Makes 4 big burgers
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes || Active time: 30 minutes
You know the song, two all-beet patties, special sauce, lettuce, “cheeze”…har har.
Well, everyone loves burgers and this is a fine, upstanding, burger-citizen made with some of my favorite ingredients. Brown rice, lentils and beets! They all combine to form the perfect storm of vegan burgerness.
It’s not that they taste exactly like hamburgers or anything, but they do taste exactly like awesome veggie burgers. Rice provides awesome texture, to give you a substantial bite. Lentils are my go-to ground meat so they were a natural addition. And beets are the veggie burger hotness right now! I’ve tried beet burgers at many a restaurant, and I’ve been itching to come up with my own recipe. They give the burger an intense (vaguely disturbing) meat-like appearance, but they also add a lot of flavor, earthy and slightly sweet. Just something that takes your VB to the next level.
I like to make these burgers BIG. Ya’ know, dinner sized. In reading the Wikipedia about the history of the Quarter Pounder (or Royale With Cheese, for you Pulp Fiction fans), the inventor of the burger says he “felt there was a void in our menu vis-à-vis the adult who wanted a higher ratio of beet to bun.” OK, he said meat not beet, but whatever. And I have to agree. There’s a certain satisfaction to eating your way around the burger before digging in to a full-on bun bite.
To make these more fast-foody, top with shredded lettuce, sliced dill pickles, finely diced onion and ketchup. I would add a layer of avocado instead of a vegan cheese, but that’s just me. They really don’t even need it.
One very important part of this recipe is the cooking method. You want to get the burger charred. Not burnt, but charred, which really just means, uh, burnt only in some places. The best way to achieve this is with a very hot cast iron pan. Other pans may react different to high heat, and may not give you that perfect char. So if you’re not using a cast iron pan, the next best thing would be to transfer them to a baking pan after cooking, brush with oil and stick them under the broiler for a few minutes.
Recipe notes: If you’d like to make these gluten-free, just use gluten-free breadcrumbs – ground up gluten-free pretzels would be ideal. And if you’d like to bake them instead, do so at 375 F, 8 to 10 minutes each side, then stick under the broiler to brown them. If you’d like to use a different nut butter, I would recommend cashew or sunbutter. I think PB will be too strong, but who knows? I use a food processor to make these happen quickly, so you’ll have to do some finagling if you don’t have one. And one last tip: I keep a package of frozen brown rice handy at all times. It’s perfect for occasions like this when you just need a little bit for an ingredient.
And don’t forget the fries! Garlic Curry Fries are perfect with these. OK, it’s burgertime!
1 1/4 cups cooked, cooled brown rice (see recipe notes above)
1 cup cooked brown or green lentils, cooled, drained well
1 cup shredded beets
1/2 teaspoon salt
Fresh black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme, rubbed between your fingers
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel (or finely crushed fennel seed)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
3 tablespoons very finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons smooth almond butter
1/2 cup very fine breadcrumbs
Olive oil for the pan
Peel beets and shred with the shredder attachment of your food processor, then set aside. Change the attachment to a metal blade. Pulse the brown rice, shredded beets and lentils about 15 to 20 times, until the mixture comes together, but still has texture. It should look a lot like ground meat:
Now transfer to a mixing bowl and add all the remaining ingredients. Use your hands to mix very well. Everything should be well incorporated, so get in there and take your time, it could take a minute or two.
Place the mixture in the fridge for a half hour to chill.
Preheat a cast iron pan over medium-high. Now form the patties. Each patty will be a heaping 1/2 cup of mixture. To get perfectly shaped patties, use a 3 1/2 inch cookie cutter or ring mold (I have pics of how to do it here.) Otherwise, just shape them into burgers with your hands.
Pour a very thin layer of oil into the pan and cook patties for about 12 minutes, flipping occasionally. Do two at a time if you’re pan isn’t big enough. Drizzle in a little more oil or use a bottle of organic cooking spray as needed. Burgers should be charred at the edges and heated through.
Serve immediately. But they taste pretty great heated up as well, so if you want to cook them in advance, refrigerate, then gently heat in the pan later on, then that is cool, too.
Well.. these amazing looking burgers are resting in the fridge RIGHT NOW, awaiting my dinner guest. I’d love to try one but it would be more polite to wait, right? 😉
love love love. your recipes have never once disappointed. one question…raw beet or already cooked? thank you so much!
These were amazing! I used tahini as the nut butter. And here’s a wonderful bun recipe: http://www.thecurvycarrot.com/2011/01/14/basic-sandwich-rolls/
Just wanted to share this: I made these for myself and my flatmate, which meant leftovers! The next day, I decided to experiment- I chopped up the remaining burger, some mushrooms, and some sun-dried tomatoes. I boiled up some wholewheat pasta, and meanwhile I fried the mushrooms, then added the chopped burger and tomatoes, some tomato puree/paste, and some of the oil from the sun-dried tomato jar- result? A tasty pasta-dish and no leftovers!
And we absolutely loved the burgers the night before, seriously as delicious as the vegan/vegetarian burgers at our local gourmet burger place.
are you guys cooking the beets first or grating them raw? thank you!
Grate them raw!
made these last night. they were, by quite a distance, the best homemade veggie burgers i’ve had. i didn’t use the almond butter suggested in the recipe, but they still held together quite well. we were also more “liberal” with our seasonings – rosemary, dried basil, oregano and red pepper flakes. i’ve been and on-and-off vegan, so i will i admit we enjoyed them with a slick slice of artisan cheese melted on top.
a couple of recommendations to fellow readers: these tend to be pretty dry, although a dab of ketchup or your favorite bbq sauce would work quite well. i would also try making smaller burgers. though the idea of a quarter pound veggie burger is appetizing, they were a bit gargantuan.
thanks for another great recipe, isa! i just bought vegonomicon, and you’ve won me over!
These made AMAZING veggie patties, some of the best I have ever had. They do look freakishly like ground meat! I added some cumin powder and we formed them into 5 equal sized patties, but we probably should have done 6, they were already soooo big!
http://couscouscarol.blogspot.com/2012/03/dinner-club-beet-burgers-curry-fries.html
I made these for my family, and they were great. The only problem was that they were a bit crumbly. Should I be pulsing more thoroughly, using more nut butter? What do you think I did wrong…or should I just accept the crumbles?
Could you bake these? I work at a vegan macrobiotic eatery/bar and I would like to try a modified version of these! We try not to use any oil, so I was thinking to bake them… these would be awesome with a cashew avocado cream!
yep! bake away.
Also, you think instead of breadcrumbs, I could use almond meal? We don’t use nut butters either, so HALP on ideas for substitutions!
made this for my roommates tonight for dinner…baked/broiled them, used tahini and served with bread & butter pickles, avocado, balsamic sauteed red onions, and lettuce. DELISH. thanks isa.
Jesus, this is good!
I made these and the curry fries last night. It was an incredibly filling meal. The burgers held up really well on the grill, which was impressive. Especially since I made a double batch and just eyeballed the measurements. I do have to say that this is one of the messiest meals I’ve made. My nails are stained w/ curry and I keep finding beet juice all over my house.
I made these to celebrate the beginning of spring break (WHOOO) and they turned out awesome. I’m trying to switch to a vegan diet and i wouldn’t be able to do it without the help of your delicious recipes! Literally every recipe i’ve made from PPK or any of your cookbooks has turned out absolutely delicious. Thanks for spreading yummy cruelty-free food with the world!
these ROCK! they do kinda fall apart BUT WHO CARES YUMMMMMMMMMM
Isa, you’re a genius. I made two dozen of these for a community dinner and they all disappeared. I got tons of compliments and maybe a few carnivorous converts. Thanks for another GREAT recipe.
OMG!! Great minds think alike! When I first became a vegan, over 8 months ago now, (best decision I ever made). I wanted a new way to make falafel without frying them, so now I make “falafel burgers” and to do that I was thinking, okay, what can I possibly use to make them perfectly round, all the same size and thickness?? I remember when my mom ran a diner and she had the hamburger patty maker thingie….. so I thought…… and thought… and then while in Cost Plus World Market I saw these round cookie cutters all different sizes in one little package. PERFECTION!!!!! (she says in an operatic kinda voice). Makes great little or big falafel burgers, will make kick A$$ Beet burgers, can’t wait to try this one! Thanks again!
Do you think I could make a bunch of these and freeze them between wax paper… and then when a burger craving hit take one out and cook it?
made–I made them gluten free–not “mad” LOL cold hands…yep!!
I’ve been cooking for my son who has been fighting cancer for three and a half years now. These “burgers” are a great recipe; they are a super way to add lentils and brown rice to the diet, while being absolutely delicious. I add whatever herbs are in the garden. I made extra brown rice and froze it as recommended. Thank you for helping me add another healthy meal to our arsenal of anti-inflamatory foods.
Hot damn. These are hands down the best burgers I’ve ever had. We had em in delicious bread with lettuce, carrot, red onion, cucumber, pickles, mayo, avocado, and then we died from an overdose of delicious.
Kitchen looks like a murder scene. Beet juice got the better of me….and the counter top, the floor, the stove…
Once the slaughter was done and we finally got down to the business of eating, it was apparent this was a justified homicide. SOOOO frickin’ good!
I’ve only been vegan for 6 months and I can honestly say that these are the best burgers I’ve had since I made the transition. The only thing I did differently was I added a teaspoon of chilli paste to give em a kick. Served on wholemeal sesame bun with red pepper houmous, lettuce, cabbage, onion, egg free mayo, and chilli sauce.
100% amazing and I sincerely can’t thank you enough.
I made these for myself and my husband tonight and even though they are a bit of work, they are delicious! It was my first time working with beets. I accidentally measured the DRY rice and lentil amounts, so I ended up with tons extra once it was cooked. I also had 3 beets. So I made a triple batch and froze 8 additional patties for future meals. These are great, and even my husband (who is only slowly giving up meat recently) loved them. Thanks for creating this recipe.
Additional tip: I cleaned and cut up the greens from the tops of the beets and sauted them in olive & oil and garlic for about 5 minutes, and served them on top of the burger. YUM. Also, a good dose of iron!
These were great though I’m going to make 6 patties next time. I had the V’con fresh horseradish dill sauce that I used for the autumn latkes ( also awesome!) so I topped my burger with that. Sooo good! Thank you!
my friend and i made this after seeing it on your site — they were DELICIOUS ! we covered the bread in mustard and added a ton of toppings (sauteed onions, mushroom, tomato and a side of grilled zucchini)
picture here: http://wolfnscarf.tumblr.com/post/21973743540
I made 8 of these for my family. Between myself, my husband, our 3yr old and our 18 month old, 7 of them were gone in one sitting… 7 giant beet burgers, GONE! I am DEFINITELY keeping this recipe!!!!
Would this happen to taste like the kind from the Cheese Cake factory? I have been dying for one! But I don’t want to drive an hour!
Could I toss canned beets in the food processor for these? What do you think?
You have to use fresh beets for this not canned. Canned would be too mushy.
These were really wonderful! I subbed tomato paste as Isa suggested so I wouldn’t use fat. I also baked them on parchment paper (400 for about 15 min on each side, then i turned on the broiler for about 5 min to crisp the tops and brown them a bit.)
I also made 6 big patties instead of 4 huge ones. I thought they were plenty big.
Thanks Isa! This was a real winner at my house!
That is vaguely disturbing… but sounds yummy. 🙂
looks and tastes awesome for a veggie burger.
A friend came over to my house to make these for dinner. She immediately dubbed them “Gainsburgers” because they looked just like the little patties we used do feed our dogs as kids. Much as we laughed, these are the BEST vegan burgers I’ve made to date (that would be 8 years). Perfect texture, flavor and crispy on the outside. Sadly, there was and will never be any leftover for my sweet dog 🙂
Wow, these look AMAZING. I’m making beet burgers tomorrow. As an avid runner and vegetarian, beets and beet juice are known to be great before a marathon. Thanks…..just found my pre race meal.
WOW. Best veggie burger I’ve made yet! The 3 of the 4 kids didn’t care for it, but my husband wasn’t complaining as he ate all their leftovers! The fries you suggest might be the most awesome I’ve ever made and I think I will never make another fry again.
Wow wow WOW!!!! These were amazing! My children (8,14,and 17) also really liked them. I served them with sliced avocado, beet greens on top, ketchup and pickle. Will be making these again, very soon!! Thanks!!
Just made 2 batches of this recipe. OMG even the raw mix is amazing. This is oing to be my go-to patty recipe forever and ever… Isa you’re the best
Thank you!