These extra easy black bean burgers taste amazing and are ready to eat in about 20 minutes! These bean burgers are dairy, egg, and gluten-free, don’t require any complicated steps, are perfect for making ahead, and will make both the meat-eaters and non-meat eaters in your life happy!
Canned black beans: the foundation of our homemade black bean burgers. I like canned for convenience (be sure to drain and rinse), but you could also cook your own dried beans and use about 2 ½ cups. Panko breadcrumbs: breadcrumbs help the burgers bind together and create a nice firm texture.
How to Make Our Favorite Black Bean Burgers
We’ve got many vegetarian recipes on the blog, but these black bean burgers might be my favorite. We have already shared these veggie burgers with black beans, but they require more hands-on time than I’d like for a busy night. So I save those burgers for when I have more time and keep this black bean burger recipe handy for the weekdays. These burgers are vegan and quick to make!
I love that these bean burgers only call for a few simple ingredients. For example, you don’t need eggs to make them, which means all the ingredients you need mostly come from the pantry and not the refrigerator.
These burgers start with walnuts, old-fashioned rolled oats, and black beans — the beans can be canned or cooked from scratch (here’s our recipe for cooking black beans). For gluten-free burgers, make sure that you use gluten-free oats.
We used the idea of adding walnuts from our favorite recipe for veggie burgers. Walnuts add a lovely meatiness and texture to the vegetarian burger patties. Try cashews, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, blanched almonds, or pecans instead if you don’t like or eat walnuts. For burgers without nuts, leave them out.
For more flavor, we add richness and umami with garlic, green onion, spices, tamari (or soy sauce), red wine vinegar, and a bit of maple syrup. A dash of real maple syrup adds a lovely balance to the burgers. I was hesitant when adding maple syrup at first, but after tasting the burgers, I’m convinced.
You can make these black bean burgers in two ways: a bowl by hand or a food processor.
- By Hand: The burgers are a little more rustic but still hold together and taste amazing when made by hand. We mince the garlic and green onion, leave the oats whole and mash the beans with a fork. As long as you mash the beans enough, the burgers will hold together pretty well.
- With a food processor: A food processor makes quick work of these burgers. Compared to when made by hand, the texture of the burgers is more consistent, which helps prevent them from crumbling apart when cooking or eating them.
We use both methods in our kitchen. I prefer the texture of the burgers when made using a food processor (like in our video), but when I don’t feel like getting the machine out, I’ll happily make these black bean burgers by hand.
For the firmest bean burgers that won’t fall apart, we recommend the food processor method. However, if you are okay with a bean or two falling out from the sides, make them by hand.
Do I Need to Dry Out the Beans?
In our recipe for veggie burgers, we tell you that for the best burger, you should dry out the beans in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes before mixing them with the rest of the burger ingredients. While that is true when making that recipe, we don’t feel that this recipe needs that step.
I’ve made these same burgers with beans that were first baked in the oven so that they had the chance to dry out. Unfortunately, after drying them out, mixing and forming them into patties, and then cooking, they turned out too dry. Since this recipe calls for very little liquid (often found in extra ingredients like barbecue sauce, ketchup, and eggs), we don’t need to worry about drying out the beans.
Related: We both love these vegan meatballs made with lentils, mushrooms, and onions.
Black Bean Burgers
FAQ
How do I keep my black bean burgers from falling apart?
How do you bind black bean burgers?
How do you make bean patties stick together?
What makes a good binder for veggie burgers?
How to make black beans burgers?
Delicious for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike, these bean burgers are easy to prepare. Place the black beans on a flat surface and mash them well with a fork. Place in a bowl and add the breadcrumbs, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and egg. Mix well.
What is the serving size of black beans?
You can consume as much black beans as you want. However, they can provide a lot of fiber, which can cause stomach upset and diarrhea. It is advisable to consume a portion the size of a normal plate.
What makes a black bean burger patty special?
This is because a black bean burger patty is made up of already-cooked ingredients. Raw meat has long, sticky proteins that cling together. As a meat patty cooks, those proteins remain entangled while contracting and changing shape. This is what creates that springy and juicy texture.
Are black beans good for burgers?
Black beans are very filling too, so you won’t need to go hungry after eating these burgers! Cashew nuts: Food-processed cashew nuts are also used to make the patties more sturdy and textural. They will soften in combination with the other ingredients but will provide more of a bite to the burger.