Yummy black bean burgers

Here's a great recipe to use with your homemade sourdough hamburger buns!

I tried this recipe on a whim last year, and it has turned out to be a favorite at our house. I know, "black bean burger" doesn't sound delicious, but we love them at our house! Also, it's super easy to make a big batch and freeze the leftover patties for a quick dinner later!

Here's what you need:

• Hamburger buns (try my homemade sourdough ones)
• 2 15 oz. cans of black beans
• 1 1/2 cups frozen "seasoning blend" (mixture of celery, onion, and pepper) you could also use one chopped onion and one chopped pepper instead
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 eggs
• 2 Tablespoons chili powder
• 1 Tablespoon thai chili sauce (if you don't have some of this lying around, you want to get some, trust me - good stuff!)
• 1 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs (or regular bread crumbs, whatever you have on hand)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons chipotle sauce
• 1 ripe avocado

Here's what you do:

• Preheat your oven to 425 degrees
• In a large bowl, mash black beans with a fork until almost smooth, but still chunky (we like to use our immersion blender for this)
• Add garlic and seasoning blend
• In a small bowl, stir together the egg, chili powder, and thai chili sauce
• Stir the egg mixture into the black beans
• Stir the bread crumbs into the bean mixture
• Form into eight patties
• Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes on each side

What really makes these burgers is the chipotle mayo and sliced avocado on top. You can prepare it while the burgers are baking.

The chipotle mayo is easy, just mix about 2 tablespoons (more or less, depending on how spicy you like it) of chipotle sauce with 1 cup mayonnaise.

This recipe makes 8 burgers, and like I said, they freeze really well for a quick lunch or dinner down the road. 

Very healthy and economical!

Enjoy!

Have you ever tried a black bean burger? If not, you're missing out!

We like to do a vegetarian dinner every Tuesday night. It can be healthier, it's cheaper, and our animal friends thank us for the break!

Next week, I'll share an easy tip for making recipes like this one even easier on the pocketbook.