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
delicious savory taste, however I followed the instructions on how to grill the patty and it still wasn’t cooked all the way through:( So i recommend grilling it for a little longer than the recipe says to ensure even cooking!
These were amazing!!! I substituted almond flour for the bread crumbs for GF and they turned out great! Thanks so much!!
I’m non-veg but after trying this recipe, I think I can ignore meat now. Thank you Jeanine!
I’m so glad you loved them!
Tried these for the first time tonight. All I can say is WOW
I will definitely be making these again. One thing my husband wants to know is how many calories to they have???
I’m so glad they were a hit! Apologies, I don’t calculate nutritional info.
VERY GOOD!!!
We tried these last night and they were wonderful. I followed the recipe as closely as possible, substituted maple syrup for the mirin and liquid aminos for the tamari, and crushed rice chex for the panko. Also omitted the sriracha and forgot to add Worcestershire, but they still tasted great. They did not stick to the grill and the outside was nice and crunchy. I put the leftover uncooked patties in the freezer and hope that they will be just as good after being frozen. Thanks for the great recipe.
Hi Hope, I’m glad these were such a hit!
Best veggie burger ever!! I didn’t follow the recipe 100%- I was cooking for two so we used a toasted bun and crushed it for the bread crumbs, didn’t have mirin and used sherry, didn’t have sriracha so used a homemade spice mix instead….making them again tomorrow and can hardly wait!
These veggie burgers were incredible!! I was very nervous however because I had to substitute some ingredients. My not vegan loving mom even enjoyed them! Great texture and flavour!! Literally BEST EVER and grillable!
Substitutions:
• Cremini mushrooms vs shitake and portabello.
• a mix of puffed brown rice, oats and panko vs all panko
• cayenne pepper vs siracha
• soy sauce vs tamari
• white onion vs shallot
• no Worcestershire sauce
I’d love to try this soon thanks 🙂
Ok so this is going to sound really weird.
I made small patties with this recipe, cooked them in the air fryer so they were slightly crispy and served them with a mushroom gravy & mashed potatoes as sort of like a ‘salisbury steak’ type thing. And it was honestly one of the best things i’ve ever eaten. It was vegetarian comfort food heaven. I had meat eating guests for dinner that said it was fantastic and that they absolutely loved it.
So thank you for the recipe, and you really MUST try it prepared this way because it’s going on my top 5 favorite home cooked meals as of today 🙂
Made this recipe as meatballs and it was delicious ? thanks for the recipe!
Oh yum! I’m so glad you loved it!
Made these for the 4th July for my vegetarian friend. She said these were the best vegetarian burgers she had ever eaten! My husband even ate the vegetarian burger over a beef burger.
In future I would make this vegetarian burger over beef burgers. Absolutely delicious!
Yay!! I’m so glad they were a hit!
Very flavorful and delicious! I sautéed mine in a pan and the result was perfection. This is a great recipe. I’ve tried to make other veggie or bean burgers and I must say, this is now my favorite. Thank you for this recipe!
Hi Mary, I’m so glad you loved them so much!
Super yummy veggie burger! Flavor, color, texture – all worked well. Also, I thought I’d need more protein in the form of a bean or lentil, but my hunger was satisfied after eating, so that was good.
I sub’d farro for the brown rice (like another commenter suggested; my local supermarket in the time of covid barely had any kind of rice).
One small issue I had was its squishiness, a common issue with homemade veggie burgers. I took the first bite and the sides of the burger moved out of the bun! I don’t know how to remedy that, and it wasn’t such a big deal. It just made it a little difficult to work with.
All in all, I think it lives up to its name 🙂 Yay!
I’m so glad you loved them and I’m glad it worked with farro. Mine are pretty firm and don’t squish out like normal veggie burgers – I’d try with brown rice next time you find some, the change of grain could be the difference.
Update: Last night after a couple of days in a container in the fridge, I reheated the remaining burgers in a cast iron skillet. They turned out great! Minimal squish!
I don’t think it was the farro that did it (lest there be farro slander, lol), rather my handling of it (I rinsed it before I but it in the food processor, thus introducing unneeded liquid to the mix. Not a good look.)
Problem solved. Thanks again for this.
Hi Esther, I’m glad they firmed up!
These look amazing !! Question .. do you think I could sub out quionoia instead of short brown rice as I don’t have any at the moment . Ty!
Hi Lisa, not in this burger because it’s the sticky brown rice that holds it together. But take a look at this other burger recipe that uses quinoa, maybe you have all of these ingredients instead? https://www.loveandlemons.com/black-bean-burger/
These are delicious. The texture and flavor are perfect. I am not vegan, so I did put Point Reyes Blue and grilled red onions on them. Also, I thought I measured out the mushrooms as indicated but I ended up with 10 regular-sized burgers, not 8. I’m glad some reviewers had luck freezing them because I’ll be doing that. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you loved them!
These are great! Do you know the calorie and fiber content? Thanks! ?
I’m so glad you loved them! I’m sorry, I don’t count calories personally so I don’t calculate nutrition facts.
I served beef burgers as well as these burgers and everyone loved these ones. Have you ever tried drying out the black beans in the oven to reduce the moisture in In the burger? I see some recipes do this. They were delicious!
Hi Catherine, I’m so glad you enjoyed them. I don’t have black beans in this recipe, maybe you’re referring to another recipe?
However, I did just post this new black bean burger, this is nicely firm in the middle (I did test drying the beans but found it didn’t make much of a difference): https://www.loveandlemons.com/black-bean-burger-recipe/
Delicious, I had trouble shaping the burgers. I wet my hands and they came together.
I made these yesterday and your homemade burger buns and they were fantastic! I really enjoyed the flavor of the burgers- vegan Worcestershire and smoked paprika made it reminiscent of barbecue. The buns were delightfully soft and fluffy. I also made them using aquafaba instead of egg and it worked out perfectly! Thanks!
Hi Megan, I’m so glad you loved these and the hamburger buns!