Ugh. What a cocky recipe title. But I'm serious. This trust is the best veggie burger recipe! I have sort of an attitude about veggie burgers because most restaurants don't treat veggie burgers with the proper respect they deserve. They're generally just some sad afterthought, a requirement for burger establishments so vegetarians don't starve to death while at their restaurant. Can you tell I'm passionate about the subject?
As a meat-eater, I eat veggie burgers all the time because I love them. I would never say that a veggie burger is necessarily better than a meaty, bacon-loaded burger with melty cheese on top, but I would say they're just different - you can't really compare the two. I don't always want that kind of burger; sometimes I want to go lighter, fresher but still want to feel full.
The Mix Is Important!
These veggie burgers are a mix of garbanzo beans, black beans, beets (!!), heirloom pink rice (can we talk about my love affair with fancy rice?), a bunch of spices and some red onion. They're vegan, too! No egg to hold them together - the coldness from the fridge helps bind them. It's vegan science. You can actually keep the mixture in the fridge for up to three days. You're welcome to make it ahead and then assemble them when you want to cook them up!
Since I'm not a vegan, I love adding cheese to every burger ever, meat or no meat. Obviously this 100% optional AND there are a lot of really good vegan cheeses out there now that have zero palm oil and actually melt. They're magical! I would head to your local health food store and seek out one that's perfect for this veggie burger.
I love these things so much. I hope you get a chance to make: The Best Veggie Burger Recipe . Get at it!

The Best Veggie Burger
Ingredients
Patties:
- 8 ounces beets steamed or roasted and peeled*
- 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, washed and drained
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, washed and drained
- ½ cup cooked brown rice
- ¼ cup rolled oat flour**
- ½ red onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- Kosher salt
- Freshly black pepper
For the burgers:
- 6 hamburger buns
- 6 thin slices of Morbier cheese or other strong cow’s milk cheese of choice
- Dijon mustard optional
- Mayonnaise optional
- Butter lettuce
- 1 tomato sliced
Instructions
To make the patties:
- Pulse beets in a food processor until roughly chopped. Add beets to a large bowl, along with the garbanzo beans, black beans, brown rice, oat flour, red onion, garlic, sumac, thyme leaves, ground cumin and ground coriander. Mash with two forks until all the beans are incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste. (I added about one teaspoon of kosher salt and half of a teaspoon of pepper.)
- Using a half cup measure, form six patties. Cover them with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. (Since we aren’t using egg to bind the mix, this step helps the patties hold together.)
- Melt butter or olive oil in a non-stick skillet. Toast the hamburger buns for 1-2 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add more butter or olive oil if needed. Add the patties and cook on both sides for 3-4 minutes and until the tops are lightly golden brown. Place the slices of cheese on top of each burger and cook for 1 minute longer, until cheese is melty.
For the burgers:
- To assemble burgers, add a smear or two of Dijon mustard and mayonnaise, a sheet of butter lettuce and a slice of tomato to one half of the bun. Top with the veggie burger pattie and the other half of the bun. Repeat until all six burgers are assembled.
Silvana says
Does anyone have this recipe ingredients in grams? I'm converting online and... something is wrong... 4 burgers 115oz of beans means 3kg of beans this is not possible...
Would really love to try this recipe, so any help will be a must! Thanks
Ken Wicker says
I located this recipe on Pinterest... So I tried it, with a little bit of a twist....instead of the beets, I added cooked quinoa. They were DELICIOUS!!!!!!!
I will definitely try the beets next go round..... We ate ours with hearts of romaine lettuce and tomato.....Thank You very much!!!
23 March 2021
Tuesday
Adrianna Adarme says
thanks so much. so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Vanessa says
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
Suzanne says
This looks so good! What a great variety of protein, grains, and veggies!
Carol Lovell says
What is sumac and where do you buy it? Could you leave it out?
Adrianna Adarme says
you can find sumac at most middle eastern restaurants. it actually comes from a bush. it's a bit tart and super flavorful. you can absolutely skip it! 🙂
Joss says
I've never seen sumac in the spice aisle. Isn't that poison oak?
Adrianna Adarme says
Not really. There is a type of sumac oak that is poisonous. Obviously the one you would find in the spice aisle is not poisonous or harmful. It's very popular in Middle Eastern cooking. It adds a bit of tartness to anything you add it to. If you can't find it, feel free to skip it! 🙂
Gayle says
My burgers were amazing! Thank you. They came out a bit too “wet” or moist on the inside after baking. Is there a trick to drying them out a bit without making them dry?
Tammy says
what if I don't have "sumac"? and where would I find it?
Adrianna Adarme says
You can skip the sumac. You should be able to find it at any middle eastern restaurant. Whole Foods should have it too!
Terra says
I made these, and really loved the taste! They were SO mushy though! Do you have some suggestions on making them less mushy? My husband and I were thinking that maybe having thinner patties might help, and I saw a recommendation to try raw shredded beets - do you have any other suggestions?
Amy says
i rarely see beets at my grocery store..can i use canned beets or would that be gross?
Adrianna Adarme says
umm im actually not sure because i've never eaten canned beets but you can give it a try!
Rachel Page says
This recipe looks yummy. I can't wait to try it.