Versatile, practical, tasty: veggie burgers are a nutritious dish made with vegetables, legumes, and grains that have become increasingly popular on our tables over time, presenting themselves as a valid alternative to the more classic beef, chicken, or fish burgers, including the delicious versions served between two slices of soft bread, to be eaten with your hands and enriched with creamy sauces. It's easy to buy ready-made vegetarian and vegan burgers at the supermarket, but the advantage is that they can also be easily made at home, taking advantage of all the goodness of vegetables when they are in season: from asparagus and zucchini in spring and summer, or pumpkin and beetroot in autumn and winter, here are many ideas for making them homemade.
Veggie Burgers' Evergreen Classics
A great advantage of plant-based burgers is that they can be made with ingredients available year-round. Among the most nutritionally functional substitutes are legumes, which, in addition to being easy to combine just like meat or fish, are also an important source of protein. Therefore, make room for bean burgers, where you can use different varieties such as borlotti beans, red beans, and cannellini beans, individually or in a mix, or chickpea burgers: in both cases, opt for pre-cooked ones to avoid soaking and create a quick and easy dish. Popular alternatives for those following a vegan diet are those made with tofu (which is made from soy) and seitan (which is generally made from wheat, but spelt is also very common), equally high in protein and which more closely mimic the consistency of the original versions.
Best Seasonal Vegetables to Make Burgers With
Not eating or limiting meat is a choice that's becoming more and more popular. When choosing a plant-based option, one thing you shouldn't underestimate is the seasonality of the vegetables you use. Choosing seasonal vegetables is important for several reasons, from environmental sustainability to higher nutritional values, not to mention more intense aromas and flavors. Let's see which ones to use to create a perfect burger.
Spring/Summer
Let's start with spring and summer, when the garden offers some of our most beloved vegetables: eggplant and zucchini, for example, are now available year-round, but this is the perfect time to make the most of their qualities. Here's who's there to keep them company.
1. Peas
Fresh peas are a staple of spring: buy a handful of pods and make a delicious burger, perfect as a main course, combining soft and crunchy textures. The peas are softened with onion, but left pleasantly firm, so they can be combined with mashed potatoes, an egg, salt, pepper, grated cheese, and breadcrumbs, remaining whole, for a tasty and wholesome result.
2. Asparagus
They make their appearance from March to June: among the many recipes that can be made with asparagus there are also tasty vegetarian medallions, with the vegetable that is cooked, finely chopped with a knife and then combined with mashed boiled potatoes, parmesan, salt, pepper and breadcrumbs.
3. Zucchini
True allies in the kitchen due to their versatility, zucchini are perfect for making burgers: in our recipe we first browned them in a pan in cubes, then reduced them to a puree with a fork and finally mixed them with breadcrumbs moistened with a drop of milk, parmesan, an egg, salt and breadcrumbs, to obtain a smooth mixture to fry or bake in the oven.
4. Eggplants
Summer is the perfect time to enjoy eggplant in a variety of ways, including as a veggie burger. This too is quick and easy: simply sauté the diced eggplant with oil and garlic, then stir in breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, salt, and pepper. How to cook it? Just fry it in a pan for a few minutes, so you don't have to turn on the oven when it's hot.
Autumn/Winter
In recent years, fall and winter vegetables have undergone a real revaluation. The ever-increasing demand for recipes that exclude meat and fish is largely to blame: we've learned to better understand beets, and to appreciate cauliflower and broccoli, too, which are incredibly satisfying even in a bun. And they're not the only ones.
1. Pumpkin
The queen of autumn can be served in countless delicious ways, from the traditional to the more creative, including burgers, made simply with the pulp first baked in the oven and allowed to cool, then puréed and mixed with stale bread soaked in milk, squeezed and chopped, egg white, salt, pepper, grated Parmesan cheese, and chopped parsley. Of the many varieties available, the best are the Delica and Mantovana, because their firm, compact, and floury pulp is well-suited to this type of preparation, as well as meatballs and meatloaf.
2. Mushrooms
A really fun idea for a burger that doesn't feature either meat or bread is to use Portobello mushrooms, which in this recipe are transformed into two slices of bread to hold a stringy Tomino cheese inside. This isn't the only option, of course: other mushrooms (especially button mushrooms) can also be used to create oven-baked discs, inspired by meatballs, sautéing them, blending them, and combining them with Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and possibly incorporating an egg if needed for firmness.
3. Cauliflower and Broccoli
Both are part of the large cruciferous family and are among the vegetables richest in vitamin C, antioxidants, and minerals, ideal for winter consumption for overall well-being. For burgers, you can prepare them in the same way: steam or boil them, then mash them well with a fork to obtain a mixture that can be enhanced with boiled potatoes, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and aromatic herbs, adjusting the quantities so that you can easily form a meatball (like the ones in our cauliflower recipe) and flatten it slightly.
4. Beetroot
From a little-known vegetable to the star of alternative chips and hummus, beetroot has become a key ingredient in healthy yet eye-catching dishes, thanks to its striking fuchsia color. Easily found pre-cooked, it's the secret ingredient for creating pink, sweet-tasting burgers. To give the mixture the right consistency, we recommend adding cannellini beans and breadcrumbs to our completely vegan recipe.
Other Ideas
There are many types of veggie burgers you can serve: we'd like to suggest a few more that have a vegetable as their main ingredient. Potatoes, as we've seen, often appear alongside other vegetables because they help stabilize the texture. Using the same logic, you can make a burger with bulgur, also known as "cracked wheat," a digestible and versatile grain. Bulgur can also be used alone, mixed with egg, grated cheese, breadcrumbs, parsley, salt, and pepper to create a dough to be stuffed with ham and cheese. In winter and spring, don't forget spinach: we're used to eating it frozen, yet fresh ones are easy to cook. Try them in a millet burger, an ancient grain with many qualities, including being gluten-free, making it suitable for celiacs.
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