Italian Black Bean Burgers

I have to admit, I love making my own bean burgers.

Homemade bean burgers are fast – very little prep time.

Homemade bean burgers are cheap – the cost of a can of beans, an onion, some spices, maybe some rice, a few on-hand veggies.

Homemade bean burgers are easy. We’re talking Vegan Cooking 101 – although, of course, you can get as fancy as you want!

Homemade bean burgers are healthy. You control exactly what goes into them. You can make them low salt, low fat, organic, gluten free … No strange mystery ingredients, additives, or preservatives!

Homemade bean burgers are fun. A great way to start expressing your culinary creativity.

And finally … homemade bean burgers are delicious. You’ll like some of your combos better than others, but really it’s hard to make a bad one.

Today I present a simple version of a Black Bean Burger. Usually, Black Bean Burgers are styled “Southwestern” or “Chipotle flavored”. So I decided to go in a different direction – Italian – based on my love for one of my favorite soup creations, Cheap & Easy Creamy Black Bean Soup.

Note: I used my 2-step cooking method here – a brief pan fry, followed by a quick bake in the oven. If you’re watching fat, you can use a small spritz of cooking spray in a nonstick skillet for the frying step, but do fry. Burgers that are only baked tend to be mushy and crumbly.

Ingredients For Italian Black Bean Burgers

Cooking Spray or Oil

One 14.5 oz Canned Black Beans

1/2 Medium Onion, Chopped

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp dried Parsley

1 tsp dried Basil

1/4 – 1/2 tsp dried Italian Seasoning Blend

Pinch Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

2 TBL Ketchup

1/2 Tsp Sea Salt, or to taste

1/3 Cup Quick Oats (more if needed)

Directions For Italian Black Bean Burgers

Preheat oven to 375.

Drain and rinse the beans. If you are watching your sodium, choose no-salt-added beans OR rinse the beans a few extra times.

Put the beans on a large dinner plate and mash them with a fork. I like to use a potato masher. You want the beans mashed, but not absolutely smooth – you should still see recognizable chunks of bean here and there. This will give your burger some texture. WARNING: Do NOT use a food processor – black beans are a very soft bean and puree very quickly.

Scrape into a mixing bowl. Add the chopped onion. (Do not use onion powder, as the chopped onion adds texture as well as flavor.)

Stir to combine.

Add all the dry spices – garlic powder, dried parsley, dried basil, Italian Seasoning blend, pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (if using), and salt. Add two tablespoons of ketchup. Stir.

Add the quick oats and mix. This should make the mixture “dryer” and easier to handle.

With your hands, form the black beans into balls and then gently flatten into patties. (Depending on size, you should have 4-6 patties.) If too wet or “loose,” add a little more oats and/or put in refrigerator for 10 minutes.

Next, do the two-step cooking trick:

Spray oil into a frying pan and gently fry each side of the bean patty five minutes. Then, transfer to a cookie sheet and bake at 375 for about five minutes each side.

Serve on buns with tomato, onions, a leafy green, mayo, and ketchup. For a little something different, you can make a simple garlic aioli spread for the buns by adding a little garlic powder to the mayo.

A baked sweet potato or sweet potato fries goes especially well with these Italian Black Bean Burgers!

Tagged as: bean burger, black bean burger, recipe, Recipes, vegan, vegetarian, veggie burger

Categorised in: Sandwiches & Sandwich Fillings, Vegan Recipes