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Spiced Lentil Walnut Burgers. Easy Flavorful Burger patties with avocado ranch. Vegan Burger Recipe. Soyfree Easily gluten-free. Serve as burgers or over salad.
These scrumptious and filling patties have lentils, rice, walnuts and loads of flavor in them. It’s been a while since I made burger patties. I am hoping these fantastic burgers will be magical enough to get us some sunny days in the cloudy PNW. Am I ready for warmer days with loads of sunshine. The grey starts to depress even the chirpiest of the people and birds around.
I use cumin, coriander, garam masala in these. Feel free to use your own combination of flavors such as cumin + chipotle + oregano, or coriander + berbere, or a chili powder blend of choice. Add some coarsely ground fennel seeds for a sausagey flavor. Since the burger mixture is cooked, you can fix and adjust the flavors before committing to the patties!
I served these Lentil Walnut Burgers /patties with my avocado ranch, lettuce, juicy tomatoes, onions, pickled jalapeno and a melted chao cheese slice! I am topping he next batch with a load of caramelized onions. The sweet onions go really well with the earthy lentils. Use any vegan ranch or mayo, some ketchup or bbq or other sauces of choice. To troubleshoot any veggie burger patties(crumbly, too soft etc), see my tips on this burger round up post. Happy Burgering!
More burgers from the blog
- BBQ Veggie Burger with Mango Carrot Cabbage slaw
- Spicy Chickpea yellow Lentil Burgers
- Bean Broccoli Lentil Burgers
- Amaranth Black Bean sliders with roasted red pepper sauce
- Red Lentil and Cauliflower Burger with Onion rings and Chipotle Habanero Mayo
- Grill-able Artichoke Cauliflower Spinach Bean Burger
- and a 35 Veggie burger collection round up!
Lately the facebook page has been getting angry non vegans asking me to change the name of the food to something other than burger, as Burger always equals meat. Well, please see this definition on Mirriam Webster. I did not make that definition. Burger is a generic term for a sandwich type food, that can be a hamburger, other meat burger, made with tofu, veggies, beans etc. Lentil Walnut Veggie Burgers!
Reading for the day-
Catch my interview at MasalaMommas this week.
Videos to watch
- This beautiful Indian wedding. It is big, long, cultural and vegan, does not use flowers, non biodegradable waste/plastics, no silk, pearls, leather. Amazing!
- This video shot at Pasado’s safe haven with Children and the sanctuary animals
- Cost of cheap clothing on the people and the planet
The burger patties can also be baked. I prefer to cook them on a pan for a crispy exterior and moist juicy interior. Baking can dry the patties out a bit. If you use a good non stick pan, oil might not be needed for the roasting.
If you try these patties, leave me a comment, rate the recipe(when you try it), tag me on Instagram #veganricha, let me know what you think, love, not like, suggestions. Feedback keeps me motivated (esp in this grey weather) and helps me improve!
Video:
Lentil Walnut Burgers
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chopped red onions
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/4 inch ginger
- 1/3 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup packed cilantro
- 3/4 tsp salt or more, depends on if the lentils were salted
- 3/4 tsp each of ground cumin, coriander
- 1/2 tsp garlic
- 1/2 tsp cayenne, hot! or use sweet paprika + a good dash of black pepper for less heat
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 3-4 basil leaves, optional
- 3/4 cup cooked brown or white rice
- 1 1/2 cups cooked brown lentils or 1 15 oz can. I used Indian brown lentils
- 2 tsp ketchup or bbq sauce
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 flax egg, 1 tbsp flax seed meal mixed in 2.5 tbsp warm water, let sit for 2 minutes
- 3-4 tbsp breadcrumbs or flour, use gf breadcrumbs or flour to make gf
Instructions
- In a processor, process onion, garlic, ginger, walnuts and cilantro until finely chopped. Alternatively, cook the onions and garlic in 1/2 tsp oil until they are golden and then add to the processor.
- Add the spices, salt, basil, rice, half of the cooked lentils and pulse a few times until well combined. Transfer to a bowl with the rest of the lentils. Add ketchup, oil, flax egg and mix everything until evenly mixed in. Mash a bit if needed and mix in. Taste and adjust salt, spice, herbs if needed. Add in the breadcrumbs or flour and mix in. Let the mixture chill for 10 minutes.
- If the chilled mixture is too wet, add in more flour or breadcrumbs. The amount needed depends on the moisture in the veggies, the kind of lentils and just general mood of things in the mixture. Add more breadcrumbs or flour if too sticky wet. Add another flax egg if too crumbly to make patties.
- Shape into 4 large patties. Pack well. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add a drizzle of oil and spread it around. Place patties on the skillet and cook for 4 to 6 minutes per side.
- Serve with vegan ranch/avocado ranch or mayo or ketchup, mustard or other dressing of choice. Add some caramelized onions or other toppings.
Video
Notes
Add 2 tbsp nutritional yeast. To Bake: I normally bake lentil burger patties at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, then flip and bake another 10 or more minutes until golden. I haven't tried baking these particular patties. Let me know if you do.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I just made these. This is my third time trying a vegan mushroom burger (not from this recipe). I wanted one with mushrooms and lentils. This was definitely the best! It was a bit fiddly, and I got caught out with time. But I just left the minced ingredients to the side until later when I had time to finish them. I added mushrooms and cooked them down well with the onion, and baked them in the oven as per instructions. I thought the texture was great, but I might add a little soy or something to make a slightly more savoury flavour when I make these again (no idea if that will work, but I’ll try!). This made 7 smallish patties. I ate 2 for dinner, and will freeze the rest after baking for me to eat when the boys eat their beef burgers! Generally great. Would definitely make these again and try and few minor tweaks to the recipe. Thank you.
yummy
I made this recipe today, with my own spin and some ingredient subs. These burgers turned out fantastic. So much so, that my non-vegan husband says he prefers them over his favorite fast-food meat burgers. Here’s what I subbed:
I used 3 Tbsp JUST Egg instead of the flax egg
1/4 cup matzo meal rather than the bread crumbs
2 Tbsp homemade buillon powder which includes nutritional yeast as a base, herbs and spices rather than the spice profile in the recipe.
One drop of liquid smoke.
The consistency of the mixture after refrigeration for an hour was perfect.
I made thin-ish burgers, seared the patties on both sides and then turned the heat to low and let them dry out until they were no longer pasty in the center.
Thanks for this amazing recipe!
wow! that’s great & thanks for the info
such an easy recipe to use…very simple ingredients…can’t wait to try this…thanks so much for sharing
let me know how you like it
I can’t find brown lentils anywhere. Which other lentils would work?
green will hold their shape similarly to brown
First of all, love this recipe.
Secondly, just wanted to put it out there for anyone who is wondering: this recipe is extremely substitution friendly! I didn’t have a flax egg, so I substituted a quarter cup of silken tofu. I also didn’t have walnuts so I substituted sunflower seeds. I didn’t have any cumin, so I substitute a chili powder. The burgers came out phenomenal! Once again Richa knows what’s up!
And my suggestion for anyone who feels like they have made their mixture too mushy, throw the batter in the fridge! Or the freezer if you’re in a pinch. The cold temperature firms it right up.
I baked these to avoid oil, and they came out excellent! I did my burgers at 400°F for 20 minutes on the first side, 15 minutes on the second side. I used parchment paper and lightly sprayed the bottom of the burgers with cooking spray to help ease with the release when I flipped them.
thanks for the info!
Going to try these this weekend. Not a huge walnut fan, would substituting mushrooms and adding extra flour to bind be a good substitute. Or what would you recommend
You could do that with cooked mushrooms, sure, or these are some nice options: https://fettabbau-trim.today/vegan-portobello-mushroom-burger/%3C/a%3E https://fettabbau-trim.today/grillable-veggie-burger/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
First time I’ve tried this recipes, excellent but I should have added spicy sauce. We ate it with a salad but I’ll make a burger next time. Fried them in the pan, super quick to make, doubled quantity of flour- use oat flour- and the inside was soft while the outside was slightly crispy. Made 8 small but quite filling!!
perfect, yes, go for the spice! you won’t regret it
A large bowl full ended on the bin. Blending makes the burgers too mushy. It’s only necessary to mash the ingredients in a bowl. The nuts need choping in a blender, but not too finely. Also, I didn’t like the garam masala.
Sorry it dint work out for you. You need a food processor and only pulse or use in short bursts so that there is texture in the mixture and it doesn’t get pasty.
Garam masala from general brands is often unbalanced. Also you can omit it and add some thyme and oregano instead
Thanks for the reply.
A blender and food processor are quite different….most of these vegan recipes use a processor to maintain their texture. If you don’t have one, you should prob get one 🙂
These burgers look amazing! I can’t wait to try them. I was wondering what your green sauce is in the picture? It looks like it finishes off the burger perfectly. Any chance you could please share the sauce recipe? Thank you! ;0)
sure thing, it’s (avocado basil ranch) and it’s very tasty! in the description i have a link and you can click here https://fettabbau-trim.today/irish-potato-cakes-with-avocado-basil-ranch/#wprm-recipe-container-26752%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Thank you so much!
I’m definitely going to try these! I love your recipes. And, avocado ranch here I come . . . I can see putting that on everything 😀
How long would that last in the fridge? When I can I like to make lots of something I know I’ll use a lot.
And good for you, Richa, for standing up to the nomenclature bullies. I just block those people, because I know they are only in my face to push an agenda that has nothing to do with food or burgers.