Vegan Butter Burger Plant-Based Recipe

This vegan butter burger is absolutely delicious. It can be made as greasy, gooey, cheesy comfort food … there’s also a healthier option without butter or oil and it’s still delicious. Both versions are simple to make using commonly available ingredients. 

First, cook the rice. Short grain rice is what helps this burger stick together and stay firm in the center. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice to use in the recipe.

After the rice, the rest of the ingredients are also super simple, staring with sauteed mushrooms. I didn’t use oil at this point because I wanted the mushrooms kind of dry for the burger mixture and this step releases and evaporates most of the moisture.

The other major ingredient is black beans. They add protein, flavor, and some texture.  I use canned and drain and then rinse them and pat quite a bit of the moisture off with a paper towel. 

Pulse the rice, mushrooms, and black beans together, along with oats and yummy spices in a food processor until incorporated but not overprocessed. Then form into patties and let sit for about 20 minutes. 

Now … 

… this brings us to the fork in the road. You can continue as we have and saute the burger without oil or even bake them in the oven. It turns out delicious and can be topped with lots of onions and vegan cheese. 

Or … if you chose the other road you take the way that leads to a tasty plant-based burger that’s also a bit of a calorie bomb. 

We can cook it all in a mound of vegan butter. This makes it greasy and delectable. I use Earth Balance and first sauteed about 2 cups chopped onions with 2 tablespoons Earth Balance. It will look like a lot of onions, but they sautee down to less than half that.

Saute the onions in the vegan butter for several minutes over medium heat, until they’re brown and tender. Remove from the pan. There should be quite a bit of butter left, but if not add a little more.

Saute the burgers in the butter over medium heat for about 4 minutes on each side. 

Add cheese on top of the burgers and, optionally, butter your buns and steam them for a minute or two with the pan lid on while the cheese melts. 

Top with the reserved buttery onions. 

Yum. 

It goes great with Easy Southern Potato Salad! 

Here’s the Vegan Butter Burger Recipe VIDEO:

4.73 from 29 votes

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Vegan Butter Burger

This vegan butter burger is absolutely delicious. It can be made as greasy, gooey, cheesy comfort food ... there's also a healthier option without butter or oil and it's still delicious. Both versions are simple to make using commonly available ingredients. 

Course Main Course

Cuisine Vegan

Keyword burger

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Resting Time 20 minutes

Calories 275 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup cooked short-grain white or brown rice cooked according to package
• 12 oz sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup black beans rinsed, drained, patted as dry as possible with paper towels
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 to 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 cups sliced onions
• 1/4 cup vegan butter
• vegan hamburger buns

Instructions

1. Cook the rice according to directions and set aside 1 1/2 cups to use in the recipe.

2. Saute the mushrooms in a dry pan to brown and remove most of the moisture. Optionally, use a bit of butter for this step, if desired.

3. Drain the beans well, rinse them, and pat as dry as possible with paper towels.

4. Add the rice, mushrooms, beans, oats, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to a food processor. Pulse several times to mince and combine the ingredients. Don't overprocess.

5. Let the burger mixture rest for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, saute the onions in a large skillet with 2 tbsp vegan butter over medium heat until brown and tender.

   *(Optionally, this burger mix can easily be made a day ahead and stored in the fridge overnight which allows everything to really meld together)

6. Remove the onions and set aside. Fry the burgers in the remaining vegan butter, adding more if necessary. Cook about 4 minutes over medium heat on each side. Turn once.

7. Add a slice of your favorite vegan cheese to the tops, if you like. Steam some buttered vegan buns in the pan with the lid on for a minute or two while melting the cheese.

8. Serve on the buns topped with the buttery onions.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Butter Burger

Amount Per Serving

Calories 275

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

XO Lisa

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Lisa Viger Gotte

Hello! I’m Lisa, a vegan artist, photographer, author, Vegan Life Coach Educator, and RYT 200 yoga teacher. I love showing others how simple and delicious a plant-based diet can be. I draw and paint, cook, write, take lots of pics, eat lots of chocolate, and practice gratitude daily.