Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (2024)

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This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link.

Updated on October 18, 2022

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Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (1)

Commercial veggie burgers have come a long way in their ability to mimic meat in both taste and texture, but their vegetable-packed, whole grain counterparts still make for satisfying, toothsome meat alternatives. The beauty of preparing veggie burgers at home is that you can custom flavor the patties with your favorite spices and create texture with whole foods like beans, nuts, and mushrooms. From classic black bean burgers to cumin-spiced red lentil burgers and a ratatouille-inspired rendition made with stacked roasted veggies, these are our most delicious veggie burger recipes.

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Double Drive-Thru Veggie Burgers

Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (2)

Vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli is famous for her deliciously charred veggie burgers. For a "special sauce," she swaps out mayo for silken-tofu mayonnaise to make a tangy-sweet vegan take on Thousand Island dressing.

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Rajma (Kidney Bean Curry) Veggie Burgers

Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (3)

Your quest for the perfect veggie burger is over. Cookbook author Chitra Agrawal's version uses mashed kidney beans, which get an umami burst with the addition of grated Parmesan and a melty slice of sharp cheddar cheese. Don't skip the piles of toppings: They make this already wonderful burger even more special.

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Cumin-Spiced Red Lentil Burgers

Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (4)

The red lentils in these Indian-inspired vegetarian burgers don't need to be soaked and cook super quickly. The cooling homemade yogurt sauce provides a great counterpoint to the spicy patties.

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Veggie Burgers with Pomegranate Ketchup

Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (5)

Eating vegan for a month led Top Chef winner Richard Blais to examine his pantry more closely. He discovered that ground porcini mushrooms add a meaty flavor to dishes like his veggie burger.

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Black Bean Burgers

Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (6)

If you suspect that veggie burgers are a pale imitation of the all-beef original, try these robust DIY patties. Made with black beans and farro and topped with roasted red pepper spread, they're moist and delicious.

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Vada Pav (Potato Fritter Sandwich)

Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (7)

This sandwich is a vegetarian's dream. It's also a nice option for meat lovers looking for a sandwich stuffed with something just as enticing as a burger. Vada pav, one of Mumbai's most popular street foods, is a potato fritter the size of a baseball stuffed into a flaky white bun, smeared with coconut and spicy green chile chutneys, and then squished until it's small enough to fit into your mouth.

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Brown Rice Veggie Burgers

Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (8)

Another approach to veggie burgers uses the natural nutty sweetness of brown rice in the patty. Monterey Jack cheese, chipotle and poblano pepper, peas, and pumpkin seeds contribute extra flavor and texture.

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Ultimate Veggie Burgers

Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (9)

These veggie burgers hit every satisfying, savory note with a hearty mix of pearl barley, chickpeas, mushrooms, and crispy panko. For the sturdiest patties, evenly distribute the panko by stirring the patty mixture until very well-combined.

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Spiced-Tofu Sandwiches

Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (10)

For this fantastic vegetarian spin on a burger, grilled tofu gets marinated in a smoky spice paste, then topped with barbecue mayo.

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Roasted Veggie Burgers with Carrot Ketchup

Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (11)

Chef Edward Lee takes a different tack to the traditional veggie burger. Rather than creating a patty, Lee layers roasted vegetables and tops it off with melted cheese. "It looks like a slice of a rainbow," he says.

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Beet-Bean Cheeseburger

Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (12)

This exceptional veggie burger, created by chef Dan Barber for his WastED pop-up at Blue Hill in New York City, has a lot of ingredients; each one adds to the taste and texture and makes it exceptional. The key is cooking the burger until it's well-seared, so you get the familiar charred flavor.

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Corn and Shiitake Fritters

Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (13)

Sweet corn kernels take two different forms in these crispy cakes. Half the corn is pureed into the batter; the other half is sautéed with shiitake and onion to give the fritters crunch. Serve them on buns slider-style or simple and unadorned.

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Crispy Quinoa Sliders

Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (14)

These crispy, light little patties are fantastic as mini vegetarian burgers, and they'd be great served alongside a salad.

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Our 13 Best Veggie Burger Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What binds a veggie burger together? ›

Eggs are the most common and effective binder, and egg replacers are an excellent alternative for vegan burgers. Other common binders include wheat germ, bread crumbs, oats, and ground flaxseeds. These are dry ingredients, though the recipe's other ingredients often add just enough moisture to make a sufficient binder.

Why are my veggie burgers mushy? ›

Raw vegetables, while delicious, hold a lot of water. And when added to veggie burgers, these vegetables release all that moisture during cooking, which can make for an especially mushy burger.

What goes well on veggie burgers? ›

Load your veggie burger up however you like – I like mine with avocado or guacamole, sliced red onion or pickled red onions, mustard, Sir Kensington's Avocado Mayo (not vegan) or Fabanaise (vegan), sprouts, and a squirt of sriracha or chipotle sauce on a homemade bun.

What are the ingredients in plant-based burgers? ›

If you're making your vegan burger patty from scratch some common burger mix ingredients include plant-based proteins like black beans, chickpeas, other legumes, cooked quinoa or brown rice, rolled oats, certain vegetables like bell peppers, red onions, caramelized onions, shiitake mushrooms, cashews, and coconut ...

What is a good egg substitute for binding veggie burgers? ›

Flax: ground flaxseed is our egg substitute to help the patties stick together so they don't fall apart when you cook them.

What makes veggie burgers taste like meat? ›

Leghemoglobin is evolutionarily related to animal myoglobin found in muscle and hemoglobin in blood, and serves to regulate oxygen supply to cells. Heme gives the Impossible Burger the appearance, cooking aroma and taste of beef.

How do you jazz up a veggie burger? ›

Spices and tomato paste: Smoked paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper combine to make these burgers a little smoky and incredibly delicious. Tomato paste adds color, sweetness, and an umami flavor to the burgers (highly recommended!). Cooked rice: Adds more texture to the veggie burgers.

What is the best binder for vegan burgers? ›

Common binding agents include flax eggs (a mixture of ground flaxseed and water), chia seeds, mashed potatoes, tapioca flour, or even your favorite nut butter. These ingredients help hold everything together and prevent your burger from crumbling.

What veggie burgers do McDonald's use? ›

McPlant® A vegan burger made with a juicy plant-based patty co-developed with Beyond Meat® featuring vegan sandwich sauce, ketchup, mustard, onion, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and a vegan alternative to cheese in a sesame seed bun.

What cheese goes best with veggie burgers? ›

Check out Chef Brown's recommendations for veggie cheeseburger pairings.
  • Cheddar cheese: Whether sliced or shredded (to put in your patties!), its sharp profile goes well with smoky flavours, roasted onions, and vegetables. ...
  • Colby cheese: This cheese's sweet, nutty flavour is a friend to herbs.

What is the difference between plant-based burger and veggie burger? ›

While both options may contain veggies, the key difference between vegan burgers and veggie burgers is that vegan burgers are made from a protein and are made to mimic the flavor and texture of actual meat while veggie burgers are not meant to evoke meat properties at all.

What is a mcdonalds plant burger made of? ›

The McPlant burger uses a patty made from peas, rice and potatoes that mimics the taste and texture of beef. Toppings include mayonnaise and American cheese. Customers in the two test markets will be able to buy the burger for a limited time, while supplies last.

What is a binding agent for vegetable patties? ›

If you want a veggie burger that holds together, use binding agents like cooked grains (rice, quinoa, millet), eggs, flax eggs, bread crumbs, oats, flour or nut/seed flours like almond flour. The amount of grains or flour will depend on the recipe, but it's usually anywhere from ¼ to 1 cup.

What is a good binder for black bean burgers? ›

Panko bread crumbs – They give the burgers their hearty texture. An egg – To bind everything together!

What is the best ingredient to bind burgers? ›

In my experience, the best way to prevent your burger patties from falling apart during cooking is to use both egg and breadcrumbs to make them. You can add eggs to the mixture and then, coat them with breadcrumbs before shaping them into burger patties.

What can I add to burgers to hold them together? ›

One of the most common substitutes is breadcrumbs, but sometimes the breadcrumbs can fall off when the burgers are cooking if there are too many or they are too dry. Other popular substitutions for eggs include cornstarch, flour, ketchup, porridge oats, cracker crumbs, and ground flaxseed.

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