Learn how to use the ingredients you already have on hand to make the best ever veggie burgers. Our Vegetarian Burger Topic is brought to you by Produce for Kids. Your healthy family resource for nutritious meals.
There’s nothing more frustrating than wanting to make a veggie burger and realizing you’re missing half the ingredients. With this easy formula, you can create your own awesome veggie burger recipe with whatever you have lying around! Feel free to use fresh or frozen vegetables and leftover grains from a previous dinner (or last night’s takeout!) to make these burgers even easier.
Video: How To Make Vegetarian Burgers
The Formula For Vegetarian Burgers
What you’re going to do is build your burger mixture using the lists and amounts below. The formula is…
The Best Veggie Burger = Standard Ingredients + 2 Cups Chopped Soft Veggies + 1 Cup Cooked Grains + 1 and 1/2 Cups Cooked Legumes + 1/2 Cup Flavor/Texture Booster + 3 Tsp. Spices + 1/2 Cup Dry Base
Choose your ingredients from the lists below based on what you have and then follow the instructions to build your best veggie burger. Yay!
Can You Freeze Homemade Veggie Burgers?
Yes! These veggie burgers can be frozen for up to three months. I think it’s best to cook them first, then freeze them so they can just be heated through from the freezer. Wrap them individually and then store in a zip-top freezer bag. The recipe as written makes 8 patties, so it’s great to enjoy some right away and store the extras for an easy and delicious meal later on.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you cooked them before freezing, you can simply microwave the frozen patties for 30 seconds at a time until heated through.
You could also bake them in the oven straight from frozen. Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes, until heated through, flipping them halfway through. Or they can be cooked in a skillet on the stove over medium heat for 12-14 minutes, flipping every few minutes.
I have found that they don’t need it to hold together. If you’d prefer to use egg, use it in place of the reserved liquid from the legumes.
Podcast Episode On Making Veggie Burgers
Listen to our editor, Christine Pittman, explain briefly how this veggie burger formula comes together, with great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
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The Perfect Veggie Burger Formula
Learn how to use the ingredients you already have on hand to make the best ever veggie burgers.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Refrigerate: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 burger patties 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
STANDARD INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1–2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- oil for cooking (e.g. olive oil, coconut oil, peanut oil)
2 CUPS COOKED VEGETABLES, FINELY DICED OR CHOPPED (PICK 1-3)
- sweet potatoes
- beets (golden or red)
- carrots
- mushrooms
- spinach
- kale
- corn
- squash
- broccoli
- cauliflower
- artichokes
- zucchini
- bell peppers
1 CUP COOKED GRAINS (PICK 1)
- millet
- quinoa
- bulgur
- rice
- buckwheat
1½ CUPS COOKED LEGUMES, LIQUID RESERVED (PICK 1-2)
- canned beans (e.g. black, pinto, cannellini, kidney)
- lentils (red or green)
- chickpeas
- soybeans
- mung beans
- adzuki beans
- black eyed peas
½ CUP FLAVOR/TEXTURE BUILDERS (PICK 2)
- fresh herbs, finely chopped (e.g. cilantro, basil, dill, parsley, thyme, sage, chives)
- scallions, thinly sliced
- chopped nuts (e.g. walnuts, almonds, pecans, cashews)
- chopped sundried tomatoes
- chopped olives
- flax seeds
- chia seeds
- sesame seeds
- mashed avocado
- unsweetened nut butter (e.g. peanut, almond, cashew)
- tahini
3 TEASPOONS SPICES (PICK 2-4)
- cumin
- chili powder
- smoked paprika
- cayenne powder
- Italian seasoning
- black pepper
- fennel
- oregano
- curry powder
- coriander
- cinnamon
- turmeric
- citrus zest
½ CUP DRY BASE (PICK 1)
- ground oats
- cornmeal
- bread crumbs
- panko
- almond meal*
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and salt and cook until the onion is translucent, 2-3 minutes. Add vegetables and cook until soft, 5-10 minutes.
- Transfer the cooked vegetables to a food processor**. Add all remaining ingredients except the reserved bean liquid and frying oil. Pulse 5-10 times to combine. Don’t overdo it; you don’t want a paste!
- Press the mixture between your fingers. If you can form a patty with it, you’re good to go. If it’s too crumbly, add the reserved bean liquid, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it sticks together. If the mixture is too wet, add more of the dry base ingredient, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you reach the right consistency. Taste the mixture and add salt to your taste.
- Form the mixture into 8 patties (about ⅓ cup of the mixture each) and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate the patties uncovered for 30 minutes. (Don’t skip this step! Resting will help the patties stay together.)
- When ready to cook, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook 3-4 patties at a time until brown on one side, then flip and brown the other side. It should take about 3-4 minutes per side. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan before cooking each batch of burgers.
- Serve immediately or cool and then wrap each burger in foil, place them in a freezer bag, and freeze for later. Reheat in a dry pan on the stove, in the oven or in the microwave.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
Notes
*We’ve heard from a reader that almond flour doesn’t work in place of almond meal. We’re doing testing now and once we know for sure, we will revise the recipe to reflect this issue. Until then, be sure you’re using almond meal and not almond flour.
**You can also do this in a large bowl with a potato masher. Just make sure your veggies are cooked so they are soft enough to mash! Use a potato masher or large mixing spoon to mix and mash the ingredients together.
This post originally appeared in July 2016 and was revised and republished in October 2022.
Looks great! Would this be good as a substitute for ground meat? In that case would it be ok to fry in the skillet without making patties? Thank you!
I don’t think it’s the best substitute for ground meat, but it depends what you want to use it for. I quite like using lentils, like this lentil taco filling and lentil Bolognese sauce.
My combination that tasted good, in case any one wants to try:
Base +
Bulgur (grain)
Tumeric, Italian seasoning and chilli (spices)
Sweet potatoes and yellow bellpeppers (vegetables)
Sundried tomatoes and walnuts (taste)
Oats (dry base)
Black beans
Great recipe, thanks! 🙂
Thanks for sharing your combo, CH! I love to hear all the different versions people make with this.
Hi, if ai wanted to use TVP what step would that replace? Thanks so much!
I always come back to this recipie it’s so good!
Love to hear that, Fin!
Absolutely the best vegan burger recipe I’ve tried. Believe me I’ve tried alot of different ones. Very versatile to what fits your taste buds. This is a keeper. Thank you for sharing.
So glad to hear that you love it, Rachel! So many delicious combinations to choose from.
Weird question: the quinoa I have is from 365 and it’s a blend of “red quinoa, buckwheat and millet”. Is this safe to use as the one cup of cooked grains? I ask because you recommend to pick one and this has three! lol.signed, clueless cook….
Syl, yes that will be totally fine! Great question though, not clueless at all. Enjoy!
This is my go to recipe when making veggie burgers. My husband and I both love them no matter which vegetables are used to create them, and usually use black beans and dark red kidney beans as the base. We shared them with a neighbor the other day, and he came back today asking for the recipe. Simply delicious every time!!
Thank you so much, Donna! I’m thrilled to hear they were such a hit.
I cannot eat lentils or beans or legumes of any kind unfortunately. I love them but they are too hard on my stomach. Can I just double up on the grains?
Michele, I’ve never actually tried it so I’m not 100% sure, but I do think it could work. And instead of the reserved bean liquid, I’d reserve some of the water used to cook the grains since it will likely have some starchiness or similar. If you can eat tofu, which is soybean-based, I know, that might work. Especially a firmer one. If I think of anything else, I’ll let you know. Thank you for a great question!
I love this recipe! It’s the only one I ever use for veggie burgers. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Rachael! So happy you love it.
My friends and I made these yesterday and it was so much fun and we loved your choices in all the ingredients. Thank you so much!!
I’m so happy to hear that you guys had a good time making them, Debbie! You can even switch up the ingredients next time so it never gets old. 🙂
I want to triple the recipe. But it looks like the only thing that changes is the onion and garlic. Am I not reading this correctly. I have two friends coming to make this together and I want it to be right. Thanks
If you’re using the 3x scale on the recipe card, it doesn’t quite understand this recipe because it’s a mix and match formula. So to triple the recipe,
3 medium onions
3–6 garlic cloves
1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt
6 cups cooked veggies, chopped or diced, from the list
3 cups cooked grains
4.5 cups cooked legumes
1.5 cups from the flavor/texture builder list
9 tsp (3 Tbsp.) of spices
1.5 cups of a dry base
Hope that helps, Debbie. Sounds like fun to make a big batch with friends!