Help me! I can't make veggie burgers to save my life!

[Secretlifeofme]

I consider myself to be a decent cook. Can make most basic meals without a recipe and am happy to improvise with good results. However, DH has recently become vegetarian. I'm fine making veggie curries, chili, stews etc without a recipe. Can make falafel with a recipe, no problem. But bastard veggie burgers are my nemesis!

I have tried three different recipes now, two using black beans and one using chickpeas. The two with black beans were both sticky and glutinous and basically bleurgh. The one with chickpeas tasted good but fell apart completely. It goes without saying that I don't dare try improvising a recipe - God knows what might happen

Please, for the love of vegetables, can anyone help me? This makes me sound like a bit of a twat but I'm genuinely not used to not being able to cook something, especially after 3 goes are there any foolproof recipes out there?

I use this recipe, the measurements are in cups so you will have to convert them x

Veggie burgers need a binder to hold them together. Eggs are the most common and effective, and egg replacers are an alternative for vegan burgers. Breadcrumbs and oats work well too.
Drain and dry your beans or other ingredients thoroughly before mashing. You can even gently pat them dry with a cloth or paper towel.
Some recipes tell you to let the veggie mixture rest in the fridge before shaping into patties, and some ask that you let the shaped patties rest for a few minutes before cooking. Never skip this step. It's written for a reason.
Make sure all the ingredients are mashed really well and chopped finely. Pieces that are too big will fall out and stop the burger from holding together. If you use a food processor, process until everything is just combined but don’t turn it into a soup.
If you are still worried about them holding together on the grill, you can pre-cook them in the oven for 15-20 minutes so they will be firmer when they reach the grill. The grill or pan should be hot and the oil should also be hot before adding the burgers. This way, the burgers will sear and form a crust.

Yes to binder like panko etc. You want your patties to be a bit on the drier side to the touch. .. The water content of the veg you use will keep it moist.

Thanks @sleepismysuperpower1! That looks like a tasty recipe. Can you use canned lentils?
And thanks @Ricekrispie22, those are great tips. I think the drying the pulses thing might be where I'm going wrong... I'll definitely try that!

I think the trick with veggie burgers is not to poke them about in the pan or they really fall apart easily

i can't find the recipe I had, but the gist was a baked sweet potato roughly mashed with three tins of beans (rinse and drain), plenty of S&P and anything spicy you might want to add...cumin, paprika, coriander and iirc the recipe also had some porridge oats in to hold it all together, but I didn't put them in as I felt they might go gluey and the mix was sticky enough

I did dabble them in some flour, egg and breadcrumbs and they were good

I do tend to go rogue with recipes...like the Pirate Code...I regard them more as guidelines than actual rules.

I haven't used canned lentils before with them, but I think if you drain them properly and pat them dry they should probably turn out ok?

That sounds really tasty Laurie but three cans of beans! That seems like it would make loads. What type of beans or didn't it matter? I'm a bit like you in my attitude to recipes haha

As an alternative to veggie burgers, fry large whole portobello mushrooms and some onions and pop into a burger bun.

Thanks Ada, we do that too but sometimes you just fancy a burger

Easy-peasy shortcut - I buy these, strictly it's a nut-roast mix but I mix with the specified water plus two eggs for the whole pack (sometimes halve it with one egg) and cook as burgers, lovely with a fried onion and also topped with cheese. Sometimes I add herbs or garlic puree, lots of ways to vary them a bit. And foolproof!

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01CJXTZM4/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_4?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

That looks great @onalongsabbatical but sadly we are not in the UK and can't get Amazon deliveries here

Aw that's a shame. Can you get something similar to experiment with? I think the principle really (I've had many burger failures myself) is that a tinned bean is already too moist, whereas a dried mix of something that's re-hydrated and then bound with egg has a better chance. The other thing I do with it - often only cooking for myself - is instead of relying on it to hold together I cook it as one thing in a very small saucepan so it's held in its shape by the pan until it's safely cooked and the egg has solidified and holds it, IYSWIM. Like putting a cake in a cake mould.

OP , I've been veggie for 30 years and still to find a decent veggie burger recipe. Am pretty decent cook generally.

I’m very boring so mine are mostly mashed potato with as many nice veggies chopped up and mixed in as the mixture will hold, add a beaten egg, then shape and pop into the oven (rather than fry as they tend to fall apart).

My MIL makes the best - she put some herbs in there and I’m not sure what!

you know what..it did make bloody loads, I had forgotten about that, BUT i came over all housewifely and just made enough burgers for everyone and shoved the rest in a box and froze it, and it formed up nicely after being frozen

they were really good with halloumi and that sticky sweet chili sauce that's not set your teeth aflame hot

frozen/defrosted. I am not whittling bean burgers from frozen slabs of stuff

I usually just buy ready-made veggie burgers as I find every time I’ve tried to make them they just fall apart but I had a friend make me these black mbean burgers from serious eats and they held together well enough to put on the barbecue without falling apart and were really tasty.

I use a couple of heaped tablespoons of extra fine polenta as a binder , I mix it in whilst the mix is still warm/hot then let it cook for a couple of hours in the fridge - then make the burgers.

Works with kidney bean grated carrot onion and coriander cumin and lime burgers and also with white beans, rosemary, lemon and garlic burgers and also with broad bean and mint burgers.