Garlicky Black Bean Beet Burgers

A delicious way to eat your beans! These Garlicky Black Bean Beet Burgers are a favorite in my kitchen! A flavorful and nutritious burger that is perfect to make all year round. Serve this on a whole grain bun with your favorite fixings, with a side of roasted potato fries and greens, or with a pasta dish (such as my Creamy Cashew Garlic Sauce with Pasta and Veggies). I like to drizzle my burger with a little tahini and serve with a side of roasted potatoes, greens, and my Corn and Bean Salad or my Tomato Basil Salad- that’s what you see on my plate in the pictures throughout the blog.

The beets add a pop of pink to the burgers, and add a nutritional punch with their natural nitrates (more below). These burgers also have mushrooms in them, and you won’t even notice! My mom is not a fan of mushrooms— and she loves these burgers. She told me not to call these “Mushroom Beet Burgers” for the very fact that the title alone would turn mushroom haters away. The mushrooms are used to not only add a nutritional punch, but to give these burgers that meaty umami flavor. I got the inspiration for the mushrooms from the Black Bean Burgers from the How Not to Die Cookbook (which are also a hit in my kitchen!). I put my own spin on these burgers!

After testing these Garlicky Black Bean Beet Burgers about 5-6 times (maybe even more), I finally nailed down the perfect recipe! These are a hit with my family! If garlic isn’t a big fan with your kids or family members, feel free to use 1/2 the amount of garlic in the recipe to help tone down the garlicky taste. We love garlic so I went to town with it here!

Nutritional Spotlight

Beets, one of the stars of this recipe, are a good source of fiber, folate, Vitamin C, and potassium. They are high in dietary nitrates, which the body can convert into nitric oxide, a vasodilator that opens blood vessels and allows blood to flow better. This effect may help to lower blood pressure and therefore, improve overall heart health. Though, as Dr. Greger of NutritionFacts.org describes in the video, “Oxygenating Blood with Nitrate-Rich Vegetables”, “we have to eat our vegetables, and keep eating our vegetables” as blood pressure can go back up if we stop eating them. Because of the nitric oxide, beets may as also help improve athletic performance. Since the nitric oxide allows blood vessel to open up, it can improve oxygen delivery throughout the body. For more awesome facts about beets, check out the videos on NutritionFacts.org.

A few notes before you get started:

A few notes before you get started:

SHREDDING BEETS: If using a finer shred on the beets, you may find them to be a bit more moist than a larger shred. If the beets appear to be very wet, blot them lightly with a towel to remove a bit of moisture from them before adding to the burger batter.

GARLIC: If you like it really garlicky, go for the full tablespoon of garlic in the recipe. If you like it a little less garlicky, but still flavorful use the 1/2 tablespoon. My family and I love both variations! I have not tested any other variations with the garlic- but feel free to give it a go!

THE BATTER: After testing these multiple ways, the method I provided here will be the best to follow. I have tried different orders of processing and the texture on this one has come out as the best method. Some other methods produced really mushy burgers, but this one provided a good amount of texture. The batter may be sticky. Chilling the batter for 30 minutes to 1 hour before working with it can help with rolling. It also just works well to have slightly wet clean hands when rolling into burgers.

BEST THE SECOND DAY: Allow these burgers to cool completely before serving. I personally think these burgers are best the second day, but that’s my opinion! I find that the burgers firm up a bit more after they cool. Reheat them up the next day and enjoy!

BATCH SIZE: Feel free to make a double of this recipe. These burgers freeze nice too, so if you make a double batch and don’t need them all- freeze them for the future when you want a quick and nutritious meal. Below is the double for 10-12 patties.

DOUBLE RECIPE:

Ingredients:

2 cup shredded red beets (about 1 medium beet)

2 cup rolled oats

2 Tablespoons ground flaxseed

1 cup nutritional yeast

1-2 Tablespoons garlic powder

1 Tablespoon oregano

1 teaspoon black pepper

3 cups cooked black beans (or 2-15 oz cans drained and rinsed)

2 cup finely chopped white button or portobello mushrooms

1 cup finely chopped onion

2 Tablespoons white miso paste

2 Tablespoons tahini

Garlicky Black Bean Beet Burgers

Ingredients:

1 cup shredded red beets (about 1 medium beet)

1 cup rolled old fashioned oats

1 Tablespoons ground flaxseed

½ cup nutritional yeast

½-1 Tablespoons garlic powder

½ Tablespoon oregano

½ teaspoon black pepper

1½ cups cooked black beans (or 1-15 oz cans drained and rinsed)

1 cup finely chopped white button or portobello mushrooms

½ cup finely chopped onion

1 Tablespoons white miso paste

1 Tablespoons tahini

Method:

If the beets aren’t already shredded, wash the beets and cut off the stems. Peel the beets if desired. Use the shredding blade on the food processor or a vegetable grater to shred the beets. Set the shredded beets aside.
In a clean, dry food processor, pulse the oats until corse and then set aside in a bowl.
Combine the oats, ground flaxseed, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, oregano, and black pepper. Stir together until well combined and then set aside.
In the food processor, combine the black beans, mushrooms, onion, miso, and tahini. Process until the mixture starts to combine and the vegetables become smaller. Add the oat flour mixture. It may be helpful to first stir it into the black bean mixture. Process until the mixture sis well combined, but avoid over processing.
Add the shredded beets. It may be helpful to stir the beets in slightly before processing. Process the mixture until everything is well incorporated.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Form the mixture into 5-6 patties add them to the baking sheet. Bake the patties at 350F for 40 minutes. Flip the burgers 1/2 way through.
Allow the burgers to cool completely before serving.

Makes 5-6 patties.

*Recipe updated on August 13, 2022. New change adds more nutritional yeast to the recipe and a range for the garlic powder. Reduced the temperature on cooking to 350.