These Beetroot Burgers really are the ultimate veggie burger! Follow these tips and tricks for how to get veggie burgers with the PERFECT texture and flavour.
Creating a decent veggie burger can only be described as an art. It’s too often you sink your teeth into a veggie burger and it’s either dry as cardboard or so sloppy it spills out the burger bun. Finding that perfect middle ground, whilst still keeping the perfect texture is sometimes a little tricky. Having said that, once you perfect it, a decent veggie burger is absolute heaven (and that’s coming from a meat eater).
For me, the first step to making the perfect vegetarian burger is to use beetroot. Not only does beetroot offer a huge amount of flavour to the burger, but the colour is just gorgeous. Who doesn’t want a pinky purple burger?
But in all seriousness, the single most important step when creating any vegetarian burger is to cook the veg and beans beforehand. More specifically, bake the veg and beans beforehand.
Baking the Beans & Veg
This is the key to an awesome beetroot burger for a few reasons:
- Dehydrates the veg so you don’t end up with a wet/soggy burger.
- Creates a better texture for the burgers.
- Intensifies the flavour of the beans & veg.
Sure, beetroot burgers are a little more hassle than making meat burgers, but trust me it’s totally worth it.
How to make Beetroot Burgers
- Bake your beans and veg.
- Once cooled, add your beans in a processor with egg and a little lemon juice.
- Combine the bean paste with your beetroot & fillings.
- Shape into burgers and fry until deep golden on each side.
Best Beetroot Burger Fillings
- Shredded Beet
- Shredded Carrot
- Cannellini Beans
- Feta
- Mint
- Green Onion
- Lemon
- Cashew Nuts
- Breadcrumbs
- Egg
For me, this gives a simple yet delicious beet burger combo. The fresh blast of mint works beautifully with the earthy taste of the beetroot. The feta adds a nice creamy texture, the carrot offers a little sweetness and the cashews give a nice little crunch.
Tips for the perfect Beetroot Burger
- Use lemon juice and breadcrumbs as levers to make the patty mixture wetter/dryer.
- Add feta. Beetroot and feta is a marriage made in heaven and beet burgers are no exception.
- Test before you make the final burger. By frying up a tiny bit of the mixture before you mould the burgers, you can adjust the texture and seasoning as necessary before you commit to the end product.
- Shallow fry in a good amount of oil. Veggie burgers are notoriously low in fat, so to add flavour and to keep them from being dry, don’t be scared add a good amount of oil in the pan.
And to be honest, those tips will help with with making vegetarian burgers in general.
When it comes to toppings, follow your tastebuds! However, here’s my go-to every time.
Beetroot Burger Toppings
- Grain Bun
- Hummus
- Caramelized Onions
- Grilled Courgette/Zucchini
- Cress
Right, let’s tuck into the recipe shall we? I’m starving all over again 🤤
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How to make Beetroot Burgers (Full Recipe & Video)
Awesome Beetroot Burgers
Ingredients
- 2 medium Beets, scrubbed & grated
- 1 medium Carrot, scrubbed & grated
- 1 can Cannellini Beans, drained
- 2-3 large Green Onions (Spring Onion), finely diced
- 1 heaped tbsp Fresh Mint, finely diced
- 3/4 cup / 75g Feta, crumbled
- 1/2 cup / 55g Raw Unsalted Cashews, finely crushed
- 1/2 cup / 35g Breadcrumbs, or as needed
- 1/2 Lemon, or as needed
- 1 Egg
- generous amounts of Salt & Black Pepper
- generous amounts of Olive Oil
- pinch of Cayenne Pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Lay your grated beetroot, carrot and cannellini beans on an oven tray. Spray with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt, then pop in the oven at 200c/392f until wrinkled and slightly charred. (approx 15mins)
- Once cooled, add your beans, egg and lemon juice in a food processor and blend to a paste.
- Combine in a bowl with your carrot, beetroot, green onion, mint, cashews, feta, half of your breadcrumbs and generous amounts of salt and pepper.
- Take a small pinch of your mixture and mould a tiny burger shape (use gloves if desired). Fry until golden then test for seasoning/texture. For a more moist burger add more lemon juice, to dry out the burgers add more breadcrumbs.
- When happy, mould 4 burger shapes and shallow fry in a good glug of oil over medium heat until dark golden colour, flipping once.
- Stack with your desired toppings and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Hummus
- Caramelized OnionsÂ
- Grilled Courgette/Zucchini
- Cress
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
For another delicious Beetroot Recipe check out my Roasted Beetroot and Feta Hummus!
I’ve made this recipe before with fresh beets and it was awesome!! Now I have some peeled cooked beets that I need to use up, do you think they would also work? And should I still shred and bake them?
Hi Amy! That’s interesting, I’m actually not sure as I’ve never used cooked beets. I probably would still grate and bake it, just to try and pull out some of the moisture (burger might end up too sloppy otherwise). Sorry I can’t be much more help! Chris.
Hello! These burgers look delicious. How many grams of beetroot, carrot, and white beans are needed for this recipe? Many thanks
Hi Brinacyl, the weight of a medium beet is around 100g, a carrot is around 80g and a can of beans is 400g, approx 240g when drained. Hope this helps!
could I make the burgers with out feta x
Hey Aoife! I haven’t actually tried these without feta – the feta adds a nice creaminess/saltiness, but my instinct says they’ll still be great without it 🙂
Thank you! I will weigh my ingredients next time.
These came out superb! My 5-year-old who is not a fan of vegetables ate them too! will be making these very frequently.
As per your suggestion to bind all the ingredients better, I put all of them in the food processor. I only had one tin of beans and wanted to make a double batch, so I used a tin of chickpeas too. I love spices and I added cumin, coriander, paprika (two types), garlic, and onion (all dried powders). A tip if your mixture is soft even after having added additional breadcrumbs (like mine), refrigerate it for 30 minutes. It will be then easier to handle the mixture. Rubbing some oil on the palms is helpful too.
That’s awesome to hear, Brinacyl! Thanks for the awesome tips too 🙂
This looks delicious! I think I’m going to try it out tonight. I can’t have dairy though, so considering substitutes for the Feta. I wonder if a non-dairy yogurt or a non-dairy cheese would work well? Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Hey Deanna! I’d stay away from yogurt as it would change the texture too much, but non-dairy cheese could work! I recommend testing one small patty with a little of it in there to see if it works with your tastebuds, then decide whether to add it to the rest of the mixture or leave it out 🙂
Just made them – and you’re right, they’re absolutely awesome! The mint works perfectly here 🙂 I didn’t have cashews on hand, so I substituted with sunflower seeds, and they worked too.
That’s awesome news, Marta! So glad the sunflower seeds work too 🙂
oh man im so happy you made a vegetarian burger!!! I eat mostly vegetarian so this sounds incredible for me right now!!! I’ve been craving for a delicious burger!!
You know what, sometimes life just calls for a damn good veggie burger right!?
What a pretty burger! I love beetroot burgers and yours looks fantastic!
Thanks so much, Jenni! 🙂
I’ve never thought about making veggie burgers with beets before! I love the vibrant color!
The beets truly make this veggie burger!!
I love this idea of using beetroot to make the burgers, you are so right some veggie burgers are a tad dry–not this one it looks wonderful! I would definitely love one of these for lunch–did I mention I am starving? LOL!!!
Haha love it!! I’m always starving!!
I would love to try beetroot burgers. The colour of them is amazing.
Isn’t the colour just gorgeous!?