This is another recipe where you can use a lot of in-season ingredients from the farmer’s market. I was able to find mushrooms, scallions, spinach and carrots at our local Farmer’s Market in Matthews. And slowly but surely locally grown potatoes and bell peppers will be available as well. This is also one of those 
recipes that I consider “flexible”. If you don’t have any carrots on hand, then leave them out. If you would rather spend less money on a green bell pepper vs. red then go for it. If you prefer a sweet potato over a white potato, it would be the perfect substitution. My point is…there are no excuses to not at least try these burgers!
As mentioned in the title, once assembled, these burgers do freeze well (layer them between sheets of wax paper before you sauté them). I usually special order a dozen honey whole-wheat hamburger buns from Great Harvest, which I store in the freezer as well. Then on any given day I don’t feel like cooking…voila! We can have an instant, homemade, healthy dinner. But before you jump the gun, I do want to mention that these veggie burgers don’t hold together quite as well as the meat version so I would not recommend throwing them on the grill. Enjoy!
Veggie Burgers
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup frozen or fresh corn kernels (no need to thaw the frozen ones)
- About 6 mushrooms, coarsely chopped
- 2 scallions, coarsely chopped
- ½ red (or green) bell pepper, coarsely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper
- 1 small potato, peeled and chopped into big chunks (sweet potato was used in the picture which gave the burger an orange tint)
- 1 cup chopped fresh spinach
- ¼ cup carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- ½ cup fresh bread crumbs (see recipe below)
- ¾ cup grated cheese (I used cheddar)
Directions:
- In a large non-stick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the corn, mushrooms, scallions and bell pepper. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes.
- While those veggies are cooking put the peeled potato into a food processor (with the regular slicing blade, it is not necessary to use the grating blade) and chop it up into fine little pieces.
- Scoop the potato out onto an old, clean dish towel and twist it tightly over the sink to squeeze all the liquid out of the chopped potato.
- Meanwhile, add the garlic, cumin and cayenne to the veggie mixture on the stove and cook for 30 more seconds.
- Remove the pan from heat and add the chopped spinach which should wilt slightly.
- Next, add all of the vegetables to the food processor as well as the egg, bread crumbs, and cheese. Process until all items are blended together well (scrape the sides as needed.)
- Use your hands to scoop up some of the mush, then form it into the shape of a burger. Place them on a plate lined with sheets of wax paper until you are ready to cook and/or freeze them.
- Using the same non-stick skillet, heat 2 more tablespoons of olive over medium heat. Cook the burgers on both sides until brown (being gentle when turning them over).
- Toast hamburger buns if desired and serve!
Homemade Breadcrumbs
When I get around to making these breadcrumbs I usually make a big batch and store the leftovers in an airtight container in the freezer. This way, it isn’t such a pain when a recipe calls for breadcrumbs. I used to buy the store-bought variety, but when I recently looked at the label and lost count of the number of unpronounceable ingredients I decided never again on those! As a reminder, it only takes a few simple ingredients to make bread.
Breadcrumbs are best if made with stale bread. I like to spread out the pieces I am going to use on the baking sheet and leave them on the counter for a few hours or overnight so they get “stale”. Once your pieces are ready, make sure they are in one even layer on the baking sheet. Place them in a warm oven set at 200 degrees F. Bake for 1 – 2 hours until they are dried out. The pieces can then be ground up into breadcrumbs by running them through the grating blade in the food processor or with a hand grater.
How many burgers does this make? Do you cook your burgers before you freeze them? How long are they good for in the freezer…a couple of months? Thanks for this recipe…I can’t wait to try them!
Depending on the size of the burgers this recipe can make between 10 – 15 burgers. Also, you do not saute them before freezing them. I think they should last at least 6 months in freezer if they are stored properly. Good luck!
[...] Veggie burgers and kale chips [...]
I discovered last weekend that homemade breadcrumbs are a *perfect* use for those bread machine loaves that just don’t turn out. I was so glad not to have to waste a loaf (even though the birds missed out on a meal!).
Delish! Was a little bit of work, but worth it. Hubby said he could eat it every day. Even our 5 year old picky eater liked it. It did not weigh us down, and gave us energy after we ate. This will become one of our regulars.
Thanks for the recipe and for such a wonderful website!
You have so many great recipes on your website, but it is not easy to find the old ones. I think it’s time you set ip a search function. I had to really dig to find this one, but I know it will be worth it!
Thank you
Just tried these burgers out and they came out quite well! I had to mix and match a bit with the recipe but other than that followed the recipe accordingly. Do you always freeze before cooking? I tried it out just mixing everything together and cooking right then – but had trouble deciding exactly when it was cooked through. Any suggestions?
Thanks for posting!
I don’t always freeze before cooking them…if your cooking temp isn’t too high they should cook all the way through by the time they brown on the outside. You could always cut one open to check for doneness.
[...] Veggie Burgers and Homemade Fries (original recipe from 100 Days of Real Food) [...]
I made these last night for my family, and they were the most amazing healthy thing I’ve ever eaten! My son loved it until he found out it was made with veggies then he insisted that it wasn’t tasting very good. Although he complained he did eat the entire burger. I also made some garlic potato wedges in the oven to give it a more fast food type feel but without all the bad stuff. Thank you again for your blog, I’ve been following it for quite awhile now and decided I should post on the things I make!
I made these last night and both parents and kids enjoyed them! Thanks for the recipe! Question — while the exterior was crisp after sauteeing them, they were still very “mushy” on the inside and “squished” out of the buns (great harvest honey whole wheat) when biting. Is this the right consistency or should they be more firm inside? I didn’t do homemade bread crumb because Whole Foods has prepared whole wheat bread crumbs w/just 3 ingredients. They are finely ground…could that be it? Thnx!
I don’t think the breadcrumbs could be the issue you just might need the temperature lower when cooking so it can cook all the way through before the outside gets overdone.
How long do the homemade bread crumbs store for? Pantry or freezer?
They will stay in the freezer for months!
We are trying to plant a garden this year, what brand of seeds do you recommend? I have seen some at different grocery stores that say organic but I’m not sure how organic they really are. Any information you could give us would be great! Thanks!
Amber
I think the important thing is to get seeds from a reliable source that you trust. We have a hardware store here in town that has become a great source for vegetable plants/seeds/tools etc. It’s actually their main business now and they are always great at answering questions plus they know the origins of their products. I will say though if the packet says it’s USDA organic then it’s probably fine!
I made these tonight and OMG! They were delicious! I am new to the -no processed foods- way of life, but I was so excited to find this site. My 3 yr old completely cleared his plate and my 2 year old ate most of hers. It was great! Thank you so much for this recipe and for the whole website! Truly inspiring.
Just made these this evening and my husband and I both thoroughly enjoyed them! They are a bit of work, but definitely worth it. It’s hard to believe they are veggie burgers! I did have a little trouble with my patties binding, but manged to do okay in the end. Very tasty recipe – I will definitely make these again!