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
no food processor – is there an alternative way to “combine” ingredients?
Hi Frances, I’m sorry, this recipe requires a food processor.
Amazing—crispy and chewy. Really had a bite to it. I lacked some of the ingredients—subbed soy sauce for Tumari, subbed rice wine vinegar for Mirin. Must use short grain brown rice,so moist and develops a patty beautifully. I chilled mine prior to cooking so they were firm going into the air fryer. 7 mins each side for crispy-almost crunchy outside seer. Absolutely love this burger.
Can’t wait to try! Is this 2 cups pre-cooked or post?
Oops! *Is the rice 2 cups pre or post cooking?
2 cups post-cooked rice
These turned out so well. The tanginess of the balsamic and slightly sweet mirin gave depth to the soy sauce. The flavor overall was nice and savory. I didn’t have a food processor so I chopped it up together and then used a grater to make it finer. Next time I will grate the mushrooms before cooking. It formed patties no problem. I got the grill marks with a George Forman. A+++
Very delicious!!! I used basmati rice and it turned out wonderful.
Truly, these are the best homemade veggie burgers! NOT mushy at all, SO flavorful and worked like a charm on the grill! I brushed them with avocado oil, and there was no sticking at all. I used about 5 oz. of rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, and the rest cremini. I decided to add another 1/2 cup of chopped toasted walnuts when stirring in the last of the panko for a little more crunch. Just awesome! Thanks for the great recipe:)
Hi Mandy, I’m so glad you loved them!
How spicy are these burgers? I have a family member who doesn’t tolerate spice. Is there a substitution for sriracha?
Hi Lynn, they’re not spicy at all. I think the sriracha adds flavor but doesn’t make them spicy. You could skip it if you wanted to.
Calories per burger?
I’m sorry, I don’t calculate nutrition info.
What a tasty burger Thanksfor the Recipe
Hi–these are FABULOUS! Best veggie burger EVER. I made these twice in the last month. I failed big time when trying to grill them…they just were mush and fell through the grill. However, I collected the remains, and cooked them on a cast iron skillet. To. Die. For! The second time, I just went straight for the cast iron. They were still kind of mush, so I baked them a bit. What did I do wrong? I will keep trying, because they really are the best.
Hi Jill, I’m so glad you loved the flavor – it sounds like something went wrong here if they were that fragile. I’m thinking one of these two things:
1. the rice – did you use freshly cooked short grain brown rice? It should be sticky but not watery or overly mushy. I use a rice cooker or this method: https://www.loveandlemons.com/how-to-cook-brown-rice/
2. too long in the food processor – the mixture should be combined and cohesive. If you blend past that point things can puree and get more mushy.
Or did you alter any of the ingredients in the recipe?
Did you change anything
Thanks for the reply. I did everything according to the directions, EXCEPT the second time around I added more breadcrumbs. The rice (I used the organic short grain stuff from Costco) wasn’t mushy at all, and just a few seconds in the food processor. I will keep trying and make sure I keep your comments in mind. My son even asked me to teach him how to make them. This is the recipe I’ve been looking for for close to 20 years. Thanks so much!
Hmmm, ok, more questions… was the mixture cohesive while forming the patties before you started cooking them? The only additional thing I can think of is maybe you tried to move them (on the grill or in the skillet) too soon and that’s when they fell apart. I’d try cooking them on the first side longer.
This is great! The patties were a little sticky, but really nicely formed. I think you hit the nail on the head…I cooked some last night on my skillet. The first one fell apart when I tried to flip it, so I left the other two to cook longer, and they didn’t! I wish I could show you a picture–they turned out beautifully. Thanks for all the tips and amazing recipes. Hopefully I can soon add your cookbook to my collection! Thanks again!
oh great, I’m glad that did the trick!
Could you use cooked quinoa in this recipe, i cannot eat rice but would like to try this recipe.
Hi Shelley, the brown rice is necessary to make these stick together, but here’s a link to my quinoa burger recipe!: https://www.loveandlemons.com/quinoa-burger/
I really loved these! I cooked my in the air fryer and they had a really great crunchy texture. I will definitely make these again!!
I’m so glad you loved them! I’ll have to try them in the air fryer next time!
This is the best burger recipe ever ! My meat eating father said it was even better than meat.
Yay!! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
I made these Burgers today they were excellent I didn’t have the mirin or the sriracha or tamari. Thank you for this recipe.
Yummy!! Looking Burgers. Thanks “Jeanine”, for the recipes. I will definitely try them..
So so good!!! My fussy son even said they were good, big win! So happy these were a success! And I will be freezing the extras for another time 🙂
I’m so glad you both loved them!
Hello. I only have cremini mushrooms on deck. Can these be used instead?
yep, they can!
This is the first time I visit here. I found so many interesting stuff in your blog especially its discussion.
Actually, I’m non-veg yet subsequent to attempting this formula, I want to disregard meat now. Much obliged to you Jeanine.
Yes! This is perfection. I have attempted quite a few vegan burgers with outcomes of mush, falling apart, inconsistencies, hard to gather ingredients, or so many ingredients it’s impossible to cook up quickly on a craving night! Now! This is my go to! It held together well had a great consistency and the taste was wonderful! Thank you!!
Perfect recipe, gonna make this one.
These veggie burgers are so delicious