Mixed Bean and Pea “Garden Burger” – Vegan and Gluten Free!

Hellooo new bean burger! I have a feeling this will be the year of the bean burger and I plan to dive into the journey and be as creative as possible! That’s the beauty of a vegetarian burger, the possibilities are absolutely endless!!

This burger is called a “garden burger” because it is made of lots of green veggies like peas, spinach and herbs. Also it has a nice speckled marbled effect with the greens 🙂 it is also my first vegan AND gluten free burger! Usually I use eggs and breadcrumbs to bind the burgers but this time I simply used some rice flour and it worked perfectly. It did create a firmer texture throughout the burger which I liked but just be careful not to add too much flour.

There are other gluten free flours out there but I bought rice flour so you will see it a lot over the next few weeks. I promise I will buy a few more varieties soon!

For convenience I used frozen peas and also frozen spinach, buying vegetables frozen can be a good thing, a lot of them are frozen straight after being picked and therefore have “the freshness locked in”. At least that’s what the packet says! When I first left university I would always have a variety of frozen vegetables on hand because they are only a couple of quid and would last a few weeks so I wouldn’t have to worry about wasting anything or letting unused fresh veg go off. Now a days we still use them but they are more for emergency/ budget weeks than for everyday.

Makes 4 medium sized burgers (or two whoppers….or 8 minis…you get the idea!)

Vegan, vegetarian, wheat and gluten free, dairy free

1 can mixed beans
100g frozen peas
100g frozen spinach
1 red chilli
Large bunch coriander
2 garlic cloves
1 lemon – zest and juice of 1/2
Pinch salt and pepper
1.5 tblspn Gluten free rice flour

Defrost the peas and spinach and squeeze the excess water out of the spinach. Blitz/ mash/ smash/ crush the beans and put in a big bowl with the rest of the ingredients and use your hands to combine all of the ingredients together.

Mould into 4 burgers and place on a plate in the fridge for at least half an hour to allow them to firm up.

To cook you can either fry in a little oil for around 6- 8 minutes turning a few times whilst cooking or you can grill, again turning a few times during cooking until it is hot all the way through and nice and crispy on the outside.

For the sake of the photographs I served this in a bun (and then froze the bun afterwards) however to keep it gluten free then this is perfect served on its own with a big salad or even along side some rice and chunky tomato sauce.