Bean Burgers that Taste Like the Real Thing

 Bean Burgers that Taste Like the Real Thing

  <$0.30/serving

With all the nice, or at least not freezing, weather we have been having lately, I start to get my summer cravings. In the winter it tends to be soup, chili, anything hot… Spring and summer veer more towards fruit, steak, salads, and one of my favorites- burgers. I absolutely love homemade hamburgers. However, these are not very cost friendly right now. The cheapest hamburger I could find was $4/lb which can easily turn your meal budget upside-down. So I started exploring for some option to get my burger fix without blowing the budget and guess what, beans are super cheap. Beans and rice seem to fit into many of my solutions, but they really work. I was able to make these burgers for less than $0.30/burger, buns and lettuce included! Anyway, these bean burgers actually taste and have consistency similar to a real burger. I won't tell you they are exactly the same, because I don't think that is ever possible to get two totally different things to be exact. They come pretty darn close though and taste amazing. Did I mention they are cheap? J

2 Cups Black Bean Flour
¾ Ream of Crackers (Saltines)
1 Large Onion
3 Cups Water
4 Eggs
2 Tbsp Oil or Cooking Spray (PAM) works
Garlic Powder or Chopped Garlic to Taste
Bread
Lettuce
Dressing of Choice (Ketchup, Mustard, Ranch, Buffalo Sauce)
Makes approximately 12 Burgers

Mix black bean flour with water in a pot and bring to a boil over medium or low-medium heat. Don't try to cook the flour fast as it will burn to the bottom and then it is no fun to try to clean up afterwards. Cook until the mixture turn purplish black and no longer has hard pieces of bean in it (If you made your own flour), or about 15 minutes. If you bought flour from the store, you may not even need to cook the flour ahead of time, though it never hurts. We cooked ours extra long and could probably have stopped around 10 minutes.

 Let this mixture cool. Remember these will turn into a hamburger looking patty which you shape with your hands, no sense in burning yourself. If you have a patty maker, or an extremely high heat tolerance, then by all means continue on.

Mix in onion, eggs, and crackers. Our mix turned into a pretty decent "meat" consistency, but you can always adjust to have a runnier/stiffer mix. This would also be a great time to add in garlic or garlic powder, along with any other seasonings you prefer. I've listed some great options, which is by no means all-inclusive at the bottom of the recipe.

Heat oil in a pan over low-medium heat. Shape mixture into preferred patty size. We made ours about 2.5-3" in diameter. 

Cook these slowly to get even texture throughout (and to make sure the eggs are done). About 4-5 minutes per side seemed about perfect, but adjust depending on the size of your patty.

Serve on buns or bread - we used bread because it was free at the store this week! Add lettuce and dressings. The crunch of the lettuce made this a really great texture.
The only thing to watch out for on these is that you probably don't want to serve a bean burger with baked beans like people often do at barbeques and you might not want to eat more than two in a sitting. Fruit is a good addition though or maybe a potato salad? Either way, they are great and can be made with a multitude of flavors. We tried a couple with buffalo seasoning (shore lunch) and those had a nice kick. We had them with ranch and it really jazzed them up. We also had a few with a little bit of garlic powder and served them with ketchup and mustard. These were more of a traditional burger taste. A few other seasonings that I think we be fun to try: cumin, chili powder, Mrs. Dash- pretty much any variety, maybe Cajun seasoning? Let me know if you find some new amazing combination so I can try it too! Hope you can enjoy you're fairly healthy (though high-carb), super cheap burger craving solution. 

Ingredient	Amount	​	Cost Ingredient	Cost Recipe​
Black Bean Flour	2.00 Cups	Cups	1.78	1.78
Onion	1.00 Ea	EA	4.98	0.62
Crackers	0.75	stands of crackers	2.68	0.50
Eggs	4.00	ea	0.99	0.33
Bread	2.00	slices	1.18	0.15
Lettuce	0.05	Head	1.88	0.09
Total COST (12 patties total)	​	​	​	3.47
Cost/Serving	​	​	​	.29