We’ve had a few requests for a vegan burger that’s simple to make for dinner on a weekday evening. These burgers are the ultimate homemade burgers, they’ve got a great texture thanks to the black beans and crunchy red onion, with a rich spicy flavour coming from the harissa paste and smoked paprika. They’re best served hot, straight from the pan in a soft bun, piled high with lots of crunchy lettuce, juicy tomatoes and some sweet tomato relish.
Makes 4 burgers & takes 50 minutes to cook
Ingredients
For the burger patties
1 red onion, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
4 portobello mushrooms, cut into small pieces the size of a pea
3 teaspoons of smoked paprika
2x 400g cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons of plain flour
2 teaspoons of spicy harissa paste or hot sauce (plus more if you want it even spicier)
Pinch of salt
Olive oil
To serve (all optional)
4 burger buns, halved
Head of lettuce, end removed
2 large vine tomatoes, sliced
Tomato relish (or more hot sauce)
Method
1. Place a large pan over a medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Once warm, add the chopped onion, garlic and a pinch of salt. Mix well and cook for 5-10 minutes until the onion becomes soft.
2. Once the onion feels soft, add the spices and mix through. Cook for another minute before adding the chopped mushrooms. Mix everything together well and leave to cook for another 10 minutes until the mushrooms reduce in size and become soft.
3. At this point, stir through the one can of the black beans and leave to cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, leave the mixture to cool a little before spooning into a powerful blender. Blend for a few seconds until the mixture comes together but is still a little chunky.
4. Once the mixture has come together, spoon back into the pan and stir through the final can of drained black beans, plain flour and harissa paste. Cook for a final 10 minutes, before leaving the mixture to one side to cool down a little.
5. Once the mixture feels firm enough to shape into patties, weigh it out into 4 patties, they should be around 150g each. Shape the patties into burger shapes using your hands. You can either cook them straight away or cover them and leave them in the fridge until needed.
6. Once ready to serve, heat a large pan over a medium heat or a bbq. Add a drizzle of olive oil. Once warm, add the burgers and cook on each side for 5-6 minutes until charred. You can also place them in an oven at 180C, fan setting for 10-15 minutes to cook through.
7. Serve the burgers in buns piled high with fresh tomatoes, lettuce and tomato relish.