The best vegan black bean burgers, thick and hearty, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Firm enough for the grill!
We just love a good vegan burger. And these vegan black bean burgers are seriously good.
The recipe is loosely based on our vegan chickpea burgers but using black beans instead of chickpeas (of course) and adding in some walnuts for texture and extra spices to complement the black beans.
We wanted the burgers to be nice and firm so that they hold up well when frying or on the grill, and these fit the bill!
Another firm and grillable burger option is our vegan burger, made with vital wheat gluten for a very delicious texture! And if you love black beans then check out our vegan black bean soup and our vegan black bean brownies!
How To Make Vegan Black Bean Burgers
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add walnuts to a food processor and process until crumbly. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside.
- Add chopped onion, crushed garlic and olive oil to a frying pan and sauté until the onions are softened.
- Add the cooked onions and garlic to the food processor along with black beans, smoked paprika, coriander powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, tomato paste, salt and black pepper and process until smooth. Then transfer to the mixing bowl with the crushed walnuts.
- Add some flour and mix in. If the mix still seems very wet when you touch it, then add in a little more flour.
- Flour a baking tray and then divide the batter into four equal sections. Add more flour if needed to the outside of the patties for easier handling and then form them into burger patties. You can do this by rolling the patty into a ball and then flattening it by placing a square of parchment paper over the top and pressing down with the base of a glass. Or you can form them into burgers by patting them down into a round cutter to make a flat burger patty shape.
- When all your burger patties are formed on the baking tray place the baking tray into the freezer for 30 minutes so the burgers can firm up.
- Add olive oil to a frying pan and heat until hot. Fry your burgers for 5 minutes on one side and then flip. Brush the tops and sides of the burgers with vegan barbecue sauce. Fry for 5 minutes on the other side and then remove from the pan.
- Serve on hamburger buns with lettuce, pickles, sliced tomato, guacamole and sliced red onion.
Pro Recipe Tips
Let the burgers firm up for 30 minutes in the freezer before frying. You’ll find that your burgers are a bit soft initially to be able to go straight into the pan. Putting them into the freezer first allows them to hold their shape very well when frying.
Brush vegan barbecue sauce onto the burgers. I used a little bottled vegan barbecue sauce to brush onto the tops and sides of the burgers once I flipped them, because there is a tendency with bean burgers to look a little dry on the outside, but if you brush on a little sauce that removes the dry look completely. A vegan barbecue sauce or any similar bottled sauce should work great.
Be flexible with how much flour you use. The one ingredient you need to be a little flexible with in these is the all purpose flour. The first time I made these burgers I used a half cup of all purpose flour and it was perfect. The second time I made them the batter was still too wet after adding a half cup of flour so I added another 2 tablespoons.
The difference is in how well you drain your black beans, the first time I drained them really well but just didn’t do it as well the second time. If that happens to you then add more flour. It’s okay for the mix to be a little wet, you form the burger patties on a flour dusted surface but it should not be very wet.
Drain your black beans super well, but even then, be prepared to add more flour if needed.
For a thinner/crispier burger make 6 patties instead of 4. These burgers are nice and thick and super flavorful. They do stay quite soft in the middle though, so if you would prefer a crispier burger, then it would be a good idea to make them a little thinner, so you would aim to get 6 burgers from the batch instead of 4. That way you’ll get an even firmer, crispier burger once they’ve been fried or grilled.
Don’t flip them too much when frying. It’s ideal if you only flip them once. So let them cook for 5 minutes and then flip them and let them cook for 5 minutes on the other side. If you flip them too much, that will increase the chances of them breaking up.
Make Them Gluten-Free
If you want to make these burgers gluten-free then I would try a gluten-free all purpose flour blend to replace the regular flour. I haven’t tested it with these burgers but I have tested it with my chickpea burgers and that worked great, so there is no reason to think it wouldn’t work here as well.
How to Serve Them
These burgers would be awesome served with some baked potato fries on the side or some vegan coleslaw. We topped them with some guacamole (which was great!) but some vegan thousand island or vegan aioli would also be delicious on top of these burgers.
Storing and Freezing
Keep leftover burgers refrigerated and enjoy them over the next 3-4 days. They’re very good cold (and firm up even more) but can also be reheated in the frying pan or on the grill.
They are definitely freezer friendly too and you can freeze them either cooked or uncooked. Let them thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat or you can reheat/cook them from frozen. Just cook them for a few minutes longer so that they are heated all the way through.
More Black Bean Recipes
Vegan Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 cup Walnuts (100g)
- 1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Chopped
- 1 tsp Crushed Garlic
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 15 ounce Can Black Beans (1 can) drained very well
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour* (63g)
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil for Frying
- 2 Tbsp Vegan Barbecue Sauce for Basting
For Serving (Optional):
- Hamburger Buns
- Lettuce
- Pickles
- Sliced Tomato
- Guacamole
- Sliced Red Onion
Instructions
- Add the walnuts to a food processor and process until crumbly. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside.
- Add the chopped onion, crushed garlic and olive oil to a frying pan and sauté until the onions are softened.
- Add the cooked onions and garlic to a food processor along with the black beans, smoked paprika, coriander powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, tomato paste, salt and black pepper. Process until smooth. Then transfer to the mixing bowl with the crushed walnuts.
- Add the flour to the mixing bowl and mix in. If the mix still seems very wet when you touch it, then add in a little more flour. The first time I made these I didn't need extra flour but the second time I needed an extra 2 Tablespoons as I hadn't drained my black beans as well as I had the first time.
- Flour a baking tray and then divide the batter into four equal sections. Add more flour if needed to the outside of the patties for easier handling and then form them into burger patties. You can do this by rolling into a ball and then flattening by placing a square of parchment paper over the top and pressing down with the base of a glass. Or you can form into burger patties by patting them down into a round cutter to make a flat burger patty shape.
- When all your burger patties are formed on the baking tray place the baking tray into the freezer for 30 minutes so the burgers can firm up.
- Add the 2 tablespoons olive oil to a frying pan and heat until hot. Add in all four burgers if your pan is big enough, otherwise do them in two batches. Fry for 5 minutes on one side and then flip. Brush the tops and sides of the burgers with some vegan barbecue sauce. Fry for 5 minutes on the other side and then remove from the pan.
- Serve on hamburger buns with lettuce, pickles, sliced tomato, guacamole and sliced red onion.
Video
Notes
- This recipe uses 1 full 15 ounce (425g) can of black beans, drained and rinsed. If you want to use cooked black beans (not canned) then the amount to use would be 1 and 1/2 cups.
- You'll need extra flour to flour a baking tray and form the burgers into patties. You may also need to add more to the mix itself, this will depend on how well you have drained the black beans, ideally the black beans should be very well drained and not 'wet' at all when they go into the food processor. But if your mix is too wet add a couple more tablespoons of flour.
- These burgers are nice and firm on the outside, but soft on the inside. If you want them to be firmer all through, you could divide the burger mix into 6 burgers instead of 4. That way they will be thinner and will be crispier all through when fried.
- Nutrition information is for a burger patty only, excluding any of the things you would serve it with.
- Prep time does not include the 30 minutes spent chilling in the freezer.
- This recipe was first published in October 2018.
Made these for a BBQ and was ~200g short on black beans…. STILL delicious!! Everyone loved them and I’m so looking forward to making again with the appropriate amount of beans ????
Fantastic! Thanks so much Laura!
These taste great and are easy to make! I didn’t use the extra flour to coat before cooking. I moistened my hands with a bit of water and made into patties easily without a sticky mess. I coated a baking tray with a bit of avocado oil and baked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes on each side. Thank you so much for sharing this awesome recipe which is now my go-to bean burger! YUM!
Awesome Julie! Thanks so much for sharing!
Made your burgers tonight after several failed attempts with other recipes. Yours were pretty much perfect except I baked my beans in the oven for 15 minutes to reduce the liquid content even more. I’d read this in someone else’s recipe somewhere and gave it a go. Perfect! Very tasty though, especially with the brushing on of the barbecue sauce. Nice touch. Five stars.
Awesome Joe! Thanks for the great review.
I absolutely loved these burgers ???? I made them in advance and froze them uncooked and just get out one as I need, thaw, spread with BBQ sauce and cook ???????? thank you for the fab recipe xx
So happy to hear that! Thanks Claire!
Just amazing. I have a family of meat eaters and we’re all slowly converting to what I hope will eventually be vegan. This burger was just GORGEOUS!! Great recipe!!
So happy to hear that Neeta! Thanks for the awesome review!
My mum said she prefers these over meat burgers 🙂 #VeganWin
That’s awesome Maisie! Yay! 🙂
So good! My 2 yo old loved them so so so much!!!
Awesome! Thanks Monika!
these were super yummy! they were a bit soft for my liking as they kinda leaked out of the burger when we ate but had a nice flavour and were easy to make. the mix made 8 big patties and 2 tiny ones… perfect for my family of 4 and then 4 to freeze for next time. a great source of protein too!
Made these last night and they were amazing! Just one question- can these be frozen?
Yes they can be frozen.
Loved this recipe
Awesome! Thanks Susha!
Can these be baked instead of fried? What temperature/time would you suggest?
Hi Jessi, I haven’t tried baking them, but in the other comments it has been noted that ten minutes each side at 350°F (180°C) worked out.
So delicious I’m making it again!! Just about to messily devour!!
Awesome! Thanks Kate!
These burgers are a real favourite in our house. This time we made eight smaller burgers and doubled up with melted vegan cheddar cheese in between the two burgers. Perfect Saturday night treat!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Laura!
I have tried many types of store bought vegan burgers and was not a fan. When my daughter invited me for dinner and said she was making these black bean burgers I was happy for the invite but, not excited for the meal. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked these burgers. I have been begging her since to make them for me again and now that I have the recipe, I will be making them quite often. Great burgers! Thank you for the recipe and looking forward to trying others!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the burgers Kelly! Thanks so much for the great review!
These burgers are so tasty and easy to make.
We’ve made them a few times and today we made eight smaller ones, froze four and ate the rest doubles up with a slice of vegan cheddar melted in between the two burgers. Yummy!