It would appear that recently this blog has unintentionally taken a rather vegetarian slant. The reason for this is that I’ve had to start cooking with whatever is to hand, rather than planning meals properly, due to the fact I now live ‘at home’ and work fairly unpredictable hours. However, fear not my carnivorous friends, meat is on the way – I have a number of top notch recipes for you flesh lovers tucked away just under the hem of my sleeve. In actual fact, there would have been such a recipe yesterday if someone, and I’m not naming names, had remembered to defrost the damn chicken.
The black bean, or the black turtle bean, is a pulse that is rather widespread in Latin American cuisine. It is a very dense and meaty pulse making it one of the more effective, and therefore popular, meat substitutes. A number of people remarked, following my recipe for Mushroom and Chickpea Burgers, that they had never really had veggie burgers made out of anything but black beans. However, I think making vegetarian burgers out of more than one type of pulse is always a great idea, since it gives them an improved texture and a slightly more complex taste. In this case the kidney beans, aside from being ridiculously cheap, give a little bite to the burgers when compared with the rather more tender black beans.
On the flavour side of things I opted to honour the heritage of the black bean and go with a slightly Latin feel. This worked rather well, giving the burgers a delicious heat and warmth, making them perfect for these long autumn/winter months. Something should also be said for the health benefits of the humble black bean, as they are packed full of antioxidants which, to cut a rather long and strenuous A-level chemistry story short, helps you stay looking and feeling younger for longer.
Black Bean and Kidney Bean Burgers
Makes 4
Ingredients:
• 400g tin of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 400g tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper, if you like heat a little more may be added
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• A couple of handfuls of fine bread crumbs made using a food processor, roughly 80-100g
• Seasoning
• Oil
Method:
1. Mash the beans in a large bowl with a fork until most of the beans have been broken down. It is nice to leave a few whole or semi-whole beans for the sake of texture. Mix in the cayenne pepper, cumin, oregano, breadcrumbs and plenty of salt and pepper.
2. Form this mixture into burgers, if the consistency of the mixture isn’t quite right more breadcrumbs will dry it out and adding a little mayonnaise will have the opposite effect. Once one has made four burgers fry them off two by two in a frying pan with a little olive oil until browned and cooked through.
3. To make the wedges simply cut a potato into fairly thin wedges, cover these with olive oil, salt and cayenne pepper and cook at around 210C for 25 minutes.
Cost: The burgers themselves should cost no more than about 80p for all four – the kidney beans were an incredible 16p! These truly are a brilliant and inexpensive substitute for the ever so popular beef burger.
80 replies on “Black Bean and Kidney Bean Burgers”
DEFINITELY making these 😀 can’t wait!!!!!!!!!!!
Let me know how they go.
They do look pretty good, i have struggled and failed with endless variations of falling apart veggie burgers. I am sure i will have better luck with these.. c
Follow my recipes and you’ll be fine Cecilia, also handle them with care!
Sounds good, looks good. I think I’ll try them. Beans, beans good for your heart.
Indeed! My heart feels fantastic.
You’ve done it again! Another winner! (and as always, your writing a joy to read.)
Thanks so much! I love it when people compliment my writing.
I have yet to make a successful veggie burger- thanks for the recipe!
Give these a go and you shall be successful.
Sending this along to my daughter, who has a difficult-to-feed vegetarian husband…
Oh, and we’ve ALL been there with that “forgot to defrost” thing…
Oh she’s married one of THOSE has she? hmmmm
My Hubby will LOVE this…yes, will be on the menu for next week..Thanks 😉
I hope he does!
Fear not! I love a good veggie burger!!
I’m not in fear, don’t worry 😀
Like you, I fix what I have on hand most of the time! These veggie burgers look great! Thanks for a wonderful post!
Thanks so much!
This looks wonderful:) I love beans and I love veggie burgers:) I shall give it a try:) 🙂
You should, they work very well indeed.
Ironically, I just made black bean burgers using your chickpea burger recipe from earlier this month and it turned out great, as usual.
Your blog is so fun to read, you really have an amazing style. Cheers!
Hah, that’s funny! Thanks so much, I love being complimented on my writing more than anything.
I love those fries!
I just love making them, they always turn out delicious.
thanks for the recipe idea – I have some great black and kidney type beans that I’ve just been shelling. Another recipe to make 🙂
No problem! You shell your own? You are committed.
I love beans so I think I’ll add this one to my try soon list!
You totally should, bean burgers are my new favourite thing.
Like you, I enjoy combining beans/legumes when I make veggie burgers. My favorite combo is black beans and chickpeas. This recipe looks divine!
That sounds great, I did mushroom and chickpea burgers not too long ago.
Hi FF! With a recipe like this you can put the chicken back in the freezer…very nice.
You can indeed! That’s exactly what I did. Though don’t freeze it again once defrosted, apparently that’s unhygienic…
That looks really good. I love veggie burgers and can’t wait to try this recipe.
Thanks Kathy, please let me know how they turned out.
I’m by myself tonight so I’m going to make these this evening for dinner. I’ll let you know how they turn out (probably as good as the pad thai!).
I look forward to hearing about them!
Devilishly good! I love potatoe wedges and veggie burgers so much 🙂
There really is nothing that goes better with a burger, than a well cooked potato wedge.
I’ve been thinking about french fries all day. And then I see this. So, now I’ve gotta have fries. And I’ve got to make ’em myself… because something from the freezer just won’t do!
You must be an addict – I never think about one type of food all day! You really should make them yourself, especially when they take roughly the same length of time, if not less.
I love the vegetarian recipes, I’m not vegetarian but it’s nice to see meatless options. These burger looks great, I cant wait to try them! We love to make sweet potato fries this way too 🙂
I love sweet potato wedges like this too! You may soon see some appearing – perhaps with a lamb burger.
YUM! YUM! Very appetizing photos too, nicely done. I like that these burgers do not contain eggs, I will try this very soon.
Thanks so much, they simply don’t need eggs.
I truly like the presentation of your dish. Presentation is an important part of the eating experience. It turns a simple dish into a feast!
It really is, I’ve started trying so much harder with presentation.
Cannot wait to try these. My only dilemma now is, do I use the black beans I have for black bean soup or just go crazy and make the burgers? Thanks for this delicious recipe!
Make the burgers, for sure.
Hey! Found your blog because you commented on mine. Love in particular your photography and deft way of handling ingredients. w ay to go!
I’m I commented on yours 🙂 Thanks for such kind compliments.
I’ve been looking for a veggie burger that holds together. Gotta try this!
I have a few more kicking around my blog too.
So many of my favorite things in one package!
People often say that about me.
Looks great! I’ve added it to my list of things to try this month!
Let me know how it goes.
What a gorgeous recipe 8and you wouldn´t miss the meat at all with these lovely flavours). They look like they hold together so well.
You really don’t miss the meat at all.
Black beans and cumin is one of my favorite flavor combinations. These look so good and so, so easy!
Mine too. They were very very easy.
I’ve never experimented with making veggie burgers. I’ve always thought they seemed like it must be complicated, but I might just need to give it a try. Thanks. Your photos are fantastic, too!
Do give it a try! I’m glad you like my photos 😀
I’ll be trying this out. I like the idea of using two beans…I do in so many other recipes, but for some reason it didn’t occur to be to do that with a patty.
Please do, I think having two main flavours always enhances a veggie burger!
Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Hey! Nice to “meet” you! Thanks for the comment on our “ice cream” post. I’m excited to try out some of the recipes you have on here. This one in particular looks awesome! 🙂
No problem at all – thanks for commenting back. I’m glad you like my recipes.
This is amazing! As a vegetarian, the patty recipes often seem so time consuming that halfway through the ingredients list I give up. I’m also very impressed that a meat eater would make this. So excited to try this!
Oh don’t give up :P. I love the stuff, please try them.
Wow! Those look great. I will have to make them soon.
I think you shall.
These burgers look so yummy! I love using black beans in veggie burgers,so I can’t wait to thry this recipe. Thank you for sharing!
No problem! Let me know how they go!
I just made these. They’re AMAZING! I usually buy veggie burgers that taste just like this. 4 patties for $4. I made 8 for $2 using this. Thanks much!
I’m really glad you enjoyed them. I always love it when people use my recipes. That’s what I’m all about, frugality 😀
Hi! I made these not too long ago. I loved the way they tasted, but they really didn’t keep their shape and kept falling apart. I would definitely make these again but maybe consider adding an egg as an extra binder.Thanks again for another great recipe. I have a pumpkin left over from Halloween so I see some of your bread or soup in my future!
Awesome, I’m so glad you did. They shouldn’t fall apart! Keep trying.
[…] recommend the Veggie bean bugers, found on one of my absolute favroites sites from across the pond Frugal Feeding. The Panelle is found on a new blog that has some really interesting recipes on it as well, The […]
These are seriously good. Turned out perfectly and didn’t fall to bits during cooking which is a problem I’ve had with other recipes. Excellent!
Thank you – it’s an old recipe now, but I’m glad it’s still good!