Loaded Vegan Bean Burger With Special Sauce Recipe

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There's no one way to make a veggie burger. Plant-based burgers can feature anything like beans and legumes or vegetables like beets and portobello mushrooms, or they can attempt to mimic actual meat, à la Impossible Burgers. My goal with this loaded vegan bean burger recipe was to craft something that's easy to make, good enough to eat alone, and that pairs well with various toppings. This recipe includes a Big Mac-style special sauce that adds plenty of zing while remaining completely vegan. I've chosen red kidney beans and cannellini beans as the burger base because they both provide a distinct amount of creaminess, which helps with the texture of the burgers. 

Speaking of texture, veggie burgers tend to get a bad rap because they're often mushy or they're so dry that they fall apart. These burgers hold together remarkably well, largely thanks to a specific combination of beans and veggies in the base, which strike a nice balance between those firmer ingredients and ones with a little more moisture and give. Served on a bun with the bold special sauce and toppings, these burgers are perfect for a colorful, delicious, nutritious, and plant-based meal.

Making a burger sauce is the first step in this recipe. You will need vegan mayonnaise, ketchup, dill relish, yellow mustard, white vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and black pepper. For the burgers, make sure you have cremini mushrooms, olive oil, onion, garlic, scallions, carrot, dark red kidney beans, cannellini beans, parsley, ketchup, Dijon mustard, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper, chili powder, and breadcrumbs. Finally, what would a burger be without toppings? Grab some lettuce, tomato, pickles, and red onions (and don't forget the buns).

Place all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine evenly. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Gently clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel and thinly slice them.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in large heavy bottomed skillet on medium high.

When the pan is very hot, add the mushrooms and cook for 4-5 minutes, until tender and browned. Stir very infrequently so that they will brown. Work in batches if your pan isn't large enough to spread the mushrooms out in a single layer with spaces in between.

Transfer the mushrooms to a dish and set aside to cool.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan.

Add the onion, garlic, scallion, and carrot and saute for 5-6 minutes until softened and any released liquids have evaporated.

Transfer the vegetables to a large dish and set aside to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Drain the two cans of beans and rinse them well. Let them drip in the colander for at least 1 minute after rinsing.

Spread the beans out, sandwiched between paper towels or tea towels, on a large baking sheet. Pat dry.

Place the beans in a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground.

Transfer the beans to a large mixing bowl.

Finely chop the cooled mushrooms.

Place the mushrooms and the cooled vegetables in the bowl with the beans.

Add the parsley, ketchup, Dijon mustard, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper, and chili powder and stir until well mixed.

Add the breadcrumbs and stir until combined. You can add a small amount of additional breadcrumbs only if the mixture seems too wet and doesn't hold together well. Taste and adjust for salt and black pepper. Cover and set aside in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and form each portion into a patty. Moistening your hands with water will help the mixture stick less.

Place the patties on a greased baking sheet and drizzle olive oil on the tops.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, flipping halfway, until crispy and browned. Remove from the oven and let sit untouched for 5 minutes.

Layer a lettuce leaf on each bottom bun followed by a burger and about 1 tablespoon of sauce.

Top the sauce with 2 tomato slices, 3 pickle slices, and 1 red onion slice per bun.

Close the burgers with the top buns and serve immediately.

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There are a few common mistakes many people make with veggie burgers, and one of them is using raw vegetables. While it may be tempting to throw raw chopped veggies into the mix, there's a very necessary reason why this recipe calls for cooking down the mushrooms, carrots, and onion. Cooking allows the vegetables to release liquids, which will evaporate in the pan instead of coming out inside the burgers. Make sure you use a large pan and spread the vegetables out so the liquid is able to evaporate rather than getting trapped under the vegetables, especially when cooking the mushrooms. Make sure you're cooking over a high enough heat to brown the mushrooms, too.

The steps that call for patting the beans dry and for wiping the mushrooms clean with a cloth rather than submerging them in water may also seem finicky, but they're necessary for a similar reason as above — to keep moisture levels down. Another tip is to avoid over-processing the beans in the food processor so they don't turn to mush. Leave some visible texture. Don't skip the chill in the fridge after you make the veggie burger mixture. If you want to form the patties first and then chill them, that's fine too. Chilling gives the breadcrumbs time to soak up moisture from the mixture so they're less soggy, they hold together better, and they don't turn to much after cooking.

Meal prep and batch cooking can make your life easier, and these veggie burgers are great candidates for making ahead of time. You can easily scale up the recipe if you'd like to make more than eight burgers too. Veggie burgers freeze well, making them a healthy and convenient choice to store for a longer period of time and use when you need them.

An easy make-ahead option is to simply prepare the burger mixture before cooking you intend to cook them (or before you even form them into patties, for that matter). Even though the recipe calls for chilling the veggie burger mixture for 30 minutes, you can actually leave it in the fridge for up to three days. It doesn't matter if you form the patties first before chilling them, rather than chilling the mixture in the bowl, so feel free to do that to save cleanup later if desired.

You can store the burgers for longer in the freezer. Whether you store them already cooked or raw, first freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet, which will take about 1 hour. Then transfer them to an airtight freezer-safe container. You can choose to place small pieces of parchment paper between each burger to help prevent sticking in the container, but if they're fully frozen in a single layer before you transfer them, they shouldn't stick very much. Freeze for up to three months before reheating (if they were already cooked), or thaw them overnight in the fridge and then cook them as written in the recipe.

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