These vegan veggie burgers are made with a blend of delicious veggies, including sweet potato, mushrooms, and onions. They’re free of grains, gluten, eggs, and dairy. For Paleo/Whole 30 approved, just omit the bun and mayo.
For our family, summer is synonymous with backyard BBQ’s and picnics at the park. Burgers are on the menu a lot this time of year, and although I’m not much of a meat eater, I love me some burgers. I typically just buy veggie burgers at the grocery store, because #lazy, but a quick glance at the crappy ingredient list convicted me enough to begin making my own vegan veggie burgers.
There are a ton of vegan veggie burger recipes out there already, but most of them have beans, rice, or some other grain to hold them together. I’m currently on a strict elimination diet, trying to pinpoint which foods are causing me digestive issues, so I wanted to create a burger that didn’t rely on grains or legumes to hold them together. In this burger, I use sweet potato instead of the traditional mashed beans, and ground flaxseed, instead of rice or oats, to bind the mixture together.
I also added mushrooms and onions for lots of flavor, but instead of mixing the ingredients together raw, I sauté and caramelize them first to bring out even more flavor. What results is a moist and flavorful grain free veggie burger, which even my very picky, meat-loving family enjoyed!
I load my burgers down with alllll the goods—mayo, lettuce, avocado, pickles, and tomato, are my go-tos. I also like to add a little sriracha to my mayo for a spicy kick! It’s an AWESOME addition to these burgers too, for those of you who can take a little heat!
I hope you give these a try! Please let me know how you enjoy them by leaving a review below. 🙂 Enjoy your weekend, friends!
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Vegan Veggie Burgers
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 3–4 burgers 1x
Description
These meat-free burgers are made with a blend of delicious veggies, including sweet potato, mushrooms, and onions. They’re free of grains, gluten, eggs, and dairy. For Paleo/Whole30, just omit the bun and mayo.
Ingredients
Veggie Burgers:
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped into cubed (about 2 cups)
- 1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 heaping cup crimini mushrooms or other mushroom of choice, stems removed and finely chopped
- 1 cup toasted walnuts
, or other nut/seed of choice
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
- 1 tablespoon olive or avocado oil, plus more for pan
- generous amount of salt and pepper, to taste
- 1–2 teaspoons cumin, to taste (optional)
- 1/2–1 teaspoon smoked paprika, (optional)
- regular/gluten-free buns or lettuce, for serving (optional)
- Additional toppings: spinach or lettuce, sliced tomatoes, red onion, spicy mayo (recipe below), avocado, pickles, etc.
Spicy Mayo:
- 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise of choice
- 1–3 tablespoons vegan sriracha
or other hot sauce, to taste
Instructions
- Drizzle a tablespoon of oil into a sauté pan and place over medium heat. Add chopped onions and potatoes and sauté for 5 minutes, until onions begin to turn translucent. Add in chopped mushrooms and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Continue to sauté for a few more minutes.
- Pour in a few tablespoons of water and cover pan to steam the veggies. When potatoes are fork-tender, remove pan from the heat to cool.
- Place walnuts in a dry skillet and heat over medium-high heat, moving often, until fragrant and lightly toasted.
- Pulse toasted walnuts in a food processor
until it’s finely ground and resembles bread crumbs. Add vegetable mixture, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, flaxseed, and a tablespoon of oil. Pulse a few times, until mixture begins to hold together. Don’t over-process. You don’t want it to be a puree, you want the mixture to be chunky. Stir the rest by hand.
- Taste and adjust seasonings, as needed. (This mixture can be made up to a day ahead of time and refrigerated until needed.)
- Divide mixture into 3 or 4 balls and shape each into a patty. I find the patties firm up a bit better if you refrigerate for a few hours before frying.
- To cook, heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and drizzle with a little avocado oil.
- Sear burgers for 3–4 minutes on each side, covering pan with a lid in between to thoroughly heat the center of the burger. Serve with your choice of of toppings and on a bun or bed of lettuce.
Notes
I haven’t tried grilling these, so I’m not sure if they would hold up well. The mixture may need extra flaxseed to help it hold together better, or if you consume eggs, an egg can also be added. If you happen to try this, please let me know how it works for you!
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: entree, paleo, vegan