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
Made this last night for my daughter and her friends; some are vegetarians, and some are not. They all loved the burgers! I made them as sliders. Didn’t have feta on hand, but I did have cojita cheese and that made a great substitution. Easy and delicious! Condiments we used were steak sauce, ketchup, taco sauce, pesto, and bbque sauce. Mayo didn’t seem to do much for it. Maybe garlic aioli would be good next time…thanks for the great recipe!
I made them tonight and for some reason they didn’t wow me. They taste just fine. Maybe I did something wrong, or maybe I just don’t like bean burgers lol I was hoping they would blow my mind.
Made the vegan version of these, and they ROCKED! I keep finding myself sneaking back to my fridge for another one! These and Daiya cheese on homemade vegan Hawaiian rolls … I am in heaven
OH MY GOODNESS…these were delicious!! Drying in the oven a bit worked great. I had cooked quinoa so added that with the bread crumbs. They cooked nicely on the grill..didn’t fall apart at all…we loved them so much! Going to eat leftovers this week on a big salad (no Bun) 🙂 I WILL make them again and again!! Thank you!
Hi Sally…my whole family enjoyed the burgers….will surely be making it soon again….thanks for sharing.
I haven’t made this recipe myself, but I wanted to add a little side note that those who are vegan, could try a mixture of ground instant oats, and breadcrumbs.
This technique may not work if you have dried the beans out as the oats need some moisture to do their thing.
As far as the ratios I would suggest 1/2 cup each ground oats and breadcrumbs for each 2 cups of black beans. (May need more or less depending depending if using canned or freshly cooked black beans) – this works well for a green lentil burger as well. You can also add a few tablespoons of dark soy sauce to add “beefiness”.
Just made these and hoping they last at least 2 days. My son can eat 2 or 3 at one time. They are delicious, best black bean burger recipe in my opinion!
I appreciated the tip about drying the beans a bit in the oven as it really does help with the mushy problem 9f black bean burgers. As far as taste, I’m not a fan of nearly every black bean recipe having cumin as the dominant flavor inhanser. In my opinion, basil is the best match for a truly good taste in black bean burger recipes. It’s not so overpowering as cumin.
Made this for my granddaughter who is vegan and she loved them! Made them just like directed. Thanks for the great recipe.
I LOVE this recipe. Seriously the BEST black bean burgers I’ve ever had. I make them ahead and freeze them and I try to limit myself to once a week. SO so good
Super easy to make and made my husband a really believer in black bean burgers! I’m looking forward to cooking them on the grill next time. Thanks Sally for creating another great recipe.
LOVE, LOVE this recipe! I have made the burgers several times even doubling which it does nicely. I enjoy reading your articles and trying your recipes to the immense delight of family and friends! Thank you!
Definitely need to add more bread crumbs, probably twice the amount. I’ll try them again and tweak the amounts.
Thanks for trying these, Kenny! Definitely feel free to add more bread crumbs next time 🙂
Sounds delicious! Looking forward to trying this weekend
Loved the tip on drying the beans and removing the moisture from the peppers and onions! I think the moisture in veggie burgers was the reason some I have eaten in the past were not great. That is not the case with this recipe. These were amazing and this recipe is a keeper!
These burgers were better than any other veggie or bean burger that I have ever had! I cooked them on a charcoal grill for 8 minutes on each side and they turned out perfect, and I am excited to have some leftovers for work tomorrow! Thanks for such an amazing recipe!
Made these last night – tasted awesome! I had to double the amount of breadcrumbs in order to get the mixture dry enough to form patties, though. Wouldn’t hold together otherwise. Used A1 sauce instead of ketchup – tasted SO GOOD!!!
I just tried these tonight and they were very tasty. We’ll definitely be doing it again.
Best black bean burger ever! I’ve been looking forward to leftovers all week
I loved it !
This recipe looks amazing! I think I am going to add jalapenos and Manchego cheese instead of feta!
really really good. Made with mayo, cheddar-jack and red bell pepper. Kind of like a black bean falafel. Might even serve with a tahini or humus or white sauce next time. Delicious.
These are the Bomb!! I make them just about every Thursday. If I have any leftover vegetables, I throw them in too. And I use different flavors of sugar free BBQ sauce.
I have tried these twice and, although they taste fantastic, both times I have had issues with them holding together. Any suggestions?
Hey Maria! Are you substituting any ingredients? If you decide to try them again, try pulsing the mixture (with the black beans) a few more times.
We made these the other week and were so pleased! We love meat and I had been craving burgers so we gave it a shot. Super satisfying! We had to use cottage cheese in place of feta and they were a little soft still, but so delicious that we didnt mind at all! These are a great substitute and we’re definitely gonna make them again. We’ll try something to get them to be properly dried though… it may have been the use of the cottage cheese.
Good burger! I didn’t use egg tried to make it vegan but I had some feta in the fridge and threw in just a little + dash of liquid smoke ! Yum yum yum!!!! Can’t wait to make again!
Haven’t read all the comments, so maybe someone has already pointed out that Worcester sauce isn’t vegetarian. Won’t matter for many people, but strict vegetarians will care…
Hi Carol! I have a recipe note with information about how to make these vegan. 🙂 To make vegan, leave out the cheese. Replace the Worcestershire sauce with a different vegan condiment (your favorite BBQ sauce would be great!) and replace the eggs with 1/3 cup mashed sweet potato.
Made these burgers today (6/13/19) and was not disappointed! Not having chili powder, I substituted cayenne. I used one Tbs ketchup and one Tbs light mayo and I grilled them. They were not mush and did not crumble apart. Truly the best black bean burger recipe I have ever made. : )
We are starting to eat a meatless dinner every week or two and made these yesterday. We used less onion and pepper an added portabella mushrooms. They were delicious.
I just finished woofing down one of these. It was incredibly easy and scrumptous.
Just made this recipe. Made a few changes! Just used onion (red) & garlic. Didn’t use the peppers, don’t care for cooked sweet peppers. Next time I may use jalapeños! Also not a fan of feta, substituted shredded Parmesan & bleu cheese crumbles. Used panko instead of regular bread crumbs. Delicious!! Made 1/2 recipe, wanted to make sure I’d like it, 4 patties 175 cal. 10.3g protein! Served with cheddar cheese, hot salsa, lettuce on a whole wheat sandwich skinnie. Total 330cal. Great!!