These homemade vegan burgers are scrumptious, satisfying, and easy to make. A recipe that both vegans and omnivores will love!
Over the years I’ve developed many recipes for hearty vegan burgers. Store-bought veggie burgers have improved in taste and texture, but for me they still never compare to homemade.
Homemade always better, right? Plus, you can really tweak seasonings like dried herbs and spices, and also salt – whereas you “get what you get” with commercial burgers.
It’s funny, though, because I think vegan burgers are still perceived as being bland or not very satisfying.
It feels like a long time ago since I wrote LTEV, but must reference it in this post because I have a full chapter on hearty vegan burgers in that cookbook. I wanted to show people that homemade burgers are far better than storebought, more satisfying, and can hold their own on a burger bun!
When I wrote Let Them Eat Vegan, our girls were younger and a little fussy about veggie burgers. Store-bought burgers were far too spicy for them, and if they saw pieces of onion, mushrooms, or bell peppers in a patty they would try and pick them out. Plus, many burgers didn’t hold up well on a burger bun.
So, I set out to create a collection of hearty vegan burgers that kids and adults would both enjoy – and that would be easy to make.
These Nutty Veggie Burgers are one of our favorites. They are dense and toothsome, and very satisfying. Since they have a base of nuts, along with vegetables and oats, they are one of the more filling vegan burgers.
These Nutty Veggie Burgers also hold up well on a bun, and they are EASY! So easy that there is no sauteing of onions or other ingredients before working the mixture together. Instead, all the ingredients go straight into the food processor. The machine does all the work, apart from shaping the patties!
To cook, you can bake or pan-fry (a non=stick works best). Then, serve up on a bun (or in a pita or green wrap). If you have Let them Eat Vegan, be sure to try the Almonnaise and Sunshine Fries to pair with these burgers. Quite a delicious way to round out these hearty vegan burgers!
Hope you really enjoy these… more soon! x Dreena
Nutty Veggie Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups raw almonds
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts
- ½ cup raw pecans or more walnuts
- 1 small clove garlic roughly chopped/sliced
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp tamari SOY-FREE: use coconut aminos
- 1/4 tsp poultry seasoning or 1/8 tsp each of dried thyme and ground sage
- ½ cup finely grated carrot packed
- ½ cup finely grated zucchini packed
- ½ – 1 cup rolled oats see note
Instructions
- In a food processor, add almonds, walnuts, pecans, garlic and salt.
- Puree until the nuts are finely ground.
- Then add ketchup, nutritional yeast, tamari, poultry seasoning (or thyme/sage), carrot and zucchini, and pulse through until the mixture becomes dense and is starting to hold together, and then pulse in oats.
- Remove blade, and shape into patties.
- To cook, you can either bake or pan-fry.
- To bake, place shaped patties on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake about 9-10 minutes on each side.
- I prefer these burgers pan-fried. To do so, use a good non-stick skillet.
- Place patties on skillet over medium heat.
- Cook patties, about 5-7 minutes on first side, and then another 3-5 minutes on second side until golden brown.
- Serve with lettuce, tomatoes and fixings of choice.
Notes
- Using ½ cup of oats will firm the patties up nicely enough, and you can use up to 1 full cup of oats for even firmer patties.
- If you’d like to make this into a loaf, it works pretty well. Press into a lightly oiled and lined (with a strip of parchment, for easy removal) loaf pan. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, uncovering for the last 5-10 minutes just to lightly brown the top. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan, and then use the parchment to lift the loaf out of the pan to slice.
image credit: Hannah Kaminsky
Myr says
This looks great and I’d like to try it.
I can’t eat tomato though – any suggestions for substitutions for paste/ketchup?
Thanks!
Dreena says
Thanks Myr. You can omit the ketchup/tomato paste, it’s just 1 tbsp. If you have a product that you typically use (like a tomato-free BBQ sauce) you could add a tbsp of that. Enjoy!
Myr says
Thanks! Making this today!
Myr says
This was delicious! A bit dry without the tomato but great flavor, and I think a bit of oil would fix the dry. The kids loved it too! Thanks!
Myr says
Just coming back to say I’ve now made this 5 or 6 times and it is SO good and SO easy and everyone in my family likes it. My husband bought Beyond Meat burgers for our barbecue and I made your recipe, and yours were by far the fave. Thanks again!
Dreena says
Wonderful! Thanks so much Myr.
Marie says
Dreena!! OMG! These burgers are sooo amazing! My whole family was beyond impressed, including me! I am throwing out all my other vegan burger recipes, this one is easy, quick and delicious! You should box and sell these, I wish I had time and passion for this or I would 🙂
Anyone sitting on the fence about trying this recipe, get off the fence and get in your kitchen! They come together so nicely, the flavour is perfect. I added a bit of bbq sauce on both sides at the end of frying them. This is our all new fav burger. Thank you for sharing your recipes so freely! xoxo
Dreena says
Thank you Marie! You made my day with this feedback, and I love knowing it’s a recipe you’ll return to again and again. Blessings to you and your family.
Sandra says
How many burgers does it make? What size are they e.g. 1/2 cup or 1 cup?
Dreena says
Hi Sandra, this makes 5-6 patties, I’d say about 3/4 cup.
Yvette Ratson says
I am allergic to walnuts and pecans, they blister my mouth, so very uncomfortable any suggestions for substitutions this looks like a great recipe to try
Dreena says
Hi Yvette, you can definitely use a substitute for the pecans/walnuts. I cannot eat too many walnuts myself, and have a similar reaction (though not as severe). I’d go with a combo of pistachios and pumpkin seeds, I think that would taste great. You can also use just pumpkin seeds, but I’d use a little less since they aren’t nearly as large. Hope that helps!
Bridget says
Dreena! I made these burgers for my Meat-loving dad yesterday – SCORE!!! I also made the spinach & artichoke dip (I soaked the cashews – oops!) And used canned artichokes so it was a bit thinner mayber but delicious!!!
Thank you!!!
Bridget