Vegan kidney beans burgers

Today I made some very tasty vegan kidney beans burgers. I didn’t even felt that they are not made with meat.  I’m pretty sure there are many of you who love THOSE burgers from THAT fast-food, right? If you only knew what they’re made of, you’ve probably won’t buy them anymore. You better prepare them at home, buy the necessary ingredients and in this way at least you know what you eat.

Red kidney beans are part of the legumes family: other types of beans (cannellini beans, black beans, black-eyed-peas, lima beans, pinto beans etc.), but also lentils, chickpeas and soybeans. The star this burgers, red kidney beans, has a lot of nutrients for the body and it should be included in everyone’s menu.

Red Kidney Beans – benefits

• it is a good source of protein (perfect for those who have a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle)
• it is a good source of antioxidants
• it contains a large amount of fiber (essential in any diet)
• it contains Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids
• it is full of vitamins (A, B complex, C, E, K, folic acid) and minerals (calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium)

For today’s recipe, I chose to make vegan kidney beans burgers. Maybe some of you will find it strange, but yes, the red kidney beans are the main ingredient. Even without meat, this kind of burger will make you lick your fingers. You won’t even realize it’s not meat in this burger, because the texture is almost like a burger made with meat.

The good part is that this red beans burger is much healthier than the burger you have certainly eaten many times from that famous fast-food and by „healthier” I’m not saying just because it’s a vegetarian / vegan burger, but because it’s homemade, I know exactly the ingredients that I used, I didn’t use sauces to load it with too much calories and the bun that used is a whole wheat bun with pumpkin seeds.

Here are the ingredients and the method:
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INGREDIENTS
2 cans of kidney beans (8 servings)
2 carrots
½ yellow bell pepper
½ red bell pepper or Kapia
1 red onion
Spices: salt, black pepper, paprika,ground cumin (all to taste)
4 buns, 1 tomato, 1 cucumber ½ red onion, green salad

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PREPARATION
Peel, wash and cut in small chunks the onion, the carrots, half of red and yellow bell pepper. Put them in a food processor and puls until finely chopped.

Drain 2 cans of kidney beans, put them in a strainer and wash them a bit under running water. Mash them with a fork or with a potato smasher, until the beans become a paste. In a large bowl mix the mashed kidney bean with all the chopped veggies, season with salt, black pepper, ground cumin and paprika. Mix the composition until it’s thick and begin to hold together.

Using your wet hands, shape the mixture into small burgers-like and put them in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake them in the preheated oven at 180°C, for 30 minutes/side.

When they are cooked, leave them to cool, then ”build” your burger with your favorite veggies and add-ins.

I chose ,,to build” a simple burger, I used whole wheat buns with pumpkin seeds, I also added just a few vegetables cut into slices (tomato, cucumber, red onion and green salad). I didn’t use sauces at all, because I wanted to make a burger as clean as possible.

Going meetless has never tasted so good!

Enjoy!

Nicoleta 🙂