Roasted Cauliflower Burgers
These roasted cauliflower burgers are a flavor-packed veggie burger option for your next burger night. Made with roasted cauliflower, cheddar cheese, raisins, carrots, onions, and quinoa, they’re the perfect vehicle for your favorite condiments.
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The story
This recipe for baked cauliflower patties is an adaptation of the Test Kitchen spiced cauliflower burger. We found that recipe bland and extremely mushy.
The first change was to decrease the oil, increase the cumin, add chopped green onions, and roast the cauliflower for a longer time to increase the caramelization. The flavor was much improved.
Texture was the harder problem. If you’ve looked at or made my Southwestern black bean burger recipe, you know that it went through a bunch of adjustments to reduce the mushiness. For this cauliflower burger, I did similar things. The goal? Create a drier mixture that would hold together better.
It was, however, still mushy. And I hate a mushy burger.
This most recent version adds cheese for binding and increases the egg from one to two. It also has more onion, raisins, and cumin for even more flavor pop.
Tips and tricks for this recipe
Ingredients
Chopping the cauliflower into small pieces makes it quicker to cook.
Making the burger mixture
Put the cooked cauliflower into a bowl and mash it with a potato masher or fork until the pieces are small (Panel #1, below). You can also use a food processor, but you just want the pieces small, not pureed.
Add all of the ingredients to the bowl except for the egg, taste, and adjust the salt and pepper as desired. Then add the egg and let the mixture sit for about 30 minutes (Panel #2).
Cooking the cauliflower burgers
After combining the mixture and letting it rest, I packed it into rings on the same baking sheet that I had used for the cauliflower. This saved the addition of more oil in the frying process, and the patties kept together perfectly when flipped after 15 minutes in the oven.
You can also make free-form patties to bake or fry in a pan. Just be careful when you flip them over.
What to serve with cauliflower burgers
- For condiments on a cauliflower burger, you can’t go wrong with a sweet relish. But my homemade barbecue sauce or creamy lemon tahini or sumac dressing are also great options.
- Instead of a bun, free to serve these cauliflower patties with rice and green beans or a salad like this raw carrot salad or rainbow salad.
- If you’re looking for beverage pairings, burgers, regardless of type, call for beer in my world.
FAQs about baked cauliflower patties
I reached for a mild, white cheddar, but any mild cheese would work. Try Swiss or Monterey Jack or even a creamy feta.
I’ve made a lot of burger buns trying to find one that is better than a store bought bun. I’ve landed on this pretzel roll from Test Kitchen kids. It’s easy to make, has great flavor, and is sturdy enough to handle any burger.
Yes, freeze the cooked patty on a baking sheet overnight, wrap it in plastic wrap, and then store it in a freezer bag for a few months. To reheat frozen patties, defrost them in the refrigerator and then heat them in a frying pan over low heat.
Related recipes
Check out other uglyduckling burgers (including veggie burgers) like my Southwestern black bean burger or BBQ quinoa and pinto bean burger recipe.
Love cauliflower? Make my cauliflower mac and cheese or this recipe for chicken with roasted purple potatoes and cauliflower.
Roasted Cauliflower Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower, roughly chopped into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
- ½ cup cooked quinoa
- ½ cup (2 ounces) grated cheddar or other cheese
- 1 carrot, chopped fine
- 2 green onions, chopped
- ½ cup panko
- ½ cup raisins
- 1½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- On a baking sheet, toss the cauliflower with the salt, pepper and just enough olive oil to coat. Bake for 40 minutes or so until the cauliflower has browned, stirring occasionally. Let cool slightly until cool enough to work with. (Don't wash the baking sheet!)1 head cauliflower, roughly chopped into small pieces, 1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
- Mash the cauliflower pieces in a large bowl. Add all of the remaining ingredients except for the egg. That is the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, carrot, green onion, panko, raisins, cumin, and paprika). Mix and taste a bit to adjust for salt and pepper.½ cup cooked quinoa, 1 carrot, chopped fine, 2 green onions, chopped, ½ cup panko, ½ cup raisins, 1½ teaspoons ground cumin, 1 teaspoon paprika
- Add the beaten egg, mix, and then let rest for 30 minutes. If you want to make the mixture ahead of time, you can leave it in the refrigerator for longer.2 eggs, slightly beaten
- Pack the mixture firmly onto the used baking sheet, either by hand or into rings, and bake for 15 minutes on a middle rack of the oven. Flip and bake for another 10 minutes, until the patty has been lightly browned. Serve warm.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on May 21, 2021.
What’s next?
If you make these cauliflower burgers, please leave a comment or rating here.
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