Smash Burgers
Sam Sifton
2590 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,590
20 minutes
Black Bean Burger With an Egg on Top
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 2(15-ounce) cans black beans, or 4 cups cooked black beans, on the firm side
- 1cup cooked brown rice, cooled
- 1cup chopped cilantro, leaves and tender stems, plus sprigs for garnish
- 1serrano chile, finely chopped
- 1cup chopped scallions, both white and green parts
- ½teaspoon chipotle chile powder or pimentón picante
- 2teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground, or 1½ teaspoons ground cumin
- Pinch of ground cayenne
- Salt
- 1large egg, beaten
- 2tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water
- Neutral oil, such as grapeseed or safflower, for frying
- Fine cornmeal, for coating patties
- 1sunny-side up egg per person (optional, but recommended)
- Toasted buns, lettuce leaves and condiments (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
554 calories; 35 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 21 grams monounsaturated fat; 10 grams polyunsaturated fat; 46 grams carbohydrates; 14 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 16 grams protein; 535 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Put beans in a colander set over a bowl and drain well. (Reserve juices for another purpose or discard.) Pat the beans dry with paper towels, then mash them a bit with a wooden spoon or potato masher, but leave them chunky.
- Step 2
Transfer beans to a large bowl with the rice and toss together. Add chopped cilantro, serrano chile, scallions, chipotle powder, cumin and pinch of cayenne, to taste. Season generously with salt and mix well to incorporate.
- Step 3
Add the egg to the cornstarch solution and beat together, then drizzle it all over the bean mixture and mix well to distribute.
- Step 4
Form mixture into six thick patties of equal size. Each patty should weigh about 4½ ounces. Place patties on a baking sheet and place in freezer for 10 minutes to firm. (For a firmer mixture, prepare a day in advance of cooking and refrigerate.)
- Step 5
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Add ½-inch oil to a heavy skillet over medium heat. Dust patties lightly on both sides with fine cornmeal. (It’s OK if they are slightly frozen.) When oil is shimmering, slip the patties into the pan; work in batches to avoid crowding, or use two pans. Fry the burgers gently, about 3 minutes per side until nicely browned, adjusting heat as necessary. Transfer burgers to a baking sheet and let them crisp further for about 20 minutes in the oven (or let them cool and reheat later).
- Step 6
Meanwhile, fry the eggs, if using. Put a sunny-side-up egg on top of each warm burger, and serve on buns or warm plates with lettuce and condiments, if using. Garnish with cilantro sprigs.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Laura George
This isn't a cooking note, as I haven't tried these yet. But THANK YOU for caring about actual veggie burgers. I cannot abide the pretend meat products (the texture of meat grosses me out, and I certainly do not want anything that looks like blood associated with my dinner). I've been happily eating veggie burgers that tasted like veggie burgers for 40 years. I cannot wait to try this recipe!
S
If anyone wants to avoid the egg binder for the bean burger, try: chickpea flour or aquafaba or flax seed egg replacer. The fried egg on top is optional. This way the recipe is more friendly to those with egg allergies or dietary avoidance.
Richard
The cooking process--frying and baking--seems needlessly cumbersome. Just bake the burgers on a (lightly oiled) baking sheet, probably for about 18-20 minutes per side. I bet it will come out just as good, with less wasted oil, less work, and less cleanup.
David
I'm looking forward to making this later but the important note about the cup of liquid is confusing me. Is this liquid incorporated into the patty mix or is this cup of liquid left in the bowl just used as a reference to determine if you have drained the beans enough? I'm inclined to believe it's just used as a visual reference and not incorporated into the patty mix.
Alexandria D
I can't wait to try this! I too love veggie burgers where you can actually see and taste the vegetables themselves. A question though. In step 1, the "important step" of reserving the 1 cup of liquid from draining the beans seems to not go anywhere. Is the liquid just tossed?
colorado
Black beans are great w/ sweet potato. I make a BB burger with some mashed microwaved sweet potato as a binder. Seaaon well how you like. Any grain can be used instead of rice. Very flexible burger to make. Easiest to bake in hot oven on a well-oiled pan til bottom is crispy, then flip
Bill D
First, these are quite delicious. But a couple of issues made the process a bit unsatisfying. I followed the recipe to the letter & still found that they didn't hold together. Like, at all. They were more like clumpy sloppy joes. This was first evident when flipping them in the skillet stage. Also, a full half-inch of oil seemed totally absurd, ultimately. These "burgers" were absolutely swimming in oil. So, if I ever do these again, I will use less oil and find a better way to get them to bind.
David
Cooking the patties in the oven at 350 degrees, flipping them at about 25 minutes on each side or so worked quite nicely. Avoided the oil bath in my cast iron skillet. Consistency was perfect. I made that wonderful salad as well. Only downside was my small kitchen resembled Beirut in the early 80's afterwards.
Stephen
Try bulgur instead of brown rice.
GuitarPlayer
I’ve been meaning to try out more veggie burger recipes. When I was a student I was vegetarian. After graduating, my father got me a job at an investment bank and I felt the pressure to begin eating steaks. I enjoyed the steaks but felt bad a little. But they were REALLY good. Like, really really good. Lately though, I’ve been wanting to get back to a simpler time. A time when I lived in a dorm and had relationships that I felt would last a lifetime. I live alone now.
Kelly
I am looking forward to trying this recipe as I make a very similar recipe that is in our regular family rotation. My recipe calls for oatmeal that I grind up into a flour and it doesn't include any cornmeal. I bet the cornmeal adds a great cripsy - ness to the burger.
Lisa
Guitar player, living alone can be great for concocting new recipes. Also, the best bankers I know are very athletic and avoid meat. That's why every steak house has amazing fish.
John
The instructions mean you to pat the beans dry in the colander. The liquid in the drainage bowl indicates how much you should have obtained. You don't use it for the recipe.
kaly
I'm sorry, but I checked in 2 days after this was published to see the reviews, and almost all of the top "most helpful" comments are from people who haven't yet cooked the burgers. C'mon folks...please consider saving your comments - both enthusiastic and critical - until after you've actually tried the recipe out. Thanks!
Garden Level
Dude, just make huevos rancheros and be happy.
Mason
These came together very nicely for me. I started with dried beans and left them a bit firm, adding a little salt at the end of the boil. I didn't pat them dry, just let them drain for a minute and mashed very gently. And I probably used half as much oil as called for, but they held together better than any bean burgers I've ever made and were delicious. Next time I'll likely double the amount of serrano, but other than that it was spot on.
Sally N
Top tip - shape the burgers by filling a 1/2 cup measure with the mixture and tamping it down with the back of a spoon, before flipping out. I agree with others - baking at 375 for 20 minutes each side, on a tray lined with greaseproof paper is a much easier way to cook.
MCN
I have made NYT's McBittie burgers in the past and loved them, but was curious to try these as well. I made one-half of the recipe, simply dumping all the ingredients into a food processor, including one whole egg along with 1 TB cornstarch. Perhaps because of the extra egg, there was no problem with the patties staying together, and I did not follow the two-part cooking process; just used nonstick. Beans were home-cooked and drained, not canned. Quite tasty, though I think McBittie still wins!
Erica Groshen
Toss the drained liquid. Double the seasonings. Can use oatmeal, bulgar or mashed sweet potato instead of rice. Instead of frying first: --Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put shaped patties in freezer directly. --Then dust with cornmeal, and place on well-greased baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes (until crispy), flip and bake for 20-25 minutes more.
Taylor
These came out so wet for me. Didn’t hold together at all. Amount of oil recommended is also a little gross. My mealy, falling-apart burgers would have been swimming in oil.
CBB
Very unusual vegetarian burger but makes a hearty delicious meal. Gently spiced to perfection (although with a "generous" pinch of cayenne). I had slightly less cilantro on hand, Thai chili P/O serrano and cooked basmati rice P/O brown. Used about a 1/4" avocado oil to fry burgers. When we were ready to eat, I air fried them for 10 minutes at 350F. Makes a delicious lunch with the fried egg on top. Next time, I'll make the jalapeno pickle as a condiment.
Nanci
These are worth the effort and delicious! I followed the recipe and found I had enough to wrap individually and freeze some for another time; freeze well and equally good. The last step of coating them in fine corn meal was just right to give them stability for frying. I didn't try the egg but my husband loved it that way. So many of David Tanis' recipes are great and this is at the top of the list.
Sandra Thomas
Mashing the beans "a bit" is not enough, unless you freeze them solid. I didn't mash them enough and though I froze them for 15 minutes, all but the first 2 patties totally fell apart. Not a disaster since they made delicious nachos!
Sara J
The patties were not holding together whatsoever, pulsed in the food processor for a while and came together nicely.
LaDonna
This is an absolutely delicious recipe...but pretty challenging. Frying the patties (which are not very sturdy) in a half an inch of oil was tricky...especially getting them turned over without sloshing oil over the side of the pan. Needed to use two utensils to get them turned over without incident. Going to try just baking them after brushing them with oil (as suggested below).
Elizabeth Davidson
I like these burgers. I dusted each side of the patties with coarse grind corn meal instead of fine cornmeal. It has more kick.
Maya
Not a fan of this one. It was really bland - could be helped by amping up the spices, or just making a different recipe.
H
I followed the recipe and thought that the patties turned out dry and dense, and also flavorless. The flavor could be easily improved but something needs to be done to lighten the patty - maybe adding corn or minced celery and carrot. Also frying them with the cornmeal was messy and smokey. Maybe I was just having a bad day but this wasn't a favorite recipe.
Peggy PM
Made these a 2nd time after freezing. They were more mushy the 2nd time. Think I need to adjust the baking time when baking from frozen. Maybe 5-10 min longer.
Mara
I was think of subbing the rice for cauliflower rice...thoughts?
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