Chickpea Burgers with Lemon Tahini Sauce

Why We Love This Recipe For Chickpea Burgers

As you may or may now know, we have been cutting way back on our meat intake here in the house of Healthy Seasonal. Not so much for health reasons as much for environmental impact. We are swapping proteins with a lower carbon footprint such as poultry and fish for those with higher impact like beef. We have also been eating vegetarian many nights a week since August. You can read more about this decision here on Instagram.

Burger night is one where we have struggled to find a really yummy and satisfying burger. I have tried several plant-based burgers from the freezer section and have been disappointed across the board. So I set about coming up with my own homemade veggie burgers.

I decided to use chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, as the base of these healthy veggie burgers. If you have been reading here you know that chickpeas are one of my favorite beans, from Easy Chickpea Salad, this Vegan Chickpea “Tuna” Salad and Chickpea Stew, I add them to everything! I wanted to use the flavors of falafel as the inspiration for the spices and flavors, but I found that they were too mushy when made from canned chickpeas.

I ended up discovering that while canned chickpeas are great as the main ingredient, adding in cooked brown rice really improved their texture! Thus these amazing Brown Rice Chickpea Veggie Burgers were born! I am so excited for you to try them, whether it be for Meatless Monday, burger night, or to stock your freezer with. They are a great vegetarian dinner that even meat-eaters will enjoy!

Ingredients for this Recipe

• 1 14-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 large egg
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon harissa, optional (either paste or powder works, you can sub in a pinch of cayanne if unavaible.)
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 small carrot, peeled and shredded (1/2 cup shredded raw sweet potatoes also works)
• 8-ounce package cooked brown rice (or 1 ½ cup cold leftover cooked brown rice)
• ½ cup chopped parsley
• 3 tablespoons avocado oil or neutral cooking oil
• 3 tablespoons Greek yogurt or plant-based yogurt
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• ½ teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice. (If you love lemon you can add more to taste)
• 6 Toasted buns or English muffins for serving
• Your favorite veggie burger toppings: We suggest cucumber slices, red raw onion slices and sprouts for serving (Tomato would also be nice)

Steps 1-4 Making The Burgers

• Step 1: Place half of the chickpeas in the food processor with the steel blade attachment and process for 10 seconds. Scrape sides and process again until as smooth as possible.
• Step 2: Add the remaining chickpeas, egg, garlic, flour, cumin, harissa, ¾ teaspoon salt and cinnamon and pulse ten times until most of the whole chickpeas are cut into coarse grind with only some larger pieces about the size of a pea.
• Step 3: Scrape the chickpea mixture out into a large bowl. Add carrot, rice and parsley and stir together to make the burger dough.
• Step 4: Using moist hands, form six chickpea patties, about 3 inches wide and ¾-inch thick. Set on a plate.

Step 5: Cook the burgers

Step 5: Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add patties and cook, undisturbed until the bottom of the patties are golden brown and the color is visible along the bottom edges of the patties, about 5 minutes. Carefully flip the burgers over with a thin spatula and continue cooking until they are cooked through, about 3 minutes longer.

Step 6: Meanwhile, whisk Greek yogurt, tahini, zest, lemon juice and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt in a small bowl. If the sauce is too thick you can thin it with a small amount of water.

Step 7: Assemble The Chickpea Burgers

Step 7: Spread the tahini sauce over both cut sides of each bun or English muffin (about 1 tablespoon per bun half.) Serve the burgers on buns or English muffins topped with cucumber, onion and sprouts. Drizzle any additional sauce over the burgers.

FAQs and Expert tips For Making Veggie Burgers From Scratch

Additional Burger Recipes To Try

• These Black Bean Burgers with Green Tea Aioli are so amazing and the flavors are popping!
• This recipe for Southwest Bean Burgers is an oldie but goodie! The almond flour makes the texture so good!
• If you like chicken, these Za’atar Chicken Burgers with Cucumber mint Tzatziki are on point!
• Don’t miss my collection of Healthy Burger Recipes for even more inspiration!

Okay I know it isn’t a burger but it is another vegetarian sandwich: You may like is this Veggie Reuben made with sauteed veggies, sour kraut, cheese and light Russian dressing.