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This Spicy Produce-Packed Patty Is Not Your Mother's Veggie Burger

Author:

Lukas Volger

October 25, 2024

Food Writer

By Lukas Volger

Food Writer

Lukas Volger is a cookbook author, food writer, recipe developer, and editor. His most recent title is Veggie Burgers Every Which Way.

Image by Evi Ebeler

October 25, 2024

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This recipe helped me realize that coarsely shredding hardy vegetables, like carrots, is the secret to creating a vegetable-centric veggie burger—it preserves more of a vegetable’s texture than, say, roasting and puréeing it, and moreover, it gives an interesting and varied texture to the finished burger.

Peanut butter and a few fragrant aromatics serve to amplify and enhance the carrot, making this another one of those veggie burgers that’s all about the vegetables. A natural peanut butter will deliver a clean peanut flavor, whereas a processed one that has added sugar will be kind of cloying here.

I love these paired with a zesty cabbage slaw or some shredded cabbage that’s tossed with a bit of salt and lime juice.

Spicy Peanut and Carrot Burgers

Ingredients

Makes four 6-inch (15 cm) burgers

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 scallions, green and white parts, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 serrano chile pepper, finely chopped (and seeded, if desired)
4 cups (360 g) grated carrots (about 8 medium carrots)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
Zest of 1 lime and juice of ½
¼ cup (15 g) roughly chopped cilantro
½ cup(30 g) panko or coarse bread crumbs

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large, lidded sauté pan over medium heat. Add the scallions and cook until they just begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and chile and stir for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Stir in the carrots, salt, coriander, turmeric, and cinnamon. Cover and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the carrots are soft but not mushy.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, peanut butter, and lime zest and juice. Stir in the carrot mixture and the cilantro. Fold in the panko. Let stand for about 10 minutes, so the panko soaks up some of the moisture. Adjust seasonings. Shape into 4 patties, about 1/3 cup (60 g) each.
To cook, warm a wide skillet over medium heat, then add the remaining oil. Add as many burgers as will fit comfortably without crowding the pan (usually 3 burgers will fit into a 10-inch/25 cm skillet), and cook until browned and crisped on the bottom, 5 to 7 minutes, then flip and repeat on the other side. The burgers will firm up a bit as they cook, and further once they’re removed from the heat and have cooled slightly. Serve warm.

Recipe from Veggie Burgers Every Which Way, Second Edition: Fresh, Flavorful, and Healthy Plant-Based Burgers—Plus Toppings, Sides, Buns, and More© Lukas Volger, 2010, 2023. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available everywhere books aresold.theexperimentpublishing.com