Vegan chickpea burgers

Vegan chickpea burgers

vegan chickpea burgers

Hands up who doesn’t like a good, fat burger? Yeah, I thought so…Burgers are pretty difficult to resist now and again, aren’t they?

I personally think that it’s as much about the quality of the extras and condiments, textures and flavours bouncing off each other as it is about the patty itself, which is perhaps why veggie burgers aren’t just popular with vegans and vegetarians. In my experience, vegan burger places tend to pull out all the stops and I find that their burgers are always really well thought-out with unique flavour combinations and a range of textures that excite the palate.

My own brother is a prime example of a meat eater who will happily demolish a good veggie burger for lunch. When me and Duncan were visiting Krakow, we took him to a popular vegan burger joint. He was pretty amazed at how filling the burgers were and how, as opposed to the meat ones, they don’t send him into a post-meal coma! I don’t think that his going vegan or vegetarian is on the cards, but I feel that this veggie burger experience has sparked his interest in this alternative lifestyle.

One issue with homemade veggie burgers I found is that once you bite into them, they often get mushy, as vegan egg replacers (including my favourite aquafaba) do not set in the same way that eggs do.

Now, these vegan chickpea burgers are different! They stay crispy and firm on the outside and still moist on the inside. My trick is to prepare the patties from raw chickpeas and bake them in the oven. They may seem a bit on the wet side at first, but once in the oven, raw chickpeas absorb all the extra moisture while cooking and the burgers firm up beautifully.

Duncan is always (often brutally so) honest about my cooking experiments and he is in love with these plant-based beauties. He said that they are the best veggie burgers he has ever tried, which is quite a compliment from a voracious burger eater. I’ll take that, I feel like it’s a hard earned and well deserved praise 😉

vegan chickpea burgers patties

vegan chickpea burgers lunch

vegan chickpea burgers close up

serves
4
PREP
40 min
COOKING
40 min
serves
4
PREPARATION
40 min
COOKING
40 min
INGREDIENTS
BURGERS* (makes 4 large burgers)

  • 600 g / 21 oz sweet potato
  • ¾ cup of raw chickpeas, soaked overnight
  • approx. 6 tbsp chickpea flour
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 1½ level tsp salt
  • 1½ tsp cumin
  • 1½ tsp ground coriander
  • 1½ tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp hot chilli powder
  • ¼ cup (packed) fresh coriander, chopped finely
  • sesame seeds, to coat
  • olive oil

REMAINING INGREDIENTS

  • 4 burger buns
  • quick-pickled red onion
  • a handful of rocket / arugula
  • a handful of lettuce (I used lollo rosso)
  • a handful of fresh coriander
  • 1 small avocado, sliced
  • 1 small cucumber, sliced
  • ketchup, vegan mayo or / and Sriracha
  • homemade fries

METHOD
BURGERS

  1. Put a whole potato (or two, if using two small ones) into a 200° C / 390° F oven and roast it until soft, it takes about 1 hour (depending on size). Let it cool down, peel it and mash the flesh up with a fork.
  2. Rinse your soaked chickpeas and grind them finely (they should resemble medium bulgur wheat after grinding) in a food processor.
  3. In a large bowl, combine mashed potato, ground chickpeas, chickpea flour, garlic, herbs and spices. Mix it all very thoroughly and place in the fridge for several hours (or freezer for an hour) to firm up. You could also freeze the mixture at this point.
  4. Heat up the oven to 200° C / 390° F and line a baking tray with a piece of baking paper. Prepare a small bowl of sesame seeds (optional), a pastry brush and some olive oil.
  5. Brush the paper-lined baking tray with a bit of oil. Divide chilled mixture into 4 portions – do not worry about the mixture being fairly wet (that’s good, it means that the burgers will not end up dry inside after baking) but handle it gently. Form the first patty, stick some sesame seeds to it on one side, place on the tray (sesame side down) and gently pat some more sesame seeds into the sides and the top surface. Do the same with the remaining 3 portions of the mixture.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes on one side, then using a spatula gently turn the burgers onto the other side and bake for another 15-20 minutes. They are done when they have firmed up and the exterior is crispy and golden.

ASSEMBLY

  1. Cut your burger buns. You may want to toast the inside lightly.
  2. Place your favourite condiment on the bottom, followed by avocado slices, chickpea patty, some more sauce, sliced cucumber, pickled onion and finally the lettuce, rocket and herbs. Close the burger, grab it and sink your teeth in and enjoy 🙂 .

NOTES
*These burgers are not suitable for pan-frying, I’m afraid, as they contain raw chickpeas and these need a fair amount of moisture (which is why the patties are quite wet before baking) and time in the oven to cook through. You could try making them with cooked chickpeas instead, but in my experience they are not as nice (they don’t crisp up on the outside like these do and they aren’t firm enough inside).

It’s best to prepare the mixture a day in advance as it makes it easier to shape the burgers and the spices have had a chance to mingle.

The mixture freezes very well.

These burger patties are based on this earlier recipe of mine.

SHARE
NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
563
28%
sugars
18 g
20%
fats
14 g
20%
saturates
2 g
9%
proteins
18 g
36%
carbs
94 g
36%
*per burger
How would you rate this recipe?
This is a test string

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

5.0
7 reviews, 14 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
Melissa:
these are hands down the best veggie burgers I have ever had. they crisp up unlike a lot of them that are too soft. the flavour is also unreal. thanks 🙏
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw thank you Melissa, I am so pleased to hear that. And if you fancy a different flavour, I also have this version of them recently. Thank you for taking the time to review, much appreciated. Ania
Joann:
Baked them yesterday and were a success! Made them the day before and left them overnight in the fridge....very easy to handle ;)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Great to hear, Joann! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. x Ania
KAY MASON:
Can you give me protein grams and iron percentages? I've made chickpea patties, but not your recipe. I'm ready to try this recipe, but have to limit protein and iron.
Thanks.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Kay,
    I am sorry, but I don't have any means on providing nutritional breakdown on the website. You may want to use an app like Cronometer to calculate it for yourself. Ania
Razieh:
Yummy!
Thanks a lot!
Can I use potatoes instead of sweet potato?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks. I have not tried so I cannot be sure, but I reckon it should work well enough. Ania
Jwiltz:
Yum! Yum! Yum! These were so delicious! I could hardly wait for them to be finished baking since they smelled so wonderful. I ended up scarfing down two of them immediately.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Yay! I so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment :) Ania
Anna:
Another great recipe :). I made these burgers twice. First time they came out a little bit too dry. I used 2 small sweet potatoes, but I think it wasn't enough. Second time I used one huge sweet potato weighing exactly 600gr plus I only added 4 table spoons of chickpea flour (not 6) and the texture of the burger was great. I ended up with 6 good size burger patties. I was a bit more generous with the seasoning this time and they were absolutely perfect; firm and crispy on the outside with a wonderful flavour. My whole family enjoyed the burgers and they are not vegan.
They take a bit of time to make, but you could perhaps make your sweet potatoes in the microwave instead ( it only takes few minutes ) if you wanted to save some time ;).
Thank you very much for the great recipe, certainly the best vegan burgers I made so far :)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Anna, that's lovely to hear! I wonder if your tablespoons are perhaps larger than standard? Mine (both, the ones from Habitat and Ikea) turned out to be only 10 ml whereas typical ones are 15 ml (all my the recipes assume 15 ml). The reason I ask because I am pretty sure I always use 6 level tbsp - I will double check next time I make them though. Glad you enjoyed them though and great idea with using microwave if you own one. :) Ania
      Anna:
      Hi Ania, thank you for coming back to me :). I'm using a set of measuring spoons for baking I bought on E-bay a while ago. It doesn't say how many millilitres they are, but a tablespoon is quite big. I checked the description of few measuring spoons that E-bay sells at the moment and they are always either 15ml or 20ml. I can't measure mine accurately, but it looks like it's a 20ml spoon. I guess his would explain why I only needed 4 tbsp. I will keep it in mind next time :)
Frankie:
meh!! missed your note at the bottom of the recipe re canned chic peas - sorry about that :)
Frankie:
Just made these burgers and they taste great!! I will be making them again, for sure. Curious , though, have you tried using canned chic peas?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Glad to hear that, Frankie! x Ania
    (and I can see you've read my note)
Sally:
Raw soaked chickpeas baked in oven is a great tip, thanks.. also enjoyed your 2 ingredient choc mousse video and another terrific music choice ☺ i think your blog, apart from having first class recipes, has the most amazingly vibrant colourful photography.. it just jumps off the screen and makes me smile. Well done!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks so much, Sally! Your comment made my day and I've passed your comment about the video to Duncan (a fellow Aussie ;) ) as videos are his babies and he is very chuffed to hear your feedback about the music. All the best! Ania
      Sally:
      Aaaah yes... oy!oy!oy! ....
Mimi:
What do you mean by hot chili? Is that chili powder? Thanks
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Mimi,
    Yes, I mean hot chilli powder, but you could also use paste (like sambal oelek or even Sriracha) if you prefer. It's such a tiny amount that it will make no difference. Hope that helps, Ania
DON'T MISS A SINGLE RECIPE
Join our mailing list and we we will let you know when we publish a new recipe. You'll receive our DELIGHTFUL DESSERTS E-BOOK as a thank you for supporting us.