How to Make Gluten-Free Veggie Burgers

My husband Dan has been on a quest for the perfect gluten-free bean burger. There are many veggie burgers out there gathering ice crystals in grocery freezers but most are not gluten-free and of the safe remainder, many are unfortunately also taste-free. Since we have been growing a plentiful crop of soybeans over the last several garden seasons, we have bags of frozen blanched soybeans in the freezer and bags more dried soybeans in the cupboard.

Dan's been doing a little gastronomic experimentation and found a tasty soybean burger recipe that he's been slamming down for lunch quite often. It does take a lot of time to make the GF buns, make a batch of homemade barbecue sauce and cook and process the beans. It is the slowest of slow food, but these are some tasty burgers! You need an overnight to cook the beans and about 3.5 hours of prep time, so save it for a day when you can luxuriate in the kitchen.

Dan's Famous GF Veggie Burgers

1 cup dried soybeans
2 bay leaves

2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/2 small onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (Dan used Orgran GF crumbs)
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 cup thin barbeque sauce (we used Dad's special recipe)

Place soybeans in crockpot with water to cover (we used our little 1 quart crockpot and add 3 cups water) and cook overnight or at least 8 hours, or until beans are tender. You may need to check the crockpot and add a little water, if necessary.

In a food processor, combine soybeans and eggs. Puree until fairly smooth. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until well blended.

Place in bowl and cover and chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours.

When ready to cook up bean burgers, shape into eight patties and place on an oiled cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Baste burgers with barbeque sauce and bake 1 hour, carefully turning and basting burgers every 15 minutes to give them crispy, crusty edges. They are a little delicate, so turn with care.

Makes 8 luscious bean burgers.



Dan likes them on a split Crusty French Roll (recipe is in Bette Hagman's "The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread") with lettuce, cheese, home-canned sweet cucumber relish and more of Dad's barbeque sauce on the side. Now that's eatin'!

I'm contributing this Veggie Burger recipe to The Well Seasoned Cook's Eighth Helping of "My Legume Love Affair", a popular food blog event that celebrates those tasty, healthy, frugal legumes that we should all celebrate on our plates more often. Susan is the Well Seasoned Cook and she is accepting recipes for MLLA until February 28th, so feel free to join in the fun with a beany recipe until then.