My idea (which I’ll try soon) is to omit the panko from the actual patties, preheat an oven, cover the patties in panko, put them on a wire rack and bake them – that way I assume I’ll get crispy panko, a more solid out outer shell whilst maintaining a good interior.
Any insight why you’d include panko inside the patty?
I’m assuming this is to ensure that the patty isn’t too wet to hold its shape, as there isn’t any flour or other dry ingredient in the mix (it’s most likely toasted as plain un-toasted panko usually has little flavor).
It will stay a bit crunchy if you mix, then cook them. It works as a binder and thickener (mashed beans won’t have much thickness).
Thanks!
I made this. It was eatable, but not satysfing :(
Just here to say <3 <3 <3 for Great Jones!
THESE WERE AMAZING! I forgot the egg but they still worked – also i used fresh beans, delicious – i think it was maybe for than 2 cans worth – probably closer to 4 cups –> made 2x burgers with 1/2c, and then 4x burgers with 1/4 cup.
Highly recommend!
This was so great!!! Our 2YO loved it, too – after she smashed it flat like a pancake, of course (insert eye roll). Thanks!!
I didn’t have tomato paste, and thought “maybe I could replace with ketchup?” Then I realized, the recipe calls for vinegar too. I replaced the vinegar and tomato paste with a Scant 3 tbsp ketchup added after the carrots were browned and reduced the salt a bit . I also added some dried minced garlic.
These were delicious! I added a ton of garlic, turmeric and cumin, and accidentally forget the egg. They were a little fragile as a result, but *so* good! Thank you–this is a keeper, and way faster than my go-to veggie burger (Cook’s Illustrated Ultimate Veggie Burger). Can’t wait til social distancing is finished and we can have friends over to share these!
Used home made white beans, and used a scale to weigh 30 ounces. However, it looked like a lot more than what two cans would look like. I’m wondering if part of a can’s 15 ounces is the liquid. So by just using my homemade beans at 30 ounces, I ended up making two extra burgers, each from a half cup as suggested.
If using home made beans, should be weight be less?
There’s definitely a good amount of liquid in cans. I’ll check the drained weight next time I open a can — likely later today. :)
This was my first SK “fail.” Not sure what I did wrong, but they would not hold together. My husband lovingly referred to them as “kind of like glop.” Not wanting them to go to waste, I made a bit of veggie broth, threw the leftover patties in, and blitzed them with an immersion blender. It made a delicious soup!
I’ve made these twice now and I have found the same. I even doubled the egg and they still fell apart. :( I told my hubby that it was the first SK recipe I’ve tried that didn’t work for me the first time.
He suggested maybe it was because I used dry beans (slow cooked to soften) rather than canned… and I have to confess I used more tomato paste than the recipe calls for… but everything else was the same. I don’t know.
Loved these, thanks so much Deb. We had them on soft white rolls, plus some lettuce, tomato, avocado, home made hummus (using your ethereal hummus recipe!), cheese and pickled onions – and they were delicious. My cheeseburger loving husband even went back for a second!
Perfect dish for Passover as well, with matzo meal. Ideal for dairy dinner.
Hope that you are doing well.
Can anyone suggest a way I might use the dry white beans I have instead?
I mean…how many dry beans is likely to equal 2 cans?
Thanks!
Based on what i just did, I’d say 3.5 cups cooked beans
I cooked 8 ounces of dry small white beans and it amounted to just under 4 cups which was the suggested amount by another poster
I would start with 2 cups of dried beans. 2 cans are about 3.5 cups. You might have a little extra cooked beans, but better to play it safe.
These were pretty good. I like the texture, but i think they need a big dollop of hot sauce! Today i used large lima beans since that’s what i had on hand. If i make them again I’ll use smaller beans.
…i forgot to mention that i served them on Deb’s light brioche burger buns and they are terrific! Very easy to make and so light!
This is exceptional, which isn’t surprising given the Deb/Lukas collaboration. Thank you for a fantastic and easy veggie burger recipe!
These turned out delicious for us. It was almost shocking how good they were, considering the simple ingredients. Recipes that surprise you in this way are my favourite. We used 1 can of white beans and 1 can of black beans as that’s what we had and the black beans stayed whole and were harder to mash up but they were still delicious and our toddler gobbled up her burger! Will definitely do again.
Deb! These are incredible. You’re right, pickled red onions are perfect with these burgers. I also made your brioche buns from 2009 and David Lebowitz’s homemade mustard and, well, my husband said this was one of the top 5 burgers he’d had in his life!
These came out great! I used food processor to quickly grate carrots and found that a potato masher worked much better than a wooden spoon for mashing the beans.
These were tasty but a lot of work. I added to the work by starting with dried black-eyed peas, cooking about half a pound in the slow cooker the day before. Per another commenter I pulsed the beans in the food processor since I wasn’t sure they would smash easily. The burgers were pretty mushy, maybe from my beans or using too much oil in the panko-toasting step.
With no panko at home, I followed the advice of another commenter and toasted instant oats. I also had only one can of beans, but otherwise probably followed the recipe as written and was so thrilled with the result. I was ready to find these healthy-and-tolerable, but they were nommy.
I’m curious about that tube of tomato paste! Does it keep longer than the canned stuff?
(The reason I’m asking is that I hate canned tomato paste. Recipes — at least the ones I make — rarely call for more than a quarter of a can, and I can never figure out what to do with the rest, which inevitably gets thrown out after going mouldy in the fridge. I’ve tried freezing it, but I use tomato paste so infrequently that I usually forget it’s in there and end up throwing it out anyway six months later. So I either need to find a tomato paste that lasts forever, or figure out how to use up a bunch of it really quickly… and I live alone, so whatever I make with it needs to be freezable!)
I don’t know that it keeps longer than a vacuumed sealed can but I keep mine for months; it’s great for when you need a little at a time. You can also freeze tomato paste from open cans in tablespoons for future use, as you would cookie dough.
Thanks! Yeah, I’ve tried freezing it in little portions like that, but I guess it’s just one of those out of sight, out of mind things. Maybe if I had a tube in the fridge, I’d think to experiment with it every so often. I’m glad to hear that it lasts that long. I’ve never vacuum-sealed anything so maybe I should look into that too…
we have an ice cube tray that is dedicated to freezing 1 Tbsp portions of tomato paste, buttermilk, etc. Works great. We always have 3-4 Tbsp of those things in our freezer, for when we don’t have a can. The tubes of tomato paste seemed wasteful, in the sense that we rarely finished them, and couldn’t completely empty them
Deb first and foremost stay safe and healthy. I thought you we enjoy knowing that we are now a three generation family enjoying your recipes. My college age daughter has been sending her grandmother links to your recipes to try while they on trying to shelter in place in Florida. And yes of course I was the one who “introduced” you to my daughter.
I can’t tell you how glad I am that I bought more carrots last time I needed to venture out to the store. These are getting made this week.
Okay so my question – that bread looked amazing. Could you post the recipe. I’m trying different breads right now. Mostly no knead sandwich breads and only have all purpose flour. Didn’t think to buy bread flour before it was all gone. No rush on it even if it’s a project for after all this craziness.
Thanks — I remembered my white bread recipe being better than it came out last week. I’ll work on it again soon, in time for BLT season. It only needs all-purpose.
Can’t wait!!!
Can we make these with lentils or chickpeas….cant go out and buy beans
Made this exactly as written, and they’re a winner! They’ll obviously not be as juicy as a hamburger so toppings are probably essential. We tried the avocado and hot sauce, tasted great, then tried TJ’s Green Goddess dressing and that was good too! Will make these again, and try freezing some too.
These were marvelous – and so easy to shape. Every other veggie burger I make is stressfully crumbly – this was a dream. Thank you!
I made these this weekend. Substituted grated beets for the carrots and black beans for the white. Because that’s what I had. They were excellent!
These are delicious – thank you!
Such a perfect recipe for our social distancing time! I didn’t want to open a can of tomato paste, so I used some of a jar of bruschetta in my fridge. I also didn’t have apple cider vinegar, but used one of the many lemons from our tree. We didn’t have buns — one boy used a tortilla, my husband used bread, and the other boy and I ate them bunless. Thanks for a yummy supper,
Loved these! I mashed to the point where half the beans were still intact and made sure to form the patties tightly. The whole recipe took me about an hour though so it wasn’t as quick as I hoped, but I also didn’t use a food processor for the grating and mashing, which I will do next time. Still, I will make these again. They were delicious, didn’t use too many ingredients, and were pretty easy. Thank you for sharing, Deb!
I didn’t have tomato paste, but I had a thick harissa the consistency of tomato paste. These burgers are 100+ delicious.
Has anyone tried this with another kind of bean? I have red beans in the freezer ready to go, and carrots that arrived from the CSA yesterday…
You saved me again!!! I had a boatload of slightly overcooked black-eyed peas on-hand; carrots and zucchini on their way out. This recipe was IT! My burgers were a tad too moist, but fried nicely in the castiron skillet.
I just made these for lunch today, and they were so delicious. It was my first time making homemade veggie burgers and I was surprised by how easy it was to prepare and how tasty. It made six patties and I’m going to refrigerate two for lunch tomorrow and freeze the extra two for in the future.
I made them exactly as instructed and ate them on burger buns with mayo, lettuce, mustard, and pickled red onions. Flavorful, inexpensive, and pretty healthy meal. Thank you for the recipe!
Thank you Deb! These were absolutely Delicious. Ate them exactly as directed with lettuce, avocado, pickled red onion and hot sauce. Mine fell apart a bit but it were SO good.
We made these for dinner and they were DELICIOUS. The recipe was easy to follow and the burgers turned out beautifully. Only thing we might do differently next time is a bit of red pepper flake for heat. ;-)
Stay healthy and safe!
I made this after making the crazy complicated Superiority Burger and it was 1/4 the effort and tasted just as good (and according to my eating partner, even better) than the Superiority Burger. I added some garlic and cumin for extra flavor. Thanks for always holding us down with low effort, high reward recipes.
I didn’t have any gluten free bread crumbs, but I used 1/2 cup of almond meal and a 1/2 cup of quick oats instead. They held up well while cooking and tasted great.
Not sure if you stated already- wondering if I want to freeze do I cook the patties first??? Thanks!!:)
Congrats to you, Deb! I just saw the news on Eater about your THIRD cookbook. Yay!
These were delicious! I’ve always wanted to try quick pickling, and these onions really made the burger.
As a homeschooling mom, I agree with Sarah and Elizabeth. It’s all going to be okay. Read, read, and read some more. Sneaky trick if you can get away with it…turn on the closed captioning for movies and tv. It’s impossible to ignore the words that pass across the screen. And I can’t think of a better way to teach math than doubling (or tripling!!) a chocolate chip cookie recipe and divvying up the cookies among the bakers.
Just wanted to mention a great vegan binder I learned after making Brooks Headley’s Superiority Burger: potato starch and water slurry. Start with a Tbs each. I think I added a little more water. Worked wonderfully to bind the burgers for shaping and cooking. They’re still pretty delicate to pick up and eat but I prefer a lettuce or collard wrap and a knife and fork anyway. :)
Turned out great!!!
I made these last night and they were truly delicious. So nice to have a veggie burger be tasty with so little effort. Many veggie burgers out there have up to 20 different ingredients and that can be overwhelming to tackle – which means I often wouldn’t bother with veggie burgers. This was easy!
Thank you
Bonus – instead of pickled onions I used pickled beets! Yum
Thank you for this recipe – these came out great! I followed the recipe pretty exactly (except subbing bread crumbs made from toast for the panko, which I didn’t have), and it was very good! I really wouldn’t change anything about the burgers – they are excellent as they are.
For those of you looking for egg substitutes, we use chia seeds: 1 TBSP chia + 3 TBSP hot water. Mix together and let sit about 10 minutes (until it forms a sort of gel). Then add to your recipe. We use it in turkey burgers and corn bread all the time.
Can’t wait to make these veggie burgers this week. It will be nice to try something other than cheese and veggie pizza on Friday!
This burger was very delicious!! I like spicy food so I topped it with marinated red onions as suggested and jalapenos and sirachamayo. I will definitely be making this again. thank you so much for the recipe.
These were amazingly simple to put together and, lacking bread, we put some over a bed of kale topped with a medley of leftover marinated veggies followed by some dollops of guacamole. In, short, a delicious dinner that felt more than wholesome in this unpredictable world we find ourselves.
any advice about how to get these to hold together better in the frying pan? They were good, and the pickled red onion was really good, also. But they disintegrated when I tried to flip them – and yes, I was gentle!!
It’s tricky but you want to get a nice brown crisp underneath before you flip it, as firm and dark as possible without being over. A lower heat might help if it’s scorching before it seems set.
I haven’t made these yet but plan to! With a vegetarian daughter I made a lot of non meat based “burgers”. I find using two spatulas (or one and a silicone spatula) helps. I gently flip the burger onto the second spatula and then slide it back down into the pan. Probably not the best description but the spatulas are opposite each other in the first “flip” and of course what Deb said if they have a nice crust first it helps them to hold better. Hope this helps.
Ptu ptu, like ftou ftou to ward off the evil eye? I was reading the sentence and subconsciously thinking it would be the best place for ptu ptu.
Greetings from Greece, stay healthy!
Delicious! Made them this evening and everybody, including fussy children, loved them. Had them with homemade oven fries, sriracha mayo, and a big salad – skipped the buns as I thought they were starchy enough with the beans in. Will definitely repeat the experience.
Carrot and White Bean Burgers sound delicious! We are really having a hard time getting eggs these days – what would you suggest as a replacement in this recipe? Might I add your recipes are always a hit in our house! And thank you so much for the IG videos – so fun with your kids!
Would this work with chickpeas instead of white beans? There’s been a run on beans the past few weeks and chickpeas are all I’ve got. These sound fantastic!
Absolutely
Wow these are crazy delicious! We rarely eat vegetarian, but were blown away with these ‘burgers’! Didn’t have breadcrumbs so I used 1/2 cup almond flour (as someone suggested) and also subbed ketchup (3T) for the tomato paste/vinegar. I used 1 can white beans, 1 can black beans (that’s what I had). The mixture held together really well. I had no trouble crisping up the first side before (gently) flipping; then I added cheese to melt while the second side cooked. Served on buns with sliced avocado and ketchup. Looking forward to leftovers for lunch. Thanks for a great, easy and very delicious (and forgiving) recipe.
To help the burgers hold together better, I added a couple of tablespoons of Garbanzo Flour (Bob’s Red Mill) to the recipe. Final result was truly delicious with a nice firm consistency.
I made this yesterday and it was really good. I had a bag of farro in the pantry, with about 1 cup left, which I wanted to use up. I cooked that (1 c. farro, 1 1/2 c water) and added it to the mix for texture. It was a good addition, and when I make this recipe again, I will repeat the addition of farro.
Also, after cooking the patties in the skillet for an outside crust, I put them on a baking sheet in the oven with a slice of chedder on top.
Altogether, it was an excellent supper.
Wow! This was the best veggie burger I made, it was delicious!
I didn’t have a few things so I did made a few swap: no apple cider vinegar so I swapped it for balsamic, no panko and I used Italian breadcrumbs instead and skipped the tomato paste. It was so good that I cannot wait to try it as the original recipe – as soon as covid lockdown is over!
Thanks Deb :)
These were yummy, but this was the rare Smitten Kitchen recipe I’ll plan to tweak in the future. The carrot/onion mixture was absolutely delicious, but the two cans of beans added near the end made everything a little bland. Next time I’ll plan to add some spices and garlic, and maybe an extra egg for a binder. They held together, but just barely. I highly recommend using a food processor for the carrots and beans as suggested by others.
I have to agree about the blandness. They were fine, but not that exciting. Something pickled would probably have helped wake them up, but my wife doesn’t like pickles so I left them off – guess I needed to swap them for something else instead!
Thanks for the recipe! This sounds like the perfect use for a can of cannellini beans that has been hanging out in my pantry since before the pandemic hit. And I’ve been craving a good veggie burger. Must be destiny :)
Sending best wishes to you and your family!
I made these last week for dinner, and we got 8 patties from the recipe. I used some white beans from Rancho Gordo that I cooked in the Instant Pot, and I followed the recipe as written. These were more flavorful than I expected. There was no trying to think these would be beef-like. They were simply good-tasting patties on toasted rolls with the toppings. We will definitely make this again, and the leftover patties warmed in a toaster oven crisped them up a little more. They were delicate, but they didn’t fall apart. We don’t usually opt for non-meat burgers, but these were worth the effort (minimal compared to some veggie burger recipes we have tried) and a good option without going for the processed patties (which are not very good often).
I made these and really enjoyed them. Followed the recipe exactly. They didn’t fall apart. I had a pack of Rancho Gordo beans and used them. The burgers were worth my RG beans! I slathered some Brooklyn Delhi tomato achaar on top of one and added a fried egg. Pretty tasty breakfast!
I just made these last night and they were delicious! I had a few beans escape the patties during cooking, but I think that was due to poor forming on my part, not a shortcoming of the recipe. I ate it on a bun with lettuce, guacamole, hot sauce, and quick pickled red onion, which made great accompaniments!
These were really tasty, and I’m excited about the cookbook recommendation – it fits my philosophy of cooking pretty well (“how can I scrape dinner together without going to the store?”) and we eat mostly vegetarian at home.
My only issue with the recipe is that while the burgers we ate for dinner last night held together well while we ate them, when my husband went to wrap up the leftovers, they all crumbled! I’m suspicious that he may not have been adequately gentle with them, but he swears that it wasn’t his fault. :) His theory is that since I baked instead of frying them, they were drier than the recipe intended and that is what caused them to fall apart.
Any thoughts on if this could be what happened? If so, any tips on how to get them to hold together better when baking? I could douse the baking pan with a heavier coat of oil to sort of pseudo fry them in the oven – I just didn’t want to stand over a hot frying pan, I’m not trying to be healthy here. :)
Hmm, I followed this recipe exactly and the patties didn’t hold together. Any idea what could have gone wrong?
(Also it made way more than six patties–dividing the mixture into just six yielded ginormous patties!)
These are definitely on the fragile side — get a deep brown crisp edge on each side helped us keep them together.
Same and same! I really felt like I botched these even though I followed the recipe exactly. The crumbles are pretty tasty, but it was a lot of effort to end up with such a mess. My first-ever SK fail (which is a testament to how wonderful the billion other recipes on this site are)!
That said… I already know what I’m gonna do with the leftover crumbles: fold them into Deb’s spinach & chickpeas recipe with a bunch of tomato sauce :)
I followed the advice of several commenters and shredded my carrots in the food processor and then processed together the beans and cooked carrot burger mixture. It stayed together nicely and the burgers were great. I used avocado, tomato and onion to top them. A really nice and quick dinner!
Delicious! Among the best vegetarian burgers I’ve ever made. Topped them with lettuce, avocado, a little sriracha mayonnaise.
Very excited about these! Can you grill them instead of pan fry or will they fall apart?
Can’t believe I only just discovered this blog… god bless google ;) I cooked these bad boys with the kids last night, and though they didn’t look quite as good as your pic they were a massive hit! Thanks for sharing, and stay safe…
I made these with the flavour palate of the carrot salad with crisped chickpeas (and the soup with the same flavours), which is a favourite here. So I used tahini for the Tami paste, chickpeas for the white beans, lemon juice for the vinegar, added minced garlic, cumin, and a bit of ground coriander to the carrots, and added chopped parsley when adding the chickpeas. I used a food processor as some other commenters suggested, as I think the chickpeas we’re a little hard for mashing. They turned out really well, with lots of flavour! Delicious and easy.
Could these be made with flax meal and water as an egg substitute?
I know it’s a common swap for an egg but I’m not sure here. I see a few people suggesting it but nobody has reported back. I wonder if it’s not holding together with the flax egg, if you could add more flax.
This was a great pantry-friendly dinner! I cooked them as small falafel-like patties and we put them inside homemade pita bread. served with a bunch of random condiments (burgers “a la quarantine” as I call it) tasty!
Made these tonight and the house loved them! Followed the recipe exactly, and took you up on the quick pickled onions and avocado toppings. I opted for 10 slider-like burgers since I always have trouble keeping veggie burgers together and was cooking for 5. Served them on a bed of greens instead of a bun with a mustardy creamy dressing and a side of fry-like roasted potatoes. (“new american burger and fries” my housemates called them.) Really couldn’t believe how tasty these were considering how few ingredients, but I’ve been a follower long enough to know to trust you. :)
This is the first recipe in for me in 3 years that was a total fail. It’s like sandwiching mush patties between two slices of toast (for me). Maybe some people like that, but I want some texture. After cooking the first 2 patties (I had to turn the heat down so I could cook them for about 20 minutes, trying to dry out the inside some), I added another egg and more bread crumbs to the rest of the mix. But having to mix the egg in causes more beans to lose their form. Anyway, I’m surprised because this is the first recipe that went into the trash.
These turned out perfectly as recipe is written, but they are BLAND, therefore totally dependent on toppings for interest. Will not make again.
Made these last night. I added a bunch of garlic, cumin and turmeric in with the onions and a bit of harissa with the tomato paste. Used the food processor to blend everything at the end before grilling. They were a bit mushy but very flavorful – recommend!
So excited to make this recipe! I’ve been looking for a veggie burger made with a different bean than the regular old black bean burgers. Do you think I can make these patties then freeze them for future dinners?
Nice. I’ve made vegetarian burgers a couple of times, tossing everything together and cooking. I imagine your way would be more flavoursome.
Hi, I’m cooking white beans from scratch. Can you tell me how many grams of dry beans I’ll need, please?
Roughly 1 pound of dried beans is equivalent 3 (15-ounce) cans of cooked beans. I just made cannellini this week and that was the exact swap. For larger beans, sometimes is 4 cans.
This recipe caught my eye and these veggie burgers are as delicious as I thought. I added two garlic cloves to the onion (didn’t have shallots but I could’ve used a mixture, oh well). I also had to sub garbanzo beans for the cannelli. For some reason, I ended up with nine burgers using a half-cup measure, but the more the merrier. Thank you for this yummy and easy recipe!❤️
So good!! We ate it on toasted sandwich thins with mayo, spinach, and a beet/cabbage sauerkraut.
These were wonderful and absolutely delicious!
We had them with romaine lettuce, tomato slices, dill pickles, the pickled red onions of course, a devine burger sauce from Ashley Rodriguez’ book “Date night in”, hot sauce, and home-made burger buns. Everybody loved them and even our reluctant youngest family member took a bite or two. Win!
Made these last night out of desperation for a burger, and needing something meat-free due to too much quarantine comfort food!! This recipe is delicious, simple, and definitely satisfied our cravings for burgers! Yummmmmm and thank you Deb for giving us yet another great recipe!
I made a few slight tweaks to the recipe just based on our tastes: I added a good glug of smoked paprika during the final stage of mixing ingredients… because it’s smoked paprika and it just makes everything better. I also used a 2/3 cup scoop for a burger that was perfectly sized for our sandwich bread. We added homemade pickles (see the Smitten Kitchen quick pickle recipe), pickled onions, and homeade aioli as condiments.
If you have leftover mix, is it better to freeze uncooked patties or cooked patties? Or refrigerate?
These were easy and tasty! Topped with avocado, hot sauce and your super simple recipe for pickled red onions (yum)! For any vegans or dairy-free types, I omitted the egg and substituted a flax egg (1 Tbl flax / 3 Tbl water). I bet you could do it without but I really think it helped hold them together. Thank you!
Easiest and most delicious veggie burger I’ve tried! I had to substitute one can of chickpeas since I only had one can of cannellini beans, but it seemed to work perfectly. I served these as a patty and made a curried mayo to dollop on top, we loved all the flavors!
Can you freeze these patties? Would love to make & store…
Absolutely.
These are terrific! We topped them with smashed avocado, plain Greek yogurt and salsa. Very tasty. I usually avoid frying burgers on the stovetop, but these turned out well. Good carrot karma, I guess.
I made these with black beans and white (both dried, soaked & cooked in the IP). My preference was the black – they had more flavor & texture than the white, which got sticky & pasty pretty quickly. The black beans I mashed in a food processor but the white beans were easily mashed by hand. I also used chickpea flour instead of panko for both; that absorbed all moisture pretty quickly. I used an ice cream scoop occasionally dipped in water to portion them out (way less messy) and didn’t have much trouble flipping them in the cast iron pan. They have a pretty neutral flavor but a nice crunchy texture, so the kids were happy to top with ketchup & mayo while the grownups went for BBQ or hot sauce, pickled onions, lettuce & tomato. Overall a good option as we’re increasingly trying to avoid meat.
I enjoyed this! I followed the instructions maybe 60% – this is definitely more of a “jumping off” recipe than something to follow to the letter. I used black eyed peas instead of the white beans, and added cumin, paprika, garlic, and coriander, and probably more salt. I served with pita bread, yogurt sauce, pickles, lettuce/onions, and tomatoes in a falafel-inspired style.
I made this partially in advance by sauteeing the veggies and mashing with the beans and egg, leaving the breadcrumbs out. I mixed in the breadcrumbs right before cooking the burgers, in a effort to keep the texture- not sure how much it helped, but it wasn’t too much of a hassle.
I will definitely come back to this recipe and keep tweaking!
I’ve made these 4 times since this post has been published; twice with canned beans and twice with dried. The canned beans held together much better. I ended up baking my burgers the fourth time I made them (pan fried the other 3) and they held together much better and I am definitely going to do them that way from here on out. I baked them at 400 for about 20 minutes flipping over halfway through (I always make oven sweet potato fries when I do these, so it’s a bit of a no-brainer to also throw them in the oven). This recipe has already been a keeper and I’m sure will keep appearing for many dinners to come.
Interesting, I’ve only made it with dried beans and it falls apart every time. Songs good to hear that there is a reason! But… canned beans kind of gross me out :(
SO, SO GOOD! I didn’t have panko but subbed rolled oats quickly blitzed in my blender to make them something between quick oats and oat flour. I used a franken-mixture of leftover navy beans I had cooked from dried and a can of a tri-bean blend. The volume only came to about 2.5 cups (I will aim for 3.5 next time) so they were a little too wet and delicate, but the flavor is OUT OF THIS WORLD GOOD. Thank you for another winner, and another cookbook to investigate! You are such a wonderful curator of terrific recipes — I so appreciate your work (and, btw, your NYT piece today is so important and well written, kudos).
Just popping in to say thanks for this recipe. We’ve made it half a dozen times since you published it—accoutrement of choice include avocado and a homemade chipotle mayo. Superb and superbly easy. Thank you!
I would tend to agree with some of the other commenters saying that the burgers themselves are a little bland, but we love them as a blank canvas for ALL the toppings. Lately been having them in pitta with pickled shallots, sliced avocado, and curry-lime yogurt.
These are a staple in our vegan household with a flax egg or some applesauce as an egg replacement. So good. I have them stocked in our freezer for quarantine lunches.
I’ve had my eye on these since the recipe went up and today I finally tried them. They turned out fantastic! My only adjustments were to use beans cooked in the slow cooker and make 8 instead of 6 because my buns were on the smaller side. Served with guacamole, tomato, and home canned dill pickles!
Making this for the second time. They are fabulous. Don’t forget all the accompaniments, pickled red onion, avocado, hot sauce. Adding fresh tomato this time. Yummy
Just wanted to mention that if you leave out the egg and don’t shape into patties, this mixture makes for a great vegan bowl topped with avocado and pickled shallots.
The last few times I made this, I have doubled the tomato paste. No regrets.
Would you cook these before freezing or freeze uncooked and pan fry after defrosting? Thank you so much!
I always fully cook my veggie burgers before freezing.
This is one of the simplest veggie burger patties I’ve ever made (no need for the bulky food processor). As with most veggie burgers (including all of the many veggie patties I’ve made from Lukas Volger’s recipes), I usually swap out the egg and use gluten flour instead. My patties were good and together (not fragile).
I used regular bread crumbs instead of panko and didn’t notice any loss of quality.
Really loved these. We ate them with Mayo, pickled onions and arugula. Next time I think I’ll add some garlic when sautéing the shallots. Definitely will make again.
I love these so much. I’ve made them countless times over the last few months and I love them each time. I don’t use the tomato paste, and they still come out delicious. Thanks for the recipe
Thank you for the recipe. We really enjoyed them. They held together well for me. We ate it with hot sauce and mayonnaise, it really does need a sauce, which is not a bad thing. While they had great taste before cooking, after cooking the taste mellows out.
These were very tasty and I will try them again. They did not hold together, so I am not sure whether I need to mash the beans more or add another egg. I might do both.
Has anyone tried these in the air fryer?
These are absolutely delicious. I did add jalapeno peppers to the onions and am glad I did. Because of fall-apart warnings, I smushed my beans pretty vigorously in the pan and had no trouble. I also froze some patties and they cook up well from frozen–I cover the pan while the first side cooks, just in case.
Thanks Deb!
These were SO. DAMN. GOOD. Veggie burgers are hit-or-miss for me most of the time, and these are a true hit.
I made these last night after a few months of deliberation (I don’t always love cooked carrots). I really enjoyed them! Definitely a flexible recipe, I halved it (using only 1/2 a can of cannelloni beans) and mostly just eyeballed the ingredient amounts, adding garlic to the onions, and some smoked paprika and herbs de provence to the actual mixture. Held together fairly well, but I’m not too picky, especially since I don’t usually eat veggie burgers with a bun. Highly recommend with a generous shmear of dijon mustard!
I also used some gluten free rice crackers crumbled up in lieu of panko, worked like a charm
These are the best veggies burgers! They stay together really well and are super flexible. I usually make them with matzo instead of breadcrumbs and don’t brown it first. I’ve made them vegan with a flax egg and it was even more solidly together than with an egg. Last time I didn’t have cannelleni beans so I used black beans and they still came out good. I flash freeze them on a sheet pan and then store them in a ziplock bag in the freezer for easy weeknight dinners.
Ptu Ptu back at you. My grandmother used to say that! I must have missed this post a year ago, because …a year ago. I have all these ingredients now, so we will try it this week. Love to you and hope you are feeling better. Your kids are so quick and bright. Whatever they lost they will find soon.
We are going camping next weekend. I’d love to bring these. Do you think I could make these patties a couple days in advance, stick in the cooler, and cook when we’re there? How might they hold up? Thank you Deb!
They’re on the soft side, crispest right from the pan. But I do think you could rewarm them just fine.
I used millet instead of panko and they were just great. Also went ahead and added roasted red pepper that I had made the day before. I would make any variation of this recipe! We really enjoyed it.
I have a bunch of mung beans in my pantry; do you think if I cooked those up, they’d be ok instead of white beans?
I used up leftover homemade baked beans, as they have a similar flavor profile – tomato paste, cider vinegar and shallots or onions. Just added egg, breadcrumbs & carrots. Worked like a charm.
Thanks for the great ideas. You’re keeping us going during some crazy times. Stay safe.
I’ve made these twice now and they’re quickly becoming a household favorite. We melt a slice of provolone on top and honestly, it’s the only adornment these burgers need. I will forever keep carrots & cannellini beans in the house so these can be whipped up on a whim.
I replaced the carrot with wrung-out grated zucchini and they were a success!
I mashed the beans a bit more and had no trouble with them holding together, at least in slider size. I used a bit of lemon juice along with the vinegar and Penzeys Trinidad spice mix (salt, lemon peel, garlic, cloves, & ginger) but it would also be great with Indian spices. The patties are kind of a blank slate- for topping it was hard to decide among chutney, kimchi, barbecue sauce, salsa…I think any of these would be good.
Can your verify the recipe only has 1 cup of shredded carrots? I made the recipe as written and the carrots were overpowered by the beans, and I was hoping for more orange in color. Maybe 2-3 cups of carrots?
Made this and love the flavor but they completely fell apart. Maybe it needs more bean mashing? Another egg?
Tried this once as written and probably did not do enough bean mashing – as others have mentioned, the burgers did not hold together well – but WOW they taste good!
I made the recipe again today as a “beanloaf” by adding the finished mixture to my 8.5×4.5 pyrex loaf pan, lightly coated with olive oil. Baked at 375 for 40 minutes and it still tastes fantastic, with no frying mess.
Love love these. I served them with pickled red onions and a sriracha aioli I whipped up, on top of greens. So tasty and easy to refrigerate and cook up as leftovers.
Thanks for the great recipe! So easy, and my picky meat eater (6 years old) approved (though I called them “fritters” to avoid a comparison).
This sounds like the veggie burgers my hippie friends in the Haight cooked in the seventies, if you used cooked or canned soy beans instead of white beans. I’m sure he used honemade wholegrain bread crumbs, not panko. I’ll have to try it. Yum
This is my favorite veggie burger recipe!
Question: I’m having a party and would like to make a slider version of these for a heavy hors d’oeuvres table. Can I prepare the patties in advance and reheat right before serving?
Thanks for all your inspiration!
Do you know about what volume of diced shallot/onion you should end up with? I have diced 1.5 shallots so far and it just seems like a whole lot. I’m planning to just use this amount, but curious if you know what your yield was.
I’d say about 1 cup total. Shallots can be all over the place in size, but I think he had small ones in mind here.
These burgers are amazing. I topped with everything bagel yogurt dip, smashed avocado, hot sauce, pickled red onion and some spinach. So very tasty!
I made these with dried white beans I had cooked a few days ago. As others mentioned, they didn’t stay together so well at first. So I pulsed the whole mixture in the food processor until it was a pastier consistency and added some homemade ketchup and some natural peanut butter to the mix to help with binding. That seemed to do the trick, though I might just make these with canned beans in the future.
I am going to try this. I love carrots and any kind of beans but I am going to use cayenne pepper instead of black pepper, but the two pepper not together. I once did them together and my mouth was not the same for a day or two..
These are awesome, we loved them so much I made them two days in a row, both times I used black beans because that was what I had on hand and they came out delicious.
My husband and our toddler both devoured them. We enjoyed these put together as burgers (with all the fixins) but we also loved them on brown rice with some dressed kale on the side. They are extremely versatile and filling. This is a new favorite and a great way to eat our veggies and beans.
Just tested positive for Covid, self-isolating, forced to get creative with what’s in my pantry, so I’m making these burgers… I feel like I’m back in Spring 2020! Though to be fair, I’ve made this recipe several times since it was first published, it’s simple but tasty and versatile.
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I’m very sorry to write that this is the first Smitten recipe that really didn’t work. It fell apart, had little flavor and did not come together, as the others I’ve tried have.
The binding agent did not bind and the beans just fell all over the place, despite being mushed in, as directed.
The taste wasn’t bad, to be sure, but not great either. Just sorta ok.
Otherwise, my wife and I are big fans of your recipes and have had nothing but great experiences. This was a dud, though, for sure.
I’ve made this veggie burger at minimum a dozen times and have never had a problem. They bind fine with an egg. The flavor is simple and unfussy; I find that the apple cider vinegar really comes through. For added flavor, I usually top with hot sauce, ketchup, avocado; maybe also red onion & tomato.
I think these veggie burgers are great because of their simplicity. So easy to make! And they provide a great platform for easy additions.
Lastly: it’s a Lukas Volger recipe. He has lots of other great veggie burger ideas in his Veggie Burgers Every Which Way book.
Made these last night! I made only 1/2 recipe & used the whole egg so I found they held together fine for a veggie burger – that is to say, I could cook them in a patty form & then they of course smush apart when you bite into them :) That’s normal veggie burger behavior in my experience.
I do think they need toppings with pizazz (pickled onions were great) as it’s a mild flavor. I added dill & parsley to the mix & next time might add some additional seasoning. But I like them & will make again.
These were very tasty! I think they’re much about what you serve them with. I did a toasted whole wheat bun, hummus on the bottom half, mayo on the top half, half of a mashed avocado into the top then with applewood smoked hot sauce dabbled on the avocado, and the pickled red onions Deb mentions at the top of the recipe in the note. These are the tastiest pickled red onions and the simplest recipe ever, so don’t skip ‘em!! I served it with a simple lettuce salad with French vinaigrette on the side. Very satisfying!