These are plant-based burger patties built from red beets, cannellini beans, and cooked quinoa. They hold together well, cook up with a satisfying crust, and the beet gives them a deep red color that looks striking on a bun. If you want a homemade veggie burger that doesn’t fall apart mid-bite, this is a solid recipe to start with.
The technique that matters
The two things that determine whether these patties hold together or crumble are moisture control and chilling time. Beets release a lot of liquid as they cook, and if that moisture carries over into your mixing bowl, the mixture will be too wet to form firm patties. Let the sautéed beet mixture cool for a few minutes before combining everything, and if the final mix feels sticky or loose, add breadcrumbs a tablespoon at a time until it holds its shape when pressed. The second step is the chill. Refrigerating the shaped patties for at least 30 minutes — or up to a full day — firms them up so they don’t fall apart when they hit the hot pan. Don’t skip this.
Mistakes to avoid
- Using a cold pan: If the oil isn’t hot before the patties go in, they’ll stick and tear when you try to flip them. Let the pan get fully up to temperature over medium-high heat before adding the oil, then wait another 30 seconds before adding the patties.
- Flipping too early: The patty needs to form a crust before it will release cleanly from the pan. Wait until the bottom edge looks browned and set — usually 4 to 5 minutes — before attempting a flip. If it resists, give it another minute.
- Over-mashing the beans: You want the cannellini beans mostly broken down, but leaving some texture in the mix actually helps the patty hold together. A completely smooth paste makes the interior dense and gummy.
- Skipping the salt check: Quinoa and beans are both bland on their own. Taste the mixture before shaping and season it properly — under-seasoned patties are hard to fix once they’re cooked.
- Using too much oil in the pan: A thin, even coating is enough. Too much oil causes the patties to fry unevenly and can make the outside greasy before the inside warms through.
About the ingredients
- Flax egg: This is 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed mixed with 2.5 tablespoons of water, stirred and left to sit for about 10 minutes until it becomes gel-like. It acts as a binder in place of a chicken egg. Make sure you’re using ground flaxseed, not whole seeds — whole seeds won’t gel properly.
- Quinoa: Use fully cooked, cooled quinoa. Warm quinoa adds steam to the mix and makes it harder to shape. Leftover quinoa from the fridge works perfectly here.
- Cannellini beans: Canned beans work fine — just drain and rinse them well. Excess liquid from the can will make the mix too wet. Any white bean (navy, great northern) is a reasonable substitute.
- Apple cider vinegar: This is added off-heat purely for brightness. White wine vinegar works as a swap. Skip the temptation to add extra — a little goes a long way in a patty this size.
Keeping and reheating
Cooked patties keep in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container. Uncooked shaped patties can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours before cooking, or frozen for up to 2 months — freeze them on a parchment-lined tray until solid, then transfer to a zip bag so they don’t stick together. To reheat cooked patties, a dry non-stick pan over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side gives you a better result than a microwave, which tends to make them soft and a little rubbery. Frozen uncooked patties can go straight from the freezer into a lightly oiled pan over medium heat — just add a couple of extra minutes per side.
Super Romantic Red Beet Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 cup cannellini beans cooked
- 2 cups quinoa cooked
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 large red beet peeled and grated
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large white onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ medium lemon zest
- 1 medium lemon juiced
- 1 tablespoon flax egg
- ¼ cup bread crumbs
Instructions
- First, mix the flax egg in a small bowl and set it aside in the refrigerator to “gel” while you cook the veggies.
- Saute the onions in your olive oil over medium heat for about 7 minutes, until tender. Add the garlic, the grated beet, and a sturdy pinch of salt. Stir it all together and cover, stirring every couple of minutes, until the beets are soft about 5 or 6 minutes. Remove from heat and add the cider vinegar (there won’t be anything stuck to the bottom of the pan since the beets release a lot of moisture, so the vinegar is just for flavour and not for deglazing purposes). Combine all listed ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mash (either with a fork or potato masher) until the beans are mostly broken up. You’ll probably want another dash of salt in there.
- At this point, I shaped the mixture into burgers, covered with plastic wrap, and let them store in the fridge until dinner time.
- When you’re ready to cook them, heat some light olive oil, peanut oil, or other oil with a relatively high smoke point in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and crisp those suckers up. We served ours on torta rolls with dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, and farm-fresh romaine.
Nutrition
Common questions
Can I make these patties ahead of time?
Yes — shaping them ahead is actually recommended. You can form the patties up to 24 hours before cooking and keep them covered in the fridge, which also helps them firm up and hold together better in the pan.
My mixture feels too wet to shape. What do I do?
Add breadcrumbs one tablespoon at a time and mix until the patty holds its shape when pressed in your palm. This usually happens if the beet mixture wasn’t cooled enough before combining, or if the beans weren’t drained thoroughly.
How do I know when the patties are cooked through?
These are fully plant-based, so you’re not cooking to a meat safety temperature — you’re looking for a firm, browned crust on both sides and a hot center, which takes roughly 4 to 5 minutes per side over medium-high heat. If the outside is browning too fast before the inside heats through, lower the heat slightly and cover the pan for the last couple of minutes.
Do I have to use a non-stick pan?
Non-stick is strongly recommended for veggie patties, especially for a first attempt. These patties don’t have the fat content of a beef burger, so they’re more prone to sticking on stainless steel or cast iron unless those surfaces are very well seasoned and properly preheated.
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- Veggie Whopper Copycat Recipe