The Best Vegetarian Burgers Ever

Juicy and flavourful red bean patties alongside fresh lettuce, tomatoes and a mouth-watering homemade burger sauce, all stacked up in a soft bun.

I am not someone who throws out the word best whenever something is to my liking. I save it for the times when I have found something truly unique and life changing delicious. These vegetarian bean burgers really do deserve this title. They are everything you could want in a vegetarian burger. When attempting a vegetarian version of a burger the most challenging part is getting the texture right as well as achieving a lot of flavour. Let’s face it, meat has great texture and a lot of flavour on its own. But that doesn’t mean we cannot make a delicious and equally flavourful vegetarian counterpart to a classic burger.

Kidney Beans

Enter: red beans aka kidney beans. Most vegetarian burger recipes will call for black beans. While I like black beans and their earthy flavour, they aren’t quite as interesting and tasty as red beans. In comparison, black beans are way more bland and neutral in flavour. While that is nothing bad per se, we want to make burgers that will knock your socks off and for that we need a lot of flavour. Red beans aren’t only delicious, they also have a slight sweet taste which makes the patties all the better.

While the red beans make up the majority of these patties, we are also adding bread crumbs for better texture and shape, as well as onions, garlic, salsa, sweet corn and spices for a deep flavour. My absolute favourite salsa is the Texicana Salsa by Maggi. It is hands down the best salsa I have ever had and it’s the only one we buy. We literally always have 3 bottles of it in the pantry. It’s so flavourful and delicious, unlike any other store-bought salsa. If you cannot get your hands on it and the salsa you are using isn’t as flavourful, I suggest increasing the spices.

Another great thing about these patties is that they hold their shape. There is nothing more frustrating than getting out your pan, preparing your patties and firing up your stove only to have the patties completely fall apart the moment you try to flip them. These patties do a great job at staying put! You do need to fry them at least 2 minutes on one side before attempting to flip them. This will give your patties the needed structure to hold their shape. You can make them in a frying pan or you can grill these in either a grilling pan or your outdoor grill. Both options are delicious!

Burger Sauce

A great burger isn’t complete without a mouth-watering sauce dripping down the sides of it. While the burger on its own is already great, this sauce takes it up to perfection. It has a savory, sweet and tangy flavour that pairs extremely well with burgers or fries. Made with simple ingredients such as ketchup, mayo, mustard and various spices it is easy and quick to make. The best part is, you probably have all the ingredients sitting in your pantry right now!

Add-ins

Now let’s talk about add-ins. This is extremely customizable, so feel free to add any vegetable or protein you like. For this recipe I used, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, pickles and cheddar. Since we are making the patties as well as the sauce from scratch, I wanted to keep the add-ins rather simple. But you can go all out and add e.g. caramelized onions or grilled halloumi or sautéed mushrooms,… the sky’s the limit! Because there are so many options of how you can tailor this burger to your liking, this would make a fun bar-style meal. Think of a burger bar for Father’s Day! I bet every dad would love it (I know mine would!). It also frees up your time whilst entertaining because you can make everything ahead of time. Chop up all the add-ins, prepare your patties ahead of time and pre-cut your burger buns. Then just reheat the patties and bake the buns and potato wedges when your guests are ready to eat. #entertainingmadeeasy

Speaking of Father’s Day, what’s on the menu at your house? Are you going the traditional route and cooking up some good old burgers or are you dining out? What are your plans for the day? Let me know in the comment section down below!

As I have said, these burgers are incredibly customizable, which means that you can also easily create a vegan version of these. The patties are already vegan, so no need to make any changes there. Simply omit the cheese (or sub with vegan cheddar) and use vegan mayo for the burger sauce. Violà vegan burgers!

These burgers are a regular in our household and we have made them for a ton of friends and family. We even brought them to a party where meat was served, and much to our surprise, people went for them just as much as for the meat version. I think that says a lot! We have been asked for this recipe so many times, it was about time that I finally published it here on my blog. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you make it, be sure to tag it with #homebakedbliss on Instagram so I can see your delicious creations.

Happy Father’s Day!

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