Black Bean Poblano Burgers

Since everyone loves a good black bean burger, I set out to create one using the produce available in my farmshare in the late summer. Poblano peppers, in particular, add flavor and just the right amount of heat to these burgers. What’s more, the burgers loaded with real veggies, fiber, and protein. Great to reheat for a quick weeknight meal or lunch, and an excellent choice for batch cooking and storing in your freezer!

Why black beans and poblano peppers

This inspiration for this burger was simple. Having lived in Latin America for years, I love the divers flavors of that region. Black beans are a central ingredient in Guatemala - where I lived- so I wanted to create a black bean burger that I could feel proud about. I also love using farm fresh produce whenever possible. Poblano peppers have been plentiful this year, so this burger was a great new way to use them up!

A few Cooking tips

Most of the hands-on time for the burgers is in the prep work. So let’s go over a few tips for getting that done as efficiently as possible.

Black beans and Quinoa

You can use a can of beans in this recipe. Alternatively, you can cook your own, and make extra that you can use in other meals during the week. I did the latter, but in a pinch, it’s ok to use a can. Similarly, with the quinoa, I’d suggest cooking extra that you can toss into salads or serve with other dishes during the week.

How to cook poblano peppers

There’s a trick to cooking these peppers. You can do something easy- like chop them up and dry sauté them (ie sauté without oil). That will be fine, but roasting them will produce a much richer flavor for your burgers. It’s a big more work to roast, sweat and peel them, but I think it’s worth it.

First, rinse and dry the peppers. Then use your hands to coat them in a very thin layer of olive oil. This is not for flavor, it’s to protect them from burning, and you won’t even eat this oil (you’re going to peel off the skin). Set your oven to 475F, and place the peppers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. ( You can also do this on the grill). Roast the peppers until the skin is turning black and puffing up, and the flesh is soft. You’ll probably want to flip them after a few minutes.

The exact time this will take can vary depending on your oven. Probably 20-25 minutes total. When the skin of the peppers is nicely charred/puffed, place the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap or foil. Allow them to cool and sweat for about a half hour. Then, very carefully peel the outer layer of skin off the peppers, remove the seeds, and chop them into small dice. *Tip: you can use this same method to roast red peppers, too.

Dry sauté your onion

I never use oil when making veggie burgers- it will make it more difficult to create a solid burger that sticks together. But, you do need to cook your onions before making the burgers. So after you chop them, you will “dry” sauté them, using a dry, hot skillet. You want to cook the onions until they are soft and translucent. Get your sauté pan hot (generally medium-high heat), throw in the onions and either shake the pan or use a spatula to make sure that they’re constantly moving- don’t allow them to stick to the bottom. It will only be a few minutes till the onions have softened. If the onions are sticking to the bottom, add a tablespoon of water or vegetable broth to the pan to keep them from burning. Taste the onions to be sure they’re done. Again, you want them to be soft and translucent.

Controlling the flavor and spice level

Poblano peppers can differ in their spice level- one may be mild, and the next could be quite hot. If you’re concerned about the spice level of these burgers, I suggest not reducing the amount of poblano peppers but rather reducing the amount of cayenne you add to the mixture. When you’re preparing the burger mixture and it’s time to add the spices, you could leave out the cayenne (or just add 1/4 t), and then taste to see how hot the burgers are. Remember these are veggie burgers so you don’t need to worry about tasting them raw! If you’d like more spice, carefully add in the rest of the cayenne, being sure to blend well.

Shaping the burgers

Your burgers will hold their shape better if you use a cookie cutter to shape them (instead of just your hands). See this post for detailed instructions on how I shape my burgers.

Reheating and storing the burgers

These burgers, once cooked, should keep in the fridge for about 5 days, maybe 6 or 7. Reheating a burger out of the fridge is easy- you can pan fry it on a dry skillet or even reheat on the grill outside- just place the burgers on a piece of foil (i.e. not directly on the grill).

However, given the amount of prep work that goes into making a batch of veggie burgers, it’s a great idea to make a large batch and then freeze them for future meals. You can store them in the freezer for a couple months. If you decide to do this, be sure to use a freezer-safe airtight container, and separate each of the burgers with a small piece of parchment paper. When you’re ready to reheat them, there’s no need to defrost. Just heat your oven to 400F, place the burgers on a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake for about 12 minutes, flipping them once at the halfway point.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups cooked black beans (about 1 can)

1 1/2 cups quinoa (cooked)

1/2 cup poblano pepper (cooked, peeled and chopped)

1 cup kale, finely chopped (raw, chop before measuring)

1 medium onion, small diced and dry sauteed

1/2 cup sweet potato (cooked, mashed)

2 tablespoons almond butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/3 cup oat flour (or as needed)

Your choice of toppings

Directions

Get ready

Prepare all your ingredients and preheat the oven to 400F, with rack set in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Prepare the burger mixture

Next, place the black beans in a large mixing bowl and use a fork or potato masher to mash them. It’s ok if some of the beans are not completely mashed- you do want some texture in your burgers. Then, add the quinoa and mash the quinoa and beans together so they’re evenly combined.

Add the poblano pepper, the kale and the onion to the bowl and use a fork or wooden spoon to thoroughly combine.

In a small bowl, stir together the mashed sweet potato and the almond butter, then add this to the rest of the burger mixture.

In another small bowl, mix together the spices- salt through cayenne- and then add this to the burger mixture.

Finally, mix in the oat flour, a little bit at a time, until the burger mixture is no longer wet and holds together well. Depending on how wet your other ingredients were, you may not need to add the whole 1/3 cup of flour.

Shape the burgers

Shape your burgers into rounds that are roughly 3 inches in diameter and 1 inch tall. You will have better luck if you use a 3 inch cookie cutter to do this.

Place the burgers an inch or two apart on the parchment-lined baking sheet. You can probably fit around 8 burgers on the sheet. Depending on how large you made your burgers, you may need have 10 or 12 total burgers and you’ll have to line another sheet and cook the second batch separately.

Bake the burgers

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake your burgers 10 to 12 minutes. Then flip and bake another 8 to 12 minutes. Everyone’s oven is different so you’ll have to check at 8 minutes to see how they’re doing. The burgers should lift easily from the parchment paper (I use a metal spatula to do this). If they’re sticking, that means they need more time to cook.

Serving the burgers

Serve these burgers on whole wheat burger buns, on a green salad, or in a tortilla of your choice. In the photo pictured here, they’re served in a fresh tortilla that I made using cassava flour. These burgers are great topped with avocado, hot sauce, or salsa!

Enjoy!

Did you make these black bean poblano burgers? Leave a comment to let me know how it went!