Veggie Burgers

Better 'n beef!

You'd be surprised at how many really great recipes come from cookbooks for kids. I know this because I keep bringing them home from the library, hoping one (just one!) of my kids will catch the bug and we'll be one of those families you see in magazines, where the kids are happily peeling carrots and the parents are looking over fondly from the stove where they're stirring the spaghetti sauce. Not happening.

So I usually end up perusing the cookbooks myself and trying a few of the recipes that look interesting. My favorite veggie burger of all time comes from a book called Cooking With Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon by Jules Bass, given to me for my birthday in 2000 by my friend Jen. I have tried millions of veggie burgers recipes since then but always come back to this one.

The King's Favorite Veggie-Burger
1 cup fine textured vegetable protein (TVP)
1 carrot, scraped
1 large mushroom, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 small red sweet pepper, chopped roughly
1 garlic clove, squashed
Cooking oil spray and 1 Tbsp. cooking oil
2 egg whites and 1 egg yolk
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup hot water
In food processor, shred one carrot. Put a knife attachment in the processor bowl and add the mushroom, onion, and pepper. Turn on the machine and run it until the mixture's all ground up.


Pour 2 Tbsp. of cooking oil into a saucepot. Add the garlic and cook on a low heat. Add the contents of the processor bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cook for 10 minutes on a low heat, stirring every few minutes. Put the TVP in a small bowl and add the hot water. Stir and cover. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Textured Vegetable Protein, or TVP. I get it from the bulk section of our local Whole Foods-type store.

Add the TVP to the saucepot and mix well. Take it off the heat and mix in the eggs and breadcrumbs. Let it cool. Form into 4 burgers and refrigerate for at least a half-hour.


Spray a non-stick frypan with cooking oil. Over a medium-high heat, cook the burgers for 5 minutes on each side. Serve on toasted buns with ketchup.

Janet's Notes: The only criticism I have is that these burgers tend to fall apart when you grill them. Be gentle or try baking them like I did this time. I cooked them in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes and they came out perfect.