Vegan Black Bean Burgers

Thick and hearty vegan black bean burgers, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, simple, savory and deliciously spiced! 

We’ve been loving the vegan burgers lately! We just did our delicious grillable vegan burger recipe the other day and now here we are again with these vegan black bean burgers.

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!

How To Make Vegan Black Bean Burgers

• Add some walnuts to a food processor and process until crumbly. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside.
• Add some 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 some 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 some 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 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.

Pro Tips for the Best Vegan Black Bean Burgers

Let the burgers firm up for 30 minutes in the freezer before frying. It’s great when 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 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.

Be flexible with how much flour you use. The one ingredient you need to be a little flexible with in these vegan black bean burgers 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 comes in with 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.

So definitely 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 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. 

Can You Make These Vegan Black Bean Burgers 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 These Vegan Black Bean Burgers

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 Vegan Recipes with Black Beans:

1. Vegan Black Bean Soup
2. Vegan Chili
3. Vegan Quesadillas
4. Vegan Nachos
5. Vegan Burrito
6. Vegan Tacos

So tell us what you think of these vegan black bean burgers in the comments and please give the recipe a rating too, it’s super helpful, thank you.

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Vegan Black Bean Burgers

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★★★★★

5 from 8 reviews

• Author: Alison Andrews
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 4

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Description

Thick and hearty vegan black bean burgers, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, simple, savory and deliciously spiced!

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Ingredients

• 1 cup (100g) Walnuts
• 1 Onion (Chopped)
• 1 tsp Crushed Garlic
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 15oz (425g) Can Black Beans (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 (63g) All Purpose Flour*
• 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

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Instructions

1. Add the walnuts to a food processor and process until crumbly. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside.
2. Add the chopped onion, crushed garlic and olive oil to a frying pan and sauté until the onions are softened.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Serve on hamburger buns with lettuce, pickles, sliced tomato, guacamole and sliced red onion.

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Notes

*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.

• Category: Entree, Dinner, Savory,
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Vegan

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 Burger (of 4)
• Calories: 434
• Sugar: 6g
• Sodium: 623mg
• Fat: 27.1g
• Saturated Fat: 3g
• Carbohydrates: 39.4g
• Fiber: 9.4g
• Protein: 11.2g

Keywords: vegan black bean burgers