Vegan Black Bean and Mushroom Burgers | Dressed Three Ways

These vegan black bean burgers have a delicious savoury umami flavour and a firm texture all the while being made up of whole foods. They are great with most dressings and toppings and below I share three combos I like to cook up in my kitchen. The first one being an American style traditional burger, the second a Mexican inspired combo with a fresh mango salsa and the third a Hawaiian burger with charred pineapple.

The burger lends itself very well to being spiced in different ways too so don’t be scared to put your spin on it. For example it’s great with ground cumin and ground coriander which gives it a warmer, rounder flavour or with dried or chopped fresh herbs for a more sprightly patty.

Any which way you prepare this burger I hope you will enjoy and if you ask me it’s best enjoyed outside now that the summer sun is finally reaching us here in the Northern hemisphere!

Malin x

Black Bean and Mushroom Burger Patties

Makes 4 large or 6 smaller patties.

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium sized red onion

150 g chestnut mushrooms

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

0,75-1 cup stale brown bread, use gluten free if required

2 tbsp milled flax seed

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp tomato puree

0,5 tsp smoked paprika

0,5 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp olive oil

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius fan assisted or (225 degrees celsius if you don’t have a fan assisted oven).

Peel and cut the onion into chunks, roughly 1 cm x 1 cm. Break the mushrooms into chunks as well, using your hands. Transfer the onions and mushrooms to a food processor with an s-blade. Use the pulse function about 3-4 times until the vegetables break into a roughly chopped, chunky, mince like texture. Make sure not to over mix, you still want to see defined pieces.

Rip the stale bread into smaller pieces, about 1 cm x 1 cm, and add them to the food processor. Season generously with salt and black pepper. Then add in the remaining ingredients as well and pulse the processor once more until the mixture is well combined but still with defined pieces of the ingredients still visible. You want to aim for a rough mince like texture. If you over mix there is a chance the burgers will become a bit mushy.

Line an oven tray and drizzle the sheet with half of the oil and spread it out using your hand. Divide the patty mixture into 4 larger pieces or 6 smaller ones and roll them into balls. Then flatten them out until they are about 1 cm high and place them on the lined baking sheet.

Drizzle the top of the patties with the remaining oil and again spread it out using your hand.

Bake the patties in the oven for 25-35 minutes depending on their size. Flip the smaller ones after 15 minutes or the larger ones after 20 minutes and then continue to cook them until they have a nice firm crust on the outside and a deeper brown colour.

Note: If you would like to barbecue these burgers I would recommend first baking them in the oven for the 15-20 initial minutes without flipping them and then transferring them to the grill. This can be done in advance as well, it is okay if the burgers cool down in between. This step simply allows the burgers to firm up a little before you go on to placing them on the grill rack.

American Style Burger

Enough for 4 large or 6 smaller burgers.

INGREDIENTS:

1 batch of the black bean and mushroom burger patties, see above on this page

Burger dressing:

0,25 cup vegan mayonnaise

0,25 cup ketchup

1 tsp dijon mustard

0,5 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 dill pickle, finely chopped

Salt and black pepper, to taste

Serve with:

4-6 square vegan cheese slices or more if slicing from a block, to cover each burger

4 larger or 6 smaller burger buns of your choice

4-6 generous lettuce leaves

4-6 large slices of tomato

0,5 brown onion, sliced into thin rings

METHOD:

Cook the burger patties according to the instructions found above in this post.

Combine all the dressing ingredients in a jar, close the lid and shake it until well combined.

When the burger patties are almost finished in the oven or on the grill place the cheese slices on top and allow it to melt before assembling your burger.

Toast your buns either in the toaster or on a dry pan over medium high heat. If you wish you could butter the cut side with vegan butter before toasting in the pan.

Layer the burger starting with the dressing followed by lettuce, the cheese covered patty, tomato and onion slices. Spread some dressing on the top part of the bun as well if you wish and then use it to finish off the burger.

Mexican Inspired Burger in Lettuce Leaves

Enough for 4 larger or 6 smaller servings.

INGREDIENTS:

1 batch of the black bean and mushroom burger patties, see above on this page

Dressing:

0,25 cup vegan creme fraiche or sour cream

0,25 cup chunky hot salsa

0,5 tsp garlic powder

Salt, to taste

Fresh salsa:

0,5 cup fresh mango

0,5 cup cherry tomatoes

0,5 red onion salsa

0,5 lime, juice only

Salt, to taste

Serve with:

4-6 generous lettuce leaves or double them up if the lettuce is flimsy

1 large avocado, peeled and sliced

Fresh coriander leaves

METHOD:

Cook the burger patties according to the instructions found above in this post.

Combine all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined.

Make the salsa by cutting the mango flesh off from the pip, then peeling it and finally slicing it. Also slice the cherry tomatoes and peel the onion before slicing it into half moons. Combine it all in a bowl and squeeze the lime juice over it. Season with salt and mix to combine.

Layer the “lettuce cup” burgers by spreading the dressing onto the lettuce leaf followed by the sliced avocado, burger patty, fresh mango salsa and finish of with the coriander leaves.

Note: This combo works really great in a bun as well if you prefer it that way. Simply layer the components up in a bun instead of serving it on a lettuce leaf and enjoy!

Hawaiian Burger

Enough for 4 larger or 6 smaller burgers

INGREDIENTS:

1 batch of the black bean and mushroom burger patties, see above on this page

Sriracha mayo:

0,5 cup vegan mayonnaise

1-2 tsp sriracha hot sauce

Serve with:

0,5 small pineapple

4-6 square vegan cheese slices, optional

4-6 generous lettuce leaves

4-6 large tomato slices

0,5 red onion, sliced into thin rings or half moons

METHOD:

Cook the burger patties according to the instructions found above in this post.

Combine the vegan mayonnaise and sriracha hot sauce in a bowl and mix until well combined. Adjust the amount of sriracha sauce to your liking but it should be a little hot.

Optional: When the burger patties are almost finished in the oven or on the grill place the cheese slices on top and allow it to melt before assembling your burger.

Cut the end and the husk off of the pineapple and slice it into 4-6, 0,5 cm thick rings*. Cut the harder core out of each slice. Heat a dry pan over medium heat and once hot fry the pineapple slices for a couple of minutes on each side. Until they are nicely charred, but not burnt, on each side.

Toast your buns either in the toaster or on a dry pan over medium high heat. If you wish you could butter the cut side with vegan butter before toasting in the pan.

Layer the burger starting with the dressing followed by lettuce, tomato, the (possibly cheese covered) patty, fried pineapple and onion slices. Spread some dressing on the top part of the bun as well if you wish and then use it to finish off the burger.

* You might end up with left over peeled pineapple and if you don’t want to eat it in the next couple of days feel free to freeze it in chunks and use them in smoothies.