Whole Food Plant-based Burgers

Square cropped image of Front view of a double-stacked plant-based burger assembled in a fluffy whole wheat bun with white sauce, lettuce, tomato and red onion, A second, single-stacked black bean burger sits on the light wood board behind the first burger with a light brown towel wrapping behind the burgers. White-grey marble background.

Whole Food Plant-based Burgers

Looking for the best whole food plant-based burger recipe? These vegan burgers are packed with flavor and nutritious ingredients like black beans, sweet potato and brown rice.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American-inspired, Vegan

Keyword Whole food plant-based burger

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 25

Total Time 55

Servings Burger Patties

Calories 195kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

1 cup sweet potato , cubed and steamed
1 cup brown rice , cooked
2 cups black beans , cooked (or drained and rinsed from can)
½ cup onion , chopped
1 cup mushrooms , chopped (button or cremini; about 4 large)
1 cup extra firm tofu , crumbled (half a 350 g block; or additional 1 cup of chopped mushroom)
½ cup chickpea flour
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
¼ - ½ teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Instructions

Prep Ingredients

If needed, cook and cool brown rice. Cooked rice tends to double in size from dry, so cook ½ cup of dry rice for a standard 8 burger yield. Leftover rice is perfect if you have some around.
1 cup brown rice
If needed, peel, cube and steam the sweet potato. Leftover cooked sweet potato works well too!
1 cup sweet potato
Measure some black beans. If using canned beans, drain and rinse them.
2 cups black beans
Chop onion.
½ cup onion
Roughly chop mushrooms.
1 cup mushrooms
Crumble extra firm tofu. The tofu I use doesn’t need to be pressed but if your tofu releases liquid when pressed, press if before using. You can use an extra mushrooms in place of tofu if you prefer.
1 cup extra firm tofu

Prepare Burgers

In a food processor, add cooked brown rice, cooked sweet potato and crumbled tofu. Pulse until the rice and sweet potato are ground into a fine texture. There should be small flecks of rice, potato and tofu but it’ll be mostly blended.
1 cup sweet potato, 1 cup brown rice, 1 cup extra firm tofu
Remove the rice, potato and tofu into a mixing bowl. Then, add black beans, mushroom and onion to the food processor. Pulse until the mixture reaches a similar consistency to the rice and potato (well mixed with some small flecks of ingredients).
2 cups black beans, 1 cup mushrooms, ½ cup onion
Add the bean mixture to the mixing bowl with the rice and sweet potato.
Stir the remaining ingredients into the mixing bowl: chickpea flour, salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika, chili powder, black pepper and nutritional yeast. Stir until everything is well combined.
½ cup chickpea flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon chili powder, ¼ - ½ teaspoon black pepper, 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
Prep a baking tray with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
This recipe makes 8 burgers, about ½ C in size. Use a ½ C measuring cup to form them, then transfer to your hands and shape them into flat, round patties.
Place formed burgers on baking tray.

Bake, Cool and Serve

Bake the burgers in a preheated oven set to 350 °F for 25-30 minutes, flipping once halfway through cooking. The burgers will be soft at the halfway point so flip carefully.
Once out of the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes on the tray. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let the burgers sit for another 10-15 minutes before serving. This rest time is essential to allow the burgers to firm and hold together nicely!
Serve on your favorite vegan hamburger bun, in a wrap or crumbled into a salad!

Notes

Nutrition analysis only factors in the recipe (burger patty) and does not account for your bun or additional toppings.

Prep time assumes potatoes, rice and beans are already cooked.

Accuracy of nutrition information cannot be guaranteed (certain ingredients may not have all nutrients listed in the database); amounts may vary (and will vary depending on brands of ingredients used); all nutrition fact values rounded to the nearest whole number.

Nutrition