Delicious Homemade Vegan Burger Recipes
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!
How to Make Your Own Vegan Cheeseburgers
Despite being American, cheeseburgers are one of England’s most popular fast foods. There is no doubt that they are super-tasty, but store-bought ones cause immense animal suffering, are usually served on cheap white bread, and expensive. It’s really really easy to make your own plant-based versions, so why not give it a go?
Despite the heavy marketing, McDonald’s is losing huge profits, as people now focus on creating homemade plant-based foods instead. Many councils across England are refusing planning permission to new sites, concerned over litter and sites near schools.
To make your own vegan cheeseburgers is so simple, you don’t really need a recipe. But for authentic flavour, splash out on some vegan ‘beef burgers’.
And before farmers are up in arms, know that in a country of 60 million people, we don’t have enough land for everyone to eat free-range. So if you’re against factory farms (and likely you are), then most people are going to have buy plant-based versions.
In fact, plant-based cheeseburgers are even better, as they are cholesterol-free. And far lower in calories. So you can eat more of them!
Visit your local bakery and splurge on a couple of good burger buns. Then spread with vegan butter (Flora has no palm oil) and layer up your salad ingredients (lettuce, sliced tomato, gherkins etc).
Add your cooked burgers, then top with your favourite vegan cheese and vegan mayo or ketchup. Put the other burger bun slice on top, and serve with oven chips.
Introducing ‘Thee Burger Dude!
Try making these vegan cheeseburgers (Thee Burger Dude) from an American chef who used to crave McDonald’s. Apparently they taste just like the real thing! His site has lots of recipes for American-style burgers, he even has created a recipe for a vegan filet-o-fish!
Vegan Burgers (are not, if cooked on the same grill)
There is a now a huge market for vegan burgers, which has led to the main chains offering plant-based versions. Some people like this, others prefer not to support outlets that also make money from factory-farmed meat.
One controversial area is that people have recently found out that some fast food restaurants, cook their vegan burgers on the same grills as they cook the meat, which rather defeats the point (both for ethics and allergies). Burger King’s ‘vegan whoppers’ will have bits of real bacon in them.
Some fast food restaurants (like London’s Unity Diner which serves vegan food to fund its farm sanctuary) only serves items in compostable packaging, to avoid littering of plastic. So why can’t all the others do that too?
KFC fries its chips in factory-farmed chicken fat. And abroad, McDonald’s fries are not always vegan (apparently they are in England, and at least their plant burgers are cooked in dedicated areas, to avoid cross-contamination.
