I promise I’m still around and trying out new WFPB recipes! I haven’t posted in awhile so I have a backlog of recipes I need to get on here. I’m having this one for dinner tonight! The pizza sauce for these burgers is pretty good! It kind of reminds me of a meatball sub sandwich with its flavor and texture. Unfortunately, I’ve run out of WFPB-friendly buns so I’m eating my burger on a slice of bread as an open-faced sandwich. Still good…but not the same as a burger bun! This recipe is adapted from Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking cookbook.

Ingredients

Servings: about 4 patties

Burger patties:

• 2 shallots (4 tbs.), minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• ¼ cup vegan parmesan (to make the parmesan: blend ¾ raw cashews, 3 tbs. nutritional yeast, ¾ tsp. sea salt, and ¾ tsp. garlic powder)
• 2 tsp. Italian seasoning (or mix 1 tsp. basil and 1 tsp. oregano)
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 cup bread crumbs (throw a couple slices of WFPB bread in a blender and pulverize it into crumbs)
• 3 tbs. marinara sauce (ingredient list below), or pizza sauce
• ¼ tsp. each sea salt and black pepper

Marinara sauce:

• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried garlic
• Healthy pinch of sea salt and black pepper

Serve with:

• Additional marinara sauce (1 cup-ish sauce or pizza sauce)
• WFPB buns or make open-faced sandwiches on a bread slice (toasted)
• Parsley
• Red onion

Directions

Heat a large pan over medium heat. Saute the shallots and garlic in a tablespoon of water until soft and translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Turn the burner to low heat while making the patties.

Add the garlic, shallot, and chickpeas to a medium-size mixing bowl. Use a fork (or whatever) to mash/mix the chickpeas; there should be few whole beans remaining.

Add to the bowl the entire list of ingredients for the burger patties (parmesan through salt and pepper). Stir to combine.

Turn the burner back up to Medium heat. Divide the mixture into 4 even patties (or more/less depending on the size you want them). Optional: Gently coat the patties with additional bread crumbs and parmesan. 

Place the patties in the pan. Brown for about 4-5 minutes on each side, reducing the heat if the patties are browning too quickly.

While the patties are browning in the pan, prepare the marinara sauce and toppings. (Optionally: Hold off on this step and do it while the patties are in the oven if you plan to bake them)

You can serve them as-is at this point, or you can bake them in the oven at 375°F for another 10-20 minutes to further brown and crisp them up. (I recommend using parchment paper or they stick a bit to the sheet.)

 

 

Cover the patties in the marinara sauce (optional: microwave the sauce first). Serve the burgers topped with the parsley and red onion. 

 

According to the Minimalist Baker cookbook, the burgers keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. They can be reheated in the oven at 350°F for 20 minutes.