The Ultimate Veggie Burger Recipe (2024)

By Melissa Clark

The Ultimate Veggie Burger Recipe (1)

Total Time
1½ hours, plus at least 2 hours to chill
Rating
4(2,457)
Notes
Read community notes

You make a veggie burger because you want the hamburger experience without the meat. This one delivers. It’s got a firm, beefy texture that takes on the char and smoke of the grill, but is adaptable enough to cook inside on your stove. The enemy of a veggie burger is mushiness, which stems from a high moisture content. To combat that, the very watery ingredients – mushrooms, tofu, beans and beets – are roasted to both dehydrate them somewhat and intensify their flavors. Yes, the ingredient list here is long; you need a diverse lot to make a good veggie burger. And each one adds something in terms of flavor and/or texture. Garnish this any way you like, and don’t forget to toast the buns.

Featured in: The Ultimate Veggie Burger

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Ingredients

Yield:6 burgers

  • 4ounces extra-firm tofu, drained
  • Olive oil
  • ½pound cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
  • ¾teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed
  • Black pepper, as needed
  • 1(15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained
  • 1medium beet, peeled and coarsely grated (¾ cup)
  • ¾cup tamari almonds or cashews
  • cup panko bread crumbs
  • 2ounces Cotija cheese or queso blanco, crumbled or grated (about ½ cup)
  • 2large eggs
  • 2tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 2scallions, sliced
  • 3garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • ¾teaspoon dulce pimentón or sweet smoked paprika
  • 4ounces tempeh, crumbled
  • ½cup cooked brown rice

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

385 calories; 24 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 27 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 19 grams protein; 565 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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The Ultimate Veggie Burger Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Heat oven to 425 degrees. Slice tofu into ¼-inch-thick slabs and pat dry with paper towel. Arrange tofu on one half of a rimmed baking sheet; brush both sides with oil. Spread mushrooms on the other half of the baking sheet; toss with 2 tablespoons oil and salt and pepper.

  2. Step

    2

    On a second rimmed baking sheet, toss beans and grated beet with 1 tablespoon oil and salt and pepper, then spread the mixture into one layer.

  3. Transfer both baking sheets to the oven. Roast bean-beet mixture, tossing occasionally, until beans begin to split and beets are tender and golden, about 15 minutes. Roast mushrooms and tofu until golden and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 25 minutes. Let everything cool.

  4. Step

    4

    Place nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground. Add cooled bean-beet mixture, mushrooms, tofu, panko, cheese, eggs, mayonnaise, scallion, garlic, pimentón and ¾ teaspoon salt. Pulse until ingredients are just combined. Pulse in tempeh and rice but do not overprocess. You want small chunks, not a smooth mixture. Scrape mixture into a bowl and chill at least 2 hours or up to 5 days (you can also freeze the burger mix).

  5. Step

    5

    When you are ready to make the burgers, divide mixture into 6 equal portions and form each portion into a patty about 1 inch thick. Return to the fridge until just before grilling. They grill better when they start out cold.

  6. Step

    6

    Heat the grill. Cook the burgers over a low fire until they are charred on both sides and firm when you press on them, 4 to 6 minutes per side. If they start to burn before they firm up, move them to the sides of the grill to finish cooking over indirect heat. Alternatively, you can cook these on a grill pan or in a skillet over low heat.

Ratings

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2,457

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Lizzie B

This was delicious! Rave reviews from carnivores and vegetarians alike. A few substitutions based on the limits of my grocery store and pantry: I used tofu in place of the tempeh, cooked steel cut oats instead of brown rice, mozzarella instead of queso blanco and whipped up my own tamari cashews by cooking them with soy sauce, butter and honey. I served with caramelized onions and feta.

BEVERLY A SAUER

I have frozen them as patties. They are actually easier to cook after being frozen.

Trish

Thiis was absolutely delicious. I made it for veggie friends and we all loved it. I topped it with a garlic-aoli sauce. I made 3 changes: No tempeh b/c I could not find it, nonfat Greek yogurt instead if mayo and quinoa in place of the brown rice. The consistency was great.

My suggestion would be to process the ingredients separately to the consistency you want and then combine everything in a bowl. This recipe has a lot of ingredients and they do not process evenly in the food processor.

Mary B.

OK, I made these again, using brown rice instead of bulghur, subbing carrots for beets (I used way too much the first time), pinto for kidney beans, sourdough breadcrumbs for panko, parmesan cheese for cortija cheese, regular almonds for tamari (which are expensive around here!) Didn't roast everything as long, about 2/3rds the time of the recipe. I actually liked this second version better! Will try using other veggies and other beans, but a great basic recipe.

Randall

Let me tell you how versatile this recipe can be, I prepared it over the weekend and I gave it a SouthWestern flair with Ancho Chili Powder, Smoked Paprika. It was awesome. Did the Asian thing the last time, five spice powder, a little ginger and soy, it's perfect for any flavors you love. Thanks, Melissa

Diem

To make this Vegan, replace the eggs with the liquid from the canned beans and the mayo with veganaise. You can alter anything to suit your taste or dietary preference.

Thank you for the recipe!

Juliet Jones

In the video she does the almonds first, but says not to process them for too long, so they don't turn into butter. So one could take them out, put them in a large bowl, and do the same with the remaining ingredients, or groups of ingredients, then stir it all together in the bowl with your hands.

Allison

FYI for anyone else with similar questions: I made these with extra tofu and skipped the tempeh because I couldn't find it. It was very good like this. Also, I made a chipotle mayonnaise and used that in the recipe, as well as putting it on the burger itself. That gave it a little extra kick. To make the chipotle mayonnaise just mix a can of chipotle chilis in adobe sauce with mayonnaise and little salt.

Carol

I T Flax mixed with 2 &1/2 T's warm water per egg. Mix together and let it sit about 5 miniutes.

Madelyn Harris

The best veggie burgers I have made and they hang together on the grill. They are a little "putsy", but worth it. I doubled the recipe and put the patties in the freezer and that worked well.

Mark

Did another version for my gang yesterday evening. Some were prepared in a skillet, the others were prepared in a middle heat oven for about 15 minutes.
Everyone preferred the oven version.
Yes, prior comments about serving with buns, whole grain.
This is not a plate meal.

If you are a kosher household - just ask who would like a cheeseburger - this really catches everyone off guard!

Rick

Although time consuming, it was a hit at the grill. Best veggie burgers I've ever made. Definitely double the recipe and freeze if you are going through the trouble.

Rebecca

I substituted Tahini for mayo and it worked well...

Sarah Z

Delicious burgers with great texture that hold up on the grill. It is critical that you don't overprocess ingredients so they have a nice bite and not mush. With all the steps involved, I opted to make a double batch and ran each element through the food processor individually to achieve ideal consistency. They freeze beautifully and also grill well from frozen.

KensCooking

This one is a winner.

Now, it's a bit of a pain to make with lots of ingredients over multiple steps. I had to "fudge" a few items due to minor mismatches between my cupboard and the recipe, but still was fantastic. Seriously tasted a lot like a beef burger but with a more interesting flavor.

My only issue was the food processor size required is rather large. Even in the video Melissa is using an extra large one, larger than most household types.

Summary: A worthwhile effort.

Liz

This is more of a grain burger than a veggie burger. It was ok.

Lauren

Just made this recipe for the second time and all I can say is holy god, this is veggie burger witchcraft. They are SO GOOD. Just make them. Just make them!

S. Sri-Han

This burger was okay. Its greatest asset was that it held together, unlike many other veggie burgers. Maybe it's because I grew up eating a lot of spice, but these burgers were rather bland. I increased the fresh garlic and used egg replacer (we don't eat eggs) but I think it needed much more in the way of flavoring. My husband often adds Montreal steak seasoning which makes everything taste supreme (it's the fennel seed). A-1, which I believe is vegetarian, would have helped too.

linus

I've made and eaten many different veggie burgers, and this is the best one I've had. It's my family's favorite as well! Texture is really good, flavor is absolutely delicious! I used feta instead of cotija, and grains like barley or kamut instead of brown rice, also used spicy mayo. We LOVE this!

EE

This was good (especially the texture, which held up on the grill), but not outstanding (it was surprisingly bland). Given how complicated it was to find and assemble all the ingredients, I’m not sure I would make it again.

Mary

These were outstanding!! Limited modifications:-double the tofu and leave out the tempeh-use a mix of plain roasted almonds and cashews and added 1tsp tamari-added about 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast and 1 tsp Worcestershire sauceI used the food processor only to process the bigger chunkier things down to ground beef texture, then mixed all the dry-ish ingredients by hand. Then mixed together the wet ingredients, added them, and also mixed by hand.Cooked 20 mins in a 400 oven.

bluefr0gs

Like almost all veggie burgers, gloopy and unable to be grilled. It’s tasty if you add coconut aminos and too with salsa

erika urie

Vegan option?

Lauren

I never follow recipes, but for whatever reason I followed this one! Super glad I did, I didn't so much as taste the batter before cooking and yet it was freaking delicious. I used rainbow beets so they didn't bake pink, and I cooked mine on a grill pan on the stove (took longer than the suggested cook time), but they came out lovely with perfect char marks and held their shape super duper well. This tastes like a really good restaurant veggie burger (before Impossible burger took over menus...)

Judy H-M

Someone asked whether they can be frozen. We freeze them uncooked. They make a good, quick meal when you con’t feel like cooking.

Ari

Since it has an ingredient list similar in length to a space shuttle build I didn’t use any of the techniques or any of the ingredients. It turned out pretty good, and I recommend it highly.

Gregory

Do we think these freeze well?

Rachel Carson

We discovered a tofu trick that we apply to many recipes, particularly in those where the tofu is playing a role that might normally be meat.It is simple: freeze the tofu block before you use it. The firmer the tofu is to begin with, the better it will be. Freezing tofu makes it more dense, even tough, so it can be chopped up and provide a good approximation of the texture of meat.

APinNYC

I’m on vacation and don’t have brown rice in hand. Can I substitute regular (cooked) pasta as a binder? If so, how much?

Avi

Good, but I don't think they were worth the time and effort. Followed the recipe exactly. An Impossible Burger is better.

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The Ultimate Veggie Burger Recipe (2024)

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