These roasted beet burgers are packed with smoky flavor and fortified with tofu to make them as filling as they are delicious. Vegan and gluten-free.
High Noon Café, the only vegetarian restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi, where I live, serves the most unusual beet burgers, bright red with beets and soft in texture from the tofu. The first time my husband recommended I try one, I was afraid to order it, but once his burger came, I couldn’t resist sampling it.
The beet burger comes piled with so many extras–vegan cheese, sun-dried tomato aioli, mushrooms– that it took some doing to scrape off a clean sample of the burger, but once I did, I was intrigued by its flavor, which was lightly smoky but in a natural-tasting way, not through the use of Liquid Smoke or hickory-flavored salt. I was sure that the source of the smokiness must be the beets and was determined to try to replicate the taste at home.
To pack in as much natural smoky flavor as I could, I decided to roast the beets as well as the onion and garlic. To avoid adding starch, I used ground flax seeds as a binder, so my burgers came out less stable and easier to fall apart than the restaurant version, but the flavor was very similar, with hints of earthiness and smoke.
Since the burgers had a tendency to fall apart, I didn’t flip them over halfway through cooking as I would have liked to do to aid in browning, so the next time I made them I added a thickener–either a couple of teaspoons of corn starch or a couple of tablespoons of oat flour (oatmeal pulverized in the blender). It made a big difference, but they’re still not super-firm, so don’t use this recipe if you care about firmness or want them to hold up on the grill.
Otherwise, these red-violet burgers were near-perfect to me. If you enjoy a spicier burger, feel free to add more roasted garlic and chipotle chile powder, but not so much as to drown out the beet. (Sorry, couldn’t resist the one pun!) They’re shown here served with chipotle aioli (pureed chipotles mixed with vegan mayo), which provided a nice spicy kick.
Roasted Beet-Tofu Burgers
Ingredients
- 2 medium beets
- 1 medium onion
- 6-10 garlic cloves or as many as you like
- 14 ounces extra-firm tofu (not silken) lightly pressed
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or wheat-free tamari
- 1/2-1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder or smoked paprika optional, to taste
- 2 teaspoons corn starch or 2 tablespoons oat flour optional, for firmer burgers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Wash and trim the beets, and wrap each one in foil. Trim the onion and wrap it in foil. Wrap the unpeeled garlic in foil (or trim the top of an entire head of garlic and wrap it). Place all on a baking sheet and roast for 50-60 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool until vegetables are easy to handle. (You can do this step ahead of time, if you wish; just keep the roasted vegetables in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make the burgers.)
- While the vegetables are cooling, mash the tofu and stir in the remaining ingredients.
- When the onions and garlic are cool enough, peel the onion and chop finely (I used a food processor). Squeeze the garlic from the cloves. Add both to the tofu and mix well. Peel the skins from the beets under running water, and shred. Drain off any liquid from the beets and add them to the tofu, stirring until the mixture is a uniform, bright color.
- Shape into patties about 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or silicon baking mat. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to stand for a few minutes before removing with a spatula and serving.
Nutritional info is approximate.
Paige
August 11, 2010 at 6:02 pmThese were amazing! My boyfriend and I cound’t get enough. While I was forming the patties, I noticed that they looked like real meat…. weird. I have some good pictures!
crzyquilter
August 19, 2010 at 6:57 pmI had a wonderful beet burger in a small NY town a couple of months ago. I was so excited to find your recipe. I just tried the recipe and the flavor is wonderful, but they were way too mushy. Turned into more of a spread than a burger. I guess they would work in a pita. Any recommendations on binding them better and keeping the flavor?
Thanks for all your recipes–you are my go to site for recipes!
SusanV
August 19, 2010 at 8:34 pmSorry to hear that! I would try adding a little cornstarch to the mixture, maybe 2-3 teaspoons. Please let me know how that turns out.
thedalyn
August 22, 2010 at 7:29 pmI’ve got mine in the oven right now. I used oat flour in the recipe, then saw your final comment and added 1 T of corn starch. They have about 10 more minutes, but, when I went to flip them, they weren’t very stable. I’m curious if anyone has tried anything different?
I also upped the oven temp when I flipped them, because the they were still VERY moist–part of the reason for their fragile state.
Any other suggestions from those who’ve tried this recipe?
thedalyn
August 23, 2010 at 12:09 pmOk. I take it back. I used cornstarch and oat flour, upped the temp half way through to 400, and cooked these for close to an hour. But, guess what? They stayed together. And they’re delicious.
Lisa
August 29, 2010 at 5:53 pmThis was GREAT! I added chipotles in adobo sauce to the burgers and it added great (mild) heat and smokiness. I added corn starch, too, for stick-together-ness. So good! I love your recipes!
Natalie
September 24, 2010 at 1:29 amThis may be really daft, but do you freeze these before or after you cook them?
I’m anxious to put the beets in my fridge to good use and try these! Yum…
SusanV
September 24, 2010 at 7:51 amYou could do it either way, but the easiest is to cook them first. Then when you need them, all you have to do is reheat them, in a skillet or microwave.
Christopher Kandrat
March 30, 2011 at 4:55 pmAfter eating beef burgers forever, this taste excellent, great recipe will eat again!
Sara
April 9, 2011 at 10:14 pmI made these tonight, with frozen tofu. They are delicious, particularly with the chipotle aioli! I think that I used frozen tofu helped them keep their shape a little bit easier, and I was able to flip them carefully without any disaster. That said, I’ll probably add cornstarch next time to help in the flipping.
This is definitely going to become part of my “company” menu!
lea
June 6, 2011 at 12:00 pmThese were definitely the prettiest veggie burgers I have ever made – picture perfect! Since I didn’t have ground flax seed, I added some quick cooking oatmeal and about a teaspoon of corn starch. They held together very well, even through turning. I think that next time I will add more garlic and chile powder as they were a bit bland for me. Great Recipe!
Sheena
August 12, 2011 at 12:49 pmHi Susan,
I’m getting ready to make these, what do you think is a medium sized beet? I have beets that my mom grew and to me they are huge, but I’m not an avid gardener so maybe these are mediums…I would say these beets are about 4 inches across, about the size of softball or a little smaller?
SusanV
August 12, 2011 at 1:00 pmI’d say those were large beets! You could probably get away with using 1 large one, maybe 1 1/4.
I hope you enjoy the burgers!
Marian Hamilton
September 23, 2011 at 10:49 amSusan, there’s too much sodium in this recipe for me. Is it mostly from the soy sauce? (maybe the nutr. yeast too…) In your opinion, can I eliminate the soy sauce & not forego too much of the yumminess???
SusanV
September 23, 2011 at 10:55 amMarian, most of it comes from the salt–129mg. The soy sauce is next with 67mg. The beets themselves have 14mg, and everything else is negligible. The soy sauce adds a little flavor, but mostly saltiness, so you can leave it out if you like. Hope you enjoy!
Marian Hamilton
September 23, 2011 at 11:12 amTHANKS, Susan! I’ll try making these & use as little salt as possible (tasting as I add salt in 1/8 tsp. doses) & leave out the soy sauce entirely. I want to make them because they’re RED – how FUN for a burger! Can’t wait – I’ll let you know how “you know who” likes them…. 🙂
Keira
October 17, 2011 at 6:20 amOh my goodness… this was absolutely divine! I am very new vegan and trying out many recipes…. this one is definitely a keeper 🙂
Maria
November 28, 2011 at 12:09 pmHi, i wanted to thank you for this lovely recipe. Im not vegan/vegetarian and even less fat free at my cooking but, not all things have to be same way 🙂 Good tasty food is the nice in wich ever form it comes.
I wanted to try this recipe cos it has two my favorites, tofu and beets.
Unfortunately, here where i live fresh beets are hard to find, so i used vacuumpacked cooked ones. I think i was too over enthustiac to squeeze extra liguid out, so i had little on dry side mixture so i added small egg and that fixed it. Even my husband who isnt allways so happy with my experiments, liked these. We just tasted one after baking and rest are reserved for dinner this evening and tomorrows lunch. I will make harissamayonnaise to go with these cos chipotles are allso hard to find here 🙂 I will be doing later this week your black eyed pea recipes, thank so much of intresting recipes 🙂
midesire
December 10, 2011 at 3:14 pmHello Susan,
I am a new vegan and have been eating a semi-vegetarian diet for some time. Your site is great. I made the roasted beet burger today, they are in the oven cooking as I write this. I made a little patty in my fry pan as a sample, delicious!! The mixture was a little wet, but the should be fine when cooked. The taste is so good.
I made your thanksgiving loaf a couple of weeks age. It was delicious also.
I appreciate your site, and the work you have put into it. I find myself going back to your site often, and have recipes in my box that I want to try soon.
Blessings Yvonne
Susan Voisin
December 11, 2011 at 8:57 amThanks so much for your feedback, Yvonne. I hope you enjoyed the rest of the beet burgers!
Stacy Hood
March 23, 2012 at 7:18 pmI live only about 80 miles north of Jackson, and I’ve been to the Rainbow and eaten at the High Noon Cafe many times. Though I have not tried your recipe based on the original, I can definitely affirm how great these burgers are at the High Noon Cafe’. My husband LOVES beets so I really need to try this recipe for him.
Marie
May 19, 2012 at 4:13 pmJust wondering if you could use canned beets to save on some time?
Gwen
June 22, 2012 at 11:41 amyour pun reminds me of these shirts I saw on etsy, so funny… “lettuce turnip the beet”!!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/coup?ref=seller_info_count
Ann
July 23, 2012 at 2:20 pmI made these for dinner last night and they are delicious! The color makes them fun but the oven roasting makes them so savory and delicious. I’m not a big beet fan but I will definitely be making these again. Thanks!!! 🙂
moonwatcher
September 1, 2012 at 11:28 pmHi Susan,
One of the biggest bummers about having to give up soy for pain management was not being able to make these burgers. Today I had an inspirational breakthrough–I decided to make the recipe with cannelini beans I had cooked. I also added about 1/3 cup of quinoa flakes in addition to the other ingredients, to help with body. I also added some poultry seasoning and a few crumpled up dried mushrooms from the stash I have gathered and dried myself. I let the burger mix chill for a while. They formed up just fine and baked up nicely–and best of all–tasted great! I wrapped mine in a romaine leaf with some tomato slices from my garden and a little dijon mustard. Roasted beet white bean burgers!! I am a happy camper. 🙂
Thanks for the orginal recipe. I don’t feel deprived of it any more. 🙂
xo
moonwatcher
Ainsley
June 17, 2013 at 8:00 amI just made a double batch of these AND your thick and hearty chili. I swear, your recipes have made my whole family happier and healthier. Your site is my only recipe source that I like cooking from now. I can’t thank you enough for passing on the yum to us.
Susan Voisin
June 17, 2013 at 8:40 amI’m so happy to hear that, Ainsley! Thank you for letting me know that you and your family enjoy the recipes.
shakti
August 24, 2013 at 7:34 amThe colour is a little off-putting but the ingredients and having burgers are wonderful – , thank you.
More, more please and could they be fine for freezing, and do they taste good for lunchbox? That is perfection.
Lisa
September 20, 2013 at 3:36 pmWhat is that oozing spread on them? sun-dried tomato aioli? If so is there a recipe for this? Yum!
Susan Voisin
September 20, 2013 at 4:10 pmThat’s a chipotle mayo–canned chipotles blended with vegan mayo.
Kate
September 27, 2013 at 6:41 pmThese did not knock my socks off. I usually love your recipes. I wonder if I did something wrong?
Tom
June 11, 2014 at 8:36 pmI love your blog and have enjoyed most of your recipes, but this one just didn’t do it for me. Waaayyy too bland.
Laura Kiowski
September 19, 2014 at 9:09 pmI loved the roasted beet flavor but we could not get the pattie to hold together at all. I’m thinking the tofu made the burger to soggy. Either cut the tofu altogether, reduce the amount used or substitute another binder. So frustrating all these random comments from people who haven’t even made the recipe yet, they just want to someday in the future!
Michelle
August 21, 2015 at 12:16 amI’m really looking forward to trying these. I saw that someone else asked, but I didn’t see an answer. I was wondering what kind of bun you used. It looks wonderful! Do you have a recipe or was it store bought. I’m looking forward to trying many of your recipes! You have a lot of great reviews 🙂
Susan Voisin
August 21, 2015 at 9:16 amThis was a store-bought bun, but I’m planning to start experimenting with making my own baked goods. Stay tuned. 😉