Since we’re on a quest to eat less meat, I’ve decided that I need to find some good veggie burger recipes. Nate’s mom was raving about a vegetarian chickpea burger recipe, which she shared with me this week. I made them last night and they are Yum-O. (I just said that because it’s a Rachael Ray recipe. I promise never to say “Yum-O” again.) 
These vegetarian chickpea burgers have really great flavor, and they are super easy and fast to make. As with many homemade veggie burgers, handle with care so they don’t fall apart on you. Last night we topped ours with lettuce, tomato, avocado and sauteed mushrooms. While the mushrooms were tasty, I think next time I’ll switch them out for thinly sliced cucumber and sprouts…and I won’t forget the cheese, which I did this time. Phooey. I will definitely be trying other veggie burger recipes as well and will let you know how they go!
- 1 15-oz can chick peas, rinsed and drained
- 1 4-oz can diced green chiles
- ⅔ cup packed flat leaf parsley
- ⅔ cup bread crumbs (Pat note: I use regular, flavored, Panko – whatever. Jane note: I used Panko last night)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons veggie oil (Pat note: I have used olive too)
- 4 thin slices cheddar cheese
- 4 burger buns
- Ketchup, mayo or other toppings (Pat note: I never use these or the cheese or the buns. Jane note: she’s being totally serious here. ha!)
- Now”¦ In a food processor, pulse the chickpeas, chiles and parsley till finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and stir in the bread crumbs and s and p to taste (Jane note: I only did ~1/2 tsp salt – should have done more). Stir in the egg and form the 4 patties, each about ⅔ inch thick.
- Then”¦ In a large skillet heat the oil over med low heat. Cook the burgers for 4 minutes then flip and cook for 3-5 minutes and add cheese if desired. Pat usually cooks till they are nice and golden brown. (Pat note: Don’t forget, you can shape them into fun designs, like fake turkey legs or letters for your kids!)
- Postscript: These are way easier to flip in the pan if you make them into mini-burgers. Click here for a follow-up post with more info on miniaturizing the burgers!
Hi! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and count on you to share yours! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
Jane, Love this meal idea! Looks delicious and very healthy.
LOVE these, my kind of burger!
Looks really yummy. Not sure how my husband would like a veggie burger though…he loves his “red” meat! May have to try it out on myself first! You wouldn’t happen to know if the calorie/fat is less than or comparable to beef would you?
These look delicious! I am sure they will be making an appearance at our house this summer. Yum-o indeed! 😉
I psychically bought chickpeas last night (even though I have been doing a terrible job of planning dinner recently). I will have to give these a try.
cheri – I don’t know what the exact nutrition content is versus meat. it’s lower in fat. don’t know about calories. however, the nutritional punch of the chickpeas is higher than meat – not only are you getting protien, but lots of other good stuff too (folate, potassium, iron, magnesium, lots of fiber and no cholesterol)! here’s a short article from mayo clinic about legumes: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/legumes/NU00260
hope that’s helpful! 🙂
looks tasty, jane. I’ll have to try them out. We made these lentil/barley veggie burgers tonight and EVERYONE (including my 8,5 & 3 year old) gobbled them up! http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1964003
this looks delicious and i love chickpeas!!! The last time I had a vegetarian burger, it consisted of alot of cheese and a portobello mushroom cap with avocados, that was delish.
The idea of shaping them into letters makes me smile. Thank you. I will be doing this for sure!
What an excellent way to incorporate chickpeas into the diet! This looks SCRUMPTIOUS!!!
This looks yummy, going to put this on our menu for this week
Someone was just telling me about some veggie burgers they made recently and how easy they were and much better than many of the frozen ones on the market. These look fabulous!
I love the addition of avocados and mushrooms. These really look good.
that looks so yummy
I am a little behind the game. I don’t have a food processor, and I have a small kitchen so I try not to over do kitchen gadgets. Is there anything that you think I could use instead of a food processor? I would really like to try this recipe.
Have you considered a Magic Bullet? It’s the perfect size for a small kitchen and can process and blend. We love ours! I used it for this recipe and it worked fine (had to add a tablespoon or so of water though to help it blend).
you could maybe try just using a hand mixer, or just squishing everything with a fork really well! or, actually, a pastry blender would probably work even better than a fork if you have one! 🙂
do you have a hand or stand mixer? I would try a hand mixer, or the stand mixer maybe with the whisk attachment – or maybe even try smooshing it all up by hand with a fork or pastry blender! I’m certain any of those techniques will work! 🙂
I am a huge fan not only of veggie burgers, but chickpeas (quite possibly the best thing ever). I will definitely be trying these!
had these last night and they were really easy to throw together and really delicious! I didn’t have any trouble at all with them falling apart, but I used breadcrumbs (just under a cup). I topped ours with regular burger toppings: (mayo/spicymustard/ketchup/lettuce/tomato
/sauteed onions + jalapenos) and used kaiser rolls for the buns. This one will probably go into the repertoire. Thanks for the recipe! I love your blog!!!
I’m so glad they worked out so well for you!! 🙂 They really are so yummy…
I was wondering if you had ever thought to bake these in the oven instead of trying to flip them in the skillet? Also, I would highly recommend walnut burgers for a meatless burger. They are SO tasty and easy to make. Even my husband, who is not at all interested in going without meat at any meal really enjoys them.
Walnut Burger
1 1/2 c shredded cheese
1 c finely chopped walnuts (make sure they’re fine so you don’t have crumbly burgers)
1 c soft breadcrumbs (I use fresh bread so the burgers are moist)
1/2 c finely chopped onion
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp ketchup
basil or thyme to taste
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper or lemon pepper
2 tbsp olive oil (if cooking in skillet)
Combine all ingredients except oil. Form into 6 patties.
Skillet: Cook patties in oil over medium heat until golden brown on both sides.
Oven: Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350 for 12-13 minutes, flipping once.
Hi Jane!
I’d been eying this recipe for a while and wanted to try it. I finally convinced my fiance to make it (he’s the master chef in our house), and we had to make some substitutions to the recipe due to lack of ingredients in our house and for calorie counting/nutrition necessity.
We had no green chilis, so for spice we used white pepper, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. For a bit of sweetness and vitamins, we added two large carrots to the chickpeas.
Instead of using the two tbsps of oil we used two tbsps of tahini in the mixture and used pam on the skillet. This added a nice umami flavor and is more nutritious than the oil.
Oh, and we had no trouble flipping them – I think it was the tahini in the mixture.
love it! love that you made such great changes to the recipe, I bet it was delish!!! 🙂 thanks for sharing
Oh these look absolutely heavenly. I think I have everything in the house to make them too! I think the toppings make it look even BETTER!! Can’t wait to try this one! (will have to be soon while hubby’s out for harvest… he’d never go for this!)
Made these for dinner tonight, and they were GREAT! I loved them, my meat-lovin hb declared them “pretty good”, and my 3 yr old humored me and took one bite. I REALLY liked them though, so they will become a regular summertime easy dinner option around here. I served them with baked sweet potato fries, and a side salad. Thanks for ANOTHER great recipe Jane!
I’ve been eating meatless for so long but have never made a homemade veggie burger. I think the time has come. And this sounds like a tasty one. I do love chickpeas. Thanks!