The veggie burger is an amazing thing because there are so many varieties of vegan burgers to make. This Vegan Pumpkin Burger has become my favorites so far because it is so delicious and hearty! Here are a few reasons to love this plant based burger recipe:
- Tender and hearty texture that holds together for the best grillable vegan burger
- The perfect amount of pumpkin and savory spices make for an epic flavor!
- High in plant-based protein
- Easy to make and ready in 35 minutes
- Oil-free
- Gluten-free patty
- Freezer-friendly
- Meal-prep friendly
How To Make The Best Vegan Burger
The key to the perfect veggie burger is in the base. The base is made up of three simple parts and then you can spice it up however you like.
Here is how to make the base for a perfect plant based burger:
- 1 part vegetable puree. I often use sweet potato, pumpkin, or any squash. If using canned pumpkin, this becomes 3/4 of a part because it is often a higher water content.
- 1 part mashed beans. Black beans, kidney beans, lentils, and chickpeas are my go-to for burgers because they are hearty and not mushy.
- 1 part oat flour or pulsed oats. Don’t waste money buying oat flour. Instead, you can simply blend your oats in a blender or food processor until it reaches a coarse flour-resembling texture. I’ve also used chickpea flour and it works well too. If you are using a liquid seasoning (like buffalo or BBQ sauce) you will need a bit more flour (or TVP, below) to absorb the extra moisture.
- 1/2 part of textured vegetable protein (TVP). This part is not necessary if you are trying to keep to a WFPB diet. However, TVP adds plant protein and makes the burgers a bit more firm. This is my new favorite burger ingredient, in case you were wondering.
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What You Need To Make The Best Veggie Burger
- Blender or Food Processor. Having a good one of these will make this process so much quicker and give your burgers a uniform texture. When making my oat flour for this burger recipe, I use a Vitamix Dry Container for blending to prevent the flour from packing at the bottom, so I get a nice even flour. When I blend together burger ingredients, I use a food processor because I don’t want to over-blend, which would lead to mushy burgers.
- Mixing bowl and a rubber spatula. You can get festive with these ones!
- Silicone mat and baking sheet. The silicone mat is a must for oil-free baking so you can prevent nearly anything from sticking! It also makes clean-up super quick because you wont even need to wash the pan. Woot!
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If you’ve seen my other recipes, you may have noticed that a there are quite a few vegan burger and sandwich recipes here. And that is because I love my veggie burgers! If you love burgers too, check out these other burger recipes that I have created:
Pumpkin Burger Variation:
To kick this Vegan Pumpkin Burger up a notch, add 1/4 cup of buffalo sauce and a pinch of cayenne pepper to the ingredient mixture and an extra tablespoon or two of flour, if it is too sticky. This will make it a Buffalo Pumpkin Burger and, if you’re into spicy, I promise you’ll love it!
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Vegan Pumpkin Burger
The Pumpkin Burger is a delicious, tender, and hearty vegan burger that is high in protein and will delight your tastebuds anytime of the year. This recipe is also freezer friendly and perfect for meal prep!
- Prep Time10 min
- Cook Time25 min
- Total Time35 min
Ingredients
For the Burger Patty
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup dry textured vegetable protein (TVP)
- 1 1/4 cup oats, pulsed in blender or food processor (or 1 cup oat or chickpea flour)
- 2 TBSP nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp poultry herb seasoning
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp cayenne (optional)
- 1/4 cup flaxmeal
- 1 cup cooked lentils
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Burger Toppings
- Sliced Tomato
- Sliced Red Onion
- Romaine, Butter Lettuce, or Iceberg Lettuce
- Vegan Mayo
- Ketchup
- Buffalo Sauce (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, TVP, nutritional yeast, spices ,and flaxmeal. Mix until well combined.
In a food processor, pulse the oats into a coarse flour-like texture. Add the lentils, onion, and cilantro and pulse until well combined but still with some texture remaining.
Add the lentil and oat mixture to the mixing bowl with the pumpkin mixture. Mix until well combined.
Take a handful of the burger dough and roll it into a ball, then flatten into a patty (If the mixture is too sticky, add a tablespoon more oat flour at a time). Place the patties on a lined baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes, flip and bake another 10-15 minutes. The burgers are done when they are firm and can easily be removed from the pan without sticking.
I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy vegan Pumpkin Burger recipe! Check out my cookbooks and recipe archive for more deliciousness!
Thank you for the recipe. I can’t wait to try it! I have steel-cut oats and instant oats, but not rolled. Can I use either of those to make the oat flour? I’m asking because most recipes call for rolled oats only. I love the suggestion of making your own oat flour. Game-changer for sure!!!
If you have a powerful blender, like a Vitamix, you can make oat flour with steel cut oats. It will make a larger volume of flour compared to rolled oats though. I think one cup of rolled oats makes about one cup of flour, but one cup of steel cut will make 1.5-2 cups of flour.
So happy you like the recipe! 🙂
I love these!! Thank you so much for helping create yummy vegan recipes. It’s also ww friendly which makes me very happy. ☺️
what can you use instead of tvp
The TVP could probably be left out, but if the mixture seems too sticky or thin you could add chickpea flour (or any flour) a little at a time until you can form a nice burger that holds together.
These are great. I thought you had to cook tvp before adding to a recipe but I guess this made it more binding. Certainly these burgers held together better than many recipes. I got about eight medium burgers and eight silver-dollar-sized ones that make great snacks on their own. Thanks! Ps love your website name..
Thanks Genevieve! I’m so happy you enjoyed the burgers 🙂