Black Bean Burgers

These black burgers are made with quick sauteed garlic, an entire can of black beans, quinoa, and delicious spices like cumin and onion. This combination of ingredients gives the burgers a rich, savory flavor.

Our recipe uses a mixture of black beans, oats, seeds, and spices to create a paste that holds the burger together. This addresses a common complaint about homemade veggie burgers falling apart when cooked.

Favorite Black Bean Burgers!

There are so many options these days for premade veggie burgers, but today we’re teaching you how to make our go-to homemade black bean burgers that taste just as good (if not better) than a real beef burger.

Not only do we love cooking these up for a vegetarian meal, but it’s the best when we still have a few left in the freezer that I can thaw and cook for a less than 20-minute dinner during the week.

PS: we’ve done the dirty work for you in testing these black bean burgers to make sure they stay together when cooking. You can thank the binding of ground black beans, oats, and water!

What You Need

The basis of these veggie burgers is quinoa and black beans. They’re flavored with garlic, onion, and cumin and topped with all of your favorite things.

How to Make Black Bean Burgers

These black bean quinoa will bring you to veggie burger heaven. Head to the recipe card to get the ingredient amounts and more details on how to make this recipe. 

First, prepare quinoa in a small skillet by bringing water and quinoa to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for around 15 minutes.

The “glute” or the binder for this recipe is a mixture of black beans, oats, seeds, and spices. The combination of all of them creates the perfect paste to hold the burger together.

Place black beans, sunflower seeds, oats, and spices into a high-speed food processor and pulse until a thick paste is formed.

We do recommend using a food processor for this recipe. It is important to get the black beans pureed so that they hold everything together as a bind.

When the black bean mixture is sticky add the red bell pepper, onion, and quinoa to the black bean mixture.

Use your hands or a spoon to mix everything together until it holds together.

To form your quinoa patties, use a 1/3 measuring cup. Use your hands to create a ball and then pat them own into a patty.

Just make sure that all of the patties are the same thickness so that they cook evenly.

Though you are more than welcome to pan-fry your burgers, we love baking them. We found that veggie burgers stayed together better if you drizzle them with oil and pop them in the oven as opposed to grilling or pan frying. There is much less room for error.

Place each quinoa burger on an oiled baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and bake for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.

While the quinoa black bean burgers are in the oven, mix up your burger sauce in a bowl. Add yogurt, lime juice, and spices to a bowl and mix well. Place in the fridge until black bean burgers are ready.

Remove burgers from the oven and place them on your favorite bun. Top with yogurt sauce, sliced tomato, and avocado. Enjoy.

More Topping Ideas

You are more than welcome to top your veggie burgers with whatever your heart desires. I’m a ketchup girl and will almost always top any burger of mine with that. Here are more ideas:

• sauerkraut
• mustard
• caramelized onions
• homemade ranch
• ketchup

Pan Fry Instructions

We tested this recipe both on the grill and stovetop, and while you can, we recommend baking them. The reason is that they stay together much better.

However, If you want to grill or pan fry, we suggest going with pan frying. Use olive oil and cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side.

Top Tip – Make Sure You Have a Binder

The main complaint people have about homemade veggie burgers is that they fall apart when you cook them. The key is to make sure you have a good moist bind ratio to your other ingredients.

Use one of the ingredients below as a binder and you’ll be golden just make sure!

• Whisked eggs
• Flax egg
• Pureed Beans (black, garbanzo, pinto)
• Nut Butter
• Sweet potato puree

We live in a world with so many options. There are so many options when it comes to what you pair your veggie patty with. Below are our favorite “bun” options beyond hamburger buns.

• Pretzel Bun
• Brioche Bun
• English Muffin
• Butter Lettuce
• Cabbage

Let black bean burger patties cool completely. Then, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days.

1. Follow the direction in the recipe card below to fully cook your burgers.
2. Let black bean burgers cool completely. Then, tightly wrap each burger patty with a piece of tin foil.
3. Freeze for up to 3 months.

When you’re ready to eat, let the burgers thaw and then heat up in the oven or pan fry.