Basic Lentil Burgers
February 1st, 2008 by housewife
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Sometimes I think that there are more lentil burger recipes out there than there are soup recipes. But of course I am exaggerating a bit.
Still I know of quite a few variations on the theme, so I thought that, for now, I would just post the basic recipe that I tend to use and add some groovy variations later on.
This one came to me via my friend Lilac and I have tweaked it a bit to make it more yummy to my own palate.
These burgers are VERY, VERY filling. I always think that I want two but have problems even finishing one burger with all of the trimmings. :) Thus they are a frugal and inexpensive way to fill people up, and the full feeling lasts for hours.
They are generally liked, even by folks who claim not to like lentil burgers, but I can’t guarantee that it will please everyone sitting round your dinner table. It’s best to try it out first as a specialty lunch item before springing it on people who are drooling ravenously waiting for a hearty wintertime dinner. ;)
As I said, variations abound and you can add almonds, peas, cumin, cayenne…all manner of other flavors in order to spice up your home burger-making.
- Basic Lentil Burgers
Ingredients:
½ lb (half bag) Lentils
2 whole cloves garlic
¼ cup rice or dairy milk
½ cup oats
1 medium diced onion
2 egg whites
¼ cup flour
5 leaves fresh Basil (or ½ tsp dried)
¼ tsp Paprika
¼ Curry
1 tsp Salt
½ Pepper
Pot of water
1. Let water cover lentils by one inch, cook until boiling and lower temperature to simmer.
2. Cover pan and allow to cook down until no water remains.
3. Mush cooked lentils together with chopped garlic. *Leave some lentils whole.
4. Add 2 handfuls of uncooked oats, eggs, milk and spices to taste.
5. Cook chopped onion with oil in a hot skillet.
6. Make a thick base of onions in the pan and form the lentils patties on top of them.
7. Cook over medium heat, flipping GENTLY half way through.
8. Cook until warm throughout, the patties will likely not firm up much during cooking.
9. Serve with tomato slices, lettuce, onions, mustard, cheese…whatever you like!
***These are the basic hippie lentil burger but I will add more interesting twists on these burgers at a later date!!!
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is there any reason that soy or almond milk couldn’t be used?
kind of a silly question but sometimes silly things matter.
Go ahead and use any kind of milk that you want ;)
I just prefer rice milk, I know other folks have tried them with hemp milk and they turned out just fine.
-Vera
I made this for my family and it was a hit. I decided to bake them though and that worked really well. Do you think they will freeze okay?
I think that they should freeze well.
Just make sure that they are fully thawed before you try to reheat them.
I’m glad that you liked this one Holly.
Take care.
-Vera
Are there any alternatives to using eggs?
Yes you can use an “egg replacer.”
Bob’s Red Mill make a lovely one that they sell at most Whole Foods stores.
-Vera
I made these last night - very tasty indeed. I’m not much of a cook, but they turned out great. I shall be adding them to my very short list of meals I can make :)