Vegan Burger Patties Recipe

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Best vegan burger patties recipe with beets, brown rice and protein packed soy curls or TVP crumbles. Easy, meaty and hearty, skip the oil and make it totally whole foods plant based compliant if you want. The best homemade meatless burger for your cast iron skillet or the grill! 

High Protein Vegan Burger Patties

You have come to the right place kids!

I’ve been working on this soy burger recipe for a little while now and so excited to finally share it here. For all those of you who want to make your own homemade goodies and skip all the prepackaged stuff, these patties are a different level of awesomeness.

So, What’s In a Vegan Pattie?

 

Two basic ingredients and a few spices make this an incredibly tasty and magical creation. The patties get their natural color from a combination of roasted beets and smoked paprika but without overpowering the final flavor profile. No weird stuff here:

 

The Method is Simple

  1. Cook the rice in advance
  2. Soak the soy curls or TVP crumbles
  3. Mix with the spices
  4. Form into patties
  5. Pan sear or grill to perfection!
 

Are these veggie burgers grillable?

I really wanted to achieve a meaty texture and look similar to the Beyond Meat burgers and I find that to be a great success btw… However, I cooked my patties in a cast iron skillet and not on the grill. To make the texture perfectly grillable you” want to add 1/3 of a cup of vital wheat gluten into the mix. If you are going to pan sear these then just adding bread crumbs works fine, but for a firmer burger that holds tight on that grill definitely add the wheat gluten.
 
Vegan Burger Patties from Scratch with Brown Rice, Soy Crumbles and Beets

The Toppings

There are so many delicious sauces and plant-based cheeses you can add to your burger. I wanted to focus on the actual patties in this post and topped them with the usual suspects: tomato, avocado, vegan smoked gouda and a handful of baby greens.

This chimichurri, sun dried tomato pesto, mango basil sauce, cashew queso, roasted vegetable spread and this vegan aioli are all wonderful choices to make your meaty veggie burgers extra saucy. Of course mustard and ketchup are always an option too.

How to Freeze Vegan Patties

  1. Place each formed pattie on a small sheet of parchment paper. Layer 3-4 patties on top of each other (with parchment paper in between).
  2. Transfer to a glass, freezer safe container covered with a lid. When ready to eat you can take out as many as you like and place them directly inside of a toaster oven and cook until golden brown on both sides flipping half way. You could also just place them under the broiler or thaw them out first and pan sear in a skillet.

These Meatless Burgers Check All the Boxes 

  • Meaty & Hearty
  • Smoky
  • Protein Packed
  • Easy to Make from Scratch
  • Perfectly Grillable
  • 100% Plant Based & can be made WFPB.
 
Homemade Meatless Burgers

What About the Soy?

Unless you have an allergy, non-gmo soy is truly your friend. But don’t just take my word for it, listen to the scientists and researchers, the ones providing us with unbiased peer reviewed scientific research papers on the matter.

Vegan Meats

How To Make Vegan Burger Patties from Scratch

Vegan Veggie Burger Patties
4.64 from 11 votes

Vegan Burger Patties

The best homemade vegan burger patties recipe with beets, brown rice and protein loaded soy curls or TVP crumbles. Easy, meaty and hearty, skip the oil and make it totally whole foods plant based compliant. 
Print Recipe
Prep Time:20 minutes
Cook Time:10 minutes
Total Time:30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked brown rice
  • 2 cups soy curls or TVP crumbles
  • 2 cups water hot
  • 4-5 tbsp tapioca
  • 2 tbsp olive oil (omit on WFPB & Plantricious diet)
  • 3 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder or to taste
  • 3 cloves garlic grated
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika or 1 tsp liquid smoke
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp roasted beets grated
  • 1.5 tsp sea salt (smoked is ideal but optional)
  • black pepper to taste
  • 1/3 cup bread crumbs + more as needed (whole wheat or panko)
  • 5 tbsp wheat gluten (OPTIONAL - add this if you want the patties to be firmer and grillable and hold together really well on a grill).

Instructions

  • In a mixing bowl combine the Soy Curls or TVP with the hot water and allow to soak for 20 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Drain any wring out and excess water. Fluff with a work if using TVP.
    If using soy curls instead make sure to give them a buzz in the food processor after soaking, so that the texture is similar to that of TVP or the rice grains. You want a nice texture not powder.
    2 cups soy curls or TVP crumbles, 2 cups water
  • Add the cooked brown rice and the soy to the bowl of a food processor together with the soy sauce, smoked paprika, beets and all the spices including the tapioca. Use the pulse button to gradually mix everything until combined. DO NOT over process, make sure to keep the nice texture in there, a few quick of pulses is enough.
    2 cups cooked brown rice, 2 cups soy curls or TVP crumbles, 4-5 tbsp tapioca, 3 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 3 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tbsp nutritional yeast, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp roasted beets, 1.5 tsp sea salt, black pepper to taste, 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Transfer the mixture to a bowl and fold in the panko bread crumbs. (If you want an extra firm burger pattie that holds tighter together you also might want to add the vital wheat gluten at this time or or just up the bread crumbs until firm to your liking. You'll have to try both variations and see which one you like best.)
    1/3 cup bread crumbs + more as needed, 5 tbsp wheat gluten
  • Wet or lightly oil your hands and form the mixture into patties. You can make 6 to 8 depending on how big you like them to be.
  • Pan sear each burger in a hot cast iron skillet for a couple of minutes on each side until golden brown. ( I sprayed my skillet with a little oil just enough to keep the burgers from sticking). Alternatively you can cook them inside of a toaster oven and allow to cool off for a few minutes before serving or just throw them on a grill if making the wheat gluten ones.

How to Freeze the Veggie Patties

  • Follow the above recipe then place each pattie on a small sheet of parchment paper. Layer 3-4 patties on top of each other (with parchment paper in between) and place in a glass freezer safe container covered with a lid. When ready to eat you can place the patties directly inside of a toaster oven and cook until golden brown on both sides flipping half way.

Video

Notes

  • To make this recipe WFPB and Plantricious compliant make sure to omit the oil in the recipe and use soy curls not TVP.
  • If you want an extra firm burger pattie that holds tighter together and is easily grillable, make sure to add the vital wheat gluten into the mix. I promise you won't even taste it but the texture will be perfect.

Nutrition

Serving: 1burger | Calories: 295kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 966mg | Potassium: 152mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 641IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 129mg | Iron: 5mg
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: vegan burger, vegan,, Veggie Burgers
Servings: 6 patties
Calories: 295kcal
Author: Florentina

 

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53 Comments

        1. Hi Lynn, rest assured every single recipe PHOTO + VIDEO is taken in-house including all the ones for these vegan burger patties which I have personally taken in my kitchen. ~ Florentina Xo’s

    1. I have not experimented without the soy, it’s really important for the meaty texture in this recipe. I’ll update the post if i find a way around it.

  1. The colour is truly off putting – as a vegan I on’t want to be reminded of minced up flesh. So thank you, but I will pass on these.

    1. Dear Sara, thank you for taking the time to share your opinion with us. It’s ok not to like the color of beets and it’s ok not to like this veggie burger at all, seems like you got this down. As a vegan myself who cares for all animals I created this veggie burger recipe with the transitioning friends in mind. So instead of cooking animals they make this delicious veggie burger instead without compromising on flavor. You see this burger is a major win for the animals and a great help for the people transitioning to a plant based vegan diet after having been conditioned to eat animal flesh. It’s really sad that you missed that.

      1. Do you think using yellow beets would work as a substitute for purple beets? Perhaps the color would be less off-putting for more sensitive diners. Just a thought.

      2. I have no idea why people want to comment negatively without trying it….rude. My carnivorous husband and teenage son have been eating vegan for about 4 months WITHOUT KNOWING IT lol because of recipes like this…..double win for this vegan wife/mom!!! Thank you for your recipes!

    2. So skip the adding the beets, they are making that color, like you are complaining for no reason other than the fact that you don’t understand how food coloring works 😂

  2. I would give this a 5 star for texture and flavour. Recipe needs to be tweaked a little for quantities. TVP should indicate finished quantity. I soaked 2 cups tvp and had a ton of leftovers. Also added a bit of liquid smoke. My carnivore husband approved of this one.

  3. So I modified it. Didn’t have starch and don’t want to use that anyway. Didn’t have beet, left out oil, and forgot the breadcrumbs. It still worked as a burger but fell apart a little. However it was AWESOME as raw taco filling. I’ve been making tacos for a few weeks trying to figure it out. Having only been vegan for a few months. It’s either too dry and everything falls out, or it’s all mushy like refried beans. This gave a great meat texture and taste. I also think it could work as sloppy joe filling.

  4. Awesome recipe! I definitely over blended it the first time, but nailed it today! I subbed the vwg/breadcrumbs for tempei to give it a richer flavor, but still grillable. Thank you so much for this! It’s such a nice change from the black bean burgers and such. 🙂

  5. This burger looks exactly like the picture. I think it had a little too much rice. It was a bit crunchy from the rice. I would cut back on rice and add more liquid smoke and soy sauce for flavor. I loved the beets added for color. It took me quite a bit longer than 20 minutes to prepare but I have enough leftovers to freeze for a couple more meals. Not like beyond burger but much less fat.

      1. I was going to ask the same. Might Yuca flour/cassava starch work in replacement of tapioca as well? I love the mix of ingredients in this recipe and look of the burger.

  6. Thank you, Florentina! This is the best vegan burger we’ve had (after many so-so bean burgers). I made two changes: I left out the beets, because I don’t have ’em, don’t like ’em, and don’t need my burger to look like raw meat, LOL. And I added a generous hit of homemade mushroom powder (dehydrated and ground organic shiitakes). Wonderful.

  7. This burger was just delicious! My favorite plant based burger so far. I think next time I may add a bit more bread crumbs to firm it up a bit more. Flavour is totally on point though.

    1. For a firmer grillable burger just add about 1/3 cup pf vital wheat gluten to the recipe, i updated the recipe to reflect this suggestion as well.

  8. Absolutely the best vegan burger recipe so far. I love that it’s not another bean burger, since I made them in the cast iron grill pan I sprinkled in some wheat gluten and the patties held together beautifully. Will definitely be keeping some of these in my freezer. Thank you for sharing Florentina ❤️

  9. Great recipe! I was recently thinking on why I could not make veggie burgers with TVP crumbles so I goggled it and found your recipe. I substituted sushi rice and used a 4.5 inch burger press and they come out very firm from the sticky rice. I froze a few and they defrost well and easy to grill. Can’t wait to try other variations. Never need to buy them again!
    Thanks,
    Mike

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