Chipotle Black Bean Burgers with Cashew Ranch {Vegan}

These chipotle black bean burgers with zesty cashew ranch dressing are packed with protein, healthy fats, and spicy, savory flavor. This guilt free burger is perfect for your next summer cookout or just a no fuss weeknight dinner.

I love burgers. Beef burgers, chicken burgers, shrimp burgers – you put it in burger form and I’m game. I’ll take them thin and crispy, thick and juicy, or even stuffed with cheese. The only real necessity for me when I’m choosing a burger is that it’s worthy of indulgence. This means it has to be good enough, flavorful enough, memorable enough, or comforting enough to warrant the burger bloat that will inevitably follow.

But what if there was a burger that could be all of those things without the nagging guilt? Now don’t get me wrong – I think that indulging in things that you love is a real part of self care. And I would never hate on anyone who wanted to eat cheesy, beefy burgers on the regs. For me though swap outs are sometimes necessary. As much as I’d like to eat a shackburger every week for the rest of my life, I know how lousy it ultimately makes me feel.

And because I’ve enjoyed a staggering variety of burgers during my 35 (almost 36) years on earth, I was totally excited to play around with the idea of a really excellent plant-based version.

What Makes a Good Plant-based Burger?

This is a tough question. Taste is of course subjective, and beyond that, there are so many different avenues to go down when thinking of what to pack into a veggie burger patty. As I pondered I actually became pretty overwhelmed at the vast landscape of options, but ultimately I wanted something really simple and really flavorful.

Chipotle Black Bean Burgers

I landed on a base of black beans and quinoa, with roasted onions and garlic for flavor, chipotle peppers for a hit of smoky spice, and some almond butter to bind it all together. This is not one of those veggie burgers with a laundry list of ingredients. It’s simple, to the point, spicy, and delicious. And it was very good, but it still needed something…

 

A sauce! Of course! Any burger that’s prime time drool-worthy has some sort of “special” sauce. I could have gone the fancy ketchup route, but honestly this burger needed something a little richer than that. And to keep everything in the “eat more plants” genre I went for a cashew version.

Cashew Ranch Dressing

Ah the magical cashew. Although I’m pretty far from a vegan, I love using cashews to add creaminess and body to sauces and dressings. I pair them with caramelized roasted garlic in my decadent roasted garlic rigatoni, and they even get the holiday treatment in this vegan mushroom gravy. But this cashew ranch might be my absolute favorite. It’s zesty, garlicky, fresh and herby, and so so creamy, all thanks to that amazing little cashew.

But oh my god Jo, I don’t want to soak cashews overnight – what a pain! You’re so right. It is a pain. Now, if you’re made of free time, or are just better at planning than I am, feel free to keep soaking your cashews overnight like the cashew soaking fiend you are. But if you’re so over that whole game feel free to take a shortcut with me.

Cashew Cream Sped Up

I used to soak my cashews overnight so they’d be soft enough to blitz up with a little water, resulting in an ultra thick cashew cream that I could add to sauces, soups, etc. Why did I do this? Because the internet told me to. But then one day I forgot to soak them overnight. Oh shit! I panicked and immediately got them into some water. Six hours later I was relieved to see that they blended up JUST FINE.

After that little timing snafu though, my curiosity was piqued. Next time I soaked for three hours and still got great results. But surely I couldn’t push it any further than that. WRONG. With the help of a little heat I’ve produced beautifully lush cashew cream with only 20 minutes of actual soaking time. Short cut achieved.

Making the Best Black Bean Burgers

So now that you’ve got your creamy dressing all squared away, let’s move on to the main event. These burgers are really simple. You do need a food processor to buzz them all up, but beyond that the hardware list doesn’t go beyond a bowl and a sheet pan.

First you build a flavor base. We do this by roasting the beans, onions, and garlic together in a hot oven with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. This accomplishes two important things.

1. Roasting brings out all the sweet flavors in the onions and garlic, and helps concentrate the savory meatiness of the beans.
2. The dry heat of the oven keeps the burgers from being wet and mushy without adding a bunch of filler (re: breadcrumbs). Because canned black beans are packed in liquid, they can lead to a slimy, wet burger. By drying them out a bit before hand, you ensure that your burger has better texture along with enhanced black bean flavor.

Then you combine all that stuff with some spicy chipotle peppers, nutty quinoa, and gooey almond butter (which helps hold it all together).

Chill the mixture for a mere 15 minutes, and then form patties, (which can be stashed in the fridge for 3 days or the freezer for like an eternity – or realistically more like a couple months). Then your patties get placed on a lightly oiled, super hot sheet pan – ie: the same one you used to roast the beans and stuff earlier (bonus – fewer dishes) and baked until crispy on the outside and just heated through.

Then simply pop one onto a bun, slather it with cashew ranch, and garnish with some fun toppings. I like these pickled red onions and a juicy slice of ripe, summer tomato myself, but whatever strikes your fancy!

So from one burger lover to another, check this one out. It’s easy, healthy, and has a real kick. Plus that cashew ranch is good on all things, so maybe you should make a double batch – just putting it out there.

Happy Friday!

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