These vegetarian cilantro black bean burgers are so delicious with a fresh cilantro flavor and easy to make. I have another version of black bean burgers here, but this one is now the favorite veggie burger in our home. My first version which incorporates chickpeas has never been a big hit with my kids even though my husband and I always enjoyed them. This black bean burger was even mistaken for meat burgers by two of my little guys. They’re simpler and processing them in the food processor vs just mashing, like in the first version, make these more palatable for finicky eaters.
Cilantro Crazy
I don’t know about you, but I just can not get enough of this magnificent herb. I like to put it in so much, don’t be surprised if you see it pop up quite a few times on my site. In any case, it’s so good for you, so why not?! If you love it like I do, use it up! It does so much good for the body as you can see here.
Making these Bean-y Burgers
These black bean burgers are processed in the food processor for a nice smooth texture making them more pleasing to finicky eaters. As I mentioned above, these are the favored black bean burger now by my kids, probably because of texture.
These burgers are easy and fast to make just by putting all the ingredients in the food processor. This takes out the extra labor of mashing beans as some other recipes call for. It’s a personal preference, but I think these burgers are great for those who don’t normally like vegetarian bean burgers.
Vegetarian Variety
Vegetarian options don’t need to mean boring. This burger can be dressed up in many different forms. Since this burger already has cilantro flavor it’s great paired with a guacamole or a sriracha sauce for those spicy food lovers out there. Any way you like your burger this one can be played up; even as a basic lettuce tomato and onion kind of burger with your favorite special sauce.
Give these delicious Cilantro Black Bean Burgers a try and let us know what you think below in the comments. Enjoy!
Cilantro Black Bean Burgers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2- 14.5 oz. cans black beans rinsed and drained
- 1/4 cup cilantro leaves packed
- 1 lime juiced (about 1 oz.)
- 1 Tbsp. dried minced onion hydrated
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup plus 1-2 Tbsp cornmeal divided
- olive oil spray for griddle or skillet
Instructions
- Place black beans through olive oil in a food processor and process or pulse for about 30 seconds.
- Once ingredients fully processed and your mixture is a smooth thick pasty texture go ahead and add your egg and 1/4 cup cornmeal.
- Pulse a few more times to fully mix and then transfer your mixture to a medium size mixing bowl.
- Place your bowl, covered with plastic wrap or foil into a freezer for 15 minutes or fridge for about 30 minutes. (You're just wanting to give your mixture a nice chill so that they form better patties for you)
- At this point start preheating your griddle or skillet when it's close to the end of the chilling time. (If you're using a griddle, preheat it to 400 degrees, if using a skillet to cook the burgers, preheat on medium to medium high.
- Once your mixture is chilled for the allotted time, scoop a 1/2 cup measurement of your mixture and form a patty one by one as thick as you like and sprinkle the remaining cornmeal onto the top and bottom of your patty, then gently place the patty onto your olive oil sprayed and preheated cooking surface. Repeat this step till all of your mixture is gone.
- Cook your burgers for about 5 minutes on one side or lightly browned and then gently flip over and cook another 5 minutes. You can be the best judge on brownness level desired.
- If you want to melt cheese on top doing it after half way through the final flip is the best time.
- Once the burgers are all cooked you may dress your burgers immediately and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition Disclaimer:
Nutrition
Thank you for this delicious recipe, Kat! I was looking high and low for a bean burger recipe that doesn’t use breadcrumbs or oats!
Few things I did differently for convenience and/or personal preference: I used 1 can black beans and 1 can of red kidney beans. Swapped dried onion for fresh cut. We are seasoning heavy in my household so I added in chipotle powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika!
The texture was a little softer than I would have liked, I think I may have over processed the initial run on the beans. I would also chill the mixture in the freezer longer – I did 15 mins but my house was a bit warm.
Overall my boyfriend and I loved them, will definitely be making again!
Thanks for the comment, Tiffany! I hear you on seasoning, we like to go heavy too, but can’t always with our kids. Glad you were able to adjust it to your liking. Thanks for sharing!