BBQ Pinto Bean Burgers

These BBQ Pinto Bean Burgers are everything you want in a veggie burger. They’re flavor-packed with barbecue sauce, garlic, green onions, and cheese.

Best of all, these pinto bean veggie burgers are easy to make and sturdy enough to hold all your favorite burger toppings. Because burgers are just a vehicle for your favorite condiments anyway, right?

Ingredients

• Pinto beans are a protein-packed and budget-friendly option for your bean burgers.
• BBQ sauce is what gives these burgers their awesome flavor. Make your own classic homemade BBQ sauce, my peach chipotle sauce or go for a healthy store-bought sauce.
• Egg and panko serve as classic binders and get extra help with the addition of cheese in the burger itself

Variations and substitutions

• Any combination of red or white beans can substitute in this bean burger.
• Instead of frying, bake your bean burgers at 375 degrees Fahrenheit on an oiled sheet pan. Bake for 10 minutes, flip them over, and then bake another 10 minutes, for a total of 20 minutes.
• Add more herbs and spices like parsley or cilantro or cumin.
• Make spicy pinto bean burgers with a pinch or a dash of hot stuff (e.g. cayenne or chili powder or hot sauce) if that makes you happy.

Using canned beans

While I usually try to make things from scratch, canned beans definitely hold a place in my recipes because of their ease and convenience. Please feel free to use dried beans in this recipe if you prefer!

Want other easy recipes using canned beans? Try a garbanzo bean soup, cheesy white bean tomato bake, falafel waffles, or baked purple sweet potatoes loaded with white beans, or these w

Step by step

Step 1: This pinto bean burger recipe starts with drying the beans on a baking sheet in the oven. I learned that this step is critical when I was perfecting my Southwestern black bean burger recipe to avoid the dread mushy bean burger. Let them cool at least slightly.

Step 2: Add the pinto beans to a large bowl and mash with a potato masher or fork until the beans are mostly mashed but some large pieces remain.

Step 3: Add the quinoa, panko, flour, BBQ sauce, garlic, green onions, and cheese, and mix until uniform. Taste a bit at this point and add salt and pepper, a bit at a time, if needed.

Step 4: Add the beaten eggs to the bean mixture and stir until the mixture comes together. Form into patties of desired size and let rest on waxed paper at room temperature for 30 minutes. You can keep them for longer than 30 minutes, but you’ll want to put them in the refrigerator.

Step 5: Heat a griddle, cast iron skillet, or other frying pan, and add the oil in a thin layer. Once hot, add the bean patties and fry for 5 minutes until browned. Flip the pinto bean patties and cook on the second side for 3 to 5 minutes longer.

Serve topped with cheese, spicy pickled onions, and your favorite condiments. Relish and my campfire sauce would be an obvious choice, but these pinto bean veggie burgers are also delicious with a quick guacamole or creamy sumac sauce.

What to serve with BBQ bean burgers

Serve these pinto bean burgers with your favorite barbecue sides like:

• Corn on the cob
• Purple cabbage slaw or a raw carrot salad
• Apple pie baked beans
• Creamy mac and cheese or skillet cornbread

Recipe FAQs

Related vegetarian recipes

Check out other Ugly Duckling Bakery vegetarian recipes including:

But if it’s more barbecue flavor you want, check out these braised BBQ chicken meatballs.