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.
, or other nut/seed of choice
Spicy Mayo:
- 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise of choice
- 1–3 tablespoons vegan sriracha
or other hot sauce, to taste
or other hot sauce, to tasteInstructions
- 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.
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.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
These are amazing. I loved this recipe so much I made them twice in a week yes you can imagine that I ate these 4 days in a row and never got bored of them! They did fall apart but I wasn’t too particular but next time def will need to add more flax or make a flax egg and use that to combine the ingredient together. I ended up added beets onions zucchini into my burger and it was fantastic! Added tumeric cumin salt and it was fantastic!
Hi Sruthi, thanks for giving these a try! So happy you enjoyed them. Love the sound of your yummy additions too, will have to try that next time 🙂 Appreciate you taking the time to leave a review! Have a wonderful weekend!
Hi there! Do you think these would freeze well?
Hi Kat, I haven’t tried it before, so I can’t say for sure. I think they would freeze well though, especially if it’s after cooking them. If you happen give it a try, please let me know how it goes. I’m sure it would be helpful for others wondering the same thing. I do hope you enjoy them!
I had to make two substitutions and they turned out fine. (I have really bad food allergies and I’m vegetarian). I substituted chopped veggies, nothing cruciferous, e.g., carrots, green beans, even a little corn. I had to skip the walnuts 🙁 I used a scant 1/2ish cup of soaked gluten free oats as the binder. … Froze….air fryer until done. Great base and easy to substitute ingredients and I thank you so much for that. Stay safe
Hi Valerie, I’m happy your substitutions worked well and that you enjoyed these veggie burgers! Oats sound like a yummy alternative. I really like the idea of cooking them in the air fryer too. Seems like they would turn out really tasty! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience!
I’ve recently cut out meat except fish, while also adhering to Whole30. It was really difficult finding a veggie burger without legumes. This veggie burger is amazing. I added egg to mine as well. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Hi Erica, I’m so happy you enjoyed these burgers! Yes, I also found it difficult to find a veggie burger without legumes, which is why I worked to create a true ‘veggie’ burger made with mostly vegetables. Adding egg is a great option to help them bind together and get in extra protein too! Thanks for giving them a try and for taking the time to leave a review!
I have to try this recipe! My veggie burgers are usually made with chickpea as the congruent agent, but sweet potato has got to do a better job, right?
I have never tried vegan veggie burgers but this definitely looks so delicious. Since we’re trying to increase our vegetable intake, this might be a good idea. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Thank you Clarice!
I love burgers, no matter whether they’re with meat or just vegetables. I hope I’ll find some time to prepare them soon, as they look truly delicious. 🙂
Oh my gosh this looks so delish! This is perfect for memorial Day weekend!
What a colorful burger! I’m always looking for meat-free bbq options and this sounds like a winner!
I’m not vegan or even vegetarian, but the ingredients in this vegan burger sound (in both taste and nutrition value) much tastier than the meaty counterpart.
Thank you for the kind words Patricia!