Grillable Plant-Based Burgers

Design Your Own Plant-Based Burger

There are countless ways to make a plant-based burger. The base can be any combination of bulgur wheat, black beans, chickpeas, lentils, tempeh, brown rice, quinoa, oats, tofu, eggplant, zucchini, or even sweet or white potato.

For color, use sundried tomatoes, red beets, beet powder, beet juice, or tomato paste. To add some healthy wholesome oils, add avocado, ground flaxseed, walnuts, or seed butters. For a beefy flavor, add mushrooms. Go easy on the liquid ingredients like soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and plant-based or vegan Worcestershire sauce as they can make the burger mushy and not grillable. 

Add any spices or greens you want like parsley, basil, dill, thyme, or cilantro. Be creative with your toppings. Add the classic dill or sweet pickles, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, and mustard. Other toppings can include caramelized onions, tempeh bacon, sautéed mushrooms, nondairy mayonnaise, cucumbers, pickled red onions, sprouts, or avocado. Also try sauces like honey mustard, cilantro-lime, BBQ, nondairy ranch dressing and thousand island, or even horseradish sauce. Serve with a salad, baked or air fried fries, potato salad, coleslaw, yellow rice and beans, or homemade baked beans.

Recipes and ideas for plant-based versions of BBQ sauce, ranch dressing, mayonnaise (for coleslaw), tempeh bacon, and ketchup, made without high-fructose corn syrup and other highly processed ingredients, are found in the Eat Grass, Kick Ass handbook.

Ingredients

Base Ingredients

• ½ cup short-grain brown rice (short-grain is stickier)
• ½ cup fine-cut bulgur or lentils
• 1¾ cups rolled oats
• 1½ teaspoons xanthan gum (mixed with the dry oats for sturdiness)

Other Ingredients

• 1 cup onion, roughly chopped
• ¾ cup mushrooms (shiitake or portobello)
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder or 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup tomato paste
• 1 small piece cooked beet (about 1-inch square), optional, for deeper color
• 2 cups black beans, rinsed
• ½ cup walnuts or ¼ cup tahini
• 1–2 teaspoons smoked paprika or liquid smoke
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce or ¾ teaspoon salt + 1 teaspoon soy powder (to help buffer the salt), to taste
• 1 teaspoon smoked or plain paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons dark miso paste slurry or additional low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons crushed flaxseed (adds stickiness)
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• ¼ cup fresh basil, parsley, or cilantro, finely chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. In a pot, combine the rice, bulgur (or lentils), and 6 cups of low-sodium stock or water. Cover and simmer for 35 minutes. Drain well and set aside to cool.
3. Add the oats and xanthan gum to a dry food processor or blender and pulse until roughly chopped. Transfer the oat mixture to a small bowl.
4. In the food processor, chop the remaining ingredients (onion, mushrooms, tomato paste, beet if using, black beans, walnuts or tahini, seasonings, liquids, flaxseed, nutritional yeast, and herbs) in batches. Transfer everything to a large mixing bowl.
5. Roughly chop the cooked rice and bulgur/lentils, then add them to the mixing bowl.
6. Add the oat mixture and mix thoroughly with your hands. Let the mixture rest for 5–10 minutes so the flaxseed and xanthan gum can firm up. Form into burger patties and place them on parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat (avoid foil).
7. Bake for 20 minutes. Then transfer the patties to a skillet or grill and lightly brown for up to 1 minute per side. (A light spray of oil may help prevent sticking. Avoid overcooking on the grill.)