Recipe: Beef-Free Bean Burger

Just because we're eating a little lighter this month, doesn't mean we don't have the craving for a fat, tasty burger. This meatless version is flavorful enough, you don't even miss your usual source of proteins. A quick and tasty, homemade option for sure!

A weeknight burger is usually a quick fix. Patty and cook, that's all it takes for your family to be eating in a hurry, but to our surprise, this recipe was just as quick. We love mixing up our burger intake with more robust alternatives, but wimpy and less-toothsome versions need not apply. Although it has several ingredients, most should be existing pantry staples or things easily found at your local grocer. Plus, once you've added the egg white, beans, onions and pecans, the rest can be flavored as you see fit to suit your individual tastes. Here's what you'll need to make ours:

Beef-Free Bean Burger
Yields 4-6 patties depending on thickness.
Inspired By: Eating Well...Living Thin

1 (15oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed lightly (if at all)
1/2 cup pecans, diced (and checked for shells)
1/3 cup onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons green curry paste
1 bunch cilantro, chopped finely
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon ketchup (optional)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 large egg white
1/3 cup flour (whole wheat, white, chickpea, oat - anything but pastry or semolina)

Mash kidney beans in a mixing bowl. Don't obliterate them, but smoosh them a good 10-15 times with a potato masher. Add all remaining ingredients, adding flour last. Depending on how wet your curry paste, onions and garlic are, you might require a teaspoon less or more. You want your mixture to hold shape when formed (it will still be sticky) but not crumble. Chill for at least 10 minutes in the refrigerator. You can stop at this point and leave them all day if needs be, but if you're planning to eat at the same time as preparation, they can use a few minutes to chill before hitting the heat.

Form mixture into patties, we find 5 is the perfect amount, but if you like them a little thinner, 6 works as well. Heat skillet on stove with 2 cups oil (we prefer peanut or canola) on high for 5 minutes. Add patties and fry until crispy/crunchy on each side (3-5 minutes). You can use non-stick spray instead, though they won't crisp up quite the same. They will still be soft in the middle, that's ok!

(*Editors Note: We used 2 cups of oil in a 16" pan. The oil covered the entire bottom of the pan, but they weren't drowning or swimming in oil by any means, so please adjust the oil accordingly to your size pan and personal tastes.)

Serve on a toasted bun, or lettuce leaf with additional accoutrements and dressings as you so desire. We happened to have an avocado that needed to be used up, so we mushed it with a small amount of lemon juice to tops ours off. Quite delicious! Enjoy!

(Image: Sarah Rae Trover)

Comments (37)

I'd like to make this tonight and have all ingredients except green curry paste. Is there a substitute that will save me a trip to the store?

Can you toss them on a bbq grill sans pan or are they too loose even after chilling?

cbreanne- You can probably thrown in any combination of asian/indian spices that you might have on hand, as long as you stay under 1tsp each, nothing should be too over powering and yield good results!

IshmaelDS- They are still too loose after chilling to hit the grill, though if you have a stone or pan that could add some extra support, you should be in business.

Yikes - by the time you have essentially deep fried them, you might as well eat the beef, at least in terms of the amount of fat in them!

Thanks Sarahrae

Bobolink: If you're oil is high enough, it won't absorb much, so little concern there, though you can also spray your pan with a little non-stick spray and cook them that way.

They won't be as crunchy up the sides, but it should get the job done if oil gives you the heebie jeebies.

2 cups of oil? Really? I figured that was a mistake! You'd be better off eating a regular burger from the grill!

Bobolink, at least you're not eating an animal, which, even if you don't have ethical problems with eating animals, is more environmentally friendly!

Thanks for the recipe. I have made numerous bean burgers from numerous cookbooks and online sources, and have never been able to make a really terrific one. I will also say that even the pretty good ones are never that good as leftovers, so make only what will be eaten that day.

cbreanne, you could probably use a lot of things in place of a tablespoon of green curry paste. Maybe salsa? Or just leave it out!

www.vegrun.blogspot.com

Er, it's "accoutrements," sorry to be that person. :-)
I love the idea of adding curry paste to the burger for a punch of flavor.

@Bobolink: I'm with you. 2 cups of oil is not what I would call "healthy" eating even if there are beans in it.

But the recipe sounds nice, if they won't fall apart in 1 tsp. of oil instead.

Can I bake it or somewhere in the middle?

nibblenosh - You could bake them, although I would suggest a high heat, say 450 to crisp the outsides before dehydrating the insides!

two cups of oil? yikes. I made something very similar to this the other day, and I used probably 2-3 tablespoons of canola oil to fry. that's between 5 and 10 minutes per side. They got really crunchy on the outside!

Mine used black beans, but I also added something like 2 cups of cooked quinoa, amongst many other things. :) I love veg burgers.

any ideas on what to use instead of egg white to make it vegan?

Thanks, bklynchic, I was going to ask the same question. :)

If you're counting calories, then you don't want to eat too much of any type of fat, since it's so calorie-dense. But as far as healthy eating goes, the canola oil here is infinitely preferable to the saturated fat in beef. And these have fiber from the beans, the nutrients in the onions and garlic . . . .

to bklynchic and x.girl the ppk has a really good list of vegan egg replacers:
http://www.theppk.com/veganbaking.html

for egg replacer just use a mix of 1/2 t cornstarch to 2 T water.

You just need this for binding.
And it's totally worth it to make it vegan!

I'm allergic to pecans, is there a good substitute? Almonds, perhaps?

You could try almonds, though they're a bit tougher to chew through, pecans are soft, so they lend texture to the "burger" without feeling like you're chowing down on a handful of nuts. I might try a walnut or a cashew first, good luck!

I had one of these for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I made 4 nice big burgers, and even my husband admitted they were yummy!(He is usually anti-veggie burger!)

@Sofistafunk I used almonds (its all we had), and I just chopped them a little finer than a softer nut. Yum!

I also used red curry sauce instead of green :)

made these last night and they were great! i pretty much followed the recipe exactly and made 4 good sized burgers with it. It did have a bit of a kick. Overall, delicious!

Made these today with a few alterations, most notably, I did NOT fry them. I coated a baking sheet with olive oil and put the burgers in a 400 degree oven for about 10 - 15 minutes a side.

I also used tomato paste instead of ketchup, didn't use the green curry paste at all but did add in ground alepo pepper and some jalepeno pepper. In addition to using the pureed beans I also folded in whole ones as well. So that I would get a crispier outside I pressed panko bread crumbs on them before placing them in the oven.The end result was quite yummy and very filling.

Had you of not added the Panko, do you think they would have crusted up well enough simonsan? Or is it a needed step?

thanks for the recipe-- i love real burgers, but after watching Food Inc. last night I am seriously considering becoming a vegetarian. need all the veggie recipes i can get!

We made these tonight on the barbeque (we're in NZ - it's summer here!) - yummy! I used a bit of oil (1-2 T total) on the grill plate - about 4 minutes per side. Definitely better than some bean burger recipes - we'll make this again!

You definitely don't need the 2 cups of oil for these to be good. I used 1-2 tbsp of EVOO, crisped each side for about 4 mins. Very good! I'll be making these again.

Susmita, you haven't been able to make a good bean burger, because they don't exist! I don't see the point of making something "like" meat that isn't nearly as tasty. There are good vegetarian dishes out there that don't try to fake it. Because you can't fake the taste of meat, and why would you want to?

Zoeroth, it isn't really about faking meat. The taste of the "burger" itself is far more complex and nothing like meat. Although there's obviously other vegetarian options out there, we really love the flavor of this dish... but calling it a Molded-Curry-Bean-Mixture-Which-Can-Be-Shaped-Into-A-Patty-For-Easy-Easting doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, plus it's delicious with fries and a toasted bun!

Well I think beef-free bean burger is a mouthful already. Red bean burger would have sufficed. Personally, I prefer black bean burgers. I'll try it with black beans.
To me ,bean burgers are just flattened falafels on a bun- pick your legume.

any suggestions for replacing the pecans with something nut free for those of us with nut allergies?

It's not like meat. It's not meant to be like meat. I remember meat and this will never be a beef burger, but who cares? Equalityjones has it right, it's more like felafel or a bean croquette or patty. Still, there's always someone who gets indignant about these things and gets hung up on petty semantics. As for something to replace the nuts, you might try rolled oats, cooked quina or bulgur, Seeds, if you can eat those, would be my first choice. A mix of poppy and sesame might be good with curry paste, or sunflower and pumpkin.

Thanks for this recipe. I've just put on the pan our 4th batch of these burgers. They taste amazing and so simple! I've replaced the pecans with walnuts every time because I seem to always have walnuts on hand, I'll have to try the pecans next time. The kids love it. I melt some cheese on the patties while they are still on the pan and serve them up with toasted buns and beetroot (yep, a funny Australian quirk). Yum yum!

just wanted to say thanks for this recipe! i'm a definite carnivore, but have some friends who are vegetarian, so i've been trying to look at food in a somewhat different light. i've made this twice: once fairly true to the above recipe, the 2nd time i added black beans to the kidneys, threw in some curry, left out the nuts, etc. it's ALL good.

i'll never think i'm eating a hamburger, but that's not the point. the point (for me, anyway) is that this is healthier (at least in theory) and it's pretty darn good. oh ... and the leftovers heat up just fine for me; i throw them in the microwave for a minute & they're fine.

thanks again, and to anyone wondering if they should try this: just do it. cost of the ingredients isn't high so it's not an expensive proposition, and you just might like it.

I will have to try this with dried beans instead, and maybe oatmeal. Nuts are expensive. As far as being a fake meat, not even close. I hate fake meats, and I don't eat fake veggies. I consider something like this a simple bean patty, and not meat. Meat is too expenisve in my opinion, and I rather not pay for it when I can grow my own food or buy beans in bulk instead.

pretty good!

I made these tonight and they turned out really well. Even my carnivorously-inclined husband complimented them without prompting. I followed the mix recipe except I used an entire egg. However, I cooked them a little differently. I poured about 1/4 inch of olive oil into a jelly roll pan and put it in the oven while I pre-heated to 425. Then I lightly coated the patties in cornbread crumbs and placed them on the heated pan. I cooked each side for 15 minutes and they came out very crispy and flavorful.