Serves 6
Active time: 20 minutes || Total time: 45 minutes
I like veggie burgers. Well, duh, don’t all vegans like veggie burgers? What I mean is, I like veggie burgers that are veggie burgers. I’m not looking for a burger to mimic meat. I love the idea that we can take almost any flavor profile and fashion it into a delectable burger. In this case, lentils, olive and mushroom, with a few pinches of herbs.
This burger is baked not fried (but hey, go ahead and fry it if you like, about 10 to 12 minutes.) I’m kind of particular about my veggie burger shape – I really like for it to be neat, with perfectly round, smooth sides. A veggie burger that looks like it’s on America’s Next Top Veggie Burger. To get that shape, just pat your veggie burger into a 3 inch cookie cutter like so:
Don’t worry about finger prints in the burgers, they will flatten out when you flip them.
These would be great served as you would any burger – ketchup, pickles, onions and what not. But it would also be pretty good done up with Italian inspired fixins, like roasted red pepper and pesto. Maybe a little pesto mixed into some vegan mayo? Let your imagination run wild.
If you want to make a double batch and freeze them, cook first, then stack with squares of parchment paper to keep them separated. Freeze in ziplock bags.
One last thing, I use canned lentils here. You can use french or green lentils that you cook yourself, but you’ll need to play with consistency a bit, most likely adding a little bit more breadcrumbs to get them firm enough. Don’t use red lentils, they are too mushy.
Olive oil (from 1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons, your choice)
1 small yellow onion, diced medium
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives (really, use any pitted olive you like)
1 15 oz can cooked lentils, rinsed and drained (1 1/4 cups)
1 cup breadcrumbs, divided
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan non-stick (preferably cast iron) over medium high heat. Saute onion for about 3 minutes with a pinch of salt. Add mushroom, garlic, black pepper, thyme and tarragon and saute for 7 to 10 minutes, until mushroom is cooked.
While mushroom is cooking, place olives in food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped (not pureed.) Remove from food processor and set aside. (No need to clean it out for the next step.)
When mushrooms have cooked, add mushroom mixture to the food processor. Add all other ingredients except for 1/2 a cup of the breadcrumbs. (Did you hear me? Reserve 1/2 cup of the breadcrumbs, this will give them better texture.) Pulse until mostly smooth, but there should still be a little texture. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs to the burger mixture, along with the chopped olives, and thoroughly combine.
Divide burger mix into 6 equal pieces. An easy way to do this is divide it in half, then cut each half into 3 basically equal portions. You can do that right in the bowl if it’s large enough.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Form mixture into patties, spray with a little more cooking spray and bake for 15 minutes. Flip burgers and bake for 12 to 15 more minutes, until nicely browned.
They taste great served immediately but they’re also excellent at room temperature so don’t be afraid to stuff into a sandwich and take as a lunch.
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.
Love it! I call it “flax goop.” The only thing is, I don’t use it in recipe writing so much because I think it frightens people.
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.
Ooh I can totally see cranberry sauce working with these. I love sweet and savory. Thanks for the feedback!
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
I don’t know if its just me, but I’ve just tried to make these and they have been in the oven for about an hour and they still haven’t cooked. Has this happened to anyone else? What am I doing wrong? lol
Made these yesterday for NYE. The biggest hit so far with burgers. Thanks!!
Looks and sounds great–will try it tonight after shopping. Thanks again–and God bless for sharing!!
I’ve also made these with canned fava beans with the same awesome results!
Good to know!
A little bit soft, I think I’d need to add more crumbs next time. Really great flavour though, will definitely make these again, and maybe try a few variations. I served it with my own bloody-mary sauce (half a can of tomatoes, a couple of roasted red peppers, salt, pepper, hot sauce, blended and heated through) and it was amazing. I think a side of a pile of griddled eggplant would be great with these.
Ooh by the way, making burgers with a cookie cutter is a genius idea!! Why did I never think of that?
Any suggestions what you could use to replace the bread crumbs that wouldn’t involve wheat?
These are great, I made them last night and fell in love with them, as did my 4 and 1 year old. Because I was lazy I made a double batch and only made 3 burgers, then put the rest into a loaf pan so now I have olive/lentil roast for tonight 🙂
what about freezing; can you freeze the patties and how long would it take to bake them later?
freakily, I made something very similiar this morning for breakfast; mix beans, olives, mushrooms, bread, herbs, spices, yeast flakes and tapioca flour. I added 1/4 tsp baking powder and a tbs peanut butter x
Looks yummy, can you bbq these burgers?
Can’t wait to try these! Can you prepare the burger mixture in advance and refrigerate until the following day?
You sure can!
Excellent veggie burger. This was my first attempt at making veggie burgers, I am very impressed.
Just made these! A wee bit on the sloppy side (I cooked my own lentils so, as you say, will need to play around with breadcrumbs, etc) but they tasted AMAZING. Judging by the eagerness with which my husband was shovelling them down his face, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be making these again … and soon!!
These are very good – i ended up doubling the recipe but i accidentally only had a pound or so of lentils. I used incredibly olive-y kalmatas, the dry olive bar kinds. Because of the lentil issue I added about a cup of farro and about 3/4 cup very finely chopped walnuts. I added alder smoked salt, and made these into 3/4 inch thick slider-sized pucks (biscuit sized). I’m serving them on small pretzel buns with mustard on the side. I’m also featuring blue cheese spread on the side for wimps. And baby spinach!
These were delicious! However, I think mine were too soft, because I had a heck of a time flipping them without them falling apart. When I make these again, I’m going to be more mindful of the texture and ensuring I don’t overmix the ingredients, and also making sure I add plenty of bread crumbs at the end.
Just made these yesterday. I used beluga lentils because that’s what I had, and they came out perfect. The texture of the mixture seemed crumbly at first, so I was scared, but as soon as I pressed it together it stuck and made a beautiful patty. I made them into little sliders so I reduced the cooking time a bit and they were perfect. They also made good leftovers and now I’m sad that I don’t have anymore. Good thing they were easy!
Trying tomorrow
I was wondering, what could I use as a gluten free substitute for bread crumbs? Rice flour or flakes?
I usually whizz some gluten free pretzels in the blender to fine bread crumbs. Or you can use a crunchy gluten-free cereal, like Chex style. Rice cakes are probably too soft to use here.
FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!
Oh granny, if you think the English do no do vegan, pack food or make sure you have somewhere to cook in Ireland or………you will