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.
Karen says
My family love these black bean burgers. I add a bit of chilli to mine, they are so delicious and easy to make. Love your recipes!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks so much Karen!
Rikshana says
Love this recipe. Thank you so much. Had every thing in my kitchen. Was so quick to make.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! So happy to hear that, thank you!
Jette says
These burgers look really great! I am going to make them today, but I am on a low sodium diet, is it the barbeque sauce that is boosting the sodium content? I have low sodium black beans, and I can omit the 1/2 tsp of salt, and substitute more favorite herbs and spices for flavor. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for all your great recipes,
Alison Andrews says
Hi Jette, yes sauces can often have a high sodium content, so if you use a low sodium option for barbecue sauce and make those other changes it will have an impact.
Aytekin says
This is the best vegan burger recipe that I’ve ever tried. Thank you so much Alison!
Alison Andrews says
Thank you so much! 🙂
Kanchan says
OMGGGGGG it was yummmm. So very tasty and easy to make
Ondrej says
Hi,
Can I grill these? Or it will not work and rather stick to frying in pan?
Thanks,
Ondrej
Alison Andrews says
Yes, they are grillable!
Taylor says
FAVORITE vegan burgers! love this recipe. thank you! i used oat flour instead of all purpose flour and it turned out great! definitely don’t need to ruin this recipe with an egg, just use a little more flour!
Taylor says
also used cashews because I didn’t have walnuts. SO good. I’m sure any nut would work
Elizabeth says
I didn’t have walnuts either, so I used almonds. I’m lazy, so I didn’t saute the onions or garlic and I just threw everything except the flour in the processor and it still worked. I even burned the first one, but it still tasted good.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome Taylor! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Chris says
Really easy to make and a great taste!
I had one big problem though, it did not wanna stick together so I had to add an egg (I heard chia seeds with water can also help)
Do you have any recommendation on how to make it stick together next time?
Thanks 🙂
Chris says
oh and how many cups of dried, cooked beans do you use for this recipe?
Alison Andrews says
It would be 1 and 1/2 cups of cooked black beans.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Chris, so glad it tasted good! Weird that it didn’t want to stick together though! Did you use all purpose flour? It’s usually the flour that helps it to bind together. You can try adding more flour next time. A chia egg may help, but it also adds extra moisture, so then may need extra flour to compensate.
Chris says
I used Corn flour, does not work well. Now I switched to gluten (which also improves the consistency in my opinion) and added some beetroot for the color 🙂
Jo says
Wanted to use up a tin of black bins lurking in my cupboard and could not have found a better recipe. Simple and very tasty. Will definitely be making these again.
Jo says
Black beans*
Alison Andrews says
So happy to hear that Jo! Thank a million for the great review!
Kate says
These were amazing! Even my fussy children approved. ???? I’d never thought of freezing burgers to firm them up but it worked beautifully and I’ll definitely do that for other burger recipes to avoid them falling to bits during cooking.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks Kate!
Veronica says
Hi Alison, I’d love to make these burgers but I need to use other nuts or simply leave them out. Do you think cashews would work well? Or what do you suggest? Love your recipes!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Veronica, I think almonds or pecans could work! Let us know how it goes! 🙂
Firstbornlisa says
Hi Alison,
I tried this today and they were yummy. I pan fried them for about 3 mins on each side then finished them off in the oven.
A go to recipe going forward. Thanks for sharing.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Melina says
Hi Alison, thank you for your help with the emails I was getting. I would really love to try this but I don’t have black beans (I’ll have black beans in ten days). Do you think I could sub a can of kidney beans? I much prefer black beans but desperate times…
Alison Andrews says
Hi Melina! You’re so welcome! And yes, I think kidney beans would work fine. All the best!
Lily says
Just made these for dinner and my partner and I both loved them! A great Sunday night treat. We didn’t have enough walnuts so I substituted a mix of nuts from the cupboard which worked just fine. Will be using this recipe again – thanks!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks so much Lily!
Mary says
Great recipe. I made it and it was delicious!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks Mary!
Sergio says
I can’t thank you enough for all your recipes I’ve tried. They always turn out great. I’m learning to cook thanks to you.
I’ve tried a lot of burger recipes and so far this one is my favorite. They held together perfectly and they didn’t fall apart when I flipped them, as it usually happens with other recipes I’ve tried. I did add a quarter cup more flour as you suggested in the notes.
I prepared them and froze them. I baked them in the oven, preheated at 180º C, ten minutes each side.
Do you think I could use breadcrumbs, or panko instead of walnuts, or anything else you suggest? Walnuts are little expensive where I live.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Sergio! So happy to hear the recipes have been helpful! And so glad you like these burgers. I think breadcrumbs could definitely work too! You might have to play around with the quantity a little to see how much to use, but since you have already made them as is, that shouldn’t be too difficult to do now if you go by feel. All the best! 🙂