Like most omnivores turned herbivore – we’ve eaten tons of veggie burgers in our day.  It’s been years since I’ve eaten a “real” burger and I don’t even miss them, but veggie burgers?  I admit it.  I’m an herbivore and I love them.

For a long time I bought them frozen.  Morning Star, Sunshine Burgers, Gardenburger.  These are all great and especially handy when we need to make something quick – but these days I prefer to make my own burgers when it comes to having them for dinner. Inspired by Kath’s bean burger post I fine tuned my technique and we are reaping the bean burger rewards over here.

These are easy and cheap – two of my most two favorite adjectives ever.

Homemade Veggie Burgers

1 cup of black beans (if canned, rinsed and drained)
1/4 cup flour and/or rolled oats
2 to 3 Tbsp any of your favorite HFCS free bbq sauce (or ketchup, mustard…. some liquid to bind it together)
Optional 1/2 to 3/4 cup other veggies – possibilities include diced onions, chopped mushrooms, corn, garlic, bell pepper, finely chopped steamed broccoli, minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Mash beans in a bowl with fork or potato masher. Once sufficiently smashed – add sauce, flour or oats and optional veggies.

Made today with chopped raw mushrooms and flour.

Stir together until ingredients are well mixed. Add a little more sauce or flour as needed. Should be thick so that you can make patties in your hand. Will be slightly sticky.

Place burgers in a lightly oiled (I love my Misto!) pan on medium heat.

Let cook on one side 4 – 5 minutes. It’s ready to flip when you can easily free it from the pan with a spatula.

Once flipped, you can flatten your burger a bit more with your spatula now that this side is cooked and won’t stick to your spatula.   Cook an additional 4 – 5 minutes, flip again and cook another 2 – 3 minutes on each side.

Makes 3 – 4 burgers, depending largely on the size of your patties and what other ingredients you add.

Served here on an Ezekiel roll and topped with lettuce, tomato, dill pickle and mustard – I hope your mouth is as big as mine.

A burger even an omnivore can love.