If you’re craving meat but want to stick with your whole food plant-based diet, try these Black Bean Mushroom burgers.
I know that mushrooms add a “beefy” flavor, and I also had seen an episode of America’s Test Kitchen that talked about this quality called “umami” in other foods. If you find that giving up meat is tough, then these flavors might help you make the transition.
Also, I recently answered a reader’s question about craving meat that you can read in this article: Reader Questions: Craving Meat and Hungry All the Time?”
I created these black bean mushroom burgers to have some “beefy” umami-tasting substitutions – mushrooms, low-sodium tamari (or soy sauce), red wine, and sun-dried tomatoes.
Plant-Based Mushroom Burger Recipe
Soak the sun-dried tomatoes in hot water for about 10 minutes. Once they are plump, drain and set aside.
In a large skillet, saute the onions in water or vegetable broth until golden. Then add the mushrooms, garlic, and cumin. You’ll want to cook the mushrooms until they start to release their juices, then add the tamari and red wine. If you’d prefer not to use wine, try replacing it with vegetable broth.
Set this aside to cool. The toasted bread should be torn into pieces and crumbled in a food processor, then placed aside in a bowl. Add the mushroom mix, sun-dried tomatoes, and black beans to the food processor and pulse to just combine. You want to leave some chunky bits, so don’t over-process.
Add this black bean and mushroom burger mixture into the bread crumbs and make four patties.
Add to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes until brown, then flip and repeat.
Plant-Based Mushroom Burger Toppings
I don’t know about you, but I love the traditional toppings like ketchup, mayo, mustard, pickles, onion, tomato, and lettuce but these would also be great topped with sauerkraut or chili. And you might enjoy this Thousand Island Dressing with your burger.
Have a look at these black bean inspired recipes:
- Black Bean Tacos with Avocado Cream
- Black Bean Soup with Sweet Potatoes
- Black Bean, Beet Burger
- Black Bean Brownies
Burgers are customizable and a great canvas to layer tons of flavors. You have so many options to build flavor. You can keep it simple, like onion, lettuce, and pickles. Make your own homemade pickles for burgers and wraps, and it’s all the more delicious.
But on the other hand, you can kick your burger up several notches by adding fresh pico de gallo, avocado, and maybe some grilled peppers for a southwestern black bean mushroom burger. You could even freshen it up with my Mango Salsa and serve it with a side of chips.
Add kimchi, sesame seeds, bean sprouts, and vegan wasabi mayo for an Asian-style burger.
Pair this mushroom black bean burger with some Thick-Cut Seasoned Fries with Chipotle Sauce or a side of Broccoli Waldorf Salad.
I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below for this Black Bean Mushroom Burger! If you have a photo, post it on my Facebook page, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking
Originally posted Dec 11, 2011.
Black Bean Mushroom Burger
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup onions chopped
- 8 oz mushrooms roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1/3 cup low-sodium tamari
- 7-8 sun-dried tomatoes (packed without oil ) or enough for about 1/4 cup
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 3 slices whole grain bread lightly toasted (about 3 cups)
- 1 15-ounce can black beans (no salt) rinsed and drained (or 1 1/2 cups homemade)
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- 4 whole grain buns
Instructions
- Preheat over to 375 degrees.
- Soak sun-dried tomatoes in about 1/2 cup hot water for 10 minutes. Drain. In the meantime, heat the 1/4 cup water over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add onion and cook until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, garlic, cumin, and cook until mushrooms have released their juices, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add red wine and tamari and cook to reduce in half. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
- Tear toasted bread into pieces and place in a food processor. Process until broken down into crumbs. Pour the crumbs into a medium bowl. Add the mushroom mixture and beans to the food processor along with the sun-dried tomatoes; pulse until combined, but not smooth. Leave some chunky bits. Scoop mixture into the bowl with the bread crumbs; season with salt and pepper.
- Mix ingredients together and divide into 4 equal portions. With dampened hands, shape each portion into eight patties, about 3 1/2." Place burgers on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brown burgers on one side, about 10 minutes. Flip to brown on the other side for another 10, watching to make sure they don't overcook.
- Enjoy with all of the burger fixins’.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi I am new in this I need to change my diet into eating healthier
Hey there, I’m so glad you want to jump on board eating a plant-based diet! Be sure to check out my “Start Here” page as you’ll find helpful articles. Does it seem a bit overwhelming? Let me know your biggest challenge and I’ll try to steer you in the right direction. Oh, and if you feel like it, you can join my email newsletter list. I’ll send you a couple of recipes and an article about once a week. All the best.
Hi there,
What can I use instead of red wine? (Not alcohol)
And the sundried tomatoes, are they the ones you use from a jar?
Many thanks,
Isabelle
You could use vegetable broth for the wine or mix with some grape juice. I think all grape juice would be too sweet. For the sun-dried tomatoes, they are the ones not from the jar, but the ones usually in a package. These need to be soaked first. If you are allowed or a bit of oil you can use the jarred ones and rinse them under hot water first. They won’t need any soaking.
Hi Diane. I saw someone else substituted red wine vinegar for the red wine. I too don’t drink alcohol. They said they subbed “a capful”. I’d think that would make them much drier. Trying to figure out a good sub- the 1/2 cup might be too much. Any suggestions?
I think you’re right, 1/2 cup would be too much. You could eliminate it and use one less piece of bread. You want the burgers to hold together without being overly moist. Or, you could substitute vegetable broth, although I haven’t tried either of these changes, so can’t say how it would affect the recipe.
Thank you so much. I absolutely love this recipe. I have tried other black bean burger recipes however they are always a little dry. This is moist and very tasty.
Thanks, Suzanne, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Looking at the nutrition label this is quite high in sodium – what can I do to lessen the impact and still keep the great taste? Dealing with high blood pressure I need to keep the sodium down. Thanks.
Hi Anna, thanks for bringing that to my attention. It did have a lot, due, most likely to the soy sauce. I updated the recipe to use low sodium tamari which helps. It’s down to around 500 instead of over 1000. It’s still relatively high so you could substitute the soy sauce with a little balsamic vinegar or more red wine. Bragg’s liquid aminos are also high in sodium so I wouldn’t recommend that. These burgers are very forgiving so leaving it out shouldn’t affect the end product much.
Wow this sounds like such a delicious recipe. I’m trying to have a more plant based diet, so discovering your blog will definitley be helpful! xo
That sounds great! I hope you enjoy it.
Hey! I loved the burgers, is there a way to make the recipe to look like a meatloaf?
Thanks in advance!
Hey Janice, I’m so glad you enjoyed the burger recipe! I think you could most definitely try it as a meatloaf. You might want to add a little ketchup or BBQ sauce on top before you bake it. I also have a BBQ Meatloaf recipe, if that interests you… Bake at 350°F in a loaf pan for 50-60 minutes or until firm. If the top gets too brown, cover in foil.
I need to be gluten free. How much dried bread crumbs should I use to replace the whole wheat bread?
Hey Jeanie, I tested 1 1/2 pieces of whole-grain bread and it was about 1 cup of crumbs (so the three pieces that are in the recipe would be 2 cups), but dried bread crumbs would probably be smaller than these, and 2 cups of those might be too much. Without having directly tested the recipe I recommend that you start with 1 cup of the dried bread crumb and see about the consistency of the burgers once combined with all of the ingredients. It shouldn’t be too wet or too dry. You can always add more if they seem too wet. You can also try cornmeal or gluten-free oats as a binder, but again, work up to the amount. I hope that helps.
Hi Diane,
This is the best burger recipe I’ve tried. Nice and moist, whereas some others I’ve tried are dry. I substituted a capful of red wine vinegar for the wine and it gave it that little bit of a bite. Will use this recipe as my ‘go-to’ burger recipe from now on.
Thank you.
Hi Jean, thanks for the feedback and recipe substitution idea. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!! 🥰
This burger was great! I made a couple of small substitutions: I didn’t have black beans, so I used red kidney. I chopped them a bit more as they are bigger than the black beans. I used soy sauce, and Italian panko crumbs and added a 1/2 tsp of powdered garlic (my garlic cloves were really small). My husband loved them and so did I! They were perfect texture and taste. Obviously, not exactly like beef, but a REALLY great alternative. We will definitely use this again.
PS I used about 1 c of the panko crumbs as they are more fine than toasted bread.
Hi Sharon, great idea. Thanks for the feedback. 👍
Hi Sharon, thanks for the great tips! So glad you both enjoyed the burgers, 💕
Diane,
These look great. What would you use to sub for the breadcrumbs as I am gluten free?
Hey Deb, you could try oats, the quick-cooking kind, or cornmeal, although I think 3 cups would be too much. You want the burgers to hold together without being overly moist, so add a little at a time until you get a burger that holds together without being mushy.
A question……..this can’t actually make 32 burgers, right?? You said to “divide into 4 equal portions and then shape each portion into 8 patties”. I don’t think that is what you intended to say. Are they sliders?? If the recipe serves 4, that would mean 8 patties on each burger bun!! Please revisit this. Thank you. 🙂
Ha, you’re so right. 🙄 Just eight patties total. Will update the recipe instructions for clarification. Thanks for letting me know.
I made these today and they are almost inedibly salty. I will make them again using 2 tablespoons tamari and more red wine for the moisture needed. The texture is very good though.
Hey Judy, sorry to hear they were salty. Did you use low-sodium tamari? It’s still fairly high in sodium, I realize. It is a good choice to use less of it and not add any additional salt. You could also substitute coconut aminos which are less salty, or even vegetable broth.