By Mark Bittman
- Total Time
- 35 to 45 minutes with cooked beans
- Rating
- 5(3,263)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Also known as McBitty's Bean Burgers, these veggie burgers from Mark Bittman are loaded with black beans, porcini mushrooms, garlic, smoked paprika (or chili powder) and soy sauce, for a satisfying patty you can serve with all the usual burger fixings.
Featured in: Eat: Recipes for the Semi-Vegan
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Ingredients
Yield:8 small burgers, 4 supersize
- ¼cup dried, stemless porcini mushrooms
- 2cups cooked or drained canned black beans
- 1teaspoon roughly chopped garlic
- ¾cup rolled oats, or more if needed
- 2teaspoons smoked paprika or chili powder
- 1teaspoon cumin
- 1tablespoon soy sauce
- Salt and black pepper
- Bean-cooking liquid, porcini soaking liquid or water
- ¼cup chopped cilantro
- 2tablespoons olive oil
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
118 calories; 4 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 194 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Step
1
Soak the mushrooms in hot water for 5 to 10 minutes; roughly chop.
Step
2
Put the mushrooms, beans, garlic, oats, spices and soy sauce in a food processor with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Let the machine run until the mixture is combined, not puréed, about 30 seconds. (Or use a potato masher.) Add oats to thicken, or liquid to thin, as needed.
Step
3
Stir in the cilantro, and let sit for 5 minutes.
Step
4
Shape into 4 large or 8 small patties; let them sit for 5 minutes.
Step
5
Put the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Cook until crisp on one side, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook until the burgers are crisp on the other side, another 5 minutes or so. Serve with the usual fixings.
Ratings
5
out of 5
3,263
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Cooking Notes
Luisa
Be very careful with this " replace one or two meals a week with meatless alternatives" idea. I did that when I was 27. Within a few years people were demanding that I teach cooking classes. I haven't consumed or served meat in 45 years.
mheissner
Do not need to run food processor for 30 seconds. A few pulses is all that is needed to combine.
Use parsley and chive to replace cilantro.
Save remaining mushroom liquid to make lentils.
Esperanza
We've been enjoying these black bean burgers for years. Pulse/grind rolled oats before adding to bean mixture. They'll soak up more liquid, won't be as noticeable, and the beans can remain coarser, more "toothsome" when you process them.
Janet
These were delicious and held together well even though I used fresh, chopped crimini mushrooms instead of dried porcini (didn't read the ingredients list very carefully, my bad).
Hillary
I used the quantities but modified the ingredients - I used white beans, rosemary and sage for the fresh spices, no cumin and balsamic reduction in place of the soy sauce for a more French style taste.
Katie
I made these about 6 weeks ago and froze the few leftover ones. I was pleasantly surprised that the ones I took out of the freezer today tasted just as good as they did when they were fresh. Topped with a little bit of cheese and avocado--perfect Saturday lunch!
Rebecca
I made these last night and I honestly don't think you need the dried mushrooms if you don't have them on hand--I didn't really notice them in the finished product. I used a potato masher and the texture was wonderful. My paprika was old so I used a spicy chili powder I had on hand and 3 cloves of garlic, which worked well. Definitely needed a good pinch of salt and pepper to season.
Xavier
I thought the mixture was bland, but I'm Mexican. So I added a teaspoon of ancho chili and another of onion powder. I also used Spanish pimentón as my smoked paprika. And after the two new additions, they were wonderful! I'll be making these again.
Ayesha
I've recently moved to Paris where black beans are nearly impossible to find outside of a few out of the way shops. So I substituted chickpeas. Delicious!
Brian802
Combining the ingredients in the food processor produced more of a batter than a burger, so I mashed the beans in a bowl, pulsed 1/2 of the oats in a small food processor and combined the ingredients by hand.
Flavor was lacking, so I combined the spices and oil in a small bowl then "bloomed" them in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
Result: a more burger-like texture with far more flavor. Chili powder, curry powder, berbere and Jamaican meat patty spices all worked well.
c
Instead of beans I used cooked lentils. Garlic through garlic press, no soy sauce (afraid patties would be too salty), paprika. Pulsed until combined.
Let patties cool, chopped them and mixed them in a simple salad of Boston lettuce, tomato, and red onion. Homemade dressing - grapeseed oil, lemon juice, salt.
fantastic!!!
MDBrown
I am a youngish adult who does not have a very well-stocked kitchen (no food processor), so I improvised. I ground the oats a little by pouring them in a plastic sandwich bag and crushing them with one of the cans of beans. I accidentally didn't drain the beans as well as I should have before adding them to the mixture, so I added a little more oatmeal (without bothering to grind it). I rough chopped the veggies and mashed the beans with a fork. The burgers were *delicious.*
dimmerswitch
Used Esperanza's tip to pulse oats a bit first (good tip - worked swell) but otherwise per recipe. Used chili powder option in the smoked paprika or choice. Delicious outcome. Made 6 patties, about 4"-ish wide each, so easy to turn them in skillet and just right for bun size. Cooked in about 3 1/2 min. each side. If 5 min per recipe they would have been over crisp. Used olive oil in scanpan. Have a couple left that I'm going to freeze to see how that works for make ahead.
Carol
Just made these last night and they were a hit. I substituted baby bella mushrooms for the dried, parsley in place of cilantro and no salt or liquid. Froze them for a few hours and they cooked up really well. Since I used 1/2 pound of mushrooms, I added more rolled oats.
Jean
Used Jacob's Cattle beans, 1 t chili powder, 1t smoked paprika and curly parsley with the potato masher method. Worked well. They need to pressed together very well to be flipped without breaking; might have been more cohesive with the food processor. Liked' em. My first bean burger ever!
Maddie
Roasted the beans first to dry them out and prevent them from getting mushy which worked super well. Also kept some of the beans out of the mash for consistency. Didn’t need to cook for as long as indicated. They were delicious!
g
Tasty but did not hold together for me. Ended up falling apart and more like a crumble.
Barbara
Good! It’s a good recipe for Weight Watchers.
LO in Indy
Simple, delicious and keep their shape amazingly well for a veggie burger. I baked them at 400 and flipped them after about 10 minutes rather than frying. Will chop the mushrooms finer to distribute that flavor better when I make them again - which I will!
Nancy B.
I have made these numerous times and they always taste great. I don't usually have dried mushrooms so I just use fresh. I also like to add 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce in addition to the other ingredients.
Mike
The taste and texture of the bean burger Patti was good but like most vegetarian burgers I have either made or bought it smushes out the sides.
TraciA
Made this many times and we love these burgers!
GM2
Really good recipe for a vegetarian or vegan burger! You can adjust it for your taste, and the burger holds together wonderfully. Way better than any store bought patty.
Deborah
I sauteed onion and carrots in a pot before adding dried beans (soaked overnight) and cooking down for three hours. A lot of work, I know, but the depth of flavors was incredible. I love the result! Delicious, favorable "burger".
De Gustibus
An Immersion stick blender allows more control over the blending/chopping process. Some small portion of the mixture can be turned into a thick “paste” to bind the chunkier ingredients processed briefly on a low speed. Much easier way to avoid over processing everything.
Kevin
7oz fresh mushrooms Dried porcini powder ScallionCoriander
Purna
I made them last week using both smoked paprika and chili powcder (1 tsp an 2 tsp respectively). They were excellent. I highly recommend NOT leaving out the dired porcini mushrooms as they are what made this recipe perfect (at least to my taste buds). I froze a couple uncooked. They did not keep there firmness. So next time I might add flax egg or cook them before freezing. Suggestions welcome.
Guy
Found this in need of more binder. Added an egg, maybe two would be better. Agreed with the need to process the oats first. Liked sage and rosemary better than cumin and cilantro. Worcestershire sauce with basaltic instead of soy sauce.
Purna
Yes. I used flax eggs instead to keep it vegan. This was a helpful recommendation.
Kim
Can I use mushroom powder instead?
Micah
Having never made veggie burgers before, it would have been helpful to know that when shaping them, they really need to be so much thinner than a beef burger would shape up.. I do think that they were super bland and the texture wasn’t great because I made mine too thick
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