Bean Burgers with Yam Fries

Vegan pub food at home! This flexible bean burger recipe can be made with a variety of legumes yielding a range of colors and flavors. The version pictured above uses lentils. Feel free to toss in your favorite herbs or spices, too. It’s closely based on the Lentil-Walnut Burger from the Moosewood Cookbook. This cookbook is a true Co-op Classic! First published in 1974, it is chock-full of delicious, satisfying vegetarian recipes made with all-natural ingredients. If you’re looking for more inspiration and have a copy to hand, consider dusting this classic off and reminding yourself of some home-cooking favorites of yesteryear.

Various Beans

Bean Burger Ingredients

  • 1 cup dry beans (pinto, black, lentil, garbanzo)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup onion, minced finely
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced finely
  • 1 cup mushroom, minced finely
  • 1/2 cup cashews, ground in nut grinder or minced finely
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 cup flour (or more, if needed)

Yam Fries Ingredients

  • 2 yams (about 1 per person, depending on size)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil (or sunflower oil)
  • sea salt, to taste

Bean Burger Instructions:

If you’re using lentils, rinse well and sort. Add lentils and 1 1/2 cups of water to a pot. Bring to a boil and turn down heat to med-low. Allow to simmer until lentils are just tender (about 30 minutes.) If you’re using dry pinto, black, or garbanzo beans, you’ll need to soak them before cooking. Soak overnight in water, drain, sort, and place in a pot. Add enough water to cover, bring to a boil, turn down heat to med-low. Simmer until just tender–length will depend on the bean, but it will be a long time (1-2 hours.) Alternatively, you can use a slow cooker or pressure cooker. Drain cooked legumes, mash them to a paste and set aside.

In a saute pan, heat olive oil and saute onions until translucent. Add garlic, mushrooms, cashews, salt, and pepper. Saute until all ingredients are softened. Add vegetable mixture, along with flour to mashed legumes and combine. It should form a workable dough–some beans may require additional flour for the correct consistency. Chill mixture well before forming patties. (If you’re making the yam fries, now would be a good time to start those.) Patties fry up quickly and easily in a small amount of oil on a griddle or frypan. Brown both sides and serve on a bun with your favorite toppings. This recipe makes 6-8 patties and they freeze well.

Yam Fries Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel yams and cut into fries no wider than 1/4″. Thin fries have the best chance of getting crispy in the oven. Put fries in a bowl, toss with olive oil (or sunflower oil) and sprinkle with salt.  Lay down a sheet of parchment on a baking sheet and place fries on sheet in a single layer. If you have more fries than will fit without overlapping a lot, you may need a second baking sheet. Bake fries in the oven for about 20 minutes. Flip over all the fries and return to the oven for another 10 minutes or so. When ready, they should be golden brown and keep an eye out to make sure they don’t get too dark. Ketchup or chipotle mayonnaise make great dipping sauces for yam fries!