Boxcar Jalapeno Popper Bean Burgers

*No cows were harmed in the making of this burger*

If you’d asked me a month ago if I would’ve prefered a regular old beef burger or a faux bean burger, I would have scoffed at the idea of a bean burger. But not anymore.

Isn’t it great how friends and family can open you open to new experiences? That’s what happened here. After trying a bean burger at a family gathering, in my hazy half-drunk state I could have sworn it was a regular burger.

Later that night, in an even hazier and drunker dream state I had an epiphany. Like Jacob, dreaming of the ladder in Genesis, I had a vision of angels showing me the way. But unlike biblical Jacob, I was not promised bountiful descendants, I was promised something more.

I was promised burgers. Beautiful bountiful burgers.

I knew what I had to do. I set on a quest to recreate what I had saw in my dream – the Bomber Burger.

Made from primarily kidney beans, the Bomber Burger is a jucy-lucy style burger stuffed with a hearty dollop of cream cheese. When paired with the diced jalapeno and oven-crisped oatmeal, it creates a taste deliciously similar to the barroom staple, the jalapeno popper.

Are you ready to climb the ladder and reach burger heaven?

Time You’ll Need:

• ~10 minutes prep
• ~20 minutes cooking
• Yields 4 “burgers”

What You’ll Need:

For the burger patties:

• 1 15 oz can of kidney beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 tbsp mustard
• 1 tbsp ketchup or tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup of oats (your choice)
• ½ cup diced jalapeno
• ½ cup of cream cheese (you’ll want it at room temp, so it’s easier to mix in with the rest of the ingredients)

To Serve:

• Buns (your choice)
• Any regular hamburger toppings you prefer, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, onion, cheese, etc…

What You’ll Do:

• Preheat oven to 425.
• Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment. Grease with oil or cooking spray.
• In a large mixing bowl, mash the kidney beans like there’s no tomorrow, leaving no solid bean left.
• Add the rest of the burger ingredients and mix together until it’s all one uniform mixture. It should actually surprisingly look like hamburger meat. Cool, right?
• Separate the mixture into four even portions. And then shape those portions into patties.
• Add the patties to the baking sheet. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, flip the patties, and bake for another 8-10. Feel free to melt cheese on top during the last minute or so.
• Enjoy!