What are you going to do with all those left over black beans? I have an idea! That’s right, black bean burgers. Here is a great meatless option dinner idea that still offers plenty of filling protein. Great for Meatless Mondays or Meatless any day! First time I tried a bean burger I was a little apprehensive. I thought surely I would stay craving a juicy beef burger.
At first bite, it seemed a bit odd since it had the texture very similar to a burger, but tasted like black beans. My brain had some adjusting to do! HA!
Once I got over it, I was surprisingly satisfied. I actually liked it and was appreciative of the experience to venture into this burger alternate. Like they say, don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it!
If you don’t have homemade beans, you may use canned beans.
Ingredients if making from scratch:
Small bag of raw black beans
1 medium size malanga
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 onion
4 large pieces of garlic
Salt
1 Tbs of cumin
1 Tbs of oregano
1 Tbs Sazón Completa
1 can of tomato sauce
1/2 cup of dry wine (or any white wine)
Hand full of chopped cilantro
Further instructions for making the beans from scratch can be found here.
Ingredients if using canned beans:
1 can of Black Beans
1/4 cup Onion
3 Cloves of Garlic
1/4 of Green Bell Pepper
1/4 of Red Bell Pepper
Sprinkle a bit of the following spices:
Cumin
Oregano
Sazón Completa
1 Tbs of chopped Cilantro
Bread crumbs
1 egg
(I personally like to pass the veggies through a food processor to get like a paste-like consistency so the veggies mix well with the beans.. no big chunky piece. Of course, this is optional.)
Directions whether using beans from scratch OR canned beans:
Mash the beans along with the other ingredients until it looks like mash potatoes, add the egg, and then add enough bread crumbs until you have a dough-like consistency.
Place the bowl of mashed beans and bread crumbs in the fridge for at least an hour (or overnight) to let the bread crumbs absorb.
Line a sheet pan with non-stick aluminum foil.
Lightly coat the foil with olive oil.
After an hour or so, take the bowl out of the fridge and start forming “beef” patties and place them on the sheet pan.
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Place the patties in the oven for about 25 minutes. Take the patties out, flip them, then back in the oven for another 15 minutes.
The patties should come out with a bit of a crust. That’s when you know they’re done.
Once you have your patties you can build your burger with your favorite toppings. I personally like pretzel buns. If you haven’t tried pretzel buns, I highly recommend. If you have extra patties, you can place them in a freezer bag and freeze them for a later date. To unfreeze, simply place them in a microwave safe plate and microwave for 45 seconds, flip, then another 30 seconds or so depending on your microwave.
