Savory Protein Packed Spinach Burgers

You're going to love these sturdy, hearty, and delicious spinach burgers! They're made with chickpeas, fresh spinach, and a whole lot of flavor!

We’re all about year round grilling, I mean, just take a look at the title and theme of our soon to be released cookbook, Great Vegan BBQ Without a Grill. ⇐ click the link to enter the epic giveaway!

When the winds are whipping up a flurry of ice crystals and the temperature demands that you wear a sweater, socks, and a heavy coat, the last thing you want to do is step outside to grill a burger. Not. Going. To. Happen.

So, what’s a person to do if they’re craving a delicious grilled spinach burger in early March, when winter is totally overstaying its welcome? You grill in the warm and cozy comfort of your kitchen.

All you’ll need is an awesome grill pan, like this one, (we’re giving one away in our epic giveaway, click here to enter) and a stove. If you don’t have a grill pan, a skillet will work too, you just won’t get those awesome grill marks that remind us of summer.

This is an any time of year, anyone can make, kind of burger. It’s super easy and it will rock your world.

This is not the typical mushy bean burger that you’ve most likely, and unfortunately, have been served at least once in your life. We don’t do mushy, we like burgers that stick together and have a nice and crispy surface, and this burger is all that.

It’s so delicious and full of flavor. We sautéed the onion and garlic and wilted the spinach to remove the excess water before we added it to the base of chickpeas and panko bread crumbs. This gave the burger so much more flavor and ensured that it wouldn’t get soggy.

We also added a liberal amount of nutritional yeast, garlic powder (you can never have enough garlic), tamari, and Italian seasoning to round out the flavor profile. It’s just so good, and good for you.

Now that you’re drooling just thinking about it, let’s make some.

HOW TO MAKE A SPINACH CHICKPEA BURGER THAT’S NOT MUSHY

First – Drain (reserve the liquid) the chickpeas and give them a good rinse. Let the water drain completely and put the beans in a food processor (we’re giving one away in our giveaway) and pulse 5 to 8 times, or until they’re mostly creamy.

Second – Sauté the onion, garlic, and spinach until the onion is translucent and the spinach releases its water. This is important because spinach and onions contain a lot of water. If you put them in the burger raw, they’ll let go of the water when you’re cooking your burger and it will get soggy. No Bueno!

Third – Add the spinach and onion mixture and the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and pulse 5 to 8 times, or until the ingredients are completely blended.

Fourth – Remove the blade from the processor and divide the burger batter by four or six (depending on the size of burger you want) and form into patties, then refrigerate for an hour to set.

Fifth – Brush the grill pan with oil to prevent sticking and heat on medium-high heat. When the grill is hot, add the burgers and cover with a lid. Cook them for approximately 4 minutes per side, or until they’re nicely browned and crispy on the exterior. If you cook them in a skillet, add oil to the pan so the burgers don’t stick, and cook the same as you would on a grill. Make sure you cover them. This will ensure that the interior of the burger gets hot.

That’s all you’ll need to do to make one of our favorite plant-based burgers ever. We like ours two ways. If we’re feeling lumberjack hungry, we go for a tasty pretzel bun to hold it all together. If we’re feeling more delicate, we wrap them in a large lettuce leaf. Our favorite toppings are thinly sliced tomatoes, shredded spinach, and a hefty dollop of mashed avocado or guacamole.

We've been getting so many pictures and sweet comments about our recipes on Instagram lately, that we wanted to start sharing them with you. Here are three out of dozens that we'll be sharing with you from now on.

Tried out @veganosity Mushroom Bourguignon for a new #MeatlessMonday dish. It was awesome! I was worried it would be a lot of work looking at the cooking time, but it was mostly just letting things simmer and flavor to set in. Special bonus: drank some of the @coppolawine Cab I used in it!

I have finally found THE BEST enchilada recipe EVER (making your own enchilada sauce is srsly worth the effort). Thank you @veganosity for this delicious, filling, plant-powered meal!

I mentioned in my last post that I had been recipe testing, to impress family at Christmas. These #vegan cinnamon rolls were definitely impressive. I followed the cinnamon roll recipe by @veganosity and it was super simple to follow, with no weird random ingredients. I took them to my grandparent’s house for afternoon tea yesterday, and they really enjoyed them. I think I may have a winner over here!!

If you haven’t tried these recipes, you need to! Click the links to go to the recipes:

Mushroom Bourguignon

Black Bean & Mushroom Enchiladas

Cinnamon Rolls

Of course, we hope you make our Spinach Burgers too. When you do, make sure you take a picture of your gorgeous creation and tag us @veganosity on Instagram so we can see!

Let’s connect! Hop on over to our Facebook page and give it a like, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter, and follow us and share this and other Veganosity recipes on Pinterest. We'd be so grateful if you did. If you like this recipe and can't wait to see what we're going to share next, subscribe to Veganosity. Just fill in the subscription box above our picture in the top right corner of the page. And, Alex and I love hearing from you, please leave a comment and let us know what you think of our recipes.

Savory Protein Packed Spinach Burgers

Thick, hearty, savory and delicious spinach burgers. Made with chickpeas and lots of flavors. This is the ultimate bean burger!

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Course: Entree, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Chilling time: 1 hour

Total Time: 23 minutes

Servings: 6 Burgers

Calories: 350kcal

Author: Linda Meyer

Ingredients

• 30 oz chickpeas reserve the liquid from the can
• 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil or 2 water See Note
• 1 white onion finely chopped
• 3 cups heaping cups spinach chopped
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 3 tbsp aquafaba bean juice
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste

To cook the burgers

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 to 6 Hamburger buns see note

Toppings

• Shredded spinach or greens of your choice
• Tomato slices
• Mashed avocado

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Instructions

• Drain (reserve the liquid) and rinse the beans and pulse 5 to 8 times in a food processor until they’re mostly creamy. There should be a few pieces of the beans.
• In a large skillet, heat the oil on medium-high heat and add the onion. Cook until translucent and soft, approximately 7 minutes. Add the garlic and spinach and cook until the spinach is just wilted. Remove from the heat.
• Add the onion and spinach mixture to the food processor along with the remaining ingredients and pulse 5 to 8 times or until the ingredients are completely combined. Remove the blade from the processor and dived the batter by 4 or 6 (depending on how large you want them to be) and form into patties. Refrigerate for an hour to set.
• Heat an oiled grill pan or skillet on medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the burgers and cover with a lid. Cook for approximately 4 minutes per side, or until they’re nicely browned and have a crisp exterior. Make sure to cover them so they heat all the way through.

Notes

The Nutrition Facts are an estimate only.

If you don’t like to cook with oil, you can sauté the onion and garlic in a few tablespoons of water, but don’t skip the oil for cooking the burgers unless you have a really good non-stick pan.

We like pretzel buns for this burger, or if you want to go lower calorie, use a large piece of lettuce to wrap it.

Nutrition

Calories: 350kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 325mg | Potassium: 529mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 95IU | Vitamin C: 3.8mg | Calcium: 123mg | Iron: 5.5mg