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.

a cauliflower burger on a pretzel bun with cheese and lettuce with ketchup and relish in background.

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

ingredients for cauliflower burgers including quinoa, carrot, egg, raisins, panko, herbs and spices.

Chopping the cauliflower into small pieces makes it quicker to cook.

a pan of chopped cauliflower.
a sheetpan with cooked cauliflower.

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).

two panels showing a glass bowl with the mashed cauliflower and the entire cauliflower burger mixture.

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.

four cauliflower patties packed into rings.

What to serve with cauliflower burgers

steamer basket with a baked cauliflower patty, green beans, and brown rice.

FAQs about baked cauliflower patties

What cheese would go well with this cauliflower burger?

I reached for a mild, white cheddar, but any mild cheese would work. Try Swiss or Monterey Jack or even a creamy feta.

What’s that bun in the picture?

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.

Can I freeze the baked cauliflower patties?

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.

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

5 from 1 vote
Category: Main Course
Cuisine: Unspecified
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours
Servings: 6 large cauliflower burgers
Calories: 162kcal
Cauliflower burgers make a great veggie burger option for your next burger night.
Print Recipe

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
  • 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

Calories: 162kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 326mg | Potassium: 218mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1945IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 101mg | Iron: 1mg
Love this recipe?Mention @Uglyducklingbakery or tag #uglyducklingbakery!

This recipe was originally published on May 21, 2021.

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a cauliflower cheese burger on a pretzel bun with a side of coleslaw

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