15 Best Homemade Vegan Burger Recipes | Aglow Lifestyle (2024)

FAQs

What binds a vegan burger together? ›

Eggs are the most common and effective binder, and egg replacers are an excellent alternative for vegan burgers. Other common binders include wheat germ, bread crumbs, oats, and ground flaxseeds.

Finely chopped garlic and shallots add depth of flavor. Crushed walnuts give them a meaty bite. Short grain brown rice, panko bread crumbs, and ground flaxseed help these burgers hold together.

Adding flour or oats can help the burgers stick together, without using eggs. Mash everything together well. The more pulverized the veggie burger mixture gets, the better the patties will stick together. (But don't puree them, or the final texture will be off.)

If you're vegan, there's a great alternative: flaxseed meal. This substitution often appears in vegan baking recipes but works just as much magic here. To replicate 1 large egg, mix 1 tablespoon flaxseed with 2 to 3 tablespoons water and let sit for a few minutes. Add to the veggie burger mix just as you would an egg.

Mashed Avocado Makes the Best Veggie Burger Binder

Avocado is also a great choice for vegan burgers, when using an egg as a binder isn't an option, as well as gluten-free burgers. And because of its mild flavor, you won't actually taste the avocado, you'll simply be taking advantage of its great binding abilities.

Mashed avocado or white miso make great vegan burger binders, with egg replacers, wheat germ, bread crumbs, oats and ground flax seeds also being effective choices.

Plant burgers have more added carbohydrates than beef, as well as a lot more sodium, and highly processed ingredients such as pea protein isolate, yeast extract, soy protein concentrate, potassium chloride, dextrose, and ingredients hard to pronounce.

Some manufacturers will use what you might call an “umami bomb” to give plant-based applications the hearty, meaty taste consumers want from traditional meat. However, they're just adding a high level of non-declarable MSG source to the product to give it more intense flavour, versus an authentic taste experience.

Cheddar cheese: Whether sliced or shredded (to put in your patties!), its sharp profile goes well with smoky flavours, roasted onions, and vegetables. It's also great with creamy, savoury sauces like aioli. Plus, its white or yellow colour against darker patties creates a nice visual appeal.

Raw vegetables, while delicious, hold a lot of water. And when added to veggie burgers, these vegetables release all that moisture during cooking, which can make for an especially mushy burger.

How do they make vegan burgers taste like meat? ›

Researchers at Impossible Foods discovered that by adding heme to their plant-based burgers, they could capture a lot of the aromas we associate with meat. They call it their "magic ingredient," and, combined with yeast extract, it does seem to do a pretty good job.

Chill or freeze your burgers

"Chill your burgers for at least an hour before you cook them," says senior food editor, Barney. "This will help them keep their shape when they're cooking and stop them falling apart." You can also freeze them before cooking.

Using of egg to bind a burger is the most common and simple process. Start by adding one egg to the mixture for every pound of ground beef. You can use the whole egg or just the egg white based on your needs.

Spices and tomato paste: Smoked paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper combine to make these burgers a little smoky and incredibly delicious. Tomato paste adds color, sweetness, and an umami flavor to the burgers (highly recommended!). Cooked rice: Adds more texture to the veggie burgers.

If you want to use a binder in your meat, but don't want to use egg, other alternatives are flour such as wheat flour, cracker crumbs, or even oatmeal. I do not use anything to bind ground meat for burgers. They are moist enough to stick together on their own.

No, eggs are not necessary for binding burger patties, though they are commonly used for binding them. However, you can use other binding agents such as breadcrumbs, cracker crumbs, potato starch, flour, and porridge oats to bind burger patties according to your preferences.

Chia seeds

Similar to flax seeds, chia seeds can be mixed with water and left to thicken, creating what is commonly called a chia egg. The gel-like texture of a chia egg makes this a brilliant binder.

What can you use to bind burgers instead of egg? In theory, you could use bread crumbs—I recommend using coarse, crustless fresh white bread crumbs—or even grated Parmesan cheese. The best way of getting your burgers to hold together is by using a medium grind 80% beef 20% fat ground chuck and a burger press.

One of the most common substitutes is breadcrumbs, but sometimes the breadcrumbs can fall off when the burgers are cooking if there are too many or they are too dry. Other popular substitutions for eggs include cornstarch, flour, ketchup, porridge oats, cracker crumbs, and ground flaxseed.