Going veg doesn’t mean you have to give up burgers. There are lots of plant-based ingredients you can make delicious burgers with. But if you’ve ever had a veggie burger that falls apart while you’re cooking it or when you take the first bite, you know it’s a less than great experience. Burgers made with meat and/or eggs have lots of sticky saturated fats which help them hold together but vegan burgers don’t have this fat so they often fall apart.
Is it possible to keep the saturated fats out of our burgers and still have them hold together? You bet! After a lot of experimentation and a lot of burgers that just didn’t hold up, I finally got a hand on how to keep my veggie burgers from turning into mush.
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Use an egg substitute. Flax eggs are a popular choice.
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Add a starchy ingredient. Adding flour or oats can help the burgers stick together, without using eggs.
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Mash everything together well. …
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Keep the patty size reasonable.
Use an Egg Replacer
As mentioned, eggs help veggie burgers hold together because they have saturated fats. For an eggless burger, use a different type of binder. I like to make a “flax egg” by combining 1 Tbs. ground flax seed and 3 Tbs. warm water and letting it sit until it gels. You can also make this type of egg replacement with chia seeds or psyllium husks. Agar agar gets gelatinous when mixed with an equal amount of water. You can also create a binder by combining cornstarch, tapioca starch or arrowroot powder with warm water.
Add Sticky/Starchy/Dry Ingredients
Besides using an “egg” binder, other sticky ingredients can help hold the burger together. However, some sticky ingredients are also wet so you don’t want to use too much of them. Mashed potatoes, beans, and lentils are sticky as are nut butter, tahini, tomato paste, mustard, barbecue sauce and vegan Worcestershire sauce. Some dry ingredients get sticky get they get wet such as breadcrumbs, flour, oats, rice, quinoa, barley, ground nuts and seeds, spices and cornstarch.
If your burger mix is too wet, adding these will create a type of paste. You don’t want to use a lot of sticky ingredients though, you want the mixture to hold together but not feel gooey.
How to Keep Veggie Burgers from Falling Apart when Cooking
Can I use leftover lentils for burgers?
If you have leftover lentils from making this Mediterranean Chickpea Salad, this is the perfect recipe to use them up! It’s vegan and gluten-free. Many vegan burgers are made with wheat-based ingredients to help bind the patties together, but this recipe is 100% gluten-free and vegan as is.
Can one replace meat with lentils?
As lentils are packed with protein, they can be a very good substitute for meat, in many plant-based dishes. Lentils can be used in burgers, meatballs, meatloaf, tacos, burritos, marinara sauce, etc. Lentils have no saturated fats (as meat has), and also contain iron, zinc, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin B, and most of the essential amino acids.
How to make lentil burgers?
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook burger patties until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Prepare Tahini Slaw by combining lemon juice, tahini, and sugar in a bowl; mix well. Toss with cabbage, carrots, and parsley; season to taste with salt and pepper. Place one lentil burger on each of 4 buns.
Can you cook lentil burgers on a grill?
Yes. If you’d like to cook these lentil burgers on the BBQ you have two options: Either place the patties directly on the hot grill, or place the patties on a baking sheet on top of the grill that’s drizzled lightly with olive oil.