Frugal vegan burger recipies

[beforewisdom]

My gosh, almost all of the veggie burgers I see now in the store are non-vegan and over $4 a box.....a $1 a burger for something that probably costs 25 cents to make and ship.

Lets post our best, cheapest, vegan veggie burger recipes.

Extra points for recipes that hold together on a grill and where one burger can fill a hungry man up :)

[kissthesky]

I want some too..


you get extra points from me for them being low in sodium (or at least lower than the $4 ones) because freakishly high amounts of sodium in those give me heartburn from hell.

[Rie]

Extra Extra points for those that are easily freezable!

[beforewisdom]

I want some too..


you get extra points from me for them being low (or at least lower than the $4 ones) because freakishly high amounts of sodium like that give me heartburn from hell.

I think when vegetarians complain about the cost of groceries the things that really drive it up are premade soups, veggie burgers, fake meats, and sauces. All of those things are dirt cheap at home and insanely overpriced at the store.

All of which can be made and frozen on a saturday afternoon without too much time spent.

THE SAUCY VEGETARIAN by Joanne Stepianak has saved me a ton of cash in sauces.

[kissthesky]

oh crap.. i left out a couple of words in there...

i meant low in sodium!

*goes to edit*

[soilman]

Steam dried lentils in about 2 times as much water by volume, over very low heat, in a covered pan (like one would cook rice). Dice carrots into 1/4 inch (about 6 mm) pieces. Steam carrots to just tender (not mushy); takes only about 5 to 10 minutes. Steam diced onion till just tender. Takes only about 2-3 minutes. You can use one pot for the onions and carrot. Just time when to add the onions. Steam the onions and carrots first; arrange to have a few tablespoons of water left over; include this water in the water you steam the lentils in.

After cooking, mix everything together with extra-virgin olive oil and salt. Tobasco sauce is optional. Mashing and making into "burgers" is optional. I prefer to simply put unmashed stuff into pita breads.

If you mash into burgers you can then bake or broil them to brown them. Optionally you can pan-fry them. Optionally, you can add a bit of cornstarch to help bind the burgers together. Or mashed potaters. I still wouldn't grill them tho.

One burger has about 1/2 a carrot. $0.10. $0.20 if you use fresh carrots rather than cold-stored. Each burger has only about 1/10 of a medium onion and maybe 1/10 of a pound of lentils, which go for about $0.75 per pound. So $0.08 worth of lentils. About $0.01 worth of onion. 2 tsp of olive oil -- say $0.05? Total should be less than $0.40 per burger?

[vggiegirl]

I love love LOVE these ones


Chickpea Broccoli Couscous Burgers
By jermama (McDougall board)

1 c. couscous cooked (I use whole wheat couscous)
1 1/2 c. broccoli florets
2 tsp. veggie broth
1 c. onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. cumin
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 Tbsp. tahini (I usually just use a dab)
1/3 c. bread crumbs (can use Ezekiel bread, I use corn meal often too)
Salt, garlic powder

Steam broccoli. In skillet, heat broth over medium heat. Add onion. Stir in cumin. Cook. Remove from heat. In food processor, combine cooked couscous, broccoli, onions, chickpeas and tahini. Process until well mixed. Can add salt and garlic powder.
Line a baking sheet with foil, spray w/nonstick spray. Shape mixture into patties and dust with breadcrumbs. Bake 40 min. (I turn them once).
Serve on rolls -- great with Dijon mustard!



THE SAUCY VEGETARIAN by Joanne Stepianak has saved me a ton of cash in sauces.

Oh for sure...the dressings are great. I love that book

[soilman]

By the way, if you like chicken liver, I have a recipe that tastes amazingly like chopped chicken liver.

[CharityAJO]

We made some last Earth Day.... I can vaguely remember the recipe as including TVP, oats, spices, soy sauce, ketchup, and peanut butter.

I'll look up the exact recipe next time I'm by the CFAR office, and let you know.

But they were hella cheap, delicious, grillable, and satisfying.

[CharityAJO]

By the way, if you like chicken liver, I have a recipe that tastes amazingly like chopped chicken liver.
Do tell?

[Gracie]

We made some last Earth Day.... I can vaguely remember the recipe as including TVP, oats, spices, soy sauce, ketchup, and peanut butter.

I'll look up the exact recipe next time I'm by the CFAR office, and let you know.

But they were hella cheap, delicious, grillable, and satisfying.

That sounds like Better Burgers from Joanne Stepaniak's Vegan Vittles. I love those! In fact, we're having them for dinner Thursday night.

[CharityAJO]

Oh! I think you're right. I remember calling them "better burgers." Hehe. I guess someone lifted the recipe.

[Coney]

I think the key to making burgers that stick together is to use plenty of powdered ingredients (like dry TVP that you put in a blender or mash into a powder, or flour of some kind, oats...) and something like and egg/egg replacer to make it cook tegether. Spices and flavorings...whatever you come up with, whether it's BBQ, Italian, Mexican, etc.

I never have any luck with bean type burgers from scratch. They just fall apart when I try to get them out of the pan. Not using oils is key, that does the opposite of "make things sticky".

When you think about it, when I made burgers with my mom from ground beef, they were very dense. We made them into balls then flattened them out. Very sticky and not loose at all.

[4EverGrounded]

I tried using flour once. The had a horrible raw flour taste all the way through them but they held brilliantly in the pan.

The half-batch that didn't have the flour in it fell apart completely but those crumbles sure were good. :lick: :hungry:

[lewburg]

There's a cookbook that I bought from a local shop called Meatless Burgers..and it has over 50 quick and easy recipes in it. It's by Louise Hagler. I highly recommend it. I still haven't made all of the recipes, but the ones I did make were awesome! I can post a few if anyone would like to see any.

[delicious]

Will someone post or pm me with the better burger recipe? Thanks! :)