Isn’t is so nice to walk in the door, pull something yummy out of the freezer, and be eating dinner in 10 minutes? That’s what I love about these Mediterranean Chickpea Burgers.
Not only do they make a great freeze-ahead-and-heat-when-ready meal, but they are super good-for-you. A much healthier and skinnier (and tastier) version than any veggie burger you find in the freezer aisle.
Why are these homemade veggie burgers skinnier than your average veggie burgers?
- No soy protein isolate. Nope.
- No textured vegetable protein. Nada.
- There’s a load of veggies in there. Yes!
- And they can be made gluten-free if you desire.
My weird ingredient policy
Normally, when I see a recipe that has some weird ingredient in it like purple carrot noodles or coconut nectar, I usually head straight for that little “X” on the top right of my screen. Honestly, I just don’t have 6 1/2 hours to track down fresh squeezed wheat grass to make a batch of raw, organic, green brownies.
That said, sometimes a dish is so delish that it’s worth a weird ingredient or two … and sometimes, after I find out how easy it is to order it from Amazon, I decide it isn’t so weird after all.
I think you’ll agree these Mediterranean Burgers are worth the two little clicks it takes to send these sun-dried tomato sprinkles on their little way to your very own kitchen.
Mediterranean Chickpea Burgers
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 10 burgers
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon flax seed meal
- 1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) with liquid
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs - use gluten-free bread crumbs if you want these to be gluten-free
- 1/3 cup very finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons corn starch, tapioca starch, or potato starch
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, scant
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups (1.6 ounces) baby spinach leaves
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup packed parsley leaves and small, tender stems)
- 2 tablespoons chopped black olives
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2/3 cup minced fresh onion
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flax meal and 2 tablespoons liquid from chickpeas. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, place breadcrumbs, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, starch, lemon zest, and seasonings in a mixing bowl.
- Place spinach in food processor and coarsely chop. Transfer to mixing bowl.
- Place parsley in food processor and chop fine. Transfer to mixing bowl.
- Stir in olives, garlic, minced onion, oil, tomato paste, and flax mixture. Mix well.
- Drain remaining liquid from chickpeas. Place drained chickpeas in a food processor fitted with the “S” blade. Process until coarsely ground. (Recipe can be doubled, but do not process more than 1 1/2 cups of chickpeas in food processor at one time. There should be very few whole chickpeas left, but do not over process or you will have a mush.)
- Transfer to mixing bowl. Mix very well.
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly oil.
- Using a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop, form mixture into balls. Place on baking sheet and press to form into patties.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
How We Like It
These amazing burgers are great on a bun with all your favorite fixins’. But they are so flavorful (thank you sun-dried tomato sprinkles) that they are even great on their own.
Enjoy!
I don’t have an oven, could i use a pan instead? Been on your website for over an hour, loving your recipes!!
Oh, and what can I replace the flax seeds with?
The flax seed helps hold them together. If you are ok with “Mediterranean Chickpea Hash” 🙂 then you could just leave the flax seed out. Otherwise …. hmmmm …. I’m not sure. You could try chia seed meal, but I don’t think the flavor would be right.
I’ve never tried these in a pan; but my guess is that they would work ok. Your biggest challenge would be getting them done on the inside.