Black bean burger

A hearty and flavourful bean burger with a perfect texture! This recipe has two extra steps that greatly enhance the tastiness of these burgers. The canned black beans are baked before being added to the patty mixture, which dries them out slightly to improve the texture. Onion and garlic are also sauteed in olive oil before going into the patties, which improves the flavour of the burgers. You can skip these two steps if you like, but try them once and you won't go back!

For the bean burgers:

• 1 540 mL can black beans
  
  
• 1 tablespoon oil
  
  
• 1/2 cup onion, diced (around 1/2 a medium sized onion)
  
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
  
  
• 1 egg
  
  
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (or oats)
  
  
• 1 tablespoon ketchup, mayonnaise, or BBQ sauce
  
  
• Pinch salt and pepper
  
  
• 1 teaspoon cumin or chili powder (optional)

To serve:

• 4 hamburger buns
  
  
• Optional toppings: lettuce, tomato, pickles, condiments of your choosing

1. Optional step: Preheat oven to 350F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drain and rinse can of beans, and spread evenly over baking sheet. Bake until beans have dried out slightly, around 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
   
   
2. Optional step: While the beans are baking, dice the onion and mince the garlic cloves. Heat oil in a medium sized pan over medium heat, and cook the onions until softened, around 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so. Remove from heat.
   
   
3. Put onions, garlic, breadcrumbs, egg, ketchup (or mayonnaise or BBQ sauce) and seasonings in large bowl and mix together. Add beans, and mash with a fork until combined. Alternatively, put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine.
   
   
4. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions, and use your hands to firmly shape them into patties.
   
   
5. To pan fry burgers, heat oil in a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Cook burgers until browned on one side, about 5 minutes, and then flip to cook the other side for another 5 minutes or so.
   
   To bake burgers, place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 375F for around 10 minutes, and then take the baking sheet out of the oven and flip the burgers. Return to the oven and bake until browned, another 10 minutes or so.
   
   
6. Serve on buns with whatever burger fixings you like!

 

• Be firm when you're shaping your burgers, to help the mixture stick together. Be gentle when you're flipping the burgers, to keep them from falling apart.

• Other vegetables can be added to the patty mixture; try diced green onions, bell peppers, hot peppers, carrot or corn kernels. Just be sure to finely dice or grate larger veggies, because large chunks will make your burger fall apart.
  
  
• To make vegan, replace the egg with a flax egg. Mix one tablespoon of flax seed with 2-3 tablespoons of water and let sit for a few minutes before adding to the patty mixture.

• Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
  
  
• Bean burgers freeze very well. Stack them in a freezer safe container or bag, with wax or parchment paper in between the patties to keep them from sticking together. Keep in freezer for up to 3 months.

Recipe adapted from the Capital Area Food Bank

Food is Too Expensive! was funded by the City of Saskatoon through our Healthy Yards partnership, the Cyril Capling Trust Fund of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, and the Department of Plant Sciences. Focus group research to inform this work was collected by CHEP. Thank you all for helping us make healthy food more accessible!