Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, these veggie burgers are a delicious filling for sandwiches or even alone. Vegan, oil-free, and gluten-free.
A few days ago, my family was in the mood for a good old burgers-and-“fries” meal. Now, you know I try to eat as little processed food as possible, so rather than reach for a frozen burger, I opted to make a bean-based burger from scratch. And though these are not as fast as a microwaved burger from a box would be (what is?), they’re really easy to mix together in the food processor and they cook in about 25 minutes.
While they’re in the oven, you’ll have time to assemble your condiments and slice and chop any vegetables you want on your burger. I ate my burger without a bun with spinach, red cabbage, and tomato, but these zesty veggie burgers also taste great on a bun with ketchup and all the usual fixin’s.
Update 6/29/17:
Since I created this recipe 10 years ago, I’ve made it over and over again for family and friends. Recently, I bought an air fryer and decided to try using it to make these burgers. The results were delicious, crispy on the outside and moist and tender on the inside. I’ve updated the recipe to include the air fryer directions, which you will find at the bottom of the instructions.
Oil-Free French Fries
To make the oil-free fries in the photo, I used the French fry disk on my Breville Sous Chef food processor to cut thin fries. Then I tossed them with a tablespoon of aquafaba (chickpea cooking liquid) and Creole seasonings. I preheated the air fryer to 360F (standard air fryer; Breville and oven-type air fryers set to 425F) and cooked them for about 15 minutes, rearranging them once about halfway through. They are best eaten right away.
Red Bean-Chipotle Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 small onion peeled and cut into quarters
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 16-ounce can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup old fashioned or quick oats uncooked (try quinoa flakes for gluten-free)
- 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
- 1-3 teaspoons chopped canned chipotles OR 1/2-2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder or hot smoked paprika, to taste
- 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour or brown rice flour (or other flour)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional for salt-free diets)
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Put the onion and garlic into a food processor and pulse to chop coarsely. Add the beans and process until coarsely chopped. Add the remaining ingredients and process until well blended but not a paste (it will look similar to ground me@t.)
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Use a 1/3 cup measure to scoop the burger mixture onto the baking sheet, smoothing it into six patties. (It is easiest to do this by making six “piles” of beans and using the spoon to smooth the top and round the edges of the patties.)
- Bake for about 15 minutes. When the bottoms are lightly browned and beginning to get crisp, turn the burgers and cook for 10-15 more minutes, until the other side is brown. Do not overcook or they will be tough!
- Serve immediately with accompaniments as desired. These keep well in the fridge and can be reheated for a quick lunch.
Air Frying Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 390 to 400F. Form burgers on parchment paper and transfer to air fryer (I put them directly into the AF but they did stick; if possible, cut parchment paper to fit AF.) Cook for 8 minutes. Turn burgers over and rearrange from top to bottom if you are using a rack. Cook 4-8 more minutes, until burgers are crispy outside and firm. Be careful not to overcook or they will be hard.
Nutritional info is approximate.
More Veggie Burgers
- Barbecue Black-Eyed Pea Burgers
- African-Inspired Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burgers
- Savory Lentil-Mushroom Burgers
- Colleen’s Chickpea Burgers with Tahini Sauce
- Roasted Beet-Tofu Burgers
- Hash Browns and Black Bean Burgers
Please pin and share:
Cody
October 16, 2011 at 9:14 pmI made these a couple days ago, and they turned out delicious. Thanks for sharing all these great recipes. Im making your ridiculously easy lentil and veggie soup tomorrow.
lea
January 19, 2012 at 3:41 pmI made these burgers for the third time last night and they came out perfect! Just wanted to comment that my food processor is not working, so I used a hand held potatoe masher. Diced the onions very small, added the rice, then mashed the beans into the bowl. They turned out beautifully. I usually up the cooking time to make them nice and crispy. Great Recipe!
Marianne Smith
February 3, 2012 at 1:55 pmAlway’s looking for a good recipe, Love it!
Thank you
Sarah W.
February 9, 2012 at 3:19 pmHi I’m new to your blog & am really enjoying it. I made these Red Bean Chipotle Burgers last night & they were the best I’ve ever had. I didn’t use the chipotles in adobo because I was out but added chipotle chili pepper & some liquid smoke instead. I used a fork to mash all the ingredients together instead of putting in the blender & I didn’t have to use any flour at all. They held together beautifully & were delicious! Thanks for the great recipe.
mella
March 15, 2012 at 10:30 pmI LOVED IT!
Tutim
May 24, 2012 at 11:01 pmI stumbled upon this website in search of a bean patty. So glad I found it!
I made the burgers today and they turned out GREAT! it was my first attempt (trying to cut down on meat) and I will make them again for sure. I did tweak the recipe a bit:
I used a mixture of 9 beans (from Costco) which I had to drain and cook first, I used quinoa instead of rice, threw in spring onions and pineapple which I had on hand (to replace the chiptole, because my toddler doesn’t like spicy) and added an egg. I used brown rice flour and doubled up on the spices. I can’t wait to have it for lunch tomorrow! thank you!
Nanci
June 26, 2012 at 6:59 amI’m curious–what kind of “fries” did you have with the burgers?
Susan Voisin
June 26, 2012 at 7:33 amWe usually have oven fries or hash browns, like these: https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/01/hash-browns-and-black-bean-burgers.html. Other times sweet potato fries: https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/02/simple-scrambled-tofu-and-kale-with-sweet-potato-fries.html
Julia
September 9, 2012 at 9:15 amThis is so good and very easy to make! I am new to the vegan way of cooking and even my son and hubby loved them. My hubby said the other day…if I keep cooking like this he may just forget about meat!
Krista E
January 21, 2013 at 11:06 pmSuccess! Both my kids ate the whole thing! I loved these. I have one other recipe I like from Chloe of Chloe’s Kitchen, but this was easier and held together so nicely. These are delicious and will now go into my regular rotation! We didn’t have chipoltes, but used some canned ancho chilies we had and added a little cayenne.
Irene Chu
February 16, 2013 at 8:07 pmI searched a delicious vegan burger and am so glad to have found this! Very allergy-friendly and so simple to make. A double batch of these are baking in my oven right now, the third time I’ve made these over the last month. Thank you!!
Kristin
March 13, 2013 at 8:12 amI really enjoyed this recipe, and will definitely be making it in the future! I think the only thing I would change is it make it a bit spicier next time.
Carolyn McCartney
December 4, 2013 at 1:34 pmI’m starting a 6 month attempt at controlling my cholesterol with food choices and exercise. I don’t want to take a Statin unless absolutely necessary. I’ve never tried Veggie Burgers, but, I’m willing to try most anything to keep from taking the medicine.
Kathie B
January 14, 2015 at 2:33 pmThank you for the yummy recipes! I don’t have a food processor. Would it be better to hand mash or try to pulse on low setting in my Vitamix?
Susan Voisin
January 14, 2015 at 2:55 pmI think chopping the vegetables and mashing the beans by hand would be best.
MommaJ
January 14, 2015 at 5:42 pmohh I can’t wait to try this! I love bean burgers, and I would try this exactly how you have pictured. Thanks Susan!
Niti Kasliwal
January 15, 2015 at 9:15 amI have all ingredients with me except quick oats. can I use cooked/uncooked steel cut oats?? Or any other common substitutes?
Thank you for awesome recipes. I’m already sure it’s going to be great!
Bobbi
January 11, 2017 at 3:05 pmYum! Used quinoa instead of rice and because I did not have any chipotles I used chipotle chili powder. Easy to make and definitely will again.
Kowallis6
June 29, 2017 at 5:45 pmHow do you make a bean burger that isn’t gooey on the inside? My family won’t eat them.
Susan Voisin
June 29, 2017 at 6:14 pmThis one isn’t gooey; would call it moist. If I cooked it longer, it would lose the moistness but be dry. For a burger that is firm and lacks any kind of gooieness, I would look for a recipe that uses wheat gluten.
Susan
July 1, 2017 at 10:58 amSusan, These look so good! Getting the ingredients today. Can’t wait to make them.
Susan Voisin
July 1, 2017 at 11:21 amI hope you enjoy them, Susan!
Diane
July 2, 2017 at 10:21 amHi Susan
What are homestyle oats? I use the old fashioned oats. Is the pat the same. Do quick,oats work better?
Susan Voisin
July 2, 2017 at 10:48 amHomestyle is the same as old fashioned. Sorry for the confusion. That’s what I used and they work perfectly.
Holly
July 3, 2017 at 6:30 pmHello and thank you for your recipe 🙂 Although I do appreciate you taking the time out to do this, I want to say, it needed just a little bit more flavor and I knew that from being vegan fora while now, that most of these “burgers” fall apart so I did add Bob’s “egg replacer”. it did taste the “batter” before adding it but it needed some more salt and peppers. I also added some nutritional yeast.Loved the recipe and will make it again but I’ll make those adjustments.Thanks again 🙂