The Best Vegan Burgers (BBQ-Friendly!)

If you're looking for a tasty, "meat-y" but meat-free burger that holds up well on the BBQ, look no further. These vegan burgers are made with easy-to-find and whole-food ingredients and cook well on the grill, pan or oven.

_{Note: I created this recipe for OXO. Click here for more details on our collaboration.}

I made these vegan burgers for OXO back in April, when we started getting a bit of sunshine, but held off posting it until now, because of the cold, rain and general anti-BBQ weather we had here in the UK.

But now we seem to be firmly set in Summer mode...

It's BBQ time! Today I'm showing you how to make the BEST veggie burgers.

They hold together super well, have great texture and taste.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• How to serve
• More BBQ Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

Admittedly, this recipe is very strongly based on the veggie burgers from my cookbook (more info here) because I was so proud of how those burgers turned out.

This is honestly the best recipe for vegan burgers I've tried so far!

So this recipe is almost the same but with a couple of tweaks for a more BBQ flavour, plus I wanted to demonstrate how well they cook on the BBQ and don't fall apart.

Ingredients

• Onion
  
  
• Marmite - This gives a meat-y depth of flavour and also works as a binding agent. You can substitute with any kind of yeast extract or miso paste.
  
  
• BBQ sauce - For a rich, smoky flavour. Feel free to substitute with ketchup if you're not a fan of smokiness.
  
  
• Shiitake mushrooms - Shiitake is highly recommended in this recipe because it has a much firmer texture than other kinds of mushrooms but you can use Portobello, Oyster or Chestnut if you can't get hold of Shiitake.
  
  
• Kidney beans - Other beans will work too. Kidney beans to give a pop of red/pink to make these burgers look the part though, if that's important to you.
  
  
• Cooked rice
  
  
• Porridge oats
  
  
• Flour, for dusting

Instructions

Fry the onion and mushrooms

Cook the onion until soft. Add the mushrooms, BBQ sauce and marmite. Cook until soft and sticky. 

Mash everything together

Mix all the ingredients together, using a really good masher or food processor until chunky and mouldable.

Shape into patties

Shape into 4 patties, using extra flour if it's too wet or soft.

Cook

• For the BBQ – Brush each side of the patties with some oil, to prevent them drying out. Cook for 3-4 minutes, before flipping and cooking for another 4 minutes on the other side.
  
• For the pan, heat a little oil in the pan on medium-high and fry each side for 4-5 minutes, checking regularly to make sure it doesn’t burn.
  
• For the oven, preheat to 200C, brush with oil and bake for 10 minutes, flip and then bake for another 10 minutes.

How to serve

If you want to melt some vegan cheese on top, add to the top of the burgers during the last minute of cooking.

To serve, add some vegan mayo to one side of the bun, place the burger on top, add ketchup, sliced onion, tomato, lettuce and whatever other toppings you like. Enjoy!

You don't need any fancy equipment to make these. However, a good masher is recommended. Otherwise, a food processor will make things more simple.

It's simply a case of cooking the onions, then mashing together with the rest of the ingredients until you have a thick, chunky mixture which can easily be shaped into patties. If it's too wet, add some flour.

More BBQ Recipes

Golden Garlic Couscous with Roast Veg & Chickpeas

Crispy Baby Potatoes