Vegan and oil-free, these simple black bean burgers are made with only 8 ingredients and can be on your plate in about 30 minutes. Gluten-free option, too!
Let’s face it: When you follow a plant-based whole foods diet, there are some things you miss. I’m not talking about rich desserts and fried snacks. What I sometimes miss is the convenience of packaged foods, especially the ease of pulling a veggie burger out of the freezer and cooking it in the microwave in under two minutes. That’s why I decided to create a faster, easier black bean burger.
Maybe I shouldn’t be confessing this on my food blog, but the older I get, the less time I want to spend cooking. Often, it’s just a mental hurdle—once I decide what I want to make and get into the kitchen, I enjoy putting a meal together, especially if my husband is available to help with the chopping.
But for some reason, not having a child around to cook for has made me less eager to spend more than about 30 minutes on meal preparation. Maybe I’m just getting old; maybe I miss daughter E’s critical palate. Who knows? The upside is since she went away to college, I’m creating more Ridiculously Easy recipes for those of you who feel the same way about cooking. Like this recipe for 8-ingredient black bean burgers (7 if you skip the corn.)
I have lots of incredible burgers in my archives, but all of them require some vegetable chopping or cooking some ingredients in advance. My African-Inspired Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burgers, for instance, are amazing, if I do say so, but they require cooking sweet potatoes and chopping 4 different vegetables.
Instead of all that chopping, this easy black bean burger uses prepared salsa and just a few potent seasonings to create a burger that is firm yet moist, simple yet flavorful, in the least amount of time possible. I start by slightly grinding regular oatmeal so that some of it becomes powdery, helping the burgers stick together without added thickeners like flour or cornstarch.
I’ve made these burgers twice now—first on the bake setting and then on the air fryer setting on my Breville Smart Oven Air—and they came out equally well both baked and air-fried. Since all of the ingredients are already cooked (or don’t require cooking, like oats and corn), they only need to be cooked long enough to crisp up the exterior and warm the interior; letting them “meld” in the fridge for at least 15 minutes insures that they will hold together.
The first time I made these chipotle-flavored black bean burgers, I skipped the usual condiments and topped them with Green Tomato Pepper Butter, a tangy sweet-sour sauce that brought out their spiciness. (Check out the recipe plus a photo of our new puppy!)
The second time, I treated them like regular old burgers and topped them with ketchup and mustard. I think you’ll love them with whatever condiments you use.
P.S. I made the oil-free fries in my little Phillips air fryer, making this a two air fryer meal. I simply cut thin fries (I use a food processor) from Yukon gold potatoes, toss them with about a tablespoon of aquafaba (liquid from canned chickpeas) and some seasonings. Then I air fry at 360F for 18 minutes, tossing and stirring every 6 minutes.
Simple Black Bean Burger
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups rolled oats (old fashioned oats) (use certified gluten-free oats to assure that the burgers are gluten-free)
- 16 ounces black beans (1 can, well drained)
- 3/4 cup salsa
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or tamari or 1/2 teaspoon salt, for gluten free)
- 1 1/4 teaspoons mild chili powder
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder (more or less, to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen and thawed) optional
Instructions
- Place the oats in a food processor fitted with an S-blade and pulse 5 or 6 times until they are partially chopped (some will be powder, some will be whole.) Add all ingredients except the corn and pulse until most of the beans are blended.
- Pour bean mixture into a bowl and stir in the corn. Cover and refrigerate for about 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Form bean mixture into six patties using a scant 1/2 cup for each. Bake for 20-30 minutes, being careful not to overcook and dry them out. They're done when the outside is beginning to get crispy and they hold together well.
Air Fryer Cooking Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to around 375F. Place the burgers in a single layer and air fry until slightly crispy on the outside, about 15 minutes. (They have a tendency to stick, so consider using perforated parchment paper underneath them.)
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
Enjoy!
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Maggie
I subscribe to your newsletter. Must make these delicious looking and nutritious black bean burgers soon. Thank you!
Jered Dawaliby
Dear Susan,
The Black Bean Burger recipe sounds wonderful.
Can’t wait to prepare them.
I do have a question please. Who do you call to write up the Nutrition Facts part of a recipe? I’m writing a children’s cookbook and need this very important part of the recipe available for the readers’ interest.
Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.
Thanking you in advance .
Jered
Susan Voisin
With books, people usually hire a dietician, or someone who specializes in computing the nutritional values. Publishers do that because they want the most accurate information if a recipe is going to print. I calculate mine myself, using a combination of a computer program, the nutritional info on packages, and online databases.
Maggie
I subscribe to your newslettrt!!
I will try these soon and check out the air fryer.
Thanks a 1,000,000!
Cynthia Pons
I subscribe to your newsletter.
Carolyn
I subscribe to your newsletter.
Martha Osborne
I subscribe to your newsletter.
Jeannie West Davis
I subscribe to your newsletter!
Crystal
I have been a subscriber to your newsletter for a long time now, and am grateful for all your delicious recipes. I especially like the quick and easy ones, so I can’t wait to make these!
Jim H
I subscribe to your newsletter. Also, have enjoyed all the recipes I’ve made from your site
Linda R.
I subscribe to your newsletter. And I love your creative and delicious recipes!
Andrea S
Hi Susan
I subscribe to your news letter, and just love your receipts you don’t know how they have helped me over the last 6-8 weeks. I have just come out of hospital for the third time and they have now removed my gallbladder so for the last 6-8 i have had to have oil free food, I am also gluten and dairy free too. So I will continue to use your site and look forward to lots more cooking when I am feeling much better.
My family loved the tofu quiches, and the Black bean burgers.
Andrea S
Sorry I meant recipes, it’s the pain killers getting to me.
Susan Voisin
I knew what you meant, and I’m so glad my recipes have been helpful to you. Hope you feel better soon!
Jane M.
These sound yummy and look so easy to put together.
I am a rarity – no social media except linked in. I would like to be entered into the drawing for one of the Vegan Holiday Kitchen books. I own a copy of Nava’s Wild About Greens cookbooks and enjoy it immensely.
Your blog seem to come to me whenever I lean away instead of into following a plant based diet. Thank you for all you do!
Jane M.
and, yes, I subscribe to your newsletter.
Pam
Have subscribed to your newsletter for years. And I…and my family…have never be disappointed!
Lynne Glasspool
I subscribe to your newsletter
Roberta Dworkis
I don’t see corn listed in ingredients, but looks like it is burger in the photo. How much corn was used?
And I subscribe to your newsletter.
Roberta Dworkis
Found the corn listed, hiding beneath an ad.
Jean Payne
I subscribe to your newsletter
Carrie
Susan, thank you for admitting you don’t want to spend long amounts of time in the kitchen any more! I feel exactly the same way. I still enjoy cooking and eating home cooked vegan meals but any more long recipes are exhausting just to look at. 😉 I make some longer meals but for the most part 30 minute meals are fantastic. Thank you for all of your Ridiculously Easy recipes!
Debi Henson
I subscribe to your newsletter! Love all of your recipes, and your family.
Myra
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Deanna Bucanan
I subscribe to your newsletter. 🙂
Tracie
I subscribe to your newsletter! (And I can’t wait to try these burgers!!)
Ellen
Hi, Susan –
I have been subscribed to your blog for many years and I have a question that is slightly off the subject……
I have an appointment in Jackson, MS, next week and I would like a couple of suggestions for healthy vegan lunches somewhere near 1421 State Street, near Millsaps College. I am sure the best place would be at your house, so perhaps you could recommend the second best places!
Please feel free to email me privately if you prefer. I would prefer that.
Thanks so much!
Susan Voisin
Aw, that’s so sweet! (Unfortunately, I don’t live close by.) Your best bet for a healthy lunch is High Noon Cafe, located in the Rainbow Grocery building. They don’t have a large menu–it’s a couple of permanent dishes plus a couple of specials of the day. On the permanent menu is a bowl (I think called the Harmony Bowl) that is veggies and tofu with your choice of sauces. If you are there on a Friday, the seaside cakes plate is a local favorite. Here’s a link to my list of some of the vegan options in town: http://www.veganconnection.com/Jackson.html You’ll be near Keifers (which honestly isn’t very good), and Babalu and Aladdin are near High Noon (both good but not aiming for healthy).
Anne
Thank you, thank you for this easy and quick burger!
jacquie
i just started to subscribe to your email – the recipes look great!
Carol
Thank you for this simple yet delicious recipe! It’s my new “go to” burger. So good and easy to make!
James
Great vegan burgers that actually hold there shape for a change.
Brenda Carlson
FINALLY! This was truly a simple recipe and they turned out so well.
Thank you!!
Daniel Warren
Mmm looks great for cutting down the pounds.
Martha
Hi, I have made the Black Bean Burgers followed the recipe but I didn’t have any corn, so that was the only thing I didn’t add. They wee great I ended up with 12 burgers, I think I have 6 left. but I used my “Food Saver” & put two to a pkg, works out great.
Also I made the “Cranberry/Carrot Cake”, I’m not a Vegetarian, although with a bit of urging it would be easy for me to change. If only for health reasons… Anyway, the recipe for the cake sounded so yummy I had to try it, I made it for a Christmas buffet and it was a hit. I have about 1/8 of it left and as it sit here on my counter it gets better and better, except tonight I put it in the frig. I think the flavor having a chance to meld is what is making it get better. I did add about a 1/2 cup of wheat germ to cake.
Merry Christmas,
Carol
Susan,
I have been looking for a veggie burger recipe for a while. Tried yours and it is my favorite… now my “go to” burger! Superior flavor and so quick and easy to make! I have even used it for stuffed peppers. Thank you for sharing!
Ida
love, love, love these! I over baked them but wait-all was not lost! After I baked them and they cooled, I wrapped them and put them in the freezer. When we went to reheat them we put them in the air fryer, and they emerged as magic! They were very crispy and were similar to a “fried chicken” sandwich texture. As a low fat vegan, I miss fried food, but this burger made our tastebuds so happy that we ate it for dinner for 3 days in a row. 🙂 Thank you!!!
Jill
These are great with grilled onions and of course your pickled jalapenos, which I have around all the time. 🙂 I too am wanting to spend less time in the kitchen. I did a whole house konmari and really pared down my kitchen gadgets and equipment. It helps my anxiety level when my kitchen is more bare-ass, as it’s easier to find the tools I need and my clean-up is easier and faster.
I’ll be using this recipe in my regular rotation. Happy holidays!
Maud
Hi Susan,
May I ask you a question? When you write salsa, do you mean homemade salsa or store bought?
Susan Voisin
Either should work, but I used store-bought.
Sahari
Hi Susan… newly diagnosed w/ HBP and salt is the enemy.
Don’t want to use canned beans if I can help it, so if you had to make your own beans (pressure cooker), would you spice this recipe differently?
Thanks!
~S
Susan Voisin
Not really, but I would add more of everything—add some seasonings to the cooking water if you can.
Dee-Dee S.
I buy “no-salt added” canned black beans all the time. Check out your grocery store to see if they carry them. I try to eat low sodium, so I tend to add a lot of other spices, especially cayenne. I also use a product called LoSalt that I purchased at Whole Foods.
Mary Norris
Love, love, love this recipe! It was so easy to make & very tasty! Even our 19 year old enjoyed it. Thank you for the great recipe!
Tom
Thank you, this recipe was fantastic. The oatmeal gives it a great texture and is also very healthy. The salsa kept the burger moist and I didn’t miss using no oil!
The only thing that I could do better next time is to bake it longer, or buy an air fryer, to give it that crispy outer texture I love. Other than that, this was a very simple and easy to make recipe with a healthy taste that beats the store brand vegan burger patties.
Kathy Scott
I made these burgers today and they were fantastic! I have tried so many recipes and this is my favorite so far. Thank you so much for an easy recipe that stays together and tastes great.
Allen Francis
For sure this is one of the best recipes I have read in a blog post. The idea is very unique and excellent. Thanks, Susan for posting the recipe. I am sure that every one of us who have read the post will try this recipe in their kitchen and will surely share it with others. Wonderful! post and recipe, waiting for your new posts.
Shanda
Thanks so much for this easy and tasty recipe! The burgers came together very nicely. I used refrigerated black bean and corn salsa, and I pulsed everything until the beans were well-blended into everything else. (I believe I did 20 pulses.) I also used thawed (but still cold) corn kernels. The mixture came out so thick that I didn’t even have to chill it before shaping the patties. After baking, they were crisp on the outside (without being hard) and moist on the inside (without being overly mushy or wet). This was an all-around winner!