BLACK BEAN BURGERS WITH MUSHROOMS, FIGS & OLIVES

A savoury-sweet, Mediterranean-inspired vegan burger with black beans, mushrooms, figs, and kalamata olives. No oil, no fuss—just pure plant-based joy.

Jump to Recipe Ler em Português

Vegan black bean burger with lettuce and sweet potato chips served on a wooden plate.

A savoury-sweet, Mediterranean-inspired vegan burger with black beans, mushrooms, figs, and kalamata olives. No oil, no fuss—just pure plant-based joy.

Hello guys! This is Rita here. I can't fully put to words how excited we are about this recipe. See, ever since our little cocoon here was nothing but a spark of an idea, André has had one big demand: an original and delicious plant-based burger. After building up a pretty decent repertoire of vegan eats, we finally set out to create just that. I am thrilled to let you know his demand has been greatly fulfilled. I was briefly concerned about our timing and wondered if it might be too soon to post another breaded anything. After all, we just posted these Green Sandwiches with Herb Hummus and Maple & Soy Tofu. But hey, who doesn't like stuff on bread? And boy are these "Burgels" worth the repetition.

I must admit though, we didn't get it right the first time. Nor the second. It took us about 5 or 6 takes until we felt these babies had finally found their path. And then, two more takes to perfect them. Anyhow, we filled our tummies with all the nevertheless delicious failed attempts along the way. Most veggie burger recipes I had come across with have neverending ingredient lists, but we went for something much simpler. This way, the flavours really come through. Don't get me wrong, we've had some pretty yummy and wildly complex veggie burgers. But I just love to be able to taste every single ingredient in a meal and feel that they truly do come together in the most perfect way imaginable. With only 11 ingredients and no added oils, these are everything we could have hoped for: vegan, tasty, healthy, filling, high carb low fat AND freezer friendly.

The earthy black bean and mushroom combination isn't a first for us (haaave you met these Black Bean and Avocado Quesadillas with Grilled Shiitake?) and surely this won't be our last recipe resorting to it. And the dried figs + kalamata olives + thyme are a match made in foodie HEAVEN! Together with the garlic and paprika they turn what could very well be bland patties into an incredible mediterranean-inspired delight. The chopped dried figs melt into a gooey caramel once the patties are baked in the oven (or fried in a pan) and the kalamata olives (our ABSOLUTE favourite!) play their salty and bitter counterpart. YUM! While we would normally use rolled oats for something like this, we've found that flaked quinoa is the perfect dry ingredient to soak up some of the moisture and allow the patties to hold together. Rolled oats can be a little bit overpowering as far as texture goes.

We're kind of addicted to bagels over here and we do not pass any opportunity to munch on anything bagel related, hence the "burgel" play. But these are great on any sort of bun or even served on a plate with some yummy sides and salads. So what are you waiting for? Give these a go and let us know what you think of the recipe!

Flat lay of black beans, mushrooms, dried figs, brown rice and olives on a black surface.

Bowl filled with cooked black beans surrounded by mushrooms.

Paper bag filled with dried figs next to fresh thyme.

Rustic paper bag filled with brown rice on a dark background.

Black Kalamata olives in a small bowl beside mushrooms.

Overhead of a wooden bowl with mixed black bean burger ingredients.

Hands shaping a black bean burger patty over a mixing bowl.

Uncooked burger patties neatly arranged on a parchment-lined tray.

Cooked black bean patties on a baking tray, golden and crispy.

Stack of black bean burger patties on parchment paper with fresh herbs and mushrooms.

Two black bean burgers served with sweet potato chips and ketchup.

Overhead of two vegan burgers with sweet potato chips on a wooden plate.

Close-up of juicy black bean burger in a bun with sweet potato fries.

Black Bean Burgers with Mushrooms, Figs & Olives

BURGERS

5 oz cooked brown rice, room temperature
1 15 oz can cooked black beans
1 flax egg (1 tbsp golden flax meal + 3 tbsp water)
½ sweet onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, center germ removed and finely chopped
6.3 oz cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced and then roughly chopped
4 dried figs, chopped
10 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1 tbsp dried thyme
2 tbsp quinoa flakes
1 tsp paprika
sea salt & black pepper to taste

ASSEMBLY

bagels, cut open and lightly toasted (choose gluten-free bagels or buns if you're intolerant to gluten)
arugula leaves
ripe avocado, sliced
nigella seeds
black pepper to tae

OTHER YUMMY TOPPINGS

red onion, thinly sliced
cucumber, thinly sliced
organic ketchup or organic mustard
sauerkraut

Instructions

Start by gathering, preparing and measuring all of the ingredients. This will improve your dynamic in the kitchen.

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF).
Prepare the flax egg by mixing the flax seeds and water and let it rest while you cook the mushrooms.
Start by dry sautéeing the cremini mushrooms alone in a shallow pan in high heat, constantly stirring and moving them around so they won't burn.
As soon as the mushrooms start releasing their water, add the chopped onion and garlic and continue sautéeing. In 4-5 minutes, the mushrooms will have released all of their water and everything will be fairly dry, toasty and brown.
Scatter the sautéed mushrooms, onion and garlic in a wide cool plate and allow them to cool down completely.
Place the cooked brown rice, 1 cup of the black beans and the prepared flax egg in your food processor or blender and blend until you get a smooth, thick paste. You can also mash these ingredients together with a fork.
Scrape this paste into a large mixing bowl and add the cooked mushroom mixture and all the other ingredients.
Mix this thoroughly with a spatula (or your hands) until everything is combined and evenly distributed.
Shape the burger mix into a large ball and let it rest in the mixing bowl for 20 minutes, preferably in the fridge. This will allow the quinoa flakes to absorb some of the moisture and give the burgers the perfect texture.
After 20 minutes, separate the burger mix into 6 balls roughly the same size and shape them into patties with your hands. At this point you can also freeze your burgers, but make sure you separate them with parchment paper so they don't stick together.
Place the patties in a tray lined with parchment paper and put them in the oven for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, flip the burgers and cook in the oven for 10 minutes longer.

PS - Alternatively, you can fry the patties with a teaspoon of unflavoured coconut oil in a pan over medium heat, 2–3 minutes each side (however, the recipe will no longer be HCLF).
PPS- If you've frozen the patties, just throw them directly from the freezer into the oven and cook them for a few minutes longer.

ASSEMBLY

Layer your burger with the arugula leaves as a start.
Place a patty on top the arugula and then the avocado slices.
Sprinkle some nigella seeds and freshly cracked black pepper on the avocado.
Close the burger with the top bun and DIG IN! :)

Add Comment

4 Comments

Rosalinesays:

August 1st, 2016

I'm doing them tomorrow, fortunately I already got all the ingredients I need. In love with your work xx

Rosalinereplied:

August 2nd, 2016

They turned out amazing! I loved the taste of dried figs in the pattie. So rich in flavor 😍

Aryane @ Valises & Gourmandisessays:

July 7th, 2016

I need these burgels in my life! The main ingredients are all some of my favourite foods in the world. I really need to get a new food processor so I can whip up these babies! <3 Stumbled on your blog today through Pinterest, love at first sight! :)

Rita Parentereplied:

July 7th, 2016

Our food processor is definitely our best friend in the kitchen, but you can also make these by mashing the beans and rice together with a fork. :) I'm so glad you like our blog! Let us know if you try these. <3

Jasmin JasminCookBooksays:

June 30th, 2016

Halo, cacti loving people. It is my first visit to your lovely blog, thanks to these burgers. You got me intrigued by adding the dry figs, which taste I adore, but never had it in a savory dish before... I'll definitely try these beauties... Wish you a nice day :)

Rita Parentereplied:

July 2nd, 2016

Hi Jasmin! Thank you so much for stopping by and for your sweet message. We love the fig, olive and thyme combination, and we hope you will to! Let us know how they turn out. :) xoxo

Gaylesays:

June 11th, 2016

Is it definitely meant to be one entire tablespoon of dried thyme? I love the combination of ingredients but when I mixed the raw ingredients together it tasted very strongly of the thyme.

Rita Parentereplied:

June 11th, 2016

Hi Gayle, thank you so much for pointing this out! We're crazy about thyme and we really do mean to add one tablespoon of it. But ultimately, it might come down to how intense your dried thyme is. We buy organic, but perhaps it is milder than the one you have on hand. Reduce to half a tablespoon or a teaspoon even, and see how that works for you. :)