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.
- Transfer the black bean mix to the mixing bowl with the crushed walnuts. Add all purpose 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.
- Your black bean burgers are ready to serve.
Chef’s 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. Update: our new favorite is to use our homemade vegan BBQ sauce, it’s super tasty!
Be flexible with how much flour you use. The one ingredient you need to be a little flexible with 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 about from 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, 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.
Serving Suggestions
These vegan black bean burgers would be awesome served with some baked potato fries on the side or some vegan coleslaw.
We topped them with 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
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 cup Walnuts (100g)
- 1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Chopped
- 1 teaspoon Crushed Garlic
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 15 ounce Can Black Beans (1 can) drained very well
- ½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
- ½ teaspoon Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- ½ cup All Purpose Flour (63g)
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil for Frying
- 2 Tablespoons 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 ½ 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.
Perfect! My one year old Granddaughter Lily loves these! So do I!
Awesome! Thanks Jen!
My Granddaughter Lily (one year old) loves these!
Awesome! Thanks Jennifer!
I’m curious if anyone has tried subbing Vital Wheat Gluten for the flour to make them firmer?
Hi Susan, I think that would work!
What if I don’t have walnuts, are there other options?
I think you could try something like almonds.
I was pretty impressed with this recipe. The burger was tasty and hit the spot. Not a huge lover of black beans but tired of store bought vegan burgers. Thought I’d give these a try and now won’t go back now to the store bought. Delish
So glad to hear that Natalie, thanks so much for the awesome review!
Made these last night for our Vegan friends, they were a hit!
Time consuming but worth it! Making double or even triple batches and freezing them is the way to go!
My husband who loves meat, loved these and wants me to make them all the time in place of our regular homemade ground beef burgers.
Thank you for this amazing recipe!!!
That’s so awesome Nicky! Thanks so much for sharing!
This is the best my vegan burger making has EVER turned out!!!! Didn’t fall about while turning in the pan or while eating. Thanks a million.
Wonderful! Thanks so much for the awesome review!
These are genuinely some of the nicest bean burgers I have ever tried or made. So grateful for this recipe, thank you!!!
That’s awesome Celia! So happy to hear that. Thanks a million!