From day one of this blog, I had the idea to make "fuss-free" vegan recipes, but it took me awhile before I really nailed down what that meant. In the beginning, I thought the best approach was to use no specific measurements and vague instructions for my recipes... Unsurprisingly, recipe testers had varied results. Yep, not the smartest idea I've ever had.
Luckily, it wasn't long before I re-thought "fuss-free" and made it all about simple ingredients, and quick and easy recipes. That doesn't mean that my original fuss-free recipes (if you can call them that), were bad, it just means there was a dreadful lack of guidance and poor food photography to boot.
So every now and then I like to go back in time and revise one of the original fuss-free recipes. I've done it before with my 6 Ingredient Pulled Jackfruit, and Lentil Tacos with Avocado Cilantro Sauce, and today I am doing it with these Vegan Beet Burgers.
Because omnomnom!! My first version for vegan beet burgers required too many ingredients, a couple of flavours were competing, and of course, some measurements would be helpful. I've taken it from 14 ingredients to just 10, made it simpler and quicker, and got those flavour notes on point.
The intense colour of these burgers is so neat, but what's really rocking my socks is how the beets provide this deep rich earthiness to the burgers. So much flavour depth. The oats and lentils make a great base, and the sneaky trick is adding a bit of peanut butter which adds some richness and good fat balancing everything out perfectly.
When you make these, the dough is really sticky, but once cooked, they firm up and have a nice texture bite (no mushy burger here)!
To make Vegan Beet Burgers: peel the beets. I have a grater attachment for my Breville food processor so I used it to grate the beets directly into the processor. If you don't have that, just grate beets with the grater you have.
Then just add the beets, along with all of the remaining ingredients to the food processor.
Pulse, stopping to scrape the sides, until the mixture comes together.
Form into 4 patties. The patty mixture will be very sticky, so wet your hands in between forming each patty, to help stop the sticking.
Then you can either fry or bake the burgers, until brown on the outside and tender on the inside.
Leftover burgers get quite firm in the fridge overnight, so I prefer mine freshly made. However, if you like a nice firm bite, you might enjoy them even more!
(click stars to vote)
Vegan Beet Burgers
Servings: Burgers
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Ingredients
- 2 cups grated raw peeled beets, (about 2 medium beets)
- ¾ cup large flake rolled oats
- ½ cup cooked lentils, (I used canned)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ yellow onion, , finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, , finely minced
- 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- If you have a grater attachment for your food processor you can use it to grate the beets directly into the processor. If not grate beets with the grater you have, then add the beets, along with all of the remaining ingredients to the food processor. Pulse, stopping to scrape the sides, until the mixture comes together.
- Form into 4 patties. The patty mixture will be very sticky, so wet your hands in between forming each patty, to help stop the sticking.
To fry the patties (my fave):
- Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the patties. Cooking them low and slow is the key for good texture. Cook about 3 to 5 minutes per side, until they are nicely browned on both sides and hold together well. Serve hot on a bun with your favourite burger toppings.
To bake the patties:
- Preheat your oven to 350F (180C). Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.
- Lay the patties out in a single layer with room around them for air to circulate. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, flipping halfway through until firmed up and lightly brown on both sides. Serve hot on a bun with your favourite burger toppings.
To air fry the patties:
- Preheat your air fryer to 325F (170C). Lightly grease the air fryer basket.
- Lay the patties out in a single layer with room around them for air to circulate. You may need to work in batches. Bake 15 - 25 minutes, flipping halfway through until firmed up and lightly brown on both sides. Serve hot on a bun with your favourite burger toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
Marie says
Hi! I made these today and the beets were really fresh, so very wet. I grated them with my Breville and then measured them out. Good thing as 3 beets made 5 cups as the beets were all large and no mediums when I bought them. 🙂 I had to add 1/4 cup more flour to compensate for moisture. Tasted the mixture raw and what flavor! Had to add a little more salt. This is for a gathering of 9 people and one is a gourmet cook, if she likes them, yeah!!! 🙂 Will let you know how it goes.
Sam Turnbull says
Awesome, I hope you love them, Marie 🙂
Marie says
Hi Sam! As promised, here am I getting back to you. EVERYONE loved the burgers! Even the gourmet cook liked them! Her husband took one home with him. 🙂 I fried them slowly on setting 5 on my electric stove after I warmed the pan on 7, using a vegan margarine. I only fried them for 2 minutes per side because I was not serving them until the next day and knew warming would cook them more. I got 10 burgers out of the mixture and placed all of them in a baking dish with parchment paper and then aluminum foil as a cover. Warmed them at 225 degrees F for 50-55 minutes. They were perfect! I fixed one for a blind man I know and he called to tell me that was the best burger he has eaten! Served them with my vegan cashewnaise dressing and my vegan French mustard, vegan cheese slices, tomatoe, onion, green lettuce on homemade whole wheat hamburger buns. Will make these again. Going to try your Seitan Steaks next. Hugs!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful!! Thrilled everyone enjoyed them so much, thanks for the review, Marie 🙂
Jen says
These have gone into standard rotation for my husband and I - which is most surprising since he hates peanut butter and I don't like beets! Something about them just works. For the record, we spice them a bit differently (I include cumin and asafoetida because my hubby can't have garlic/onions) and we normally use kidney or black beans we also have extra laying around, it still works perfectly. Thanks so much for this awesome recipe!
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! I love that. You're most welcome, Jen! Glad you both enjoy 🙂
Palli says
Holy cow, this is the veggie burger of my dreams! Your blog came up when I googled for beet veggie burger and since it looked simple, I tried it out. This is the veggie burger recipe I've been searching all my life for! AMAZING! THANK YOU! I was a little suspicious of using raw beets to I boiled mine for a bit. It was all simply fabulous Can't wait to try your book and other recipes now that I've found you!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful, so happy you loved it so much, Palli! I hope you love the book too 🙂
Alshami says
Thanks for sharing, Great post.
Sam Turnbull says
Glad you enjoyed!
Jo-Ann Grandinetti says
I am not vegan or vegetarian and these are AMAZING!!!!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay! So happy you enjoyed them, Jo-Ann 🙂
Kitty says
These burgers are amazing!!! I didn’t have enough fresh beets so used 1/2 cup of the roasted vacuumed packed ones. I squeezed out the excess liquid since those were much squishier. The texture and taste was perfect! My picky meat eater boyfriend was super impressed and is now going to request me to make these all the time. I’m ok with that since they were super easy to make! Thanks for another great recipe, Sam!
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed it, Kitty 🙂
Nola P. says
Tried these out last night, and my 11 year old daughter inhaled 2 of them along with some roasted potatoes and green shake, LOL! So I would say they were a hit! Will definitely be adding these to the supper rotation! Thanks for another great recipe, Sam!!!!
Sam Turnbull says
That's amazing! So happy you enjoyed them, Nola 🙂
Nola P. says
Curious! Would it be possible to make up a bunch ahead of time and freeze, and would you freeze before cooking them? Or after?
Sam Turnbull says
For sure! I would bake them and then freeze them. Enjoy!
Hannah says
Hello! I'm newly vegan, I absolutely LOVE all of your recipes and I am so excited to try this out. 🙂 Can these be frozen like the seitan steaks? I'm the only vegan in my house and I would hate to waste any leftovers.
Sam Turnbull says
Thank you so much, Hannah! I'm flattered 🙂 Yes, to freeze them, I would recommend baking them for about 20 minutes. Let cool and then freeze. Then you can reheat by popping them in the oven or frying them up. Enjoy!
Erica says
GENIUS! I would never in a million years put together these ingredients and think they would come out tasting so delicious! I was so hesitant to try these but couldn’t say no with how easy they are to make and I had everything on hand. Thank you for this recipe! It is definitely a keeper!
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! That's awesome, Erica! So thrilled you gave them a go 🙂
Gillian says
Hi Sam! Can you use a different flour instead of all purpose like almond, chickpea, oat, etc? Thank you and I can't wait to make this recipe!!
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Gillian, that isn't really my expertise but the flour in this recipe is what makes the burgers hold together and bind. So if you are confident your flour replacement will do the same, then go for it 🙂
Carly says
I stumbled across this recipe when I was trying to figure out different ways to cook beets, and I can’t wait to try it! I was wondering if the burgers could be frozen, and then cooked later?
Sam Turnbull says
I haven't tried that myself, but I am sure it would work fine. Enjoy!
Ron says
Hey Sam, thanks for this recipe. My first attempt came out a bit gooey when raw, but definitely salvageable (and delicious) when pan fried. I followed your proportions exactly (just doubled everything) and even increased the flour when I saw that it wasn’t holding together. Any suggestions for helping the raw burger to stick together?
Thanks!
-Ron
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Ron, glad you enjoyed the burgers! It sounds like there was a bit too much liquid in your burgers, likely from the beets. Make sure you measure carefully but adding a bit more flour will do the trick if the problem happens to you again. Enjoy!
Patsy Hamlet says
Cannot wait to try this recipe. Bought some of these premade at Food Lion this week and they were very good!
Thanks so much for sharing!
Sam Turnbull says
I hope you love them, Patsy 🙂
Marie says
can you make these the day before and keep in fridge or are they best made on the day
Sam Turnbull says
You can absolutely make these the day before. Enjoy!
Tracey Perry says
These are by far the BEST BEET BURGERS EVER!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I have made several different ones that took 1/2 a day to make and they were not any where close to these. My husband who is a eats mostly veggie ( by force! lol) loves them. I can't wait to make these at our next family BBQ. I have been following you since I went vegan and love all your recipes that I have made. Delicious vegan cooking made easy!
Sam Turnbull says
Hahaha!! Thrilled you and your husband love them so much, Tracey!! 😀
Mohammed says
Well youve got it a little wrong when you think that being vegan is colesterole free!
Sam Turnbull says
Cholesterol only comes from animal products. So if you only eat plants (a vegan diet), then it is indeed cholesterol free.
Sam says
I think you may be getting confused between cholesterol and saturated fat. As Sam said, only animal products have cholesterol, but many plants contain saturated fat.
Derek says
Please explain?
Vernice wireman says
Your body make it from fat
Karin says
Any suggestions for peanut butter substitute? Recipe looks amazing - will make it tonight but peanut allergy in the house
Sam Turnbull says
Any nut or seed butter will work wonderfully. Enjoy!
Tim says
Wow,
I was very unsure how these were going to turn out. However, they came out amazing! I paired them with some frozen mixed veggies and a sweet potato as sides. Thanks Sam!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! So happy you enjoyed them, Tim 🙂
Karen Lee Edwards says
Dang, girl, you’re good! Best burger, EVER! I did my usual sub- chickpea flour for the all purpose flour and added a bit of horseradish! Mic drop!
Husband...”can I have another one?” Sure! Absolutely!.... “Did you want to keep this one? It might go bad.” “oh, that case you had better have that one, as well”. No leftovers today!
I have to get a bigger recipe box! Yeah, I’m old school! Very old school!
Wishing you continued success, Sam!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay!! Thank you so much, Karen!! Love that you loved this burger oh so much 😀
Karen Lee Edwards says
I used 75% of the amount of all purpose flour required for the recipe. The pulse flours are denser than all all purpose what flour. I used horseradish to taste. I like a good kick of horseradish, personally- 1 tablespoonful. If you want just a hint you could try 1 teaspoon. It all depends on the potency of the horseradish itself. You could use Japanese horseradish, as well.
Karen says
Hi there,
When you substituted the chickpea flour for all-purpose flour, did you use the same quantity? Also, how much horseradish did you use?
Thanks!
Karen Lee Edwards says
I used 75% of the amount of all purpose flour required for the recipe. The pulse flours are denser than all all purpose what flour. I used horseradish to taste. I like a good kick of horseradish, personally- 1 tablespoonful. If you want just a hint you could try 1 teaspoon. It all depends on the potency of the horseradish itself. You could use Japanese horseradish, as well.
NINA says
Nina thanks for fan recipe. I keep reading about using. vital wheat gluten Inn burgers etc., do you have any idea if this would work in this recipe.
Goi g to try it as it is anyway. Looks amazingly. Glad I read comment so as your mentioned 230g weight of beetroots. Really helpful to UK readers.
I am assuming you peel the beetroots and grate them raw thank sure again
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Nina! I wouldn't recommend adding vital wheat gluten in this recipe as that is a whole other product that would dramatically change the results. I hope you enjoy the burgers!
Nina says
Hi Sam thanks for the advice I will try it as per the recipe - thanks again
Sam Turnbull says
Enjoy!
sofia says
Hi! Can you tell me the ingridients in grams and not in cups?
Thank you
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Sofia! Cups are volume measurements, and grams are weight measurements, so one does not equal the other. I know a couple of my UK readers have picked up a set of measuring cups and spoons online so that they could easily make any Canadian or US recipe without the need to convert. Hope that helps!