This recipe for Freezer Green Chile Black Bean Burgers makes a a big batch perfect for keeping in the freezer for an easy flavorful dinner any night of the week!
Black beans, green chile, red pepper, carrot, onion, corn, and cilantro come together with binding ingredients and crunchy sunflower seeds to create the perfect crisp exterior after a few minutes in the oven.
This recipe makes 10 servings of 2 black bean veggie burgers each (they are a bit smaller than the average veggie burger), and I have enjoyed them on top of salad, in a collard green wrap with hummus, plain alongside sweet potato and salsa, or crumbled up in tacos. Freezing the extras makes the perfect quick meal for another night!
I used inspiration from Angela’s Perfect Veggie Burger, as I loved her idea of adding sunflower seeds for crunch and adding fresh herbs to my mixture. I use a small mason jar lid to shape these into mini patties, but I’ve also seen a peanut butter jar lid with saran wrap as another way to shape them nicely.
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 small white onion
- 2 ounces fire roasted diced green chiles
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 large carrot
- 1 cup sweet corn, drained or thawed
- ¼ cup packed cilantro
- 15 ounce can of black beans
- 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
- 1 cup quick cooking oats
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1.5 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Mince garlic (you should get 1 tablespoon) and dice onion (you should get ~1 cup). Add both of those ingredients, along with ½ a small can of diced green chiles, to a pan with some oil and sautee until fragrant, or about 5 minutes on medium heat. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Finely dice a red pepper and grate a peeled carrot. Drain a can of sweet corn (or thaw frozen corn) and measure out 1 cup. Chop cilantro very finely.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked mixture, diced red pepper, grated carrot, corn, and cilantro.
- Drain and rinse a can of black beans, and roughly mash them.
- Add the mashed black beans, bread crumbs, oats (you can chop old fashioned oats), eggs, sunflower seeds, and spices to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients. Using your clean hands or a mixing spoon, combine all ingredients well.
- Refrigerate the veggie burger dough for 30 minutes or longer to allow the flavors to meld and bind the dough together.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Use the lid of a mason jar or the lid of a peanut butter container lined with saran wrap to shape 18-20 veggie burgers.
- Bake the burgers for 15 minutes, and then flip them and bake for another 10 minutes until firm and crispy.
To defrost: Microwave veggie burgers for 30 seconds on each side, or reheat in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes until warm throughout.
Be sure to read the notes section to properly freeze them so they don’t stick together or crumble.
You’ll love having these on hand for quick dinners! Let me know if you incorporate these into your meal prep.
How did everyone do with the first weekend of #BackToBasicsJanuary? I loved preparing a few meals for the week (soup, a batch of these burgers, and chicken + roasted veggies) and enjoying a coffee at home in the afternoons. I hope I can keep this up each weekend!
Be sure to check in in the comments below and let me know one success you had – whether it was meal prepping, making coffee at home, eating at home, or preparing some snacks for the week so you don’t have to grab a processed one. I’m excited to hear how the challenge is going for you all!
Marisa
Carly @ Snack Therapy says
I am sooo into these. I love any veggie burger that doesn’t contain tofu (<< blecchhh).
Marisa says
Honestly you just haven’t had good tofu… 😀 but I’m into these too!!
Annie Shapiro says
These look delicious! I will have to make them.
For this week for #BacktoBasicsJanuary I made spanikopita for lunches! I have decided that for my Back to Basics, I am going to be more grounded. I usually always make lunch and I almost never buy coffee, but I dont think I can promise myself never to eat out this month. So, instead, I am focusing on my mental and physical health by doing yoga every day for the month! Does that count?
🙂 So much love from the Nation’s Capital!!
Marisa says
So excited to hear about your theme of ‘grounded’ – I love that. Totally counts because mental + physical health is so important. Spanikopita sounds delicious too!!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
I love making my own veggie burgers and always have them in stock in the freezer! They have saved me many times!
Becky @ Olives n Wine says
These are GORGEOUS! I’m totally adding them to my healthy meal plan next week if it is okay 🙂 The more colors, the better!
Marisa says
Yesss I would love that! Try em out!
Sarah @ Making Thyme for Health says
These burgs look fabulous, my dear! I love prepping veggie burgers for the week. It’s so nice to just whip one out and reheat!
This weekend of #BacktoBasicsJanuary was spent prepping quinoa salad for lunches, egg white wraps for breakfast, and my butternut squash enchilada casserole for dinner. 🙂
Marisa says
Agreed! Or for me without a real functional kitchen this week… I can just pop it in the microwave! 🙂 Do you have a recipe for your egg white wraps? I’m intrigued!
Dana | fresh simple five says
I love how colorful these are! They’d be perfect for quick lunches too. I prepped a lot of food this weekend as part of my “back-to-basics” mentality!
rachel says
I love black bean burgers! Love all of the color in these! Totally gotta try em’!
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
These sound SO good!!! Thanks for sharing 🙂 I love having easy dinners in my freezer all ready to go!
Lisa @ Healthy Nibbles & Bits says
YUM! What a perfect make-ahead meal! I love that you put sunflower seeds in there, too! I’ve always enjoyed their unique taste, but I’ve never thought of putting them into a burger patty before. Thanks for the inspiration!
Kelli @ Hungry Hobby says
Love how colorful these are! Pinned!
Shir says
I would love to make these, but I’m not really sure what “cooking oats” are. Is it the same as rolled oats? Or maybe the still-cut ones?
Thanks!
Marisa says
Hi Shir – the recipe specifies ‘quick cooking oats’ which are the same as rolled oats, just in smaller pieces. You can use rolled oats but perhaps chop them quickly with a knife for similar consistency! Steel-cut oats will not work for this recipe.
Shir says
Thank you so much! Can’t wait to try it out (:
Janie says
These burgers look fabulous and I would love to make them gluten free. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
Marisa says
Hi, Janie. All you need to do to make this recipe gluten free is to use certified gluten-free oats for this recipe. If you can’t find GF quick cooking oats, you can pulse regular GF oats in the food processor a few times or chop them up a bit with a knife. You just want them in slightly smaller pieces.
Janie says
Thank you, Marisa. What would you recommend in place of the whole wheat bread crumbs?
Janie
Marisa says
I would make your own with your favorite gluten-free bread you keep on hand, or find a store-bought version.
Maddy says
These look amazing and sound delicious but after reading all the comments I was wondering did anyone actually try them as all comments were how they looked and sounded but not tasted. Thank you
Marisa says
Hi Maddy! I have gotten feedback from readers via email that they enjoyed this recipe (the most recent: “”Cooking is not my forte but I made the black bean burgers! I love that I can freeze half of them and have them on hand when I run out of what I made!”), so I hope you try it out and report back too!
Rebekah says
Hi Marisa!
Love the way this recipe looks. I will definitely be trying them soon, but I want to try and make them vegan. Any thoughts on a substitute for the eggs?
Marisa says
Hi Rebekah – I haven’t tried making them vegan, so you will have to experiment! I might try substituting flax eggs or chia eggs and adjust as you need additional moisture with other ingredients. Let me know how it works out for you!
Rachael says
Cooking is not my forte but these burgers were easy to make and incredibly delicious! The recipe made enough to freeze about half and keep on hand for whenever I need a quick and delicious meal!
Marisa says
So glad you enjoyed them, Rachael! I love keeping these in the freezer for a quick dinner!
Tiffany says
We tried these last night. I was very careful to follow the directions exactly, using the same measurements and lid size for portioning. They were delicious! Even my meat-loving husband thought they were great, and also brought them to work with him today for lunch. Love the texture that comes in from the sunflower seeds, and they were good and “meaty” on a small hamburger bun with just a few toppings.
My only complaint is that they totally got stuck to the parchment paper, so I had a tough time getting them flipped. Also, I got only about 17 mini burgers, but maybe I packed them too tight?
All in all, fantastic and I will definitely make again. I just ate one out of the fridge cold as a snack. 🙂
Marisa says
Hi Tiffany- I’m so glad you tried the recipe and enjoyed them! Sorry to hear they got stuck – they are a bit fragile until fully baked but it sounds like they turned out to be the right consistency!
Thanks for your review and your meat-loving hubby’s approval and I hope you enjoy the leftovers!
Lauren says
These are absolutely fantastic!
Prep took just about an hour. I used the lid of a peanut butter jar to form, ended up with 14 patties, and, as they were a little thicker than pictured, I cooked them for about 15 minutes on each side.
We ate 2 right away with some avocado and chili sauce, and froze the rest. I hope the others are just as good later this week!
Marisa says
So glad to hear you enjoyed them, Lauren! Thanks for the feedback and I hope you love the leftovers just as much.
Erin says
I made these last weekend and they turned out really great. The time it took to prepare these and cook them ended up being more than I expected but in the end it was worth it. I ended up doubling the recipe just to have plenty on hand. I top mine with a little guacamole cause they can be a little dry just eaten by themselves. I will also say be careful with how much you are eating. I was having two of these for lunch for about three or four days in a row and my bowels definitely took notice (sorry if that is TMI!). But for me it was a little too intense so I cut back to just one per day and then served it along with some cilantro lime quinoa. All in all great recipe.
Marisa says
Hi Erin – So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe and love that you shared what you paired them with! Hope you enjoy having them in the freezer for quick meals.