You can’t buy frozen burgers like this. Tons of protein, flavour, colour and nutrition packed into one burger patty—can’t go wrong.

Before making this recipe, I always just assumed that chipotle peppers were their own kind of pepper. But as it turns out, chipotles are actually just smoked jalapeno peppers! I feel like this is common knowledge to a lot of people but I never knew, so there you have it. As for the adobo sauce that the chipotles are soaking in, that primarily consists on vinegar, tomato, salt and spices. It all works really well with the black beans.

If you can’t find chipotles in adobo sauce, I’d recommend using a canned jalapeno pepper and a drop of liquid smoke flavouring. You can also buy smoky chipotle seasoning at a lot of grocery stores, which will do if you can’t find the other stuff.

I got this recipe from Prevention RD and only made a few small alterations. It’s always nice to find veg-friendly and gluten-free recipes because then everyone in my house can eat them. This recipe is also convenient because there are a lot of steps you can prepare in advance (cooking the quinoa/chopping up some ingredients). Allowing the patties to refrigerate overnight really firms them up as well.

These burgers are good just on their own, but if you’re serving them as a meal you can serve them on buns with avocado, salsa, fresh cilantro and whatever else you normally eat your burgers with (though you probably won’t need much because the burgers pack quite a bit of heat and flavour on their own).

For my burger bun, I spread a bit of butter and minced garlic then put them face down on a pan to allow to one side to be crunchy. I think next time I’d do this on the barbecue so it toasts the bun completely and holds in the burger that much better.

Ingredients

• ½ cup dry quinoa
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tsp. hot chili oil
• 1 tsp. avocado oil (olive oil will work fine as well)
• 1/2 large red onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. ground sea salt
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 large egg
• 2/3 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 chipotle in adobo, minced
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 cup whole flaked oats
• 1/4 cup oat flour

Method

Heat a dry saucepan on medium-high heat. Add quinoa and toast for 3-4 minutes until quinoa begins to give off a nutty smell and it begins to turn golden. Add water and chili oil to saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover; let cook for 10-15 minutes until all the water is absorbed and the quinoa is no longer hard. Set aside.

Heat avocado oil in a small skillet, then add red onion and garlic. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. salt and cook for 5-6 minutes until onion softens. Once cooked, transfer the onion and garlic to a large bowl. Add in black beans and mash with a potato masher or fork until a “pasty” mixture is formed.

Stir in the tomato paste, egg, corn, cilantro, chipotle, cumin and remaining salt with a fork. Once well combined, add the cooked quinoa, flaked oats and oat flour. Form mixture into 6 equal burger patties, compacting them well with your hands while forming. Place patties on a baking sheet, cover with cling wrap, and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight.

Once patties are chilled and ready to cook, they can be done by oven or skillet. For the oven method, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place patties on a greased baking sheet and cook for 10-12 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Flip patties over and cook for another 10 minutes. For the skillet method, heat a teaspoon of oil on medium-high heat. Place patties into pan one at a time, and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side until crispy (try to flip them as little as possible). You can also try this on a griddle over a barbecue but they can fall apart easily so watch out!

Serve burgers on buns with your favourite garnishes and enjoy!