MorningStar farms makes an array of amazing healthy foods in a pretty green box, one of my favorites being the Spicy Black Bean burger.
I was never a huge ‘veggie burger’ person. I do however LOVE black beans (I mean, you can even make brownies with them!)
So on a whim, I decided to get these one day and have never turned back since. They are delicious, healthy and easy to reheat in the toaster oven for a quick lunch or dinner.
They are however, somewhat pricy. A box of 4 burgers ranges anywhere from $4 all the way up to $6! What in the world? They’re beans! Not grassfed beef!
So I thought to myself that these can’t be hard to make. I basically looked on the back of the box, eliminated all ingredients with ‘phate’ on the end of it, added a pinch of this and a dash of that, and whattaya know. They came out even BETTER than MorningStar Farms’ (no offense MF – still love your green box!) And the best part is that I’m $4 – $6 richer!
This recipe will yield 4 large sized burgers, perfect to freeze or store in the fridge for up to a week. They’re also Weight Watchers friendly at only 4 points per patty!
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- *1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more if you prefer a little more heat)
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 15oz can of black beans, rinsed and pureed or mashed
- 1/2 small onion, minced
- 1/2 cup kernel corn
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together your egg, tomato paste, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cumin and red pepper flakes to make a paste.
- Add the paste mixture to a food processor, and then add your black beans. (If you don't have a food processor, you can just add the paste and the beans to a mixing bowl and mash together with a wooden spoon). Puree your black beans and paste together until smooth.
- Empty your bean mixture into a mixing bowl, and then fold in your onion, corn and breadcrumbs.
- Divide the mixture into 4 patties and cook in a large skillet over medium heat for 6-8 minutes on each side. Top with your favorite burger toppings or toss in the freezer for a quick dinner or lunch.
- Please note this recipe has been adapted slightly from it's original version, posted on 2/23/13
- You can omit the red pepper flakes for a non-spicy burger
17 comments
These were delicious! Great recipe, Katieo! Xo
Yum! These are so close to the morning star farms. I’m making these again tonight.. I make 2 batches and freeze them.
So glad you liked them! They’re perfect for weekly lunches!
Made them yesterday, ate one today. I was so excited to make this recipe I went out and bought a burger press from the local kitchen store (the press made them look just like MSF). I’ll say you’ve got the MSFarms seasonings down (only change I made was to replace the 1/4 t red pepper flakes with 1/2 t of chile paste)! They taste about the same, which means great. However, they don’t have the look/feel of the MSFarms burgers. I looked at a box and saw there are a few ingredients you left out (besides the ones with -phate): brown rice, bulghar wheat, and tomatoes. I’m gonna fiddle around and try adding brown rice/couscous/pico de gallo and get back to you.
(Is there a way to submit photos???)
Thanks, Erik
Thanks Erik! so glad you liked them! I agree that the texture is a bit different than the Morning Star ones but I attribute that to the fact that those are somewhat ‘non-homemade’ and I’m not sure what they do to make them so ‘patty like’ – know what I mean? If things tend to crumble in that respect I would recommend adding an additional egg white or even a whole egg w/ the yolk which might help to add some moisture. I need to make these again! They’re great for lunches! Thanks for the flavor recommendations!
I made these for dinner tonight and they had a really great flavor! However, it’s not at all a copycat recipe for the morningstar farms burgers because these are warmed, mashed beans with great spices (mine didn’t really hold together or have the texture of a real veggie burger). Maybe I’ll look at the ingredients on the MF ones and try to replicate them with that info.
That’s actually how I did mine Beth – by looking at the back of the Morningstar box. I would maybe suggest adding another egg white if yours didn’t hold together. Glad you liked the flavor though!
I found that if you bake the beans on low heat for 25-30 minutes prior to mushing them, the burgers hold a lot better and are not as mushy in the middle
Thats a great idea Nick – thanks! I also just tried a new recipe for White Bean burgers (will be posting soon) and I found that cooking them on the stovetop vs. baking them in the oven really helped to keep in some of the moisture. I’m gonna try it with the black bean burgers and see how they come out that way!
[…] really enjoy a good black bean burger (like this one – move over Morningstar). And I thought ya know, you never really hear much about white bean […]
I was at Costco and looking at the burgers in the freezer section. The MS Spicy Black Bean Burgers were right next to them and on a whim I decided to give them a try. We just had them for dinner tonight and was impressed. Much tastier than plain old hamburger, they don’t cook down at all and much healthier I would guess. I always load up my burgers with condiments to liven up the taste but that really isn’t required for these.
But I was also put off a bit by the price at over a $1 per patty and thought they couldn’t be much to making them, Thanks for doing the legwork and coming up with recipe. I’ll be giving it a try (and making a double batch to freeze) as soon as my 12 pack of MS burgers is gone. Ha, I even have a half can of chipotles in the freezer I had left over from another recipe so I’ll throw those babies in too (and omit the pepper flakes) so they should be even closer to the MS originals.
I agree Jim, MorningStar products are great! But a little on the pricey side. I love these black bean burgers, and it’s so much cheaper to make them at home! I hope you enjoy them!
Made these last night and they were quite tasty. One of them completely fell apart, but it worked great when I put the crumbles on my green salad!
So glad you liked them Robyn! I actually made these for lunch this week! Try pan frying them next time vs. baking in the oven. I just started making white bean burgers (also delicious!) and have been pan frying them and they seem to stay together much better!
[…] “Rob cooked”, but this time I really did help! The recipe we usually use is found here (this is a great blog, and we have enjoyed every recipe we attempted from this […]
I just made these and really love the flavor. I pan fried them in a little oil & they completely fell apart. I doubled the batch so before I cooked the rest of the mixture I added a whole egg and it made a huge difference. They stayed together much better in the patty shape. I am excited to have this recipe for a healthy meal. Thanks!
So glad you liked them Mandy! They’re one of my lunch staples!
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