Beetroot burgers | v + gf

One of my favorite ways to add vegetables to a dinner is to incorporate them into the dish I’m actually making. I mean, a salad is nice, but sometimes it could be a little boring to serve a dinner with a salad on the side, consisting of lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber, don’t you think? So, in order to eat a lot of greens, yet avoid boring salads, I love to add the vegetables directly to the dish I’m preparing.

For example, adding spinach to your pancakes does not only make them healthier, it also gives them an awesome green color. The ultimate dish to add all sorts of vegetables to must, however, be veggie burgers. I’ve previously shared a recipe for green pea patties (the color on them though – pure love) and zucchini and corn patties. Both are super yummy, but earlier this fall I felt that I wanted to extend my veggie burger repertoire and also create something yummy with beetroots, because super healthy and in season. So, of course, I made beetroot burgers!

The first time I made them, I added some leftover chickpeas to the batter along with some glutenfree flour and spices. I just wanted to taste them and see if it was delicious or not. What I added to them was completely random. But you know what? They turned out to be the best veggie burgers I had ever made! Since I had not written down the measurements, I had no idea where to start the next time I made them, such a rookie mistake! But I guess I remembered pretty well because they turned out to be super yummy the second time as well. And the third time. And you know what? Now I know exactly what was in them! 😉

Beetroot burgers

If the batter seems to contain too much water, my best advice is to add some sort of fiber which absorbs the fluid in a great way. I’d recommend psyllium husk, a tablespoon usually does the trick. Just add it, stir and wait about 10 minutes before forming into burgers. 

makes 4-8 burgers, depending on the size

5 dl | 2 cups grated beets (about 4-6 beets, depending on size)
1/2 yellow onion
1 1/2 dl | cooked chickpeas (I used canned)
2 dl | 80 g rolled oats
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 dl | 3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 dl | 55 g rice flour (more or less depending on how sticky the batter is)
salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Peel and grate the beets on a box grater.

2. Finely chop the yellow onion and put the beets and onion in a food processor/blender.

3. Add chickpeas, rolled oats, minced garlic and parsley and pulse till the mix comes together.

4. Transfer the mixture to a baking bowl and add rice flour, salt, and pepper. Stir together.

5. Form into 4-8 patties (depending on how large you want them). The mixture will probably be very sticky, so wet your hands in between forming each burger. It’ll make it easier to form burgers.

6. Fry the burgers in a frying pan, by heating up non-flavored coconut oil (or other vegetable oil) over medium heat, and frying the burgers for 3-5 minutes on each side. The burgers are ready when golden brown.

7. Serve with bread of your choice or place the burgers in lettuce leaves and serve with all your favorite toppings.