When trying to eat more vegetables, some people opt for salads, but can we suggest making a sheet pan full of this beet burger recipe first? Skip the frozen food aisle, when you see how to make beetroot burgers, you’ll see how easy it is to make your own using ingredients from your pantry and refrigerator.
Don’t get us wrong we love a good salad! But if we’re being honest, you could always serve salad with veggie burgers. Instead of dill pickles, this beet burger recipe is good on its own but really, it’s all about the toppings! Quick pickled figs with Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid Mission Figs infuse the flavors of mustard seeds, peppercorns, and balsamic vinegar, a perfect complement to caramelized onions. You could eat the veggie burgers in lettuce cups if you’re trying to eat less bread too.
How to Make Beetroot Burgers
The star of what makes the beetroot burgers come together is a shredding disk on a food processor. Then, you will temper the spices, warming them up before stirring in lentils and quinoa to cook. You’ll process half of the cooked lentils and quinoa that creates a sticky paste—the other half of the lentils and quinoa will stay whole to mix in for texture. Shape and bake the burgers.
But, really, these veggie burgers are great for last minute meals. So even if you don’t plan to eat all of them at once, freeze them once cooked to quickly reheat for a weeknight meal full of whole ingredients.
We like them with carrots, rice pilaf, couscous or cauliflower, but you could always eat them with French fries or sweet potato fries too.
Beet Burger Recipe with Pickled Figs + Caramelized Onions
Ingredients
Caramelized Onions
- 1 1/2 pounds red onions peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Pickled Mission Figs
- 1 cup Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid Mission Dried Figs stemmed and thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
Veggie Beet Burgers
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 small carrots 4 ounces total
- 1 cup red bell pepper 5 ounces
- 5 button mushrooms 5 ounces total
- 1/2 medium red onion 4 ounces total
- 1 medium red beets 7 ounces total, peeled
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 1/2 cups quinoa rinsed
- 1 cup brown lentils picked through and rinsed
- 4 cups reduced sodium vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 12 whole grain hamburger buns
Instructions
Make Caramelized Onions
- Over medium heat, pour in oil and once shimmering, stir in onion slices. Continue stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. Turn heat down to medium low and cook until melted, about 10 minutes more.
Make Pickled Figs
- Bring vinegar, mustard seeds, salt, and black peppercorns to a boil. Turn off the heat and pour over the sliced figs. Steep while you prepare the burgers.
Make Beet Burgers
- Using a shredding disk in a food processor, shred carrot, bell pepper, mushrooms, onion, beet, and garlic. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400F. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and mist with cooking spray. Keep a small bowl filled with water nearby.
- Heat olive oil in stock pot until shimmering. Temper coriander, Bay leaf, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in oil, stirring for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Saute shredded until softened, about 4 minutes.
- Stir in quinoa and lentils. Pour in 4 cups of veg broth and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Turn heat to high. Once boiling, cover and simmer for 18 minutes. Uncover pot and cook for another 8-10 minutes or until liquid has cooked out. Remove bay leaf. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of cooked grains. Process remaining grains in two batches with pecans in a food processor outfitted with blade attachment to a thick coarse paste. Transfer to a bowl and fold in reserved 1 1/2 cups unprocessed grains.
- Fill 1/2 cup with a heaping mound, portioning patties onto prepared half sheet pan about ½-inch apart, shaping and flattening them with your hand—if grains stick, dip your hand in the bowl of water. You should be able to fit all 10 on a half sheet pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Flip the burgers and cook for another 20 minutes to crisp up the bottom.
- Drain figs, reserving vinegar for another use*. Garnish burgers with caramelized onions, pickled fig slices and any other toppings you like.
Notes
Recipe and photos by Annelies Z
Recipe and photos by Annelies Zijderveld
