Black Bean Burger Recipe

With one can of organic black beans mixed up with some common ingredients, you can make 4 burgers for less than $3.  Fresh, delicious and the perfect substitute for a beef burger.

Black Bean Burger Recipe

There is nothing quite like a fresh cooked beef patty on a soft bun with all the fixin’s, right?…except… what?!  That’s a black bean burger!? Yep, a black bean burger recipe is truly a phenomenon. They look and feel just like a beef burger and can be topped exactly the same way. The taste, you ask? Delicious. No, they don’t taste exactly like beef, but they carry a fresh and wonderful flavor of their own.

My father-in-law is as “meat and potatoes” as you can get. I don’t even think I’ve ever seen him eat a salad. When he was visiting a few weeks ago, I served these burgers and told him that if he didn’t like it, I could make him a deli sandwich. Well, my friends, he not only ate the whole burger, he voluntarily ate half of another burger and said {quote} these are good {end quote} …Wow. Words of gold coming from a man who rarely comments on a meal!

The original black bean burger recipe came from a friend who got it from a cooking magazine, but oh how it has morphed over the years! I have added five ingredients and changed up the proportions until our family found the perfect substitute for a beef burger. Aside from the taste, my favorite thing about this black bean burger recipe is that it is soooo inexpensive. With one can of organic black beans mixed up with some common ingredients, I can make 4 burgers for less than $3.00… and unlike beef, there is no “shrinkage” when you cook the burger.

Black Bean Burger Cost

• organic black beans at Aldi = $0.89
• 1 egg = $.15
• ½ cup + 2 T. + 1/3 cup panko= $.50
• ¼ cup chopped red onion = $.10
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro = $.40
• 2 Tablespoon chopped green chilies = $.50
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice = $.20
• ¾ teaspoon cumin = $.05
• 1 large garlic clove = $.06
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

If you do the math, each bean burger costs about $0.70 each. According to www.marketwatch.com, retail ground beef prices climbed 2.2% in March. Consumers now pay an average of nearly $3.70 per pound for 100% ground beef.  Even without adding other spices to your homemade quarter pound beef patties, you are still paying more for a beef burger.

If cost isn’t an issue, allow taste to do the convincing. The other ingredients mixed with the beans will make you think they taste southwestern, but with standard burger toppings, they actually simulate the real deal….I like mine with sliced onion, tomato, lettuce, mayo, ketchup and mustard. My husband prefers his with melted cheese, veggies and barbecue sauce. Any way you like it, there is no denying these black bean burgers have earned their place in my culinary arsenal 🙂

How to Make Black Bean Burgers

Here they are. 10 ingredients. 10 lovely, healthy ingredients.

Start by draining and rinsing 1 -15 oz. can of black beans and pour them into a food processor. If you don’t have one of those, you can mash them up along with the other ingredients. However, your burgers will be a bit lumpier.

Chop up ¼ cup red onion and ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves and add them to the food processor as well.

Squeeze half a lime to get 1 Tablespoon of fresh lime juice.

Add 1 egg (optional) and 2 Tablespoons of chopped green chilies. You will notice that by doubling this recipe (8 patties), you will utilize an entire lime and an entire can of chilies …if you are the kind of person who doesn’t like half used items in the fridge 🙂

Add all the remaining ingredients – ¾ tsp. cumin, 1 garlic clove, ½ tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. pepper and the kicker, ½ cup + 2 T. panko. These crunchy Japanese style bread crumbs are commonly found in your grocer’s international or baking aisles. I used to use regular old breadcrumbs until I discovered panko and now there is no going back! Panko comes in white, whole wheat or flavored with spices – if your store carries that.  All of them will work great.

Whirl that food processor around for about 1 minute (scraping the sides halfway through) until you get a thick and consistent puree.

The puree should be so thick that it sits on your spatula without the urge to fall off. If you find that it’s not thick enough yet, simply add another tablespoon or two of panko.

Now comes the fun part! Pour another 1/3 cup of panko on a large plate.

Grease your hands with some oil and shape a patty in the palm of your hand.

Coat the bottom and top of each patty with the extra panko and set them aside. At this point, you can go ahead and cook your burgers, but I find that if I refrigerate them for a couple of hours first, they harden up a bit and are easier to work with in the pan.

Black bean burgers can be cooked several ways. I prefer mine fried, so when I’m ready to cook them, I heat up 2 T. of oil or butter in a heavy bottom pan on the stove and get to it. If you would like to bake them, heat your oven up to 425 degrees and lay them on a greased cookie sheet. Bake them for at about 5 minutes each side.

Now, I know what you are thinking… how about grilling them? I honestly don’t know because I’ve never tried! As long as you refrigerate them ahead of time, I don’t see why they couldn’t grill like a regular beef burger. If you grill them, let me know how it went in the comment section!

Now back to our burgers in the pan. I let them cook on medium-high heat for about 2 minutes then I flip them over for another 2 minutes. Keep on flipping them if you like them darker. The goal is to heat the burger through while also keeping a nice golden crispy outside.

We are ready to serve!

Here is a side view of my favorite way to eat a black bean burger. Even though I’m not a professional photographer, I did my best to show how tasty this is through the photograph. It is so good!

Hope you don’t mind. I just couldn’t wait anymore 🙂

Enjoy!

More Sandwich Recipes

• Crockpot Shredded Chicken Sandwiches
• Grilled Reuben Sandwich Recipe with Homemade Dressing

Created by: meredith

Homemade Black Bean Burger Recipe

Course Main

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 4

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An easy homemade black bean burger recipe that will have you choosing it over the real thing!

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 15 oz can of black beans
• ▢ ¼ cup red onion chopped
• ▢ ¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro leaves chopped
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
• ▢ 2 Tablespoon green chilies chopped
• ▢ 1 large egg optional
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon cumin
• ▢ 1 garlic clove
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ▢ ½ cup + 2 Tablespoon panko + 1/3 cup panko

Instructions

• Drain and rinse 1 -15 oz. can of black beans and pour the beans and the remaining ingredients into the food processor: ¼ cup chopped red onion and ¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro leaves, 1 T. fresh squeezed lime juice, 2 T. of chopped green chilies, 1 egg (optional), ¾ tsp. cumin, 1 garlic clove, ½ tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. pepper and ½ cup + 2 T. panko.
• Turn on the food processor for 1 minute (scraping the sides halfway through) until you get a thick and consistent puree. If you are not using an egg, you may need to add a little extra panko or use an egg substitute, like a “flax egg”
• Pour another 1/3 cup of panko on a large plate.
• Grease your hands with some oil and shape a patty in the palm of your hand.
• Coat the bottom and top of each patty with the extra panko and if you can, refrigerate them for a couple of hours to harden up.
• To fry, heat up 2 T. of oil or butter in a heavy bottom pan on the stovetop. Cook on medium-high heat for about 2 minutes then flip them over for another 2 minutes. Keep on flipping them if you like them darker OR To bake, heat oven to 425 degrees and lay burgers on a greased cookie sheet. Bake them for at about 5 minutes each side.
• Serve on a bun with your favorite burger toppings.

Nutrition

Serving: 1burger | Calories: 164kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 962mg | Potassium: 398mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 146IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 3mg

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