Homemade Lentil and Black Bean Burgers

To be fair, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a faux meat burger, if you like (England does not have enough land for everyone to eat free-range meat, so the argument that if you like the taste of meat you should eat ‘real meat’ does not add up, unless people want factory farms).

But if you prefer to make burgers with natural ingredients, this is also a good option (and cheaper too). These Lentil Quinoa Burgers (Ela Vegan) make use of cheap and nutritious lentils with quinoa (also packed with protein).

Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (salt, onion, garlic are not safe near animals). Bin allium scraps (onion, garlic, shallots) as acids could harm compost creatures.

This black bean burger (Ela Vegan) is also made with natural ingredients, by the same chef.

Why Try These Recipes?

Because most store-bought vegan burgers are rubbish. Not only do they taste bad, but they often are just made with vegetables. A good burger needs protein and calcium (from lentils or beans) to be nutritious.

Supermarket own brand foods are there to make a profit, and this means (like their vegan cheeses) they often use coconut oil over better ingredients, which results in mushy burgers with melt all at once, leading to a greasy taste and feel.

Most also rely on unsustainable soy isolates, which means they don’t even have much fibre. They also tend to stick to the pan, leaving them mushy inside and burnt on the outside.

Often it’s a case of just recycling extra ingredients to make a profit, rather than choosing healthy nutritious ingredients to make a good homemade burger.

Seriously, learn to make your own – and you’ll never go back!