Crispy on the outside and cooked to perfection. These veggie burgers are the ultimate healthy comfort food.
Homemade veggie burgers are the best! If you’ve had a not so good veggie burger experience (I think we all have), stick with me here. I only share the best with you.
As we come into the colder months in London, comfort food recipes are a high priority. All that hibernating and sitting around eating comfort food can lead to your clothes feeling tighter and low energy levels. That’s where healthy comfort food comes in! Food that comforts your soul and keeps your body functioning optimally.
Sadly a lot of veggie burgers I’ve had at restaurants just don’t cut it. They often leave me with massive food envy questioning why I made the healthy choice. Healthy food MUST taste amazing and there’s no reason why it can’t.
So I set about on a mission to create a veggie burger that’s loaded with flavour. These are made with a base of chickpeas to provide you with a good source of protein. They also include peas, corn and sweet potato along with a mixture of herbs and spices for extra flavour. Instead of breadcrumbs I used quinoa to bind it all together which of course makes it even healthier.
The recipe makes eight burgers which was no accident. Unless you have a big family this will provide you with leftovers. Pop them in the freezer and on days when you need a quick meal, you’ll be covered. All you need to do to defrost is leave on the bench to thaw naturally and then heat up when you are ready to eat. It couldn’t be easier!
- 1 400g can chickpeas, rinsed well under cold water
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 large sweet potato, cooked
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels
- 1 cup quinoa, cooked
- ¼ cup spring onions, finely chopped
- ¼ cup coriander, finely chopped
- ¼ cup parsley, finely shopped
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Preheat oven to 180C or 356F.
- Add all ingredients to the food processor and mix until everything is broken down and well combined.
- Take approximately half a cup of mixture and mould into a burger shape with your hands. Do the same with remainder of the mixture.
- Place the veggie burgers on a tray lined with baking paper and place in the oven to cook for 40 minutes.
- Assemble the burgers with your favourite toppings. For these burgers I used red onion, tomato, avocado and baby spinach.
Would you be able to replace the quinoa with breadcrumbs if so how much breadcrumbs would you use
Yes you definitely can. Use the same amount of breadcrumbs.
You will lose protein though!
Chickpeas are a good source of protein.
can i cook it using the airefryer ?? and how many minute will it need to cook??
I’m not sure, I’ve never used an airfryer. Let me know how they turn out of you try.
do these freeze well?
Yes they are great to freeze.
I am diabetic and wonder what carbs protein and what is a serving size of these??
These are fab! My 8 year old loved them too.
Wonderful, I’m so pleased
Can you freeze the veggie burger paddies/ and reheat ?
Absolutely, I do it all the time and it’s a great time saver!
I thought coriander was a spice. How does it come; or look like? Is it fresh in the produce department? Thanks; anxious to try these.
It is considered as both a spice and herb. This recipe uses fresh coriander and you’ll find in the fresh produce section. It’s called cilantro in the USA if that helps.
Sorry but I am more confused. Coriander and cilantro are the same? Please clarify. I have coriander spice in a jar as well as cilantro fresh leaves. Are they interchangeable? Veggie burgers.
Yes depending on where you live it can be called cilantro or coriander. In this recipe I use the fresh herb.
This may be silly, if you’re meal prepping for future use, do you freeze them before or after they’ve been cooked?
I generally freeze them before but there is no reason why freezing after you cook them wouldn’t work as well.
Love these burgers! My 11 year old wasn’t as thrilled… My only minor gripe: they were a little smushy? Any way to add/remove an ingredient to firm them up a bit? Will for sure be making these again to freeze, thanks again!
Try cooking them for an extra ten minutes or so. You could also add a little extra quinoa or some breadcrumbs to make them firmer. Glad you enjoyed. I’ve been eating mine with some tomato relish on top. Perhaps your little one will like that.
The quinoa and chicken peas I purchased are uncooked. How should I prepare those before making the veggies burgers?
Hi Kellye, for the quinoa you just cook it the same as you would rice but it only takes about 10 minutes. I pour boiling water into a pot with the quinoa and leave to cook. Once cooked just drain the boiling water that remains in the pot so you only have the cooked quinoa. As for the chickpeas are they dried or tinned? Tinned is much easier as you just need to pour them in to a strainer and rinse well with cold water. No need to do anything else as they are already cooked. Let me know how you get on and if you have any other questions
if i freeze these how long do they take to reheat them again? x
Once they are defrosted, they take just a few minutes to reheat. If you defrost in the fridge overnight and then heat when ready to eat it’s super easy.
We would like to BBQ them, is it possible.
I’ve never tried it but I think you could. Just add some more quinoa or breadcrumbs to make it hold together better and it will be easier to grill. Let me know how they turn out.
I really like the idea of these but I dislike sweet potato. Would using just ordinary potato make it too sloppy?
Regular potato wouldn’t make it too sloppy. Sweet potato has much more flavour, so the end result might be a little more bland but I’m sure it will still be yum! Let me know how they turn out!
Is it meant to be a 400g can or 400g of drained? I made these tonight with one can and they were totally mushy, I think it could of been because of the heat I used freshly cooked quinoa and freshly boiled potatoes? Lovely flavour and I will try them again.. Thank you
It’s a 400g can of chickpeas. Thanks for highlighting this, I’ve updated the recipes. The heat definitely would have contributed to the mushiness. Glad you enjoyed them!
Sorry to best this into the ground. So do I drain the can or not?
Yes you drain the can.
Hi,
I am trying these tonight. Regarding the quinoa, is it 1 cup uncooked and then use whatever amount that gives (almost double) or 1 cup already cooked?
Thanks.
It’s one cup on uncooked quinoa. I’d love to hear how they turn out.
I can’t wait to try these with my middle babe. She very rarely will eat meat so I’ve been trying to find a good substitute for her
thank you for a great recipe
I hope she loves them!
Great recipe! I was wondering though, could I substitute the curry powder for something else? Thanks
You could add any spice that you like the taste of. The curry taste isn’t overpowering and it doesn’t make them spicy but totally get that some people don’t like curry.
do you have a protein count on this?
Sorry, I don’t.
Do you think there’s any way I could prepare this without having a food processor? Maybe a blender? Though I guess blenders work better with more liquid stuff…
You could try the blender but I’d recommend doing it in batches to makes it easier for the blender.
Sounds reasonable, will give it a try! thanks
I’ve made these in the past w similar ingredients and I’ve added cooked, chopped mushroms, egg whites, sauteed onions and garlic. I’ve used brown rice and bread crumbs, now I’m excited to use quinoa. I’ve even mashed in tofu.
Sounds great!
Wow all I can say is amazing. I’m going vegan starting tomorrow, so I made these to start my meal prep. These are great.
Well done on making such a positive change for yourself and the planet.
do you know the macro break down on each patty when done. (aprx)
they look great.
Sorry I don’t.
Hi – the recipe says it serves 8, but the directions look like it is for 2 burgers. please clarify
It will make around 8 burgers depending on the size you shape them.
Can I boil the sweet potato to cook it? I want to make these tonight (have a sweet potato that wont last too much longer) and freeze them for lunches next week and I’m on a time crunch. Just wondering if the boiling would make the potato to loose to make into patties.
Thanks!
Boiling the sweet potatoes should be absolutely fine. If you do find that the mixture is a little too wet, just add some extra quinoa or breadcrumbs. Enjoy!
Thank you for the quick response!
What can I use in the place of chickpeas, I really don’t like chickpeas?
You could try black beans but it may make them a little more moist. I don’t like chickpeas on their own but mixed with the sweet potato and all the other ingredients you can’t really taste the chickpea flavour.
Can u add red yellow peppers and red onion , this recipe looks great been waiting for a veggie burger recipe, and could I use penko instead of bread crumbs or quinoa , just wondering about ratios
I think peppers and red onion would be a great addition. Panko should work just fine as well. You may want to lightly fry the peppers first before adding to the mixture.
How many calories, carbs etc are in these?
Sorry I don’t have that info. I know there are apps available where you enter the ingredients and you’ll be given that info but it’s not something I provide on my website.
These are delish!
Made them last week and froze for lunches this week. I eat them along side a salad and they’re so flavourful. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
So glad you like them!
what if you hate peas…. if you omit them, are recipe amounts still okay? What would be a good replacement?
Thanks
You can just leave the peas out, that won’t be a problem.
I’m not sure if the 1/4 cup of coriander is a mistake or supposed to be that much, but the flavor was way too strong in my patties. Also I think the patty needs some kind of egg/cheese to help bind it together as mine fell apart very easily. I’d recommend cooking the peas and corn too I noticed a lot of mine came uncooked inside the party when left frozen.
Wondering how these would turn out, pan-fried. Any thoughts? Seems to me they might be a little firmer done so.
Hello Casey,
Thanks for sharing this recipe. It is just what I am looking for. I never tried quinoa for burgers. From my own experience I know that it helps to add a tbs of chickpea flour to keep it from getting mushy.
I made these yesterday for a food exchange and although they taste great, they stuck to the paper and were really mushy. I used as a spread but really want burgers. I used frozen peppers could that have made the difference?
I don’t think the frozen veggies are a problem. Next time you make them, add some extra quinoa or breadcrumbs so that the mixture is less moist.
These look great. I was wondering if I can use parsley herb instead of fresh. I don’t want to use corn either. What other veggie can I add in place? Would frozen spinach or kale work? What about an avocado? Can’t wait to try these.
Oh can I use tumeric instead of curry powder. I am going to cut out the spring onions too. Hubby doesn’t care for them. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
You can absolutely use parsley and turmeric as substitutes, they should work great. The spinach and kale might make the burgers a little too moist. Avocado would be great on top once the burger is cooked but not inside the burger. You could grate some carrot which I think would be nice.
Thank you. Is there any other veggie I could use inside. I agree I thought the spinach or kale would make it moist. I appreciate your response.
These look so good! Question: I have all the ingredients but my peas and corn are not frozen, but canned. Do you think it would make a difference?
Hey, this looks great! I want to try it since I got a food processor now. My question is if by “cooked sweet potato” you mean baked or boiled? I” a beginner, haha. Thanks for sharing!
I made these tonight. Loved the flavours, but found baking them made the quinoa go crunchy. Is that meant to happen?
I made small ones of these to take to a social event and they were quickly snapped up with many requests for the recipe. When I returned home I realised I had forgotten to put the sweet potato in! I made them again but had run out of curry powder and they still tasted good. I’m going to make them again with all the ingredients listed so I can see what the actual recipe tastes like. Thanks so much. 😀
Loved it!
Do you know the nutritional information?
Thanks!
I used quinoa flakes instead of quinoa, and it seems to make the batter runnier. I tried adding flour and bread crumbs but it didn’t seem to reach the same consistency as yours. It also tastes great with rosemary and chilli instead of the bother herbs.
Lovely recipe…thank you.
I roll my burgers in some coconut flour and then fry them in coconut oil…delicious 😊
Sounds yum!
My processor was waaaaay fuller than yours once u put everything in. Therefore just wouldn’t mash. Maybe froze peas weren’t a good idea. Or is there an order of ingredients? Was super hard to mash. The bottom only really got mashed. In the end did most by hand by pushing it down and and trying to do in batches lol But anyway got em done and they’re gonna be cooked up at lunch time on the bbq. I’m thinking they’ll be amazi g and please the vegans and vegetarians in my family today. Oh I left out the dreaded coriander. Lol
This is literally my first vegan recipe was I am learning. I am not a big veggie lover and neither is my son so I chose this recipe hoping it might mask some of the veggie taste lol. I forgot the parsley (oops), didn’t have paprika, and used over 1/2 a tsp ground coriander seed. It made 8 patties and I can’t believe how much I liked them!! My son who hates all veggies but corn even said I can make them again. My only note is they had a strong pea taste so if you don’t like peas you might want to back off the peas a bit. My quinoa was mush which didn’t matter but I’d love to know where I went wrong with that. Thank you for this seriously awesome recipe for this non-veggie lovin new vegan gal. 😂
HI!
For some reason my patties came out sticky…like not firm..??
Hi Casey,
These smell delicious but they’re still very mushy once cooked. I read through the comments and saw a reference to the quinoa measurement. It says 1 cup cooked but you mentioned 1 cup uncooked in the comments. Should it be 1 cup uncooked so it turns into 2/3 cups cooked?
Thank you
My husband and I can’t eat corn in any form. Can we simply increase the other ingredients to make up the 1 cup of corn? Perhaps just add 1 cup of breadcrumbs instead?
Hi. Can I substitute acorn squash instead of sweet potato? I can’t wait to try this recipe!