I’m always on the lookout for bigger and better vegetarian burger recipes especially when places like Mcdonalds still think it is okay to mash frozen vegetables together and shove them in breadcrumbs and call it a burger or if you go for the deluxe then they whack a single piece of iceberg lettuce and a slice of cucumber on top too – woah steady on there guys, I might not be able to handle the taste explosion! Anyway, moving on from my latent hostility towards fast food chains that still don’t value vegetarians as customers, I’ve been doing a lot of trialing of various home recipes for vegetarian burgers. The trouble is that it is very hard to use vegetarian soya products like mince or chunks to mix together as they just don’t bind together the same way that meat does which means we’re left with the options of trying out vegetables…

Some people may already be familiar with my Smoky Black Bean & Corn Burger as it’s been a huge hit on my blog this summer and I have to say I make it at least once a fortnight. However, what I have really been after has been a decent mushroom burger. I tried a recipe I saw on a Facebook video and wasn’t that impressed. The main body was made of rice and it kind of came out more like a ball of risotto or an un-bread-crumbed arrancini. So I started looking round at people trying other ways to make mushroom burgers, other than just grilling a giant flat mushroom and calling it a burger and thought well… why can’t mushrooms just be the meat. So taking inspiration from a few different places, I came up with the Meaty Garlic Mushroom burger which can also be made in 5 minutes and ready to eat in 10!

Ingredients (makes 4):

150g of Mixed Mushrooms, blitzed

2 Large Eggs, whisked

70g of Breadcrumbs

65g of Shredded Hard Italian Cheese

75g of Finely Chopped Onion

2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed

30g of Plain Flour

1 tbsp of Olive Oil.

Salt and Pepper to “taste.”

Method:

1. So, when I say blitzed with the mushrooms, I mean totally blitzed. Place all the mushrooms in a food processor and blitzed down to tiny pieces. It will make quite a damp mix.
2. Pop the blitzed mushrooms in a bowl with ALL the other ingredients and mix thoroughly. If you’re not ready to eat yet, cover the mixture and pop it in the fridge until you’re ready to go!
3. Next, shape into patties (they’ll be quite thick and a little wet.) At this point then can either be covered and frozen for up to 3 months or cook them.
4. Add the oil to a frying pan and turn on a medium-high heat. Add the patties and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Serve immediately in a bun with crisp lettuce, a slice of cheese and a little mayo.

There you have it – the meatiest veggie burgers around that take only a few minutes to prep and just 5 minutes to cook. I love mine with a bit of stilton melted on top and some garlic sauce. If you’re thinking they’ve not cooked enough, you can always pop them into the oven in their pan for a few minutes to finish them off – delicious!

Let me know if you try them AND what you think!