The Best Veggie Burger (Better Than Store-bought)

These veggie burgers are packed with vegetables! See how to make homemade veggie burgers that are hearty, flavorful and full of vegetables. These delicious vegetable-packed burgers are high in fiber (5 grams) and come in at just under 200 calories for one patty. Vegan substitutes are included in the recipe.

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How to Make the Best Veggie Burgers

When setting out to create this veggie burger recipe, we had one major goal. If we are going to call this a veggie burger, let’s make sure there are actually vegetables in it. Have you noticed that most of the veggie burger recipes, we stumble onto online are almost 100% beans. We add beans to this recipe, but they are far from the star. (If you are looking for a simple black bean burger recipe, though, here’s our favorite version. They are so easy!)

We add more than 8 cups of vegetables — that’s 1 cup of veggies for every burger. We aren’t trying to imitate a real meat burger here — see our no-fuss hamburger recipe or this seriously good turkey burger if that’s what you’re craving.

Mimicking meat is difficult to do and to be honest, I think it discredits how delicious vegetables can actually be. These meatless burgers hold up when cooking, fit nicely on a burger bun and don’t smoosh out the sides when you take a bite. Most importantly, they are delicious.

We have a meatball recipe, too! Try our plant-based vegan meatballs recipe made with lentils, mushroom, and onion. They are delicious!

Let’s Make Veggie Burgers, You Can Do This!

There’s no getting around the fact that vegetable burgers take more time to make than regular hamburgers, but they are well worth it (trust us).

Nothing is difficult about the process, so stick with us. You can do this!

Rule one when it comes to making a great meatless burger — get rid of excess moisture. It’s the extra moisture that causes some vegetable or bean burgers to smoosh so easily in the middle. We deal with this in two ways:

• Roast the vegetables until caramelized and extra moisture has evaporated. We chop the veggies into tiny bits first and then roast them.
• Roast the beans for about 15 minutes so they split open and dry out a bit (see the photo below).

Rule two for making the best veggie burger — keep lots of texture. No one wants a boring burger, right?

See how you can actually identify different textures and ingredients in our photos? That’s a good thing. Instead of biting into a patty with one color and one texture, these feel more “meaty” and have more oomph when you bite. We add texture four ways:

1. A food processor helps to chop vegetables so they look like coarse crumbs. This makes up most of the burger, which means you see the little bits of vegetable throughout the patty (see the photo below).
2. Two eggs help firm up the middles of the burgers so they stay together when you take a bite. If you don’t eat eggs, don’t worry, flax eggs are an excellent substitute. I’ve shared our tips below.
3. Watch out for over processing the burger mixture.
4. Fold in cooked brown rice before forming the burger patties. The rice gives extra texture and bites back a bit when you take a bite.

Making Vegan Veggie Burgers

When we first created this recipe, we called on eggs to help bind the burger together. They work like a charm, but since sharing these burgers with you, many of you have asked about making them vegan friendly.

Flax eggs are perfect in this recipe! They help bind and firm up the middles of the burgers. Here’s what you’ll need to make these veggie burgers vegan:

• Use 2 flax eggs instead of the 2 eggs called for in the recipe. (Readers have commented that chia eggs work, as well. We have not tried this, yet.)
• To make 2 flax eggs, whisk 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal with 6 tablespoons water. Set the mixture aside for 15 in the refrigerator then use in the recipe below.

Make Ahead Tips

Once you make the burger mixture, you can keep it in the fridge for 24 hours. Or you can form the patties, cook them and freeze up to three months (this is what we do).

Cooking The Veggie Burgers

Cooking the burgers is simple. Use a skillet over medium-low heat. You can do this on the stovetop or on a grill. (If you are grilling, we recommend still using a cast iron skillet or griddle). Baking them is an option, too (although, we do prefer the crunchy exterior you achieve when cooking them in a skillet).

These are still vegetable burgers after all, so take care when you handle them. They hold up well, but it is best to use a soft touch when moving them around or flipping.

More Vegetarian / Meatless Recipes

• Creamy Avocado Lime Sweet Potato Noodles only take 25 minutes and have a creamy dairy-free avocado sauce.
• These Fresh Vegetable Lasagna Roll-Ups are filled with lots of fresh vegetables, a light tomato sauce, and cheese to make them extra delicious.
• Our Homemade and Hearty Vegetable Soup Recipe has lots of vegetables and a light tomato broth.
• Make this Vegetarian Bean Chili with dried beans or canned. It’s so flexible you can cook it on the stove or use your slow cooker!
• Make our Favorite Black Bean Soup with onion, carrot, garlic, and chipotle.
• These Extra Easy Black Bean Burgers are quick to make and 100% plant-based.