Southwestern Pinto Bean Veggie Burgers

Is this the best veggie burger ever?

Yes.

Will it please meat-eaters and vegetarians alike?

Yes.

Is it worth the 45minutes – 1 hour it takes to make?

Yes.

Is it healthy?

Of course!

Is it husband approved?

Absolutely!

Enough said. You should definitely try this veggie burger recipe. Making veggie burgers from scratch does take more time than heating up a frozen patty, but it is so, so worth it! I also like making veggie burgers myself because then I can control the ingredients that end up in the burger, and you can pretty much guarantee that nothing processed will be in your dinner.

This veggie burger recipe was inspired by one I found on myrecipes.com, and I almost followed the patty recipe exactly (my modifications are below), and then I added some more veggies/etc. for toppings to make it even healthier than the one on myrecipes.

The Ingredients

This recipe makes 4 burgers

Burger Ingredients

• 1/2  cup  diced onion (I used red onion)
• 1/2  cup  dry breadcrumbs (I used Panko breadcrumbs because they’re lighter and lower in calories than regular breadcrumbs)
• 1/4  cup  chopped cilantro
• 2  tablespoons  minced seeded jalapeño pepper
• 2  tablespoons  reduced-fat sour cream       
• 1  teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I used Cholula sauce – pictured above)
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8  teaspoon  salt
• 1  large egg
• 1  (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained
• 1  (8 3/4-ounce) can no salt-added whole-kernel corn, drained

Toppings

• Ketchup or barbecue sauce (if you use bbq sauce, make sure you get one that’s super low in sugar)
• Red onion slices
• Roma tomato slices
• Baby spinach leaves
• Whole wheat or sprouted wheat hamburger buns – make sure you get buns with <200 calories per bun, and at least 4g fiber

The Directions

Step 1: To prepare burgers, combine the first 9 ingredients in a food processor (this saves on cutting time if you have a good food processor). Transfer to a large bowl, and mix in the egg.

Step 2: Put pinto beans and corn in a food processor, and then add to the mixture in the bowl. Alternatively, you can add the pinto beans/corn to the bowl and partially mash with a fork or potato masher.

Step 3: Divide bean mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping each portion into a 3 1/2-inch patty, and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add patties to pan, and cook 5-10 minutes on each side or until thoroughly heated through.

When they’re done, they’ll look like this:

Now it’s time for assembly! Get your toppings ready…

Place patties on bottom halves of buns; top each patty with 1-2 tbsp ketchup or bbq sauce, red onion slices, roma tomatoes, baby spinach leaves, and top half of bun. 

Could that be any more delicious looking? And the best part, you won’t even realize how good this burger is for you. One HUGE burger has ~400 calories, ~11g fat, ~15g protein, and ~9g fiber. Now THAT’s a burger!

Tagged as: burgers, Cooking, dinner, Healthy, lunch, Recipes, Vegetarian