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I’ve been working on making a good veggie burger for years now and they’ve always turned out mushy and tasteless. Granted, I usually attempt this when my pantry is empty and I’m scrounging around, throwing things in a bowl, hoping it will turn into a burger. Sadly, the fairy godmother never turned my cinderellas into princesses and I gave up trying. But a friend of mine requested that I make “An actually tasty veggie burger!!!!! Cheese veggie burger!!!”. So after researching the veggie burgers of the great professionals, I give you the Jalapeno Popper Black Bean Burger.
This recipe is based largely off of the Buddhist Chef’s black bean veggie burger. I tweaked it a bit, but the base recipe is his. You can find his recipe here. His ratio of beans to bread crumbs to rice keeps the burger together without being mushy like so many homemade veggie patties are.
To make the burgers, throw everything into a food processor and blend for about 15 seconds. You want everything to just hang together without being pureed. I kept my processor running a few seconds too long in the picture above. Overly processing will make the burger soft.
Divide the mixture into fourths and form them into patties, then wrap the patties around a slice of cheese. You could add lots of cheese if you really want your burger to ooze, or use different types of cheese. Vegans could sub in non-dairy cheese. I think next time, I’ll try using Gouda.
Pop the burgers in the oven, and wash your food processor while you wait. Isn’t it nice that you only have one dish to wash? Usually, when I cook, I dirty every dish I own even if I only needed one. I think I inherited that from my dad.
Assemble your burger, make some onion rings, drink some beer, and enjoy!
Jalapeno Popper Black Bean Burger
Ingredients
- 1 Can Black Beans, 15 oz
- 1 Cup Bread Crumbs
- 1 Cup Brown Rice, Cooked
- 2 Jalapenos
- 3 Cloves Garlic
- 1 Cup Chopped Onion, about 1 Small Onion
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1/4 tsp Liquid Smoke
- 2 Tbs Tomato Sauce or Ketchup
- 3-4 oz Block Cheese, I recommend Cheddar, Gouda, or Pepper Jack
- Burger Fixings - Buns, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Ketchup, etc...
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a baking tray.
- Cut the cheese into 4 slices, roughly 3/4" thick.
- Add all of the ingredients except the burger fixings to a food processor and blend for about 15 seconds, until it just holds together. You want everything to be mixed together but not pureed.
- Divide the mixture into 4 pieces then form each piece into a rough patty.
- Place a slice of cheese on each patty, then fold the edges of the patty around the cheese to engulf it.
- Shape the patties into pretty, round, burger patties.
- Bake on the greased baking pan for 12 minutes, then flip them over and bake for 10 more minutes.
- Assemble your burgers and eat!
Notes
This recipe assumes that the rice is already cooked. You can cook the rice the night before to speed up the process.
To make these burgers vegan, either substitute in a non-dairy cheese or leave the cheese out completely.
