Best Vegan Black Bean Burgers (Baked)
These Best Vegan Black Bean Burgers are the best you'll try! Baked and are packed with amazing depth of flavor, no bland burgers here! They are also a hearty, chewy texture and are baked, not friend, as well as oil-free!
Servings: 6 burgers
Ingredients
- 1 packed cup (150g) red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 cup (220g) mashed potatoes (skin removed)
- two 15 oz cans no-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
- 3/4 cup (180g) mild or medium heat chunky salsa (I use the Sprouts Medium Salsa, it's nice & chunky)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
- 1/4 cup medium grind coarse cornmeal (SEE NOTES at bottom!)
- For serving Mexican Tahini Sauce is amazing on the burgers
NOTE
- Weigh your measurements if possible so the texture/moisture level turns out correctly with these burgers, as it's easy to pack too much potato or not enough and it affect the texture.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 400°F. Place the chopped bell peppers on a pan lined with parchment paper. Roast for 10 minutes, they will finish cooking later in the burgers. Lower the heat to 375°F.
- In a small bowl, combine the salsa, chili powder, cumin, salt and oregano. Stir until well mixed. Set aside.
- Cook the potatoes either in the microwave (whole with the skins on so they keep their moisture) wrapped in a wet paper towel until soft and tender. I don't recommend boiling them because excess moisture will get into the burgers. Peel and mash them completely and measure 1 full cup packed tightly and then leveled off.
- Pat dry the drained beans with a paper towel. REMOVE 1 cup of the black beans and add them to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining beans to a food processor. Add the potatoes potatoes to the processor. Add the reserved salsa mixture. Pulse until it all comes together in a sticky, thick mashed/chunky paste.. It should only take a few pulses. Don't over process.
- Add the beans/potato mixture to the reserved bowl of extra beans. Add the roasted bell pepper as well. Add the cornmeal.
- Mix all of it together until everything is combined well and the batter is very thick.
- The mixture should be holding together well and not too wet. You should be able to form patties, but if for some reason your mixture seems too wet (can be depending on salsa used), then place the batter into the fridge 15 minutes.
- Form 6 large even patties using a heaping 1/2 cup scoop. I like to form balls and then flatten them on the pan. Flatten each patty to about 1/2 inch thick.
- Bake for 25 minutes (375°F). Carefully flip them. They will still be tender at this point, so flip gently. At 25 minutes, they should have formed a thin crispy bottom making it fairly easy to flip them. If the bottoms are not coming up fairly easy and still sticking to the paper, cook 3-5 more minutes and then flip. Cook 10 more minutes on the 2nd side.
- Cool 5-10 minutes before eating, as they will firm up even more. Assemble burgers with desired toppings. I served them with my awesome Mexican Tahini as the dressing. These are even better the next day as they get even more of a chewy "meaty" texture.
Notes
CORNMEAL: I use the cornmeal labeled "medium grind" by Bob's Red Mill. This is a coarser texture than regular cornmeal, which is what gives a better texture to these burgers so they aren't mush. I order it off Amazon (linked above). It will provide the best texture for sure, however, I have also tested this with regular cornmeal. It works, not as perfect of a texture, but they are still good. You will use 5 tablespoons of regular cornmeal (50g).