Don’t settle for bland bean burgers.
This black bean burger is stuffed with green chiles, jalapeno, and chipotle pepper, then smothered in salsa for a nice needed kick.
If you haven’t noticed, I’m a big bean burger convert. A few years ago, I thought the whole concept was weird. And the only bite of a bean burger I had was bland.
But that all changed recently when I realized how good — even better — a bean burger is than a traditional beef one. It started with this jalapeno & creamed cheese stuffed kidney bean burgers. Then this fried falafel burger filled with garlic aioli.
Now I’ve been thinking up ways to create even more flavor-filled bean burgers that are anything but bland. And that led me to this. A black bean burger, stuffed with peppers, and topped with salsa and avocado — or as I like to call it, the Boxcar Cowboy Burger.
As I’ve gotten more comfortable making bean burgers, I’ll share what I’ve learned along the way. One of the best things you can do before making your “patties” is to let the bean/oats/veggie mixture rest in the fridge for about a half hour to an hour. It will help dry out some of the moisture, making it easier to shape the patties and work with them when you start cooking. You can also add a few dashes of flour to help bind the mixture if it’s feeling too wet and sticky.
Time You’ll Need
- ~45 minutes prep
- ~20 minutes cooking
- Yields: 4 burger patties
What You’ll Need
For the burgers:
- 2 cans of black beans, drained and dried
- 2 diced chipotle peppers
- 4 oz diced jalapeno
- 4 oz diced green chiles
- 1 cup of oatmeal
- ½ cup diced sweet onion
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tsp chile powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
To serve (suggested, but use whatever burger toppings you prefer):
- Buns
- Ketchup
- Mustard
- Onion slices
- 2 slices of avocado
- 1 tbsp of preferred salsa (Keeping with the theme here, I opted for a jalapeno chipotle salsa)
- Slice of preferred cheese (I chose jalapeno pepper jack)
What You’ll Do
- Preheat oven to 425.
- In a large bowl, mash the black beans into a paste. Then add oats, jalapeno, chipotle peppers, green chiles, garlic, onion, ketchup, mustard, and all your seasonings.
- Mix everything together into an even paste (Optional: If time isn’t a factor, it’s recommended to let the mixture sit in the fridge for about half an hour. It will help dry out the paste and make it easier to shape the patties).
- Using your hands, form paste into four patty-shaped burgers, place each patty on a greased baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then flip the patties. Bake for another 10 minutes (You can also add a slice of cheese on top of each patty, then bake for another 5 minutes).
- Serve patty with your preferred burger buns and toppings.
- Enjoy!