Lukas Volger approaches veggie burgers with the premise that they should be a creative expression of vegetables, legumes, and grains — not a meat simulacrum. Highlighting the textures and flavors of his chosen ingredients, he leaves plenty of whole beans in his black bean patty. Carrots and beets make for vibrant burgers that have the color of raw meat and help the burgers hold their shape.
Beet and Hazelnut Burgers
Makes six 4-inch (10 cm) burgers
Vegan
Gluten-Free
This was the first veggie burger flavor I launched with my company Made by Lukas. I’m very proud of this recipe, which is vegan, gluten-free, full of flavor, and boasts a terrific texture, too. I love the floral flavor of the hazelnuts here, and it’s important to freshly toast them to get the most bang for your buck; in fact, I recommend toasting them well, to a dark, chestnut shade of brown, which will also contribute some pleasantly crunchy texture. And while these burgers taste nothing like meat—they taste like beets! which is the whole idea—the mixture might seem alarmingly red to the unsuspecting guest in your kitchen.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (45 g) quinoa, rinsed if not prerinsed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 small- to medium-size beets
- 1 large or 2 medium carrots
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup (15 g) potato flakes
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch, potato starch, or arrowroot powder
- ½ cup (55 g) toasted hazelnuts, finely chopped or ground
Instructions
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Combine the quinoa with ½ cup (120 ml) water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add ¼ teaspoon of the salt, then reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook gently for 18 to 20 minutes, until the water is absorbed, the grains are tender, and the germ of the quinoa is exposed. Set aside, uncovered, to cool as you prepare the remaining ingredients.
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Scrub the beets and carrots. Trim off the ends and any stringy bits from the beets, but it’s not necessary to peel them. Grate both vegetables using the large holes on a box grater.
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Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, cumin, and the remaining salt, and cook until the onions are softened and beginning to caramelize, about 7 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic, stirring until fragrant, then add the beets and carrots. Cook, stirring periodically, until the vegetables are tender and have concentrated and collapsed a bit, 6 to 10 minutes. Some caramelization and blistering on the carrots and beets is good! Deglaze the
pan with the vinegar, using a wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits, then scrape the mixture into a mixing bowl and set aside to cool slightly. -
Stir the quinoa into the vegetable mixture, along with the potato flakes, cornstarch, and hazelnuts. Shape into 6 medium burgers.
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To cook (see pages 23–24 for detailed cooking instructions), place a wide skillet over medium heat, and once warm, add the remaining oil. Add as many burgers as will fit comfortably without crowding the pan (usually 3 burgers will fit into a 10-inch/25 cm skillet), and cook until browned and crisped on the bottom, 5 to 7 minutes, then flip and repeat on the other side. The burgers will firm up a bit as they cook, and further once they’re removed from the heat and have cooled slightly. Serve warm.
"Early on I let go of trying to create the texture of meat," says Lukas Volger. Photo by Emmanuel Rosario.
Starchy black, kidney, and white beans have binding properties that hold a burger together while garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chickpeas) need other ingredients, such as egg and spinach, to make them cohere. Rice adds body and provides texture.
Tofu, seitan, and tempeh have more protein than beans and vegetables. In one of his tofu burger recipes, Volger grates half of the tofu and combines it with mushrooms. For fries, he turns to rutabagas, which taste like turnips and have less starch than potatoes.
His book Veggie Burgers Every Which Way has recipes for every night of the week with vegan and gluten-free options as well.
"Veggie Burgers Every Which Way" features recipes using vegetables, legumes, and grains. Photo courtesy of The Experiment.