Today is National Burger Day, so of course we had to come up with a new vegan burger recipe to celebrate! As you may know, we’ve got a thing for veggie burgers, so you could probably say this is one of our favorite holidays.
The other night, I was feeling kind of lazy and I didn’t want to make anything elaborate, so I tossed some mushrooms in the leftover bread crumbs I had from my crispy “chicken” sandwich, and I seared them in a pan with a couple cloves of garlic. It was so simple and effortless, but I was blown away by the flavor. I put a scoop on a hamburger bun with some condiments, and I immediate realized this would make an outstanding veggie burger. Knowing that National Burger Day was coming up soon, I quickly got to work developing a recipe…
I usually put a lot of seasoning in my veggie burgers, but given the nature of this burger, I kept it pretty simple this time. I wanted to do something I haven’t done in the past: make a veggie burger with big chunks and hunks of flavorful ingredients that you can really chew on and sink your teeth into. The mushrooms and garlic are so bursting with flavor, it seemed superfluous to load up the patties with a bunch of spices, or even extra ingredients for that matter.
One of my favorite thing about this burger is how most the ingredients are cooked ahead of time. The mushrooms and garlic are little crispy and a little oily, and that comes through in every bite. If they weren’t seared before the patties were forms, only the bits on the outer edges of the patty would get that way. It’s also nice because you don’t have to worry so much about whether or not the burgers are cooked through all the way. One thing I hate is when I think I’ve cooked a veggie burger long enough, but then I bite into it and the middle is still a little raw and underdone – not really any different from a real hamburger that’s undercooked. Again, not so much a problem with these.
Most burgers are only as good as what you put on them, so I also wanted to come up with an intensely flavorful sauce that would compliment the patties perfectly. I recently bough a bag of mini red peppers, so I started thinking about what I could do with those, and eventually came up with the roasted red pepper sauce. It really packs a punch, but not in an alarming way, like incredibly hot hot sauce. It’s super smoky and tangy, but doesn’t give off any noticeable heat, despite the 2 tsp of Sriracha in it.
This veggie burger with roasted red pepper aioli is the epitome of mushroomy, garlicy, peppery deliciousness! Simple, healthy, and mouthwatering.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup sliced baby bella mushrooms
- 1 1/2 cup cooked black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 large head of garlic
- 1/2 cup seasoned Panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup AP flour
- 1/4 cup red onion, diced
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ketchup
- 1 tsp mustard
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- Grapeseed or olive oil
- Vegan margarine
- 4 sweet mini red peppers
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 2 tsp Sriracha
- 1 tsp ketchup
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp grapeseed or olive oil
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
Instructions
- Add bread crumbs to a wide bowl and coat mushrooms in them. You will have lots of leftover crumbs; save them for later.
- Crush and peel garlic cloves.
- Heat about 2 tsp of oil and 2 tsp of margarine in a frying pan over medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic and sear on both sides – about 5 minutes total. Remove from heat when done and let cool.
- In a mixing bowl, mash black beans with a potato masher or any tool that gets the job done until they are a paste, like refried beans. Add mushrooms, garlic, leftover bread crumbs, and the rest of the remaining ingredients and kneed into a dough with your hands. Cover and chill in the fridge for up to an hour (optional).
- In the same pan you fried the mushrooms and garlic in, heat about 2 tsp of oil over medium heat. Shape the mixtures into patties and fry on each side for about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Roast whole peppers in the oven at 425º F for 20 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes before proceeding.
- Remove the stems and slice the peppers in half. Then remove the seeds and peel off the burnt parts of the skin.
- Add peppers to a blender along with the other ingredients and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
Notes
If your bread crumbs aren't sticking to the mushrooms, coat the mushrooms with a little liquid. You could use oil, soy sauce, or mustard, just to name a few.
If you want to grill these burgers, I suggest frying them first, which will help them bind, then finishing them on the grill.
