Between homemade, restaurant, and store-bought, these are the best black bean burgers I’ve ever tried. With great reviews from taste testers around the world, I’m confident you’ll be satisfied with this bean burger recipe. They’re big, thick, hearty, and flavorful. The trick is to partially dry out the black beans so the burgers do not taste mushy. Grill or bake the black bean burgers and enjoy on a bun, plain, or on a salad.
A few weeks ago I made a batch of what I believe to be the best black bean burgers ever. Or at least the best black bean burgers I’ve ever had. These were a massive hit with the family. We couldn’t believe the hearty texture, incredible flavor, and overall ease of preparation. I was expecting good, but not this good.
These Black Bean Burgers Are:
- Easy
- Healthy
- Hearty
- Satisfying
- Big + thick
- Compact
- Garlicky
- Juicy
- Spicy
- NOT MUSHY
I feel the need to shout that these black bean burgers are not mushy, one of the common problems with homemade black bean burgers. On the other hand, these black bean burgers are not crumbly either. They hold their shape beautifully!
Quick Video Tutorial
How to Make My Best Black Bean Burgers
The full printable recipe is below, but let’s walk through it quickly so you understand each step before you get started
- Partially dry out the black beans. I learned this from Serious Eats. Spread out the canned black beans onto a lined baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes. This prevents the black bean burgers from tasting like mush.
- While the black beans are in the oven, sauté some garlic, onion, and pepper together. This will be the flavor base of the entire burger. Make sure you blot the garlic, onion, + pepper when they’re done—you don’t want its moisture in the black bean burger.
- Food processor or fork! Your choice. Whichever you choose, make sure you don’t completely mash the black beans. We want a bulky and satisfying texture. Larger chunks of beans are the best part!
- FLAVOR. A black bean burger would simply be a patty made from beans if we didn’t add some pizazz. The sautéed garlic, onion, + pepper combo is a great start, but a little cumin, worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, feta cheese, and chili pepper turn black beans into the BEST black bean burger.
Now let’s talk about binders.
And not the kind you bring to school. How do the black bean burgers hold their shape?
- Breadcrumbs. I used gluten free bread crumbs to keep the burgers GF, but any bread crumbs are great. You can use crushed crackers, almond flour, or even oat flour instead.
- Ketchup. I love ketchup so the more the merrier, but you only need 2 Tablespoons. Some sort of condiment like this is needed so the burgers hold their shape. Instead of ketchup, try mayo or BBQ sauce. (I used a tangy BBQ sauce in the 2nd batch and the burgers were incredible.)
- 2 eggs. Best burger binder you’ll find.
All of this stuff, plus the baked black beans, goes into 1 big bowl. Lightly mash it all with a fork to combine. It’s too easy.
How to Shape & Cook Black Bean Burgers
Shape the black bean burgers however large or small you want, keeping in mind that the larger they are, the more unevenly they’ll cook. From what I tested, the sweet spot is about 1/3 cup of mixture.
You can bake or grill the burgers—instructions for both included in the printable recipe below. You can also make the burgers ahead of time and freeze, which is what I did for our trip. Stack them between parchment paper in a freezer container or zipped-top bag. You can even bake/grill the frozen burgers if you forget to thaw them.
As one of my favorite Memorial Day recipes, I always make a batch ahead for the grill!
For a light lunch, skip the bun and eat on a salad. For a seriously impressive supper, serve on homemade ciabatta rolls and get creative with the toppings: mashed avocado + caramelized onion, pepper jack cheese + spicy mustard + sweet pickles, herbed goat cheese + roasted red peppers, sriracha + sautéed mushrooms, corn salsa + cheddar cheese, or even chunky guacamole. For a summertime favorite, use the toppings from my caprese pesto chicken burgers. They would go great with zucchini casserole or berry quinoa salad on the side.
The last time I made them, I piled the black bean burgers high with BBQ sauce, Swiss cheese, and grilled pineapple. Best thing I’ve eaten all week. And my week included s’mores made with peanut butter cups. SO THAT’S A GOOD BURGER.
More Favorite Dinner Recipes
- Maryland Crab Cakes
- Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie
- Sausage Stuffed Peppers
- Honey Garlic Shrimp
- Cilantro Lime Chicken
- Lemon Thyme Chicken
- Baked Chicken Meatballs
- Zucchini Fritters or Corn Fritters
For even more inspiration here are 15+ summer dinner ideas!
Print
The Best Black Bean Burgers I’ve Ever Had
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6-7 burgers
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Between homemade, restaurant, and store-bought, these are the best black bean burgers I’ve ever tried. These burgers are not vegan or vegetarian. (See recipe note to make adjustments if necessary.) With great reviews from taste testers around the world, I’m confident you’ll be satisfied with this black bean burger recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 (14-ounce) cans black beans, drained, rinsed, and patted dry
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup (100g) finely chopped bell pepper (1/2 of a pepper)
- 1 cup (130g) finely chopped yellow onion (1/2 of a large onion)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 Tablespoon)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 cup (60g) bread crumbs or oat flour
- 1/2 cup (70g) feta cheese (skip if vegan)
- 2 large eggs (see note for vegan substitution)
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (see note for vegan & vegetarian version)
- 2 Tablespoons ketchup, mayo, or BBQ sauce
- pinch salt + pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Spread beans evenly onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes until slightly dried out.
- Meanwhile, sauté olive oil, chopped pepper, onion, and garlic over medium heat until peppers and onions are soft, about 5-6 minutes. Gently blot some of the moisture out. Place in a large bowl or in a food processor with the remaining ingredients (cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, bread crumbs, cheese, eggs, worcestershire, ketchup, salt, and pepper). Stir or pulse everything together, then add the black beans. Mash with a fork or pulse the mixture, leaving some larger chunks of beans.
- Form into patties, about 1/2 cup (130g) of mixture each, about 3/4-inch thick.
- To bake: Place patties on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake at 375°F (191°C) for 10 minutes on each side, 20 minutes total. To grill: Place patties on greased aluminum foil and grill 8 minutes on each side. Heat temperature is personal preference as all grills differ. Generally, black bean burgers should grill on medium-high heat about 350°F (177°C) – 400°F (204°C).
- Serve with your favorite toppings. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Cooked or uncooked black bean burgers freeze wonderfully for up to 3 months. Stack between parchment paper in a freezer container or zipped-top bag. Thaw in the refrigerator and reheat to your liking or, if uncooked, cook according to instructions. If desired, you can skip thawing and reheat/cook from frozen for an extra couple minutes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheet | Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowl | Food Processor
- Vegan & Vegetarian: Worcestershire sauce is not vegan or vegetarian. For vegetarian burgers, leave it out or replace with your favorite vegetarian condiment such as BBQ sauce. For vegan burgers, make the following 3 changes: (1) leave out the Worcestershire sauce or replace with your favorite vegan condiment such as BBQ sauce, (2) leave out the cheese, and (3) replace the eggs with 1/3 cup mashed sweet potato.
Reader Comments and Reviews
SO good!!! The first time I made them I didn’t mash the beans up enough, so they fell apart a little, but were still delicious. This time I used my blender (don’t have a food processor) and over-mixed a little, but adding some old fashioned oats until they held together more fixed the problem! Such a great recipe! They freeze and reheat really well too.
Made these today for my newly vegetarian daughter and they are a hit. I love them too! Sadly I only made a half recipe just to give them a go. We will be making these again!
Made these today, my first ever eating & making black bean burgers. I didn’t make the full version, wasn’t sure if I would like them therefore I eyeballed they ingredients. I used cheddar cheese, added roasted corn, green chili’s and bourbon bbq sauce…. I can t wait to eat the left overs.
My husband and I just ate the last 2 of our delicious bean burgers! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Thank you, too, for your blog in general. I love the layout, colors, and crisp look. And I especially appreciate your step-by-step instructions and the science behind them. Thank you.
Fabulous way to go vegetarian — even my carnivore husband said this was the best veggie burger ever.(Obviously I have tried others.) I substituted cooked rice for bread crumbs. Will try a pesto version next. Such a versatile recipe with the life changing-tip of drying the beans first–no mushy burger here.
Hi Sally, this recipe sounds great. I’m currently unable to get hold of black beans. Can the recipe use kidney beans or red beans instead of black or would this not work?
Would really appreciate your speedy advice on this as I am hoping to cook it tonight!
Thanks xxx
Hi Sarah, you can definitely switch up the kind of beans. I still encourage you to dry them out as you do with the black beans in the instructions.
Thanks Sally. These turned out amazing!!! My husband and I both loved them and haven’t really been a fan of veggie burgers before! I added jalapeños and spicy cheese to give it a kick and it turned out wonderful 🙂 I’d love to share a picture but can’t see an option available. Xxx
I’ve always wanted to try black bean burgers. I made half a batch today without feta cheese cuz I didn’t have any on hand. I made three huge patties and absolutely loved them!! So tasty on a sesame seed bun, tons of veggies piled high, mayo, ketchup and mustard…mmmm. Will definitely make again and again, thank you for sharing!
I just made these for lunch. They are FANTASTIC!!!! I love bean burgers but have never had much luck making them at home. Thanks for a really great (and simple) recipe!!!
My family loved these.! Even said they preferred them over a traditional burger. I didn’t have feta so I subbed a three pepper shredded cheese. They were delicious. My 13 year old even liked them:) I will definitely make again. They are also relatively simple to make.
First batch came out great. Will definitely make them again!
These turned out so well! Thank you for a great recipe! I even froze a couple and cooked them a week later to just eat with some salad and grilled veggies! They really hit the spot.
Quick question – would this recipe also work with red beans a.k.a kidney beans? If yes, can they also be frozen for a few weeks?
You can definitely switch up the kind of beans. Freezing instructions in the recipe notes. So glad you enjoyed these!
these are amazing, I use whatever beans are available and they are still great!
I very rarely leave a review but had to for these burgers. They are the best black bean burgers I have ever made! I left out the feta and replaced the eggs with flax eggs. Burgers turned out delicious!
Amazing recipe. Didn’t use feta and didn’t substitute and it still they turned out amazing! I needed to add a little more oat flour than directed to be able to form the patties.
Thanks so much!
Made these today, and they are wonderful! I used Panko breadcrumbs, but next time will try Oat flour to see if that holds them together better! I substituted the feta cheese for Parmesan cheese, used barbecue sauce and a few more spices, including a little bit of Cayenne pepper. Thanks for sharing!
This is an amazing recipe. By the way, if you don’t have feta cheese, sour cream works too!
Drying out the beans makes ALL the difference in this fantastic recipe. The texture it creates is hearty, satisfying and keeps you wanting more!
We don’t eat dairy or meat, but still eat eggs and fish. The dairy free feta we use melts to perfection and adds that extra dimension.
I can’t wait to make these for the summer bar-be-que!
This recipe is a winner! So easy to make and so flavorful! Thanks for all the helpful hints that really helps to make this recipe a success!
These were absolutely delicious and easy. Thank you
Loved it . I didn’t add feta cheese. Amazing recipe . I am going to recommend this recipe.
Great! Made them in a pinch with chickpeas (no black beans). I made half a batch because I was out of veggie burgers and my husband and son were eating burgers. Came together quick and they we’re delicious!!!!
Made today, one can of beans, one egg, made 3 patties, dried beans in oven, mashed with fork, used onion, jalapeño pepper, etc.
Best I have had, thank you:
Absolutely delicious! I will NEVER buy frozen again! My family devoured these and have requested a repeat for tomorrow’s dinner! I made oat flour quickly using the vitamix, did not use Worchestire Suace and used both ketup and BBQ sauce. Topped with caramelized onions, mushrooms and pepper jack cheese. Yummy!
Substituted the peppers for sauted mushrooms and they were AMAZING! My family loves meat but they seriously LOVED these burgers!!!
Absolutely fabulous!!! I am gluten free and make my own GF Worchestershire sauce so the only change I needed to make was to replace the ketchup with 1 tbsp of Dijon Mustard and 2 tbsp of tomato salsa. The recipe made 12 scrumptious patties which I topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, sprouts and a side of steamed sweet potatoes. Even my hubby loved them! Thanks so much!!
Super awesome. Thank you for this recipe.
Absolutely amazing, making this recipe for the 3rd time, no onions or peppers so I’ll substitute with mushrooms! Thank you
This was heavenly! I got 9 patties out of the recipe….and promptly ate 3.5 of them. I added 5 slices of bacon (fried to a crisp and then crumbled) and sauted the veggies in the leftover bacon grease. We ate them on lettuce leaves topped with cheese, avocado, tomato slices and mustard. Oh so good!!! Next time I will add caramelized red onions. Can’t go wrong.
Wow!! Thank You so much.. this was delicious. I always wanted to make a homemade bean burger and this didn’t disappoint.. more than what I expected.. Thank You..
These are excellent!
These are AWESOME!!!!
This was easy and excellent. Max & Erma’s used to have a great one and I like these as much if not more. I didn’t use the feta because I didn’t have it on hand and replaced green pepper with roasted red pepper. I also used Spicy Stubb’s BBQ sauce in lieu of ketchup. My daughter is a vegetarian, but my son and I are not and everyone loved them. Thank you for the great recipe.