Bring on the burgers! These Beet Lentil & Quinoa Burgers are big, hearty & flavourful. A splodge of creamy horseradish sauce complements the earthy beets perfectly & provides a veggie burger taste sensation!
It's been a while since I published a veggie burger recipe. To be perfectly honest I have loved my Black Bean Burgers so much that anytime I have felt like a burger I have made them rather than create something new. They are awesome and are one of the most popular recipes on my site so I have been a bit wary of putting a rival out there in case it didn't quite measure up. The time has come for change though and so I bring you my Beet Lentil & Quinoa Burgers with Creamy Horseradish Sauce. And just for the record, I think they are up there with the Zesty Black Bean Burgers!
These veggie burgers are big and hearty. They are also pretty attractive with their wonderful beet red/purple hues. They are fabulous on their own, but when anointed with my creamy horseradish sauce they are totally and utterly delicious. The rich, earthy tones of the beetroot and the faintest hint of fennel compliment the mildly pungent horseradish perfectly.
As well as tasting pretty dang good, these Beet Lentil & Quinoa Burgers pack a powerful nutritional punch. Beetroot is packed with vitamins and minerals and is known to stimulate the liver's detoxification process. Horseradish too has antioxidant and detoxifying properties with good amounts of vitamin C and lentils and quinoa are full of protein and other important nutrients. What a powerful bunch of ingredients! Burgers have the stereotype of being pretty unhealthy, probably because most are full of meat, fat and cheese. With my Beet Lentil & Quinoa Burgers you can have your cake burger and eat it. Guilt free.
If you have leftover horseradish sauce to use up then make my Dilly Smashed Baby Potatoes. They come with a horseradish dipping sauce and are out of this world good. In fact, they would make an awesome accompaniment to these burgers!
Love burgers? You might want to try:
Beet Lentil & Quinoa Burgers with Creamy Horseradish Sauce
Author:
Ingredients
For the burgers
- 175g | 1 packed cup grated beetroot (I used a food processor to grate mine)
- 200g | 1 cup cooked green lentils
- 125g | 1 cup breadcrumbs (use gluten free breadcrumbs if necessary)
- 185g | 1 cup quinoa , cooked
- 1 small onion grated (I used a food processor to grate mine)
- 2 cloves garlic , grated or chopped very finely, (you can sub this for 1 tablespoon of garlic salt)
- 4 tablespoons | 1/4 cup cashew butter (almond would probably work too)
- 2 teaspoons ground fennel
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- 1.5 teaspoons pepper
For the horseradish sauce
- 75g | 1/2 cup raw cashew nuts
- 2 tablespoons horseradish sauce
- 120mls | 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
INSTRUCTIONS
For the burgers
- Add the lentils, beetroot & onion to a food processor and pulse together. You want it all in small pieces not a puree.
- Tip out into a large bowl.
- Add all of the other burger ingredients and mix very well. I find my hands the best tool for this if you don't mind stained fingers! You need to make sure everything is mixed really well and that the nut butter is distributed evenly and not in clumps.
- Take out tennis ball sized lumps of mixture and squeeze and press together really well in your hands making ball shapes.
- Place on a baking sheet and press down the tops with the palm of your hand to flatten into burger shapes. I made mine about 1 inch thick but you can make yours the thickness you prefer.
- Put the tray in the fridge for at least half an hour. Anything up to overnight is fine.
- Heat a fry pan over a medium heat. You an use some oil if you like but if you have a non stick pan you don't need to.
- Cook each burger until a golden crust forms then flip and cook again until a crust forms on the other side. If your burgers are quite thin then cook them for 5 - 6 minutes in the pan. If they are thicker like mine, once you have a nice crust on each side put them on a tray and finish them off in the oven on 350°F for 20 - 25 minutes. Because of the thickness it its hard to cook them all the way through in the fry pan.
- If you prefer you can omit the fry pan step and just bake them in the oven for 30 mins but they really are better if you get that nice crust to develop first.
For the sauce
- Soak the cashew nuts in boiling water for 20 mins.
- Drain then put in a food processor or blender with the other ingredients and blitz until very smooth.
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
Frances says
I wouldn't change a thing about this recipe. I have made it many times and for groups of people and they all LOVE it! It is delicious!!!
Nana says
What can i use instead of lentil ?
A Virtual Vegan says
For the best results, I recommend using the green lentils as per the recipe. The lentils make up a big percentage of the burger and the recipe hasn't been tested with anything else. Possibly cooked beans would work ok but they will give the burgers a different texture and flavour.
Marie says
These are amazing ,my favourite veggie burger by far . I did freeze them before cooking and they did hold up really well I found no difference in cooking.
Nancy says
Is the measurement for the lentils and quinoa before cooked or after cooked?
A Virtual Vegan says
Both after cooking.
Kristina says
Hi, maybe this is a dumb question(s) but do you use fresh, whole beets? Are they cooked or raw? Could you use canned? About how many beets would yield 1 packed cup?
I've never cooked with beets but I found your recipe and it sounds delicious and I can't wait to try it!
A Virtual Vegan says
Not a silly question at all! You need fresh beetroots for this. Canned won't work. They would be too soft and wet. As for how many you would need, it really depends how big they are. Sometimes they are teeny tiny and sometimes they are giant beasts so it's really hard to say. Usually here they come as a bunch so I just buy one of those and use what I need then do something else with the leftovers. I would guess it would probably be about 3 medium beets? If they are loose where you are and not bunches I'd buy 4 just to be safe. And you grate them and use it raw. That's what gives these burgers such great texture and stops them being really soggy like lots of vegan burgers tend to be.
If you end up with beets leftover because you buy too many, do yourself a favour and peel them, chop them into chunky pieces, toss in a tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast them on about 400f for about an hour or until they are soft when you stick a fork in them. Honestly, they are the best thing ever! I hope that helps and you enjoy the burgers!
Kaitlan D. says
These are the best beet burgers I have ever made! They are so good and they hold their shape better than other beet burger recipes I have tried (my guess is because of the cashew butter?) . These are definitely my new go- to!
Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
Oh that's awesome! You are right, the cashew butter acts like glue. I'm thrilled you enjoyed them. Thank you so much for letting me know!
Kaitlan says
You're welcome! Usually my attempts at making make veggie burgers end in tears because I'm so frustrated that they won't stay together. Last night was tear free! :) Seriously genius on the butter as glue!
Karen says
These look amazing. Do you think you can freeze the burger?
A Virtual Vegan says
They keep really well in the fridge if covered well for up to a week. I have never tried freezing them but I think they would be ok. You could cook them all, freeze what you don't need then just reheat the frozen ones in the oven straight from the freezer. They probably wouldn't take much more than 30 - 35 minutes on 350 F. I'm not sure how they would hold up if you freeze them raw. They might fall apart a bit with all the moisture as they defrost and I wouldn't cook them from frozen if they are raw as they might not cook through properly. Hope that helps. Let me know how you get on :O)