Smoky Beet Burger with Minty Pea Puree

Beet burger is the queen of all veggie burgers. It is colorful, hearty, and delicious. This 7-ingredient beetroot burger recipe is vegan (so egg-free and dairy-free), but juicy, flavorful, and loaded with simple and easy to find ingredients like raw, grated beets, cannellini beans, and oats. The result is a real crowd-pleaser, hearty, and so-so yummy vegan burger. 

Whenever we have a guest over for lunch or dinner, who is willing to try something plant-based, we usually choose to make them these easy beet burgers to impress them. And so far everyone loved it.

For an appetizer, we usually make our Smoky Roasted Eggplant Dip and serve them with raw vegetable sticks like carrot, celery, or cucumber or with pita bread. Or if we would like to max out on beets, we make the Quickest Roasted Beet Hummus in 25 minutes. We serve these yummy veggie burgers with fried potatoes or a quick salad. For dessert, we usually make our Super Easy Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp and serve it with vanilla ice cream.

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How does our Beet Burger taste like?

This is one of the most important questions right? Beet can be tricky for some as raw beet has a dirt-like taste that can overpower any additional flavors in a dish.

We love beets, but if you are hesitant then let me tell you that in this beet burger recipe we tried to balance all ingredients and spices in a way that you can enjoy beets without a strong earthy aftertaste. How?

A little bit of smoky flavor will go a long way!

We added Worcestershire sauce to give these burger patties a bit of smoky, charcoal taste. We tried it with soy sauce and liquid smoke as well, but there is something umami in Worcestershire sauce that we just prefer.

(No idea that this sauce can be vegan and/or gluten-free? It can. Check out our Is Worcestershire sauce gluten-free vegan? post where we list the compliant products.)

A Veggie Burger with Beets AND Beans?

If I just use grated beets, I would end up with beet fritters or hash browns. To turn this awesome vegetable into a proper veggie burger, we need more things to add. We like eating nutritious whole foods, so in this burger recipe, we usually opt for legumes and grains to accompany a meal. This time our choice was

• cannellini or white beans – Why? Because they have a quite neutral taste. You can add them to any recipe for extra protein. Still, they remain fairly hidden and will make the whole dish taste like beans.

What else is there?

• red onion,
• fresh garlic clove,
• oats,
• Worcestershire sauce,
• dried thyme,
• sea salt, and black pepper

How to make Beet Burgers?

Preparing the beets

1. Wash them thoroughly. Pay attention to wash off any dirt around the stem.
2. Cut off the stem. If there is any dirt left, I wash them again.
3. Peel them. (Beet usually stains your hands and cutting board. You can wash the stains off easily if you do it immediately after you are ready. I try to minimize waste so I don’t like disposable gloves if they are not necessary. You might need to rub a bit longer but they come off easily. If not, here is a handy guide on how to remove beetroot stains.)
4. Grate them with a grater or for a quick finish, I use the grater of my food processor.

Making the burger patty

Take a bowl, and add HALF of the grated beet (photo #1). Next, add the canned cannellini beans without water (photo #2), then the chopped onion and garlic (photo #3). Use an immersion blender to puree it (photo #4).

When you have a mixture of a purée consistency, add the other HALF of the shredded beet (photo #5), the oats, and the seasoning (Worcestershire sauce, thyme, salt, and pepper) (photo #6). Mix them with a spoon and chill it in a fridge for 30 minutes, while the oats can absorb any excess liquid (photo #7).

Frying or baking

After chilling, the beet mixture should still feel soft, but not too wet. You should be able to form the beet patty without a problem. If not, add a couple of Tbsp corn starch, 1 Tablespoon at a time.

Pre-heat a frying pan on medium heat with some olive oil and cook each side for 3-5 minutes until the patties are getting brown (photo #1). Flip and cook the other side as well (photo #2). Adjust the time you need to cook them thoroughly based on the size of your patties

Pre-heat oven for 395 Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celcius) and bake the burger patties on a non-stick baking sheet or parchment paper for 10-15 minutes oil-free. Flip halfway and adjust baking time depending on the size of your patties.

Top tips to make perfect beet burger patties

• Use a food processor to make the burger mixture even quicker. Most of the food processors have a grater attachment so you can grate the beet directly into the processor. Don’t forget to take HALF of them out before adding the other ingredients. Pulse, stop, scrape, and pulse again until you reach the right texture.
• We recommend using half of the grated beet for the puree, but you can increase or decrease the amount. If you leave more grated, then the burger will be closer to a hash brown. If you leave more for puree, then the texture will be too soft and you need to add some flour or starch.
• I use fine oats / quick oats. If you prefer to use rolled oats, you might need more time to chill as they tend to absorb moisture slowly.
• Depending on the actual size of your beet, you might need to add more or fewer oats.
• If you make thick burgers, you need to reduce heat to low/medium and cook them longer. The middle might not get well done. If you make thin burgers, you need a shorter cooking time for sure.
• Don’t serve them while hot as the burgers will firm up after cooling.

FAQ and Substitutions

Can you substitute cannellini beans?

Yes, you can use chickpea, black bean, or red kidney bean. I haven’t tested with any other bean or lentil, but if you have please let us know in the comments.

Can the burgers be frozen?

Yes, they freeze well. However, you need to pre-cook or pre-bake them to give the burgers a bit of a crust. Freeze them in a stack with parchment paper in between. When you’re ready to use them, thaw them in the fridge before frying or baking as per instructions.

If you don’t pre-cook them, then after thawing they will get very moist.

Why do we love beet recipes?

Who wouldn’t like purple burgers? 🙂 But seriously, beet is awesome and nutritious. It is one of the high iron vegetables combined with Vitamin C for better absorption. If you are interested in learning more about the impressive benefits of beets, read Healthline’s article.

In this recipe, beet is grated raw and the patties are only cooked for a short time to keep as many nutrients as possible. My trusted resource when it comes to nutrition is Dr. Greger’s website. He has a series of 17 videos if you would like to learn more about the awesome benefits of raw beet.

Let’s build an Epic Smoky Beet Burger!

The best part of the whole recipe is building your yummy veggie burger. I know that the more layers you add, the harder it is to eat. However, I really-really recommend all these layers for you to try. They are absolutely amazing and delicious together!

• I started off with a toasted bun.
• First, I added green leaf lettuce because the ruffles look so pretty.
• Now, here comes the star of this recipe, the vegan and gluten-free beet burger patty.
• Next up, some BBQ and mayo mix (mixed 1:1 previously in a small bowl).
• Then, some fresh tomato slices.
• Now, I added a super easy Minty Pea Puree (details in the recipe card).
• Finish it off, we some arugula.

What else can you add? 

This smoky beet burger goes great with caramelized onions, vegan goat cheese, garlic aioli, avocado slices or guacamole, and many more. What is your favorite combination?

What to serve with beet burgers?

If you add many layers to your burger, they will be rich and filling on their own. However, if you need some inspiration for burger side dishes, here are our usual choices:

• roasted potato or sweet potato wedges
• French fries from potatoes or other root veggies like carrots, parsnip…
• brown rice, quinoa or other cooked grains
• light salad on the side like an Easy Vegan Coleslaw, or a Tomato and Corn Salsa Fresca (which we make as part of our copycat Chipotle Veggie Bowl)
• Grilled Vegetable Kabobs of all variety

Let us know in the comments what is your favorite side dish!

This Beet Burger recipe is vegan so meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free. 

This recipe is WFPB-friendly if you fry the burgers without oil in a non-stick frying pan or bake them in the oven.

However, it is only gluten-free if you buy certified gluten-free oats and oat flour. Oats are naturally gluten-free, although they are usually cross-contaminated with other grains. If you are interested to read more about oats, you can always visit Coeliac.org.uk or NCA’s Stance on Gluten-free Oats.

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More grilling recipes

You can browse through our Vegan Lunch and Dinner Meals collection or our Quick Vegan Meals collection or check out

• Grilled Vegetable Kabobs
• Epic Fajitas Portobello Mushroom Burger
• Chinese BBQ Tofu Burger
• The Meatiest Vegan Burger (in Big Mac Style)
• Grilled Buffalo Tofu Skewers

UPDATED: This recipe was originally posted in Aug 2018, but was rewritten and republished with new photos and tips in June 2020.