Bean Burgers, Delicious, Simple And Nutritious

Today there is a trend to recover the typical fast food recipes, but made with healthy and nutritious ingredients. These bean burgers are an example, as they are a delicious alternative to eating legumes in a different way.

Discover the steps to make these simple bean burgers with which you will even confuse some who will think they are eating meat.  

Are hamburgers healthy?

Burgers have been one of the world’s favorite dishes since fast food chains became popular. They taste good, are inexpensive, and are easy to eat.

However, in many cases the meat used is of low quality, since, being ground, it can be more camouflaged.

To disguise the low quality of the meat, flavor enhancers are often used whose effects on the body are doubtful. In addition, they contain an excess of salt and are fried with vegetable oils that are not very beneficial.

If we make hamburgers ourselves at home we can make them in a healthy way and with good ingredients.

However, bean burgers are a great vegetarian alternative to eat once in a while.

They are also suitable for gluten and lactose intolerant.

The beans

Legumes in general, and beans in particular, are an essential food in a balanced and nutritious diet.

They contain complex carbohydrates and are an excellent source of plant protein and fiber. They are also rich in vitamins and minerals and low in fat.

By containing complex carbohydrates, they help us maintain stable blood sugar levels, making them an ideal food to prevent cravings for sweets, as well as for those who suffer from diabetes.

Their high fiber content makes them a very beneficial food to control cholesterol and obesity, as well as to prevent constipation.

Bean burgers

These burgers are so easy to make, you’ll want to repeat every week.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of beans (240 g)

• 1 egg or ½ cup of chickpea flour (60 g) (if we want a vegan option)
• 1 cup of ground oats (120 g)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 handful of fresh parsley
• Sea salt
• Smoked paprika
• Black pepper
• Cumin
• Olive oil

We will use cumin in small quantities, but to our liking, in order to facilitate the digestion of legumes. Another option is kombu seaweed, which not only makes the beans more digestive, but also softens them earlier, during cooking.

Also, smoked paprika is the ingredient that will give a more meat-like flavor. All spices are to the taste of the cook and the diners.

With these amounts you can make about 10 hamburgers.

What should you do?

To prepare the bean burgers we will follow the following steps:

• The first thing to do is soak the beans overnight.
• The next day, we will cook the beans without salt. If we added the salt at the beginning, the legumes would be tough.

• We will strain the beans well. This step is very important to avoid that the hamburgers are too soft. We can help ourselves with a spoon to crush them and release all the liquid.
• In a bowl we will put all the ingredients and we will beat them until we get a thick and homogeneous texture.
• If it is too thick, we will add a little water or bean broth. On the contrary, if it is too liquid, we will add more oats.
• If we wish, we can coat the hamburgers in oatmeal, flour or breadcrumbs. However, it is not essential.
• Next, we will take portions to fry the burgers. If we do it with wet hands we will prevent them from sticking to us.
• We will fry the burgers in a pan with olive oil.

A complete healthy menu

These burgers provide us with a good amount of nutrients. However, to get a complete menu we propose these alternatives:

• Hamburger with gazpacho and baked potatoes.

• Hamburger with sauteed vegetables and quinoa.
• Brown rice salad and hamburger.
• Sandwich hamburger with lettuce and tomato.
• Hamburger with corn pancakes and guacamole.

If we like these vegetarian burgers, we can also try making them with other legumes, as they are always delicious, such as with lentils or chickpeas.