A quick and easy recipe for Black Bean Burgers that can be made in under 30 minutes! Vegan and GF adaptable, perfect for weekly meal prep! Includes a video. 

The shortest interval between two points is the awareness that they are not two.
Eric Micha’el Leventhal

You’re looking at our all-time favorite veggie burger ever… homemade Black Bean Burgers! Put them in your back pocket and whip them up in minutes using what you already have on hand. Perfect for meal prep, or grilling, these can be made ahead for the busy week.

What I love best about these homemade veggie burgers is how flavorful they are! Ground chipotle (or use chili powder) gives them so much flavor – smoky and a little spicy- along with cilantro and lime zest.

Pan-sear the burgers, add melty cheese if you like and serve them up on a bun with chipotle mayo,  avocado and this quick Mexican Slaw for a flavorful satisfying meatless meal!

How to make Black bean Burgers|60-second video

Are black bean Burgers healthy?

Full of fiber, high in protein and low in fat, black bean burgers are indeed a healthy alternative to overly processed veggie burgers you buy at the store. That is why I always make my own! Plus they are just so easy, so why not?

Or for a lighter option, serve the black bean burgers over a bed of greens and grains (Burger in a bowl) topped with garden veggies for a lightened-up version.

Either way, you’ll like the flavor and ease of making these!

A quick and easy recipe for Smoky Chipotle Black Bean Burgers that can be made in under 30 minutes! Vegan adaptable and perfect for weekly meal prep! #blackbeanburger #veggieburger #veganburger #burger

How to make Black bean Burgers

  1. Saute onion and garlic, add the spices and salt and pepper and toss with the black beans.
  2. In a large bowl, mash with a potato masher then add the cilantro and scallions and the egg (and bread crumbs) or ground flax ( for a vegan version) to the bean mixture.
  3. Shape into burger patties and begin cooking the burgers, until golden, about 7 minutes per side.

How to make them firm and not mushy:

Cooking the black bean burgers first, then chilling, makes them firm and grillable.

So feel free to pan-sear ahead, refrigerate, then either heat on the grill or in the oven or toaster oven for later use.

A quick and easy recipe for Smoky Chipotle Black Bean Burgers that can be made in under 30 minutes! Vegan adaptable and perfect for weekly meal prep! #blackbeanburger #veggieburger #veganburger #burger

Quick and easy, these black bean burgers hold their shape without being too dry and crumbly. Such a great recipe- I think you’ll like it!

A quick and easy recipe for Smoky Chipotle Black Bean Burgers that can be made in under 30 minutes! Vegan adaptable and perfect for weekly meal prep! #blackbeanburger #veggieburger #veganburger #burger

Top the veggie burgers with this fresh Mexican Slaw with Cilantro and Lime or try your hand at Curtido!  The Chipotle Mayo (vegan adaptable) goes really well here too, so whip up a quick batch- you’ll find many other uses for it too!

A quick and easy recipe for Smoky Chipotle Black Bean Burgers that can be made in under 30 minutes! Vegan adaptable and perfect for weekly meal prep! #blackbeanburger #veggieburger #veganburger #burger

More recipes you may like: 

Happy week friends.

PS: The quote above (by Eric Micha’el Leventhal) officially blew my mind. Let it soak in. Brilliant. Especially when you consider that two points could be two individuals.

Love and hugs. xoxoxo

Sylvia

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A quick and easy recipe for the best Black Bean Burgers that can be made in under 30 minutes! Vegan adaptable and perfect for weekly meal prep!

Black Bean Burger Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 38 reviews
  • Author: Sylvia Fountaine
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 1x
  • Category: vegan burger, burger, vegetarian burger
  • Method: stovetop
  • Cuisine: Mexican
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

A quick and easy recipe for the BEST Veggie Burger! These Black Bean Burgers that can be made in under 30 minutes! Vegan and GF adaptable and perfect for weekly meal prep!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 12 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup onion, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, rough chopped
  • optional: 1 cup bell pepper, small dice, or sub poblano pepper or half a jalapeno
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder, more to taste (or use cayenne or 1/2 teaspoon chili powder)
  • 2 cans black beans, rinsed, drained well (3 cups cooked), pat dry.
  • zest from one small lime
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • —-
  • 1 egg (or use ground flax- see notes)
  • optional: 1/2 cup grated cheese ( cheddar, pepper jack, vegan cheese) or leave it out.
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 1/4 cup scallions, chopped
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs (or see notes)

Serve with Mexican Slaw or Curtido, avocado slices and chipotle mayo (vegan adaptable) either on a bun or over greens.


Instructions

  1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat and saute the onion, garlic, and optional bell pepper until fragrant, tender, and golden, about 8 minutes.  Add the spices and salt, and saute 1 minute.
  2. Add the drained black beans, zest and lime juice to the pan. Stir well, then mash with a potato masher until mostly mashed, leaving a little texture, then stir until combined. (You could also pulse in a food processor). Taste and adjust the salt and heat level.
  3. At this point you can add ¼-⅓ cup ground flaxseed if you want this vegan. Otherwise, let this cool, add the egg, optional cheese, cilantro, scallions and the bread crumbs and mix well until combined well.  Let stand 10-15 minutes in the fridge so the breadcrumbs or/flax have a chance to absorb moisture. If the mixture still feels wet, add more bread crumbs as needed.
  4. Using clean damp hands, form and compress tightly into 4 large patties (or 5 or 6 smaller ones), smoothing the edges. If the mixture still seems too soft, refrigerate to firm up, for 30 minutes.
  5. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet, over medium heat. Sear each side 5-7 minutes, or until golden and heated all the way through (you want the egg to cook though). Place in a warm oven until ready to serve – and feel free to top with melty cheese. Alternatively, you can bake these on a parchment-lined sheet tray ( spray the tops with olive oil) and bake for 20 minutes at 375 F , flipping halfway through.
  6. Refrigerate the black bean burgers for up to 4 days. ( Or freeze for later)
  7. To reheat, warm in an oven, toaster oven or on the grill. (Great for making ahead)

Serve on toasted buns, with chipotle mayo, Mexican slaw or Curtido and avocado if you like, or over a bed of dressed greens and/ and grains with fresh veggies!


Notes

VEGAN: Instead of the egg, replace with 3 tablespoons ground flax seeds and wait to add bread crumbs. Let stand 10 mins so flax seed is fully hydrated. If the mixture seems overly moist when forming a patty, add bread crumbs as needed- you may not need the full ½ cup.

Gluten Free: Instead of the bread crumbs- feel free to sub-cooked brown rice, gf oats, or cooked quinoa or do the flax version.

If you have time- an easy way to “dry out” the rinsed black beans is to spread them out on a sheet tray and either let them air dry or stick them in a warm oven for 15 minutes.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: one ex-large burger patty with egg and breadcrumbs
  • Calories: 291
  • Sugar: 1.1 g
  • Sodium: 627.9 mg
  • Fat: 9.1 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
  • Carbohydrates: 39.5 g
  • Fiber: 15.4 g
  • Protein: 14.9 g
  • Cholesterol: 35.3 mg

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Comments

  1. Definitely a 5 star recipe! This is the absolutely best Black bean Burger I have ever tried. I also made the Chipotle Mayo and it was totally flavorful & utterly Delicious. I plan to also try the Mexican Slaw the next time I make these.






  2. Made these today as per recipe specifications & they turned out fabulous. I baked them in the oven vs finishing in a skillet. I plan to freeze them, but had to eat one for lunch! Perfect recipe for me for meal prep & planning ahead. This one is a keeper. Thank you!






  3. I made these last night and they are very tasty. My husband and I really liked the flavor. My only issue is that despite draining the (Trader Joe’s) canned organic black beans for at least 30-40 minutes in colander, the mixture still seemed too moist. I did use the egg and panko bread crumbs. Before adding, I did allow the mixture cool first, then incorporated, and let it sit 15 more min in the hopes the mixture would get ‘firmer’. The final burgers were not solid like your photos. Not sure why. I will try recipe again since flavor was really good. Someone else said that splitting this into 4 yielded some giant burgers, and they were :-). So I made 5. I did flatten the burgers a bit more than your photos. Could that have something to do with the lack of solidity once cooked? Think I will try next time with ground flaxseeds option. Any suggestions welcome, and thank you for the recipes!

    1. Hi Christina, thanks for the feedback! So I usually pat the beans dry- I added a few more notes to the recipe, to help with this!

    2. I rinsed the beans in a colander, shook out most of the water, then dumped them on a few layers of paper towels to wick out any remaining water. My burgers held together great & looked exactly like the burger on the recipe. I loved the recipe & loved how mine turned out. I definitely plan to make them again & I plan to discard all the other black bean burger recipes that I have collected to try! Good luck next time you make them.

  4. I have been recommending Feasting at Home to my vegan friends for the last two years. Everything is so well crafted! Including these black bean burgers! It is a go-to in our house!

  5. I have been recommending feasting at home to everyone. Rarely have I had a flop! This black bean burger recipe is one that I keep on hand…so good!

  6. I am wondering if the sodium per burger listed in the nutritional information is correct. That seems high to me. I have not yet tried this recipe.

      1. You may need to close out your browser and try again. It may not be refreshing for you.

  7. While burgers are top reassets of protein, iron, and diet B12, they arrive with quite a few problems, in line with nutrients experts—specifically the fatty meat, sugary ketchup, and delicate grain buns. The new survey did discover that even burger enthusiasts understand they may select a more fit sandwich.






  8. Outstanding flavour, especially with the Mexican slaw and slices of fermented dill pickles. It’s my new go to summer dinner recipe!






  9. I used to go to this private restaurant in my city in the late 90’s where the owner made BBQ bean burgers on a little Hibachi grill… I used to wish I’d asked him for the recipe because I’ve never found another one that compared to it.

    I went WFPB in late 2020 and have been searching for a delicious and easy recipe. My brother’s partner found this one and made it for a family dinner last weekend and I have to say that these burgers are even better than the ones I had over 20 years ago. Thank you so much Sylvia! I’m in burger heaven again! ✨❤️😇❤️✨






  10. Hi Sylvia, This recipe was Superb!!! Made them along with the Mexican slaw & Chipotle Mayo; thanks for another great recipe!!






  11. This part of the recipe is unclear:
    “At this point you can add ¼-⅓ cup ground flaxseed if you want this vegan. Otherwise, let cool, add the egg, cilantro, scallions and the bread crumbs and mix well until combined …”
    Do I add 1/4-1/3 cup ground flax, PLUS the flax egg which is made of 3 tablespoons of flax and water. This is adding flax twice.

    I’m giving the recipe 4 stars even though I haven’t tried it yet–your recipes are among my favorites, so I’m sure it will turn out great. I’ll give a real review when I try it.






    1. Hey Sally! I’m not seeing where it says flax egg- is it in the post body or recipe card? No, do not add a “flax egg” here (no water) just add the ground flax.

  12. Hi Sylvia,
    Thank you most sincerely for some wonderful recipes! I’m excited to try them all, especailly the Chickpea, &, Black Bean burgers, I’m going to pass on your site to my Vegan son, Harry, he’s very creative & makes full use of his food processor.
    At the moment, in my humble opinion, the only decent ready made burgers on the Johannesburg market are by Linda McCartney.






  13. I’ve made this before and think that it’s the BEST black bean burger recipe ever! Planning to make it yet again and I have a question: Can I freeze the uncooked burgers to have them freshly cooked later, or is it better to freeze the cooked burgers and simply reheat later? My inclination with most recipes is to eat foods freshly cooked.






    1. Awwww, thanks Mary! I think they would hold together better if they were cooked and then frozen. But I hear you and I guess you could test one uncooked, then frozen, and see how it works? Let me know will you?

  14. We have had these burgers two nights in a row because they are so delicious. My husband can’t get enough of them,! Another amazing recipe thank you.






    1. Hi Patty, I think you could bake them? I havent personlly tried- but I don’t see shy not? Will you let us know how ti turns out if you try baking them?

  15. yet another delicious recipe! This burger had beautiful presentation, and if I was at a restaurant it could of easily cost $15 dollars just by how pretty and upscale it looked. The taste was spot on for me, my husband who now tells me he’s not a huge fan of beans said it wasn’t his favorite but I loved it! Thanks again for another amazing recipe!






  16. Hello, I’m wondering if there is another legume I could use for this recipe. I have white kidney beans on hand…

  17. Wow! These are great. They win the best-black-bean-burger- ever award. I followed the recipe exactly and they came out perfectly. With the Mexican slaw, “Special Sauce,” avocado slices and homemade whole grain buns they can’t be beat. I will say that they’re HUGE if you only make 4. Will probably divide it to make 5 or 6 next time.






  18. Hey, delicious looking burgers! Can these cook from frozen? If so how long in the oven?

    I work long hours and often like to be able to spontaneously pull things out of the freezer when I get back tired from work.

    It’s no big deal if they don’t 🙂






    1. I don’t see why not? I think I have frozen and placed it directly on a toaster oven rack, and it worked fine!

  19. Hi Sylvia, great flavours! I can’t seem to find in the recipe if olive oil is added to the mix or if its just for searing? My burgers taste great but keep coming out crumbly and I’m wondering if this is the culprit!

    Thanks for your great recipes!






  20. These vegan burgers are delicious! Full of flavor! And it’s true, it doesn’t take a lot of time to make them. I also prepared the chipotle mayonnaise and we ate them with a side mango salad.






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