Veggie Burgers, Veggie Steaks, Veggie Sausages, the Lot!

Submitted by Bunny Mazonas

"I love meat, but often can't afford it, especially with the economy taking a nose-dive and food generally being so expensive. So. When the end of the month draws near, and food stocks in the cupboard run low, here is a quick fix to help bulk out your cupboard. I have added specific ingredients, but remember that this is an emergency stash using recipe; substitute where ever you need to. The recipe that follows is for a chicken-like meat substitute, but can be altered to suit your tastes. The following recipe makes approximately 12 "meat" patties, or enough to fill a generous meat portion of 2-3 meals for 2 people. Prep time includes soaking beans."

 

• Ready In: 24hrs 30mins
• Ingredients: 7
• Yields: 12 patties
• Serves: 8-12

ingredients

• 1 cup dried butter beans (or other beans, or lentils, or a mixture. Broth mix also works)
• 2 onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 1⁄2 cups mixed vegetables (grated carrot, peas, peanuts, canned chickpeas, etc)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon concentrated chicken bouillon or 2 chicken stock cubes

directions

1. Add butter beans to a pan, and cover with boiling water, with an inch of water to spare. Leave to soak 24 hours. (If in a rush, buy canned beans and use 2-3x quantity).
2. Add onions and garlic to a food blender and pulse until finely chopped. Add beans and pulse again for 10-20 seconds. Add other vegetables, nuts, etc and pulse until thoroughly mixed.
3. Add salt and chicken stock and stir thoroughly.
4. Fold in flour until mixture becomes a thick, sticky dough.
5. To cook, form into 12-15 patties, of heaped tablespoon size. Alternately, roll into 2 large loaves. For the smaller patties, fry or grill these in a griddle until golden brown and firm. For larger loaves, bake or roast until cooked through. For "sausages", roll into sausage shapes and shallow fry, turning regularly.
6. When using "meat" for food, the patties/loaves can be sliced into slivers for stir fries, chopped, sliced for sandwiches, thick-cut and fried as steaks, or slapped between buns to make "burgers".

Reviews

[CelticVeggie]

Adding chicken stock means it is not vegetarian. Try vegetable bouillon or miso. I would add some chopped broccoli as a bit of green speckle does look nice. Also I would add herbs, or spices for a little more zing. I love plenty of flavour. I often use passages instead of water or moisture to mixes, it just needs a pinch of salt and pinch of sugar to correct that and it somehow thickens and enriches.

 

[Erin R.]

What fun! Though not a vegetarian, I do enjoy a good veggie burger now and then, so I decided to look around for a homemade version. I liked that this one was implicitly a DIY recipe, leaving the cook free to come up with their own unique result. Now then, I used one red onion, a zucchini, garbanzo/lentil/pinto beans, plenty of garlic, and some fresh rosemary and thyme from the yard. My mixture was particularly soupy, so I ended up adding an extra cup and a half of whole wheat flour to get it to hold its shape. I sprayed the tops of the patties with cooking spray and baked at 350 for 15 minutes, and they were delicious. I had one for lunch on top of a spinach salad, and I plan to have one on a hamburger bun for dinner tomorrow. Thanks for a great veggie patty recipe, Bunny.