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This vegan black bean burger recipe is gluten free and easy to make! Made from cooked sweet potatoes, black beans, quinoa, flax seeds and flavorful tex-mex seasonings.
I love a good veggie burger, especially when it’s made with some of my favorite ingredients like sweet potatoes, black beans and quinoa!
These vegan black bean burgers are easy to make, super satisfying and require no eggs. To help bind all the ingredients together, all you need are a few tablespoons of ground flax seed and that’s it!
The burgers are seasoned with a flavorful mixture of ground cumin, onion powder, chili powder, garlic and oregano to help balance out the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. The result is a subtly sweet and savory black bean burger that will satisfy even the biggest meat lovers.
To make it even better, I served it up with a huge shmear of this easy chipotle sauce and it can’t get any better than that!
How to make vegan black bean burgers
In a small bowl, combine ground flax seed, cumin, salt, onion powder, chili powder, garlic powder, dried oregano and black pepper. (photo 1)
In a large mixing bowl, add 2 cooked sweet potatoes and 1 15-ounce can of drained and rinsed black beans. (photos 2-3)
Using a fork or potato masher, mash the sweet potatoes and black beans until the consistency is only slightly chunky. Some beans will be completely mashed and some will not. (photos 4-5)
Add 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, the small bowl of seasonings and mix together until fully combined. (photo 6-8)
Form the mixture into 8 burger patties using your hands and place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
Bake in a 400°F oven for 20 minutes, carefully flip the patties over and bake for 20 more minutes.
And voila! Time to eat.
Tips for making the best vegan black bean burgers
- Make sure to spray the parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray or olive oil. I made a batch where I forgot to spray it, and the patties stuck to the paper.
- Drain as much moisture as possible from the canned black beans. The more moisture in your mixture, the stickier it will be which will make it difficult to form it into burger patties.
- If the burger mixture is very sticky when forming it into patties, add in 1 or 2 more teaspoons of ground flax seed to help absorb some of that moisture.
Ways to serve these black bean burgers
My favorite way of serving these black bean burgers is in between a brioche bun with your typical lettuce/tomato/onion toppings as well as a big shmear of this easy chipotle sauce! It’s a little spicy, super creamy and it makes every burger better.
You could also go the bunless route and serve it on some lettuce or collard greens and top it with some pickled onions for some tangy crunch.
More Vegan Recipes
Vegan Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients
- nonstick cooking spray or olive oil
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, halved lengthwise
- 1/2 cup dry quinoa (about 1 1/2 cups cooked)
- 3 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
For serving (optional)
Instructions
- Bake the sweet potatoes: Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Place halved sweet potatoes cut side down and poke each half with a fork a few times.Bake for 30-35 minutes until sweet potatoes are tender and cooked through. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. While sweet potatoes are baking, make the quinoa.
- Cook the quinoa: Place quinoa in a fine-mesh sieve and rinse under cold running water for about 1 minute. Drain and transfer to a medium pot. Add in 1 cup of water and bring to a boil over high heat.Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until quinoa is tender and cooked through. Let stand for 5 minutes, covered. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork.
- Make the seasoning: In a small bowl, add the ground flax seed, ground cumin, coarse kosher salt, onion powder, chili powder, garlic powder, dried oregano and ground black pepper. Mix together and set aside.
- Mash it up: In a large bowl, add the black beans and cooked sweet potatoes. Mash until the consistency is only slightly chunky. Some beans will be completely mashed and others will not. This will help create a nice texture.
- Mix it all together: Add the cooked quinoa and combined spices. Mix it all together until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. hands and form into 8 burger patties, about 1/3 cup of mixture each.
- Make the patties: Using your hands, form the mixture into 8 burger patties, about a heaping 1/3 cup of mixture per patty.
- Cook the burgers: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray or olive oil. Place burger patties baking sheet and bake in 400°F oven for 20 minutes. Carefully flip over the patties and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally published in March 2017. It was republished with updated photos and helpful tips and tricks in June 2019.
About how much cooked sweet potato do I need for this recipe? Looks fabulous and would love to try these.
Might be a dumb question – do you peel the sweet potatoes or mash with the skin on after baking?
I peel the sweet potatoes.
Oh. My. Goodness! These are so flavorful and delicious….and my picky 9 year old step-daughter devoured hers!
The only thing I didn’t like was how easily it fell apart. I added 2 tsps of tapioca starch to help bind, it and now they’re perfect!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I’m so glad you liked them, Danielle!
New vegetarian here of 4 weeks! This is by far the best veggie burger I’ve ever had. My boyfriend (big meat eater) practically ate all of the patties the first time I made it! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Yay! You’re so welcome, Annie. I’m so happy you and your bf loved it! That’s really the true test lol
I love these. Curious if you’ve ever made them the day before cooking… I’m big on meal prep.
Hey Trish, yes! I’ve made them for meal prep and they’re great!
I made these burgers last night. They were amazing. I made a few modifications to the recipe. I substituted garlic and onion powder for one clove of garlic and 1/2 medium finely diced white onion sauteed. I also added 1/4 deseeded very finely diced serrano pepper to the saute pan. We didn’t have vegan mayo so we used vegan sour cream instead. The sauce was really good and thick. We will be making this again soon!
So happy you liked it, Aaron! Your substitutions sounds amazing. I’m going to have to try it that way!
Thanks for receipe, I’m going to
Make the burgers and send you a photo. Sounds so good!
Would brown or instant rice work in place of quinoa? Quinoa tends to make my stomach hurt for some reason!
Hmm, I’m not sure but I think it’s worth a shot! I would just make sure it’s cooked super well so it mixes in and sticks to all the other ingredients.
I had to use half quinoa, half brown rice and it seemed to work for me! They were very tasty- thinly sliced onions and homemade mayo…nom nom!!
Made these burgers last night they were delicious!!!!
Woo hoo! I’m so glad you liked them, Rena!
I fotgot to rate this. 5 starts all the way.
Thanks, Leah!