I’m sure my family and I aren’t the only ones that have been feeling the effects of grocery prices going up. Especially concerning meats like beef. Comparing what we were paying just three months ago to now was eye-opening. Meat alone was eating up 40% of our monthly grocery budget. It simply isn’t sustainable for a family of three with a toddler.
Being in charge of the grocery list and shopping meant that I saw those prices go up every two weeks and the pit of dread in my stomach increase in proportion. Choosing between our protein source and fresh fruits and veggies was the last straw.
I went to my husband with a proposal.
“Why don’t we substitute some of our meat with tofu and beans?”
He was reasonably skeptical. After all, asking him to cut out beef in favor of tofu and beans sounded insane. We would still buy chicken, sausage, the occasional bacon, but we couldn’t afford beef.
He agreed, though, and I set off to buy the ingredients and make something the whole family could enjoy.
Black Bean Burgers
Dairy-free and made from scratch, my family (including my 12 month old) absolutely adored them. I can’t call them vegan because you do need 1 egg as a binder. There are alternatives to what you can use to bind the burgers together, but I haven’t tried them yet.
I used dried black beans that I soaked overnight. If you use canned black beans, it should taste the same as long as you drain and rinse the beans before mashing them.
I have to say, I wasn’t expecting all of us to enjoy it. I had my own personal doubts about the taste, texture, and overall deliciousness of this. But, to my surprise, we all enjoyed it. Even my very picky toddler (who hates ground beef in any form) enjoyed these burgers and the Brussel sprouts I served alongside.
Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients
Burger
- 16 oz Black Beans soaked
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 Large Egg
- 1/2 cup Bread Crumbs
Instructions
- Prepare your dry black beans according to your packaging the night before.
- Weigh out, or approximate, 16 ounces of soaked and prepared black beans.
- In a large mixing bowl, mash up your black beans until you get a paste-like consistency.
- Add in your spices. Mix.
- Add in your egg. Mix
- Add in your bread crumbs. Mix.
- Mold your mixture into patties.
- Cook each patty on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes on each side until browned.
- Serve and enjoy
Notes
- I made 5 – 3oz patties and 1 – 2oz patty for my family. The amount this recipe should make is approximately 17oz of black bean burgers. Use a food scale, or eyeball your portions, to make the perfect sized patties for your family.
- You can substitute eggs with Aquafaba (the water from chickpeas). However, because I haven’t tried it that way, I can’t attest to texture or taste.
- If you want a more beef-like flavor in your black bean burgers, you can add about 2tsp – 3tsp worth of beef bullion during the spices step.
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