OMG. I must try these.

That is my New Year’s Eve dinner sorted yum!!

What could an olive hater sub? I really cannot get over the fact that olives taste & smell like dirty feet… Any ideas?

Momo, i don’t like olives either.how about walnuts and red bell pepper?

Now I *must* get a burger cutter/shaper/thingy

These look amazing! Breadcrumbs: homemade or storebought or does it matter?

can’t wait to try them!

The olive/ lentil combo sounds so yummy, but I seriously don’t like mushrooms. (I know that I am probably the only vegan in the world who hates mushrooms.) I’m going to be a pain and ask if there is anything that I can use instead of the mushrooms.

Jessy – you are the second vegan in the world who hates mushrooms. I have always considered it something of a birth defect in myself… Maybe some diced up eggplant instead?

Where do you find canned lentils?

If not olives – how about sundried tomato? Then again, I bet sundried tomato AND olives would be amazing!

This recipe looks wonderful but of more importance… Is amazon deceiving me? Are you and Terry really releasing another cookbook next year?

Wow, those look tasty. I’ve been trying to coax my family into trying some veggie stuff. This sounds like something they would love! Thanks PPK!

They look tasty! :)

Yum yum yum! Great to know that there are fellow veggie-veggie burger vegan friends out there. Fake meat is wierd, lentils are the bestest :)

Mmmmm! I so love French lentils with mushrooms! I’m making these today! Thanks Isa! Laura, you can cut out the bottom of a kitty food can and use that if you have an obligate carnivore in residence.

Thanks for responding to your readers, first of all. Next, made these already and whoosh…gone (served at a small party last night); need I say more? Finally, you are such a good writer of creative non-fiction (eg your cookbooks, blog writing , etc), how about short stories involving the lives and carryings-on of a vegan person/s? There could be a niche market for this thus far non-existent genre. Just an idea for the new year.

Oh yeah! Those look great. Pesto and roasted red peppers.. I think I would die of happiness.

Hi, just wondering what I could substitute for breadcrumbs…. I’m avoiding wheat etc… it makes life difficult when you need to bind ingredients.. is there any type of flour (don’t use gluten free mixes, is seems so processed) that wouldn’t overwhelm the taste and texture… great book by the way!! Thanks

I do believe I’ll be making these. According to my calculations, pre-oil spray for baking, these are about 180 calories each. Not bad!
http://paste.pocoo.org/show/312811/

yum. I am going to make these today!

thank you for continuing to post recipes…i’ve made so many of your things lately (including stuff from ‘vegan w/a vengeance’) that i feel like i should be sending you a thank you card or something : )

Holy cremini, I didn’t even see this and just made something similar using the vcon chickpea cutlet as inspiration. http://www.vegandance.blogspot.com I’ll totally try these veggie burgers. Great tip with the molds. They look fantastic!

I made these last night. Love ‘em! Thanks for the recipe Isa. …and you’re right about the red lentils. Mushy is an understatement. Oops. As for canned lentils… no such thing in my neck of the woods, unless you are ok with canned lentil soup. So, my husband cooked up a small batch of regular brown lentils, nothing fancy with a bay leaf, pinch of salt and a clove of garlic (I think). I use a wide-mouth mason jar as my cookie cutter. The patties came out smaller than your average, but it’s funner to snack on them…

Thanks for the recipe. I didn’t have mushrooms (!!!), so I used about a cup of leftover rice. They turned out great and I will try them again with mushrooms.

Thank you for all the work you do. I have used my Veganomican book to the point that some pages are on the verge of needing replacements. Keep up the work!

@Laura in Taos, I used a canning ring from a wide mouth jar. Worked great! These were a little bland to me when I put them on a bun. I’ll spice them up and bit next time and give them another try.

Oh wow! These sounds yummy! I’m not huge on mushrooms, but I’d still love to try these just the way they are. I like the recipe because it seems like it would be very versatile.

I also am going to add that I totally agree with you I like to have a veggie burger that isn’t made to be like meat!

use a hot banana,chili sauce instead of tomato sauce

YUM! I made these last weekend (with portobellos and boil-your-own-beans: got to work with what I got). Just ate another of the batch for my lunch at work and it was so good I had to thank you. If anything the texture improved from hanging out in the fridge for a few days. I wish I had more . . I only made a batch of 5 instead of 6 because I am a little piggy!

Y’know, putting aside the amazing things you’ve managed to do with food, there are some really nicely shot pictures on this site. I love taking a picture or two before we sit down to eat at home. It’s always satisfying to make the non-vegans in our lives jealous. We have the Veganomicon at home and it’s been super-useful, especially when my boyfriend and I first got started vegan cooking. But I gotta say, love this site for the pictures. I want to make everything! Starting with these burgers….

When you say a half-pound of mushrooms, is that half-pound with the stems on, at the store, or half-pound with the stems off, in the kitchen?

THANK YOU i really feel like this is a recipe i will use for the rest of my life!!! please please please come to england and make dumb british people more accepting to vegans, which they might be if they got to know you and your awesome food!

I’m also a vegan who doesn’t like mushrooms! Mushrooms taste like dirt to me. I hate the texture of portobello mushrooms. Thanks for this veggie burger recipe that doesn’t mimic meat…. thank you and thank you!

I just made this an loved it! Perfect veggie burger recipe: no falling apart and very versatile!

I made these yesterday and they are the best ever! I just wish I’d doubled the recipe since they will be gone in no time. Thank you!

I went with frying them and eating them with selfmade naan bread like a kebap/ burger hybrid. Extremely tasty. I cooked the lentils and used canned mushrooms. The olives add plenty of taste to the burgers. Great!

ok i just made these burgers but i also added parsley and i substituted the lemon with some vinegar and the olives with carrots! yummy! (tip: when boiling the lentils i added some orange zest, vitmain c helps absorb the iron and also gives a great taste!)

yay! i love it when people have vegan recipes for things that dont involve fake meat. I dont like meat, why would i want fake meat?

I’m cooking them up right now, and they look and smell so delicious. The best thing about these vegan burgers is that you can munch on the patty mixture before it goes in the oven! yummy!

I made the burgers three times already and I love them! Last time, I cooked half lentils, half quinoa (I added the quinoa after 20 minutes of cooking the lentils and cooked them together for another 20 minutes) and really enjoyed it.
It never came to my mind to bake burgers. Great suggestion!
I just got two of your books, they are wonderful. A big thank you from Germany.

Pesto is seconded.
Although adding pepper is nice too, I might even go daring and add something even sweeter…chopped dried apricot. Don’t knock it ’til ya try it.

I’m living in Beijing sans oven, so baking’s not an option. Perchance I’ll try these stove-top though!
Thanks,
Joanna

Oh wow! All my favourite things rolled up at pattied. I’m so making these tomorrow. Think my mushroom hating husband will be able to detect my treachery?

This has become one of my new favorite recipes! Thank you for sharing it with the masses.

I made this tonight with eggplant instead of mushrooms. It. Was. So. Good.

I topped it with roasted red pepper. Yum.

Hi,
Just made these last night and were a big hit in my house! Thanks for the great recipe.

I hate mushrooms too! And it sucks because they are used soo much in my favorite cookbooks and theres usually nothing to do. So if subbing zucchini or eggplant for the mushrooms, would I use the same amount, like 1/2 pound of cubed eggplant?

I made these last night and we loved them. I also hate mushrooms, so I used Zucchini and YUM!!! I love your recipes and love the pictures to go with it so I can see if mine look like what its suppose to . Just got appetite for reduction, cant wait to try some recipes there too

I made these too! I made them for lunch burgers to take to work and they tasted wonderful!!! Mine were nowhere near as pretty as Isa’s (no America’s Next Top Veggie Burger for me) but they tasted like they were winners!

any idea about the baking time/temperature if doing this as a ‘meat loaf’? Many thanks!!

Ahhhh is that why my chipotle lentil burgers fell apart? I froze them before grilling them… crumbled and jus turned into a mushy mess….but still tasty!! :)

really really good! making them for the second time tonight. thanks!

Made these this morning and just had one for lunch. Delicious!! It was fun to use the circular cookie cutter so they came out looking “neat” (or neater than they would have otherwise) :) Thanks for the recipe and good directions!

I made these last night with roasted red pepper (I love olives, but I was out of them) and gluten-free breadcrumbs (made by toasting chunks of GF bread and running them through the blender). They are scrumptious and hold together better than other homemade burgers I’ve tried. These will be in my regular rotation! lentils + mushrooms + breadcrumbs is such a great basic formula, and could go in so many directions. I think next time I’m going to sneak some spinach into these bad boys.

I made them and my both my 3 and 5 yr old loved them. THANK YOU! :)

Yum – these are delicious! Didn’t have tinned lentils so cooked 200g of dried Puy lentils, which seemed to work fine texture-wise. Will definitely be making again ;-)

I love the creative thinking in this recipe but for having so many ingredients a) there isn’t much flavor and b) the burgers are pretty crumbly, even after baking. I’ve also encountered the taste issue with the Mac n’Shews…which is pretty surprising considering they both ask for quite a bit of garlic and the burgers, onions. My point is that asking for spices that don’t deliver to overall taste seems wasteful. Just a cautionary tip if you prefer your ingredients to add value to a recipe.

Made these last night and my two kids (6 and 3) absolutely loved them. They even had them again for lunch today. Thanks for the recipe.

can i subsituite wheat germ for the bread crumbs?

THIS has become a favorite of mine! except i add green onions and sundried tomatoes for color, because i don’t find the color of these guys pleasing enough. For extra zip i add smoked paprika, because i didnt have liquid smoke. also, if you can keep your hands off em..they keep together better if you form them(with the top of a canning jar) put them between two sheets of wax paper and stick em in the fridge. Then, we lightly fried them on our cast iron man with olive oil.

@ ks

I love the fact that you blasted my absolute favorite cookbook author, but for having absolutely no credibility here at all a) Isa is an amazing vegan goddess and b) keep your mean opinions to yourself. If you are encountering taste issues in multiple recipes from a highly regarded cookbook author, perhaps the issue is with you. My point is that you were very rude to Isa. Just a cautionary tip if you prefer not to be a giant d-bag.

Love ya, Isa! You could make me an old, dirty gym sock, and I’m sure it would taste delicious.

Somebody has a foot fetish

I made these and they taste GREAT! However, mine all fell apart after I flipped them and took them out of the oven. I’ll definitely make this recipe again but possibly bind it with an egg.

I made this tonight, with zucchini and a bit of dried mild new Mexico peppers, cooked the green lentils myself, and it was really really yummy! I think it was the best veggie burger yet! (and the easiest recipe so far too!) My dh loved them and was pretty worried at first that I might not remember how to make it again ( I usually just tend to toss things together randomly) but I assured him that it’s a written recipe that I’ll be able to make again. Thank you for posting this!!!

a great way to keep these burgers together i found was the good ol’ vegan trick of apple cider vinegar and cornstarch! if your not vegan and you consider yourself a vegetarian that eats eggs (lacto-ovo-vegetarian), then use an egg. Also, i feel using fresh cooked lentils helped alot, and i used panko breadcrumbs too, which binded it super well! stickin’ em in the fridge after making the mix helps too..and THEN form them! i don’t want to try to altar the recipe TOO much, but as much as Isa inspires me i don’t think varying things a bit would insult her. much love Isa <3

Sounds like a wonderful recipe- can’t wait to try! Does anyone by chance know the nutritional information for these??

I agree. I looooove veg food stuff that does not mimic meat! Veggies are great as is.

You never fail to impress. I made these for my boyfriend and I and even though I only had a (very old) blender to work with in place of the food processor they came out very good! Much more pieces and chunks, but the flavor was great. Im very happy with them and if i ever get a food prcessor I am def making them again

Any chance these will survive the BBQ?

These are delicious! I had to add twice as much bread crumbs as called for, which may reflect that I: a) cooked my lentils from scratch; and/or b) used gluten-free bread. Still very tasty, and I will definitely make them again.

I just made these, pretty much exactly as described in the recipe. They’re good! Mooshier than I was expecting, but very delicious. I ended up with 10 patties instead of six (I guess I made them small). I’m excited to freeze them, and not have to buy store-bought “veggie” burgers!

Made these tonight and I LOVE how they taste. Mine turned out a little bit more mushy than I expected though. Could I add more breadcrumbs next time to make up for that? longer in the over? maybe its the brand of canned lentils i used?

I’m a veggie who mainly cooks vegan and I loved these so much! Used chestnut mushrooms for a lovely nutty flavour, black olives and a splash of balsamic vinegar instead of liquid smoke (no idea where you get that stuff from in the UK). They went down so well that my husband has requested a second batch… Thanks for another awesome recipe!

I made these yesterday but used baby bella mushrooms and I used potato chips instead of bread crumbs. I looked in the store for vegan bread crumbs but they all had eggs as an ingredient. I shaped and fried 3 burgers and they were amazing! After tasting the mixture I decided it was a great sandwich spread as is with no extra baking or frying. I”m so happy to have found you!

I made these burgers with fresh spices and they were amazing (I’ll admit to adding some chile pepper because I like life on the spicy side)! Still having the ingredients, I made a version of this yesterday sans lentils (no peppers, either) to use as a stuffing for artichoke (I added fresh rosemary because I had it and used balsamic vinegar and veganaise as a dip, though it didn’t need it). It was so yummy!! The flavors were extra incredible, as the lentils do tend to absorb some flavor in the burgers (which are still totally delicious). I have shared this recipe link with at least six people; non-vegans are also in l-o-v-e. :)

Wow those are probably the most perfect looking burgers I have ever seen! They look amazing, I can’t wait to try! Quick question, if I can’t get my hands on GF pretzels do you think ground buckwheat groats would be okay to sub for breadcrumbs?

I think crackers might be do-able. Will try this weekend and let you know :)

Woke up, found this recipe following a link from a bento site, immediately printed several recipes and forwarded the link to friends, at the risk of seeming like a dork because they’ll probably have seen it already! Somebody above me in the multitude of comments is right, the photos are fantastic, but really the thing I love about your recipes is that they have just enough surprise, and yet are approachable and flexible. Now to ACTUALLY try some (it’s early morning and I’ve just found your site…) Thank you so much, and I’ll be back! (making my grocery list now…)

I made these and everyone loved them. I did put more herbs than it called for, I believe. Also, based on some of the comments, I decided to add some vegan binding agent I have used for years: flaxseed gel. For those of you who don’t know about it, you simply boil some flaxseed in water for a few minutes. I always eyeball it, but I believe the ratio from water to flaxseed is about 4:1. Maybe a 1/4 cup flaxseed and about 1 cup water. Just bring it to a boil in a small saucepan, then lower the heat slightly to about medium-high and keep at a gentle boil for 3 or so minutes. I don’t know the exact time–just watch what is happening. Wait until it all gets foamy and beginning to get gelatinous. Then pour through a strainer–you have to do this as soon as you are done boiling because the mixture gets more and more gelatinous as it sets and you won’t be able to separate the seeds from the gel. Discard the seeds. You might have to do this a couple of times If you’ve done this properly, you’ll see that flaxseed gel looks and feels just like eggwhite. I used it in place of eggs in conventional baking recipes and it is marvelous. It is totally tasteless so it will never add a funny flavour. You might have to do it a few times before you get it exactly right.

I took these to a Thanksgiving (Canadian) dinner, and they actually went well with cranberry sauce, in my opinion. I had also made my vegan gravy to go with the patties. Definitely a recipe I will make again and again.

I’d need to examine with you here. Which isn’t something I often do! I enjoy studying a submit that can make people think. Additionally, thanks for permitting me to remark!

Just made up a batch of these. Very flavorful! I think I might omit the soy sauce next time though. The soy sauce plus the olives made them a tad too salty for me.

These were great! My mini-Cuisinart just can’t keep up these days….it might be time to invest in a larger one. I think I either overstuffed the food processor or had the mixture in too long or both–I might keep half of my lentils unprocessed next time to see if that helps them be more bun-able (ours were soft). The flavor is perfect!

I hate mushrooms and I hate olives, but these were AMAZING!

To KS
Thank you for the chuckle!!! You are clearly a world class gourmet chef, with lots of best selling cookbooks to your name. What fun….sorry….couldn’t help but laugh when I read that post!!!
What is the old vegan trick of apple cider and cornstarch? Does anyone know?

yum! just made these–they were delicious! held together very well while baking, came out with lots and lots of flavor. thank you so much for the creative, inspiring, and delicious recipes!

I did these tonight (delish!) and served them with mashed avocado, arugula, hummus and tomato in a pita. It was tasty but had a lot of flavours goin on. Next time I will go ahead and eat them on a bun with ketchup and mustard.

I just made these and they and AMAZING!! I already ate dinner and was making these for lunch/dinner this week, but I want to eat them all NOW!! Thank you for all of the unbelievable recipes over the years! My friends and family think I’m a talented chef…but I’m really just following the recipes of a REAL talented chef! You are my kitchen idol.

I almost didn’t make these because I don’t care for olives. But I decided you have never steered me wrong and all your recipes are delicious. So I made a double batch with the intention of freezing half of them. Yeah…these were so good that they didn’t make it to the freezer. Thank you for another great recipe.

Just made these tonight and I really liked them! Now they’re sleeping in my freezer, all delishuuuuussss like!

I love olives and lentils but have not had them together in a recipe. Very interesting possibilities!

I’m pretty tired of my lentil rotation: coconut curried lentils, lentil/walnut burgers, lentil loaf…so this is exciting! Going to the kitchen to start my lentils right now. Serving with vegan potato salad (yikes..already made and had 3 servings!) Time to balance out my carbs!

I have been jonesing to try one of your lentil burgers but was confounded by the lack of canned lentils readily available. Last weekend I quite randomly ended up at a Brazilian market and what do you know–canned lentils! My sister spotted them with her eagle eyes. I bought 6 cans! Will be trying these tonight and the chipotle ones soon after.

Omigosh. I *love* lentils, Kalamata olives, and mushrooms. I can’t wait to try this. I’m an omnivore, but… why would I want a meat burger when I could have something made with lentils, olives, and mushrooms instead? (And this is why everyone thinks I’m vegetarian…)

Gonna BBQ these beauts tonight! Love the site and the assortment . . . Love to cook and EVERY recipe I have used from here as well as cookbook has been stellar! Much gratitude . . . from me and my belly! Mmmmmmmm ;)

ps shall try flax goop and see if they become a lil more hardy for flipping purposes :)

Yahhh Yahh its mhy bday ! Keke