When we find something that we like to eat, we tend to go a little overboard with it, particularly if it’s a healthy item. Black beans certainly fall under this category. We buy them buy the case at Costco and then proceed to put them in everything from soups and dips to chili and quinoa salads. Any leftover beans are thrown into whole wheat tortillas , along with brown rice, corn, diced red bell pepper and whatever chicken or meat that’s leftover from the night before, for a quick and easy lunch. Black beans are one of the powerhouses of the legume world, packing an impressive amount of fiber and protein per serving. This means you’ll fill up a lot faster and won’t have room for dessert. That doesn’t sound like a good thing but, believe me, when there are stacks of Nutella Cream Cheese Blondies calling from the pantry, filling up on the healthy stuff becomes a necessity.
These patties work well on their own when topped with the simple avocado and tomato salsa. Actually, I’m not sure if I can count the avocado and tomato mixture as a salsa, since all I did was stir them together with a little lime juice. Whatever you call it, it gives a fresh pop of flavor and color to the patties.
We also like to serve the patties between a whole-wheat dinner roll, topped with a little queso fresco cheese and Tomatillo Salsa Verde. Ta-da! Black bean sliders.
The recipe:
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse sandwich bread to form breadcrumbs. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft. Add garlic, jalapeno, and cumin. Saute for additional 2 minutes.
Scrape the mixture into the food processor. Add black beans, brown rice, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Pulse until the beans are chopped, but not pureed.
Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike photographing brown food?
Scrape the black bean mixture into a large bowl. Add half of the breadcrumbs and the chopped cilantro. Using a wooden spoon, stir the mixture until combined.
Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions and form into patties. If the mixture is too moist to form patties, add more breadcrumbs. Place the patties on a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap and cover with additional plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.
Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large skillet (preferably not nonstick, so a good crust can form) set over medium heat. Add 4 patties and cook for 4 minutes per side. Repeat with 1 tablespoon oil and remaining 4 patties.
For the salsa, gently stir together avocado, tomatoes and lime juice.
Serve 2 patties on each plate, topped with salsa.
Other bean patty recipes:
101 Cookbooks’ Vegetarian Lentil Burgers
Cooking Books’ Sweet Potato & Black Bean Cakes
Lisa’s Kitchen’s Black-Eyed Pea Patties with Chili Sauce
From the kitchen of Cookin Canuck.
Ingredients
- 3 pieces day-old or toasted whole wheat sandwich bread
- 3 tbsp olive or canola oil, divided
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp minced jalapeno pepper, membranes and seeds removed
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 1/4 cups cooked brown rice
- 2 tsp fresh lime juice
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- Salsa:
- 2 avocados, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 tsp fresh lime juice
Instructions
- For the patties: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse sandwich bread to form breadcrumbs. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft. Add garlic, jalapeno, and cumin. Saute for additional 2 minutes.
- Scrape the mixture into the food processor. Add black beans, brown rice, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Pulse until the beans are chopped, but not pureed.
- Scrape the black bean mixture into a large bowl. Add half of the breadcrumbs and the chopped cilantro. Stir the mixture until combined.
- Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and form into patties. If the mixture is too moist to form patties, add more breadcrumbs.
- Place the patties on a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap and cover with additional plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.
- Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large skillet (preferably not nonstick, so a good crust can form) set over medium heat. Add 4 patties and cook for 4 minutes per side. Repeat with 1 tablespoon oil and remaining 4 patties.
- For the salsa, gently stir together avocado, tomatoes and lime juice.
- Serve 2 patties on each plate, topped with salsa.
























{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
I love how healthy these are, will have to try them some time.
Definitely trying these!
The patties look great! Meat free and with a great salsa. Can’t go wrong there
i have yet to find a vegetarian burger patty that i love…i can’t wait to try this one!
Yes and please and thank you and I’m dying.
Yum!! I love black beans in any and all forms, and I collect black bean burger recipes like it’s my job. This one looks fantastic!
I too love black beans. A great version of a vegetarian burger and how could you go wrong topping them with tomatoes and diced avocado?
Yummy!
These sound super scrumptious! I could eat them by themselves or with a burger bun and be super happy! Yum.
I’ve been thinking of making some vegetarian patties, so thrilled to come across this recipe!
My gosh… I can almost taste that gorgeous avocado!! What a fun recipe Dara!
I have been buying these, now I can make them! My girls are going to love these black bean burgers, its amazing how many more vegetarians we get every year!
Thanks for the recipe!
I tried making patties once using mung beans, however, they fell apart. I like your idea of using the toast to help bind it. I’ll need to try that out.
Dara–about those muffins that I made being a good after school treat–they just might also be a good mid-morning, while-they’re-at-school treat, too. Just saying.
And I would SO love these bean patties–I’ll have to make them for myself, maybe even soon as I have half a can of black beans to use up and no one else in my family will try this. Looks like lunch to me!
I’ve never made black bean patties at home, but this is making me want to run right into the kitchen to make some!! I need to check out the other links for black beans, too – as I have a ton of them in my pantry right now!
What a great idea…I often buy ready made veggie patties for the convenience for a quick lunch but would much prefer to make something of my own. I’m an avowed Costcoaholic so a case of black beans is now on the list.
These look fabulous! Great recipe
I like your idea of “salsa.” Chunky and fresh. Call it whatever you want, Dara! It looks great — especially on top of these black bean patties.
Dara, The Recipe is fantastic!!! Love the fresh idea!! Can’t wait to try it!
These look great! I made turkey black bean burgers a couple of weeks ago but I was looking for more of a black bean flavor. Thanks for sharing!
Have you ever tried to freeze these for future use?
(And now I know why all the black beans seem to dissapear from Costco!)
These sound fantastic! I definitely like to do a veggie burger every other week or so – will try this one next. I made quinoa cakes this weekend that were pretty fab.
I love a good veg burger, but it has to be home made! I can’t wait to try this one out, perfect with the avacado!
Made these for dinner tonight…fabulous! The whole family loved them. I had just made homemade black beans yesterday and they worked great (1 can = 1.5 cups). I used Anaheim pepper instead of jalapeno since my 8-year-old doesn’t like spicy and I added a little more lime juice because I love it so much. I ended up using all of the breadcrumbs called for, then coated the patties in Panko before frying in olive oil…loved the crunchy exterior! I didn’t have time to refrigerate, so I didn’t. They fell apart pretty easily, but who cares, they were awesome. Thanks for a great recipe that will end up becoming one of our new regulars
I made black bean cakes once and they were so good, but I forgot about them. I love black beans and will have to try this.
I’m thinking that would make a great sandwich, stuffed in a pita with lettuce and drizzled with some kind of yogurt sauce…
For some reason I like Black beans SO MUCH BETTER when they are ground up like this. I think it improves their texture. YUM!
Love these black bean patties Dara. I have never made bean patties before and I love your version. You did mighty fine shooting brown food but I completely sympathize as I found it challenging photographing green soup:).
Dara, I love all kinds of patties. Sweetcorn, sweet potato, apple and potato. You name it. I’m now adding this to the list. Love this idea (plus, I have lots of black beans lying around in my cupboard.) Thanks!
Oh my word! These look divine! Those tomatoes and avocados definitely took it over the top for me…
healthy choice… i love black beans, but never really thought about them in burgers
and those look amazing… love the photography.. i will definitely have to try them out
thanks for sharing
Coincidentally, I am on a quest to find the perfect veggie/vegan burger. Now I have another reason I am happy I follow your blog!
Hey there, I just wanted to stop by and say hello. The patties look absolutely delish, wonderful really, I wonder if I can add some tofu?
Yummy! Love vegan protein based foods…and this looks so good with the avocado with it!
Amazing recipe.Wonderful!
these look great, but do you think you could omit the bread crumbs?
This is a recipe right up my alley! We make something very similar, but I like the tip to refrigerate prior to cooking. Looks mighty tasty!
These look fabulous – cannot wait to try them!
Oh my goodness…Dara. Looks like a winner!! I love black beans and am always trying to find new things to make with them.
looks delicious, I love black beans!
These are perfect for the hubs and I since we’re both on Weight Watchers. And so budget-friendly!
Those look delicious. My son isn’t a huge fan of meat, but he really likes black beans. Thanks!
love it! so healthy!
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