Black bean burger patties, a first try

My mate and I have recently decided to go on a vegetarian diet for at least one month, for a variety of reasons. I've been rather looking forward to it actually because it will mean trying out new dishes and recipes. One constraint that we have placed upon ourselves is that we will not buy processed foods intended to imitate meat products; hence we'll be purchasing nothing like "Tofurkey" or soy sausage or Boca Burgers. We are, however, not excluding the possibility of making similar foodstuffs on our own, with the proviso that it must be done with ingredients that can be bought economically at an ordinary supermarket. (That excludes a number of things I wouldn't mind trying, e.g. using vegetable gums or specialty flours.) Since we're fond of hamburgers as a quick and satisfying meal, I figured that homemade vegetarian burger patties was a good first cooking project.

I read a number of recipes online but in the end didn't follow any particular one; I cobbled together my own recipe based on a couple ideas from the recipes I'd read, suggestions from my mate, and one brilliant little idea of my own that maybe made no difference.

The ingredient list is roughly as follows--roughly, because I didn't measure everything out precisely, particularly spices.

2 cups cooked black beans
½ of a medium-sized yellow onion
1 garlic clove
½ cup bread crumbs (I used panko because it was on hand)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp hot sauce
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 small piece of dried porcini mushroom
1 large egg


I cooked the black beans from scratch, soaking one pound of dry beans in perhaps three times their volume of water for about six hours. Then I transferred the beans and all their soaking water to a large pot to cook, adding enough extra water to submerge the beans by one inch of liquid, brought the pot to a boil on medium-high heat then reduced it to a simmer for about two hours. About one hour in I added perhaps a tablespoon of salt. I have heard that adding salt before cooking leads to tough beans, but I have also heard that waiting to add salt until after cooking leads to bland, tasteless beans. So I compromised at the halfway mark. After two hours I drained the beans and let them cool somewhat before using them.

I suppose it might be possible to substitute tinned black beans but I happened to have a large quantity of dried beans on hand. Cooking them from scratch is time-consuming and tedious for sure but it is economical and you can cook a large quantity ahead of time, as I did, and stash the rest in the refrigerator.

To start with, a yellow onion is cut in half and one half chopped finely; a single garlic clove is minced as finely as possible. 1 tbsp of soybean oil is heated in a small frying pan over medium-low heat, then the onions and garlic added along with a generous sprinkling of salt to the pan to "sweat" for about 5 min or until the onions are translucent.

Meanwhile, 2 cups of the black beans, which should be soft to the point that a single bean is easily mashed between thumb and forefinger, are placed in a large mixing bowl along with ½ cup bread crumbs, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tbsp hot sauce, 1 tsp cumin, ½ tsp smoked paprika, and the piece of dried mushroom, which should first be crushed as finely as can be managed. (Grinding it to powder in a mortar or spice grinder would probably be better.) When the onions and garlic are done, they also are added and the whole mixture stirred together well. The egg is cracked directly into the mixture and stirred in; then the mixture is mashed thoroughly with a potato masher. I found that the black beans were small enough to tend to slip through the heavy wire grille of the masher, so it took a while to break down the beans.

The resulting mixture (seen to the right) is enough for about six patties the right size for an El Cheapo hamburger bun. Portions of the mixture are patted between the hands to form the patties; some gentleness is required for the mixture is softer and less cohesive than ground beef. It is also stickier and a bit messier to handle. To cook a patty, heat a couple teaspoons of oil over medium heat in a frying pan, then cook it about 5 min per side. The mixture browns nicely and the patty holds together acceptably well.

I served up one patty for taste testing on an English muffin (also homemade) with ketchup, mustard, Miracle Whip, a slice of medium Cheddar, dill pickle chips, and a leaf of mustard greens. (Perhaps not the best substitute for lettuce; it's rather strong-tasting and tough.) The rest of the patties I parked in the freezer in a Ziploc bag and sandwiched between pieces of wax paper.

Verdict? I can't complain about the taste. Whether the dried mushroom added a meatiness to the flavor, which was my intention with that ingredient, I can't honestly say though. The texture, however, is somewhat mushy even after cooking, and gripping the sandwich too tightly squishes the patty.

All the same, I'm calling the recipe a keeper, but I am mulling possible improvements and modifications. I'm thinking, for example, that adding a bit of wheat gluten flour before mixing and mashing might give the patty some more structure and make it less squishable. I'd also like to come up with a vegan, eggless version, but this will require more food chemistry research to determine if there are any vegetable substances that possess egg protein's ability to set irreversibly to a gel on heating, which is what makes egg such a good "binder".