I’m not a vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination, but sometimes I feel it wouldn’t be too difficult for me. (Until I remember bacon is a thing.) I don’t typically think to include meat in every meal, and I naturally get a lot more joy from chopping up a bunch of colorful vegetables than cutting up raw meat.

I realized my vegetarian tendencies one night a few years ago when chatting dinner options with my husband and he began lamenting how long it had been since we’d included meat in our dinner rotation. I hadn’t even realized it. Oops.

Now, there’s really nothing that can replace a juicy burger made with real ground beef, although I do remember a brief and terrible phase of my childhood where my parents took to buying Boca Burgers in an attempt to reign in their diet.  They were surprisingly not-that-bad at first, but after a few too many of these dry flavorless veggie burgers, the fourth or fifth box sifted its way to the bottom of our freezer never to be seen again.

I’ve decided that veggie burgers deserve their own category entirely. If you think a veggie burger is supposed to taste like and have the texture of a real beef burger, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Veggie burgers are another beast entirely, and they can be absolutely delicious when done right. We have been trying lots of different recipes using black beans, garbanzo beans, quinoa, and corn, but this is our favorite recipe we’ve made so far!

I ended up with some leftover quinoa one night and stored it away thinking we’d just stir fry some veggies with it the next day. Upon suggesting this option to Tim for lunch he crinkled his nose a little and asked if there was anything else we could do with the quinoa. (I’d been making veggies-over-rice, veggies-over-couscous, and veggies-over-quinoa a little too often lately.) Thus these quinoa black bean burgers were born. I knew I wanted to include Panko bread crumbs and egg, along with cumin, chili powder, and garlic for flavor, so we researched a bit and combined a few different recipes to create what we ended up with here. I really have to give Tim credit for this recipe – without his input we would have ended up with veggies over quinoa. Again.

Toasted ciabatta buns work wonderfully for this recipe – it’s pretty difficult to get the texture right for veggie burgers, so the crunch of the ciabatta buns helps add a different layer of texture. The lime crema is a must for these burgers as well – you could swap out the other toppings for whatever you like, but the crema offsets the spices in the burger really well, adding a fresh zippy flavor to it.

Quinoa Black Bean Burgers with Lime Crema

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Ingredients

  

For the Burgers

• 2 c cooked red/mixed quinoa cooled (day-old quinoa works great!)
• 1 c drained rinsed black beans, mashed
• 1/2 c Panko bread crumbs
• 1 large egg slightly beaten
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 tsp chile powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• Optional 1 Tbs ground flax seed

For the Lime Crema

• 3 Tbs plain Greek yogurt
• 3 Tbs sour cream
• Juice of one lime
• 1/4 tsp Kosher salt

Extras

• Ciabatta buns toasted
• Cheese we like colby or pepper jack
• Avocado sliced
• Red onions

Instructions

 

• In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for the burgers and mix well.
• Form five or six 1/3 inch thick patties, place on wax paper on a plate and let rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
• While the burgers are resting, combine all ingredients for the lime crema in a small bowl. Place in fridge till ready to serve.
• Heat a large pan between Medium and Medium-High (you may have to experiment to find the right temperature that works with your stovetop.)
• Oil your pan with Pam or olive oil spray. Cook the burger patties, 2 or 3 at a time, for 5 minutes on each side. Once you place a burger patty on the pan, try not to move it around much till you're ready to flip it. This will help your burger get a crispier texture on the outside - something that's difficult to achieve with veggie burgers.
• During the last 3 minutes of cooking the second side of your burger patties, add cheese to each patty, cover pan with a lid, and finish your 5 minutes or wait to remove the patties once the cheese has melted to your liking.
• Toast ciabatta buns, serve burgers topped with avocado, red onions, and lime crema.

Notes

You can freeze extra patties if you're not cooking them to eat all at once. After forming the patties (and before cooking them), place on wax paper on a plate in the fridge. Once frozen, remove from plate and place in a freezer-safe ziplock bag. Thaw burger patties part of the way before cooking. You'll need to adjust your cooking time a bit (longer or shorter) depending on how much you thaw them.