Veggie Burgers (another meal you can freeze!) made with Homemade Breadcrumbs

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 veggie 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 made with Homemade Breadcrumbs

Course: Lunch, Main Course

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

(another meal you can freeze!)

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Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ cup corn or frozen, no need to thaw the frozen ones
• 6 mushrooms coarsely chopped
• 2 green onions coarsely chopped
• ½ red bell pepper or green, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper red
• 1 small potato peeled and chopped into big chunks
• 1 cup spinach chopped
• ¼ cup carrot peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• ½ cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs see recipe link below
• ¾ cup cheese grated, I used cheddar

Instructions

1. In a large non-stick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the corn, mushrooms, scallions and bell pepper. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Meanwhile, add the garlic, cumin and cayenne to the veggie mixture on the stove and cook for 30 more seconds.
6. Remove the pan from heat and add the chopped spinach which should wilt slightly.
7. 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.)
8. 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.
9. 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).
10. Toast hamburger buns if desired and serve!

Recipe Notes

We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.

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 (by Progresso), 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.

Click here for the breadcrumb recipe.

Update: We’ve since found a decent store-bought alternative made of 100% whole wheat, but we still make our own, too.