Black Bean Burger with Sweet Potato Frites

A delicious, double-pattied Vegan Black Bean Burger topped with tomato, lettuce, avocado, and vegan aioli, served with a side of oven-roasted sweet potato curry fries. All thrown together in less than an hour, and makes for a delicious dinner.

Skip to any part of the recipe by clicking on the links below:

• Introduction

• Before We Get Started

• Ingredients

• Method

• Spruce it Up

Introduction

There are very few veggie burgers that I see online that really make me stop and say “Wow - that is what I’m eating for dinner tonight”. Now don’t get me wrong, I love veggie burgers. Oftentimes, the ones at restaurants are better than the actual burgers they sell there (try one next time you go out, and tell me I’m not spot on). Unfortunately for us, those burgers often come frozen and package-sealed from a factory in another province, jam-packed with preservatives and ingredients we can hardly pronounce, and sitting atop days of multi-step processes that allow them to be sold to customers. So how do we make a restaurant quality burger at home, without the preservatives, ingredients, and processing?

In this recipe, you’re gonna see it all. I’m laying bare the eye-opening practices of putting together my black bean burger, so be prepared. You might want to sit down, grab a glass of water (for hydration and for spitting out in a mélange of surprise, abhorrence, and laughter), and a paper bag for the almost certain hyperventilation.

In this 45 minute special, you’ll see the all the steps, like cooking lentils and then putting them into a bowl with black beans, or adding your favourite BBQ sauce; haphazardly throwing in spices, and even worse, soy sauce. I’m certain we’ll commit a few war crimes along the way, but at the end of it, you’ll have a very good veggie burger. I’m laying it all bare - for the people. So come along, enjoy the ride, and don’t forget that paper bag.

The secret to this recipe is to really mash your mixture together. If you’ve got a potato masher, use that, but if you don’t, don’t sweat it - a fork works great, too. Really get it down to a mash, so that you can hardly see any solid beans. This helps keep the burger together, so that when you put it in the pan, or go to take a bite, it doesn’t fall apart on you.

Check out the Spruce it Up section for ideas on how to take this recipe to the next level.

Before We Get Started

Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Total Time: 45 Minutes

• A lot of the prep will be done at the same time the cooking is happening.

Yield: 5 Burgers

Ingredients

• 3 Sweet Potatoes

• 1 can Black Beans

• 1/3 cup Split Red Lentils, uncooked

• 1/3 cup Bread Crumbs

• 1/4 cup BBQ Sauce

  • Your favourite kind

• 2 tsp. Soy Sauce

• 2 tsp. Garlic Powder

• 2 tsp. Onion Powder

• 1 tsp. Cumin

• 1 tsp. Chili Powder

• 1 tsp. Curry Powder

• 1 pinch Cayenne

• Splash of Lemon Juice

• Tomatoes

• Lettuce

• Burger Buns

• Sauce

  • Your favourite kind.

• Avocado

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.

2. Square off your sweet potatoes. Cut them into planks (long, rectangular pieces, like a cellphone), then slice those planks into thin, fry shapes.

3. Throw them into a bowl with a good drizzle of olive oil, 1 tsp. onion and garlic powder, 1 tsp curry powder, a good pinch of salt and a few cracks of pepper. Place them onto a tin-foil lined baking tray, and pop them into the oven for 15 minutes once it comes to temperature.

4. While you’re waiting for the sweet potatoes, cook your split red lentils, following the instructions on the package. Drain and rinse your black beans, allowing them to sit for a bit while the lentils cook to dry off any excess moisture.

5. Once the 15 minutes on your fries has come to an end, take the out of the oven, toss them about to turn them over, and throw them back into the oven for another 15 minutes.

   • There will be a lot of fries - don’t worry about turning over each and every once. Just grab a few big piles with your spatula and flip them.

6. Add the black beans and cooked lentils to a bowl with your bread crumbs, BBQ sauce, 1 tsp. garlic and onion powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, a pinch of cayenne and salt, your soy sauce, and a splash of lemon juice. Mix thoroughly, then mash together well, until you can no longer see any whole beans.

   • Mash it together as much as you can.

7. Place a piece of saran wrap down on your cutting board, then place your mixture down on top. Spread it out into a rectangular shape until its about 1/2 inch thick all the way across, then use a circular baking mold to cut out perfect, circular shaped patties. Grab the excess between each of your cuts, roll them back up into a ball, and repeat, until you’ve gotten as many patties out as your can.

8. Heat a pan over medium-high heat, with oil. Sprinkle your patties with salt, then fry them on both sides for approximately 1 minute each, or until they’re crispy.

9. Slice your tomatoes, tomatoes, avocado, and buns. Grab your favourite sauce, and build your burgers. Pull the sweet potato frites out of the oven.

10. Enjoy.

Spruce it Up

• Try using different spices on your sweet potato frites. I used curry powder for an Indian kick but loads of other spices work great, too.

• If you’re not a big fan of sweet potatoes, regular potatoes will work just as well.

• For an added flavour, chop up some parsley and throw them into your black bean burger mix before cooking.