With all the traditional toppings of lettuce, tomato, cheese, and pickles -- you might decide these Veggie and Lentil Burgers are just as tasty and flavorful as a regular meaty hamburger!
Veggie and Lentil Burgers
Meatless burgers often get a bad rap, but I'm on a mission to change that narrative. In fact, many restaurant veggie burgers actually taste scrumptious in my opinion! But you've got to go in with the expectation that it won't taste precisely like or have the exact texture of a regular burger. With the right approach, even the biggest veggie burger cynics might have their minds changed...
This Veggie and Lentil Burger will certainly help! It looks amazingly just like its meaty cousin, but the texture when you bite in is a bit smoother and softer. The flavors of Worcestershire, Parmesan cheese, and a blend of savory spices really amp it up and make it a delicious vegetarian-friendly meal or a great dinner contender for practitioners of meatless Mondays.
How do you make lentil burgers stick together?
Between the eggs, bread crumbs, and tomatoes, you'll have enough sticky, liquid-y, and dry ingredients to make a handful of solid patties that stick together well. As you add your tomatoes to the food processor, add just a bit at a time so that the mixture doesn't get too liquified to stick together. It should be a very thick paste or dough consistency when it's ready to cook.
Can you freeze lentil burgers?
Yep, and it may be smart to wrap them individually so you can heat them up for individual meals down the road! I would cook them all, as opposed to freezing the patties raw, and then reheat them in the oven whenever you're ready to eat them. They'll keep well for 2 to 3 months in the freezer.
Can you make these lentil burgers vegan?
If you're cooking a batch of lentil burgers and want to try a fully vegan option, use a half cup of walnuts, a half cup of rolled oats, two cloves of garlic, and some minced onion in place of the bread crumbs, eggs, and Parmesan cheese. These will take on a bit of a chunkier consistency, and you'll want to play with your tomato ratio (and perhaps use a bit more) for them to stick together well! Serve them with all the normal toppings, sans cheese.
Veggie and Lentil Burgers
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Make 6 patties 1x
Description
With all the traditional toppings of lettuce, tomato, cheese, and pickles -- you might decide these Veggie and Lentil Burgers are just as tasty and flavorful as a regular meaty hamburger!
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked brown lentils
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2-3 whole fresh tomatoes, or about a cup of canned diced tomatoes with the juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, for cooking
- Buns, lettuce, tomato, cheese, mayo, sliced onion, and any other favorite traditional burger toppings for serving
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the lentils, bread crumbs, eggs, cheese, and seasonings. Pulse a few times to combine.
- Add the oil, and then add one tomato (or about a ⅓ cup of diced tomatoes) and process for 30 seconds. The goal is to have a mixture that comes together to a thick paste. Add more tomato and process until everything is blended well and you have achieved a thick paste/dough that can be formed easily into patties and sticks together. The tomato is your liquid, so add just enough to achieve the paste, without adding too much, or else the mixture will be too thin to form into patties.
- Form the lentil mixture into 6 patties and cook them in the olive oil in a hot pan that has been heated to medium heat.
- Cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until the side begins to brown and the middle is hot all the way through.
- Serve the hot patties as you would a traditional hamburger, with all your favorite toppings on a bun. And don't forget the pickles!
Notes
- This isn't a hamburger... The texture is much softer and creamier than a meat patty, so don't expect it to taste like what it isn't. That being said, once you have all those delicious toppings on a bun, you might not ever realize you aren't eating a meaty burger.
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Category: dinner, meatless
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: lentil, veggie burger, meatless
Looking for more veggie recipes?
- Healthy Vegan Breakfast Cookies
- Garden Vegetable Pasta
- Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili
- Easy Slow Cooker Vegetable Lasagna
- Simple Lentil Curry with Butternut Squash
- Quick and Easy Lentil Tacos
This post was originally published in 2012 and has been updated and rephotographed in May 2019.
Veronica
You could try store bought hamburger seasoning spice on these patties once you shape them just to give it more of a real meat patty flavor for those that need that real burger taste.
Carrie Burrill
I love love love this recipe! Hubs went meatless 2 weeks ago, and I went unprocessed so between the two of us I'm having a hard time getting creative with our meals. This will be making an appearance on our menu.... TONIGHT!
Heather
I just am so sad about your chickens. But I am very happy your neighbor came over to make things right-ish and apologize. Can not wait until next week.