A Black Bean Burger that Is as Good as Beef

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

There are many recipes for black bean burgers floating around, but I have found this one is always a winner at my house, which generally expects meat with each meal. Some say it surpasses the flavor of a beef hamburger.

Ingredients

1 onion, I use yellow or Vidalia

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

2, 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 egg

¼ teaspoon smoked paprika

1 tablespoon Cajun Spice (or more if you like)

1 large egg

1 Tablespoon of 347 Steak Sauce or Worchestershire

2/3 cup panko crumbs, bread crumbs, cracker crumbs

(optional 4 ounces of baby bella mushrooms, chopped fine)

Coarse Salt and Black Pepper 

Instructions

Put the black beans on parchment paper and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until the beans split and almost get crunchy. This gives them the perfect texture.  

While the beans are baking, sauté in butter/olive oil, chopped onion and garlic over medium heat until peppers and onions are soft, about 5-6 minutes. Blot some of the moisture out. Put in a large bowl or in a food processor with the remaining ingredients. Stir or pulse everything together, then add the black beans. Mash with a fork or pulse the mixture, leaving some larger chunks of beans.

Make patties, roughtly 1/3 cup of mixture per burger. 

Place patties on parchment paper and bake at 375 for 10 minutes on each side. (You can also fry in a pan with a little more butter/olive oil or grill these using greased aluminum foil and grilling 8 minutes per side.)