If you make one veggie burger recipe, it has to be this one. These burgers have a wonderful savory flavor and hearty texture. They're grillable, too!
Say hello to the BEST veggie burger recipe! Of course, that’s just my opinion, but once you try it, I think you’ll agree. For one, these patties are grill-able! And if you’d rather be spending time in the sun than in the kitchen, you can even make them a day or two in advance.
But that’s not all. This veggie burger has an amazing meaty texture and savory, smoky flavor. It’ll keep its shape when it’s stuffed inside a bun, and it’s delicious with fancy fixings or with good old ketchup and mustard. Unlike many packaged veggie burgers, its incredible texture and flavor come from simple, plant-based ingredients, so it doesn’t just taste good – it’s good for you, too!
So many readers have made and loved this veggie burger recipe over the last few years. If it’s not already obvious, we’re also pretty obsessed with it. Jack and I are making it this weekend to celebrate the unofficial start of summer, and I hope you will too. Hearty, flavorful, and really darn fun, it’s not a recipe you want to miss!
Veggie Burger Recipe Ingredients
Instead of making a bean-based burger, I make this recipe with shiitake and portobello mushrooms! They give these meatless burgers a wonderful hearty texture and umami-rich flavor. Then, I round them out with these key ingredients:
- Tamari, balsamic vinegar, and mirin bring out the savory flavor of the mushrooms.
- Smoked paprika and sriracha make these burgers smoky and spicy.
- Finely chopped garlic and shallots add depth of flavor.
- Crushed walnuts give them a meaty bite.
- Short grain brown rice, panko bread crumbs, and ground flaxseed help these burgers hold together. DON’T use long-grain brown rice here. It’s not as sticky as short grain rice, so it doesn’t yield cohesive patties.
Even if you’re not a mushroom person, I think you’ll love this recipe. Smoky, savory, and meaty, it makes a darn good veggie burger.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Best Veggie Burger Recipe Tips
- Use rice that’s hot off the stove. The rice has to be sticky in order to bind these patties together. As a result, your rice must be freshly cooked, as leftover rice dries out in the fridge.
- Brush them with vegan Worcestershire sauce after cooking. These veggie burgers aren’t intended to imitate a beef burger by any means, but they do have a wonderful meaty texture and flavor. To add even more flavor and to make them slightly juicy, brush them with vegan Worcestershire sauce (I like Annie’s brand) when they come off the grill.
- Get ahead. You have a few options for prepping this veggie burger recipe ahead of time. The patties can be made up to a day in advance and stored on baking sheets in the fridge until ready to grill. You can also grill them in advance and store them in the fridge for 3 to 4 days – they reheat surprisingly well! If you have leftovers, freeze them in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Veggie Burger Serving Suggestions
Buns out (suns out)! Load your veggie burger up however you like – I like mine with avocado or guacamole, sliced red onion or pickled red onions, mustard, Sir Kensington’s Avocado Mayo (not vegan) or Fabanaise (vegan), sprouts, and a squirt of sriracha or chipotle sauce on a homemade bun. When I’m in the mood for extra heat, I’ll even add a few pickled jalapeños. If you simply like ketchup, mustard, and dill pickles, that’s fine too!
Since you’ll already have the grill going, I recommend serving these with grilled vegetables, grilled zucchini, or corn on the cob. They’d also be fantastic with sweet potato fries or any of these salad recipes:
- Best Broccoli Salad
- Easy Pasta Salad
- Greek Salad
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
- Watermelon Salad with Feta
- Cucumber Salad
For more salad ideas, check out these 37 best salad recipes!
More Favorite Cookout Recipes
If you love this veggie burger recipe, try one of these fun cookout recipes next:
- BBQ Jackfruit Sandwiches
- Portobello Mushroom Burgers
- Black Bean Burger
- Crispy Cauliflower Po’ Boy Sandwiches
- Easy Fajitas
- Vegetarian Tacos
Then, find 85 more delicious vegan recipes here!
Best Veggie Burger
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 2 shallots, chopped (⅔ cup)
- 16 ounces mushrooms, mix of shiitake + portobello, stemmed and diced
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon mirin, or ½ teaspoon maple syrup
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons sriracha, more if desired
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ¼ cup ground flaxseed
- 2 cups cooked short-grain brown rice, freshly cooked so that it’s sticky*
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs, divided
- Vegan Worcestershire sauce, for brushing
- Nonstick cooking spray, for grilling
- Hamburger buns and desired burger fixings
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté until soft, 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and a generous pinch of salt, and sauté until soft and browned, 6 to 9 minutes, turning down the heat slightly, as needed.
- Stir in the tamari, vinegar, and mirin. Stir, reduce the heat, then add the garlic, smoked paprika, and sriracha. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool slightly.
- In a food processor, combine the sautéed mushrooms, walnuts, flaxseed, brown rice, and ½ cup of the panko. Pulse until just combined. The mixture should hold together when pinched, but it should still have some texture.
- Transfer to a large bowl and fold in the remaining panko.
- Form into 8 patties, place them on a large plate and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- If you're grilling the patties, preheat a grill to medium-high heat. Brush the patties with olive oil and spray the grill with cooking spray. Place the patties on the grill and use a spatula to press down lightly. Grill for 7 minutes on the first side, flip, and grill for 6 to 7 minutes on the second side, or until well-charred and cooked through.
- Alternately, cook the patties on the stove. Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Coat the bottom of the skillet with oil and cook the patties for 5 to 6 minutes per side, or until well-charred and cooked through.
- Remove from the heat, brush with Worcestershire sauce, and serve with desired fixings.
Notes
These are hands down the best veggie burgers I’ve ever made. My partner, who hates onions (& shallots) and mushrooms even said they were delicious. That’s a HUGE win in our household! These will be my go-to recipe from now on.
Ha, I’m glad they were a hit!
Hello Jeanine,
It was our first attempt.. I thought I would be enjoying our first vegan burgers alone.. But no! It was such a success, everybody enjoyed them. I was so happy, thank you once again!
Annabelle
Hi Annabelle, I’m so glad everyone loved them!
Hi Jeanine,
May I substitute the flaxseed for eggs? If so, how many eggs would work?
Thank you! Can’t wait to try 🙂
Jac
Hi Jacqueline, I haven’t tried, so I can’t say. Since I don’t add water to my flax, I wonder if an egg might make the mixture too wet.
I love keeping flax on hand, it lasts forever in the fridge and I use it in a lot of baked goods too.
Hi Jeanine,
Thanks so much for your quick reply, and good to know! I’ll have to pick myself up some flax.
Cheers!
I’m allergic to walnuts. Is there another nut that you would recommend?
Thanks
Hi Janet, pecans would be great if you’re not allergic to other nuts.
Thank you, pecans are yummy!
Absolutely LOVED this recipe! By far my favorite veggie burger recipe and these were so easy to cook on the stove. I haven’t tried it yet on the grill, but looking forward to it soon.
Can I leave out the flax? Would you just increase one of the other ingredients to compensate and if so, which one?
Hi Deb, the flax helps bind since there’s no egg in the recipe. I keep a bag in my fridge anytime I’m subbing out eggs and it lasts a really long time.
Hello, did you end up finding out if it would work without the nuts?
Hi Hala, I haven’t tried without nuts.
I’m very interested to know if sunflower seeds or pepitas could be a substitute for those of us allergic to nuts? Or if peanuts could be used for those like me only allergic to tree nuts (peanuts are legumes)
I haven’t tried either, so I’m not sure.
These are amazing!! We didn’t have buns so we just ate them as plain patties. I formed them thin and oiled my hands as it was sticky but it was no problem and the bit of oil browned them perfectly on the griddle. I also doubled the recipe because my mushrooms needed to be used up and I’m so glad I did. My 3yo who picks mushrooms out of everything gobbled up two in no time. The flavor was perfect. Thank you so much for this recipe. I’m not a great cook so the people who have the ability to make recipes from scratch and then share all their hard work are my hero’s. My children thank you as well! ??
Fantastic! Can’t wait to have the left overs! I made 7 patties with it. Put the party in a homemade bun and topped my burger with arugula tomato avocado, vegan mayo and ketchup. Served with a mix of air fryer potatoes! Wish I could post the photos!
Do you happen to have the nutrition facts?
Just a suggestion… MyFitnessPal is free and allows you to import recipes to get nutritional info.
I really loved these! I baked mine at 375 degrees. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I think that the Worcestershire sauce gave it such great flavor. This would be a good veggie burger to serve to all types of eaters.
Hi Rachel, I’m so glad you loved them!
Hi I want to batch make these and freeze them. But I’m not sure how long they’re okay in the freezer?
Hi Samantha – I’d say a month or two depending on your freezer. They won’t go bad, they’ll just eventually get freezer burn like anything else.
Love your idea of a cook club
I was wondering what food processor you use on this, i have no clue about them, just would like to know which one you prefer, hope you dont mind me asking, I really want to make these thank you for making it and sharing.. =)
I made this recipe a few days ago, and it was great!
I did use some substitutions:
1. Maple syrup instead of mirin, as suggested
2. No garlic, but more shallots (I’m intolerant to it)
3. Farro instead of brown rice, because that’s what I had on hand
4. Turns out we didn’t have paprika, so I omitted that (not recommended)
I prepared it in an oven, 425*F for 9 minutes each side as Jeanine suggested below in the comments.
I need to add more spice for flavor, mine were quite bland & the condiments couldn’t do all the work to carry it. The texture was wonderful, I look forward to playing around with the recipe in the future, + grilling it. I have patties in the freezer ready to go. 🙂
Hope this helps anyone in the future.
Update: I grilled them. They were amazing, I wanted to eat 4 patties lol.
Perhaps I didn’t broil properly to begin with, but I will just stick to grilling 🙂
Hi Connor, I’m glad you enjoyed them grilled!
Ok there are a lot of people on Pinterest that say they have the best veggie burger and I tried many receipes that claim they do that had failed to hold up and also fail my taste buds.
OMG I finally found a Pinterest receipe from a great creator that truly created this awesone veggie burger that holds up and taste absolutely AMAZING!! My husband loved it too!! Thank You for this best veggie burger recipes.
Hi Janet, yay!! I’m so so glad you all enjoyed these veggie burgers so much! xoxo
I would like to know the nutritional information for these veggie burgers. Thank you.
I’ve probably tried 10 different veggie burger recipes and this is by far the best one I’ve ever tried at home!
Yay!! Love hearing that!
Can’t say enough about these burgers. Have made them numerous times for both my own family and several clients. The best feedback from a client was, “These are better than (beef) burgers. And I love burgers!” One question! I have cooked the rice either stovetop or in my InstaPot, but you do mention a rice cooker. I’d like to look into that option for greater ease since I make these so often. Is there one that you recommend? I’d like just a small one, but the reviews are all over the place! I didn’t see any listed in your shop. Thanks you so much! Love and highly recommend your blog and both of your books!
Hi Linda, the Zojirushi brand is really good – I have a really large one that was sent to me years ago but I bet they make a small one. It’s the brand that everyone has in Japan. Although, if the Instant Pot works for you, you might not need a rice cooker if it does the same job.
I’m so glad everyone has loved the veggie burgers!
I never leave comments on websites, however just had to say that I LOVE THESE BURGERS. My meat eating flatmates literally beg me to make these every time we have a BBQ, they are my go to and honestly if you haven’t made them you need to try them! So easy to make and taste better than any vegan burger you would have at a restaurant.
Hi Emma, yay! I’m so glad everyone loves them so much!! Thanks for coming back to let me know 🙂