There's a special kind of deliciousness that comes from these Mushroom Lentil Burgers. You're sure to enjoy these savory vegan burger patties made with lentils, mushrooms, and oats.
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While you're not going to mistake the texture of these patties for a beef burger (which, in my opinion, is a good thing!), the savory umami flavor from the mushrooms will definitely satisfy those of you who miss eating meat. In other words, this isn't a veggie burger that tastes like vegetables!
Last month I posted a recipe for Cauliflower Hummus Burgers and this month I'm posting these Lentil Mushroom Burgers because I've decided to do a burger recipe every month this summer. Woo hoo! It's the summer of burgers! It's like the summer of love, minus the hippies, plus delicious veggie burgers.
Recipe Inspiration
As I mentioned last week, things have been a little hectic around here lately with the additional work I'm doing for my book. This post was easy to write though, because it was your idea.
Well, okay, maybe not you you. But I've had some readers tell me they were making my meatball recipes into burgers. And I've had a few others ask me if it was something I thought would work out.
I guess I could have just added a line to my Lentil Mushroom Meatballs post saying, "Oh, and by the way, you can make these into burgers too!" But these Mushroom Lentil Burgers are worth having their own post.
Textured vs Smooth Veggie Burgers
I like texture in my veggie burgers, which makes forming patties (and getting them to stay together) a little bit tougher. It's easy to get a burger to stick together when it's made with pureed beans or veggies, but I don't like the feeling of biting into those kinds of burgers-I want to see what's in it, you know? (Yes, I am picky.)
Baking is the best way I've found to cook the kinds of veggie burgers I like. There's no flipping, no grates for the burger to fall through-it just works better.
This Mushroom Lentil Burgers recipe is...
- Tasty
- Textured
- Healthy
- Easy to make
- Baked
- Vegan
If you're on your way to a more plant based lifestyle, be sure to check out our Veggie Kickstart Kit. It's packed with easy and tasty vegetarian dinners, effortless packable lunches, and easy grab-and-go breakfasts. And they're so good - you'll never miss the meat again!
How to Make Mushroom Lentil Burgers
- Cook lentils in water.
- Use food processor to coarsely chop mushrooms and lentils.
- Heat oil in a skillet and add garlic.
- Add mushroom-lentil mixture and cook until browned.
- Add remaining ingredients and cook until liquid evaporates.
- Preheat oven.
- Form mixture into burger patties.
- Bake until done.
- Serve!
Full directions for how to make Mushroom Lentil Burgers are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Tips & Tricks for Mushroom Lentil Burgers
Freeze for Later
Don't plan on eating 4 entire burgers this week? Or maybe you made a double batch? You can easily freeze these lentil burger patties to save for later!
Just bake them like normal, and let them cool completely. Once cool, you can place the burgers in freezer-safe baggies or containers. Store them in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Chop vs Puree
As I mentioned before, I'm a fan of burgers with lots of texture. However, if you're not a fan, you can make your burgers more smooth. To do this, simply puree the mushrooms and lentils together instead of merely chopping them in the food processor.
Mushroom Lentil Burgers FAQs
Does it matter what kind of lentils I use?
For this recipe, I used brown lentils. However, you can use pretty much any kind of lentils you prefer. Knowing the differences between lentil varieties will help you choose the best lentil option for your desired burger texture.
What toppings should I use on my mushroom lentil burgers?
The sky is the limit when it comes to topping your lentil burgers. We topped our burgers with the usual burger things like lettuce and pickles, cashew mayo, and caramelized onions.
While you're here, be sure to grab our FREE 5-Day Meatless Meal Plan. It's packed with tasty recipes to make vegetarian cooking easy and delicious!
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup brown lentils, rinsed and picked over
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup water
- 8 oz white mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoon red wine
- ½ cup vegetable broth, or mushroom broth
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, or liquid aminos
- ½ cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 burger buns, plus lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and whatever else you like on your burgers
Instructions
- Combine lentils, bay leaf, and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. (Yes, the lentils will be undercooked-don't cook them for the time indicated on the package!) Remove from heat, drain, and cool slightly. Discard bay leaf.
- Add mushrooms and lentils to food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds), stirring constantly. Stir in mushroom-lentil mixture. Cook for about 4 minutes or until browned, stirring constantly.
- Add red wine to skillet and cook until evaporated. Stir in broth, soy sauce, oats, and Italian seasoning. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste and allow to cool slightly.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or spray it with oil or cooking spray). Divide the burger mixture into 4 patties and pat them into shape on the baking sheet. You want them to be pretty tightly packed because that will help them hold their shape.
- Bake them for 20-30 minutes, or until the patties are browned and cooked through. Use a spatula to carefully transfer patties to buns, then top them with all of your fabulous burger toppings.
Robin (Masshole Mommy) says
Those look AWESOME. I love lentils and I bet they add a nice flavor to the burger. Yum!
Connie says
Oats too? How great! We have a ton of oats but can't bring ourselves to make oatmeal in the summer. This seems like an awesome way to use them.
Kiersten says
Do you ever make overnight oats? That's one of my summertime staples! And you can eat them cold. 🙂
Kristie Hicks says
I love those! I usually do them in pint madon jars and eat twice from each one. I use quick oats, about half and half honey and stevia to taste, salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, minced green apple, cranberries, chia seeds, flax meal, walnuts or pecans, plain Greek yogurt, and almond milk.
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
Yum! My kind of veggie burger! I feel a burger night coming on and since I'm sure my hubby wont touch these, I'll get them all to myself 😀
Kiersten says
I love it when that happens! 😀
Grace @ FoodFitnessFreshAir says
Yum! My mom makes a mean lentil loaf, that we often turn into burgers or sandwiches the next day. Love all the mushrooms in this variation.
Kiersten says
I need to make some kind of loaf recipe because I so miss meatloaf sandwiches! Not the meat itself, just the concept and comfort food aspect of them. 🙂
Lisa @ Greek Vegetarian says
I loved the meatballs, now must make the burgers! Cashew mayo and caramelised onions are definitely calling my name too 🙂
Kiersten says
Cashew mayo is my new favorite burger topping!
skoraq cooks says
OMG These brugers look sooo delicious that I immediately think about preparing my own burger 🙂
Genevieve says
Those look like some big, hearty veggie burgers! I agree, I don't want my veggie burgers to resemble beef ones in any way (I had one of those last weekend at a party and could barely force myself to eat it). So one with lots of texture and visible ingredients like this is perfect for me!
Kiersten says
Last year we went to a restaurant and I ordered a veggie burger and it ended up being a Boca patty. I can't stand to waste food, so I think I ate a few bites and let Chris finish the rest, but I still felt sick afterwards and kept having flashbacks about the taste/texture. I can't stand the faux beef burgers!
Genevieve says
Glad to hear I'm not the only one! Same goes with veggie dogs...
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
What an interesting and healthy combo!! Love the use of mushrooms in this recipe, Kiersten 🙂
Corinna says
I just started eating veggie burgers...somehow they 'chewed' too much like meat for me. Now I have found that the homemade versions are really nice. I cannot wait to try this one at home.
Kiersten says
Yes, I know exactly what you mean! And I HATE those kinds of burgers. Blech!
Brenda Roszak says
A great vegie burger is a big portobello mushroom instead of the burger and all the burger toppings in one of those half buns, you know? It was the best!!!!
BusyWorkingMama says
Wow! These look delicious! I bet the mushrooms make them nice and moist.
Brenda Williams says
FANTASTIC photos! These burgers sound great and I love the baking idea...
Phô mai que says
I love mushroom. It would be amazing installing it into the burger. I have to try. Thanks for the recipe, Kiersten!
Holly Foster says
Made these yesterday and popped them in the freezer for later use. Late night dinner tonight. Thought of these instead of fast food. Did my own version of caramelized onions, vegan mayo, sautéed tomatoes, and spinach. They were phenomenal!!!
I've made these as meat balls with spaghetti squash and sauce. They were great that way. However, as burgers, they're unbelievably good. No more commercially packaged veggie burgers for me. Way to go, Kiersten!
Kiersten says
I'm glad you enjoyed them! They really are great burgers to make in bulk and keep on hand. 🙂 Thank you for your comment!
sue cross says
Hi, just found you and these lovely mushroom burgers. Doing a bbq next Saturday so I am cooking ahead, do I freeze this coojed or UN cooked, thank you
Kiersten Frase says
You'll want to cook them, then freeze them.
Sunfood Junkies says
YUMMO. Nothing beats a good (vego) burger. Another recipe to add to my collection. Thank you 🙂
Kiersten says
Yup, they are one of my favorite meals!
Stephanie says
Made these for dinner and they are delicious and easy!! Sometimes veggie burgers are tough because it's so much chopping, prep, etc. But these are super easy and very little prep. Thanks for the great recipe.
Kiersten says
Thank you for your comment--I'm glad they turned out well for you! 🙂
magi shagi says
I made those for dinner last night (we eat them without any bread) along with some fresh spinach and honey-mustard sauce and they turned out so good! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Kiersten says
I'm glad you enjoyed them--thanks for your comment! 🙂
Emma says
This is a great recipe. I didn't have all of the seasonings, and improvising worked well.
Kiersten says
I'm glad it worked out! 🙂
Melissa says
Made these tonight and my family loved them, thanks for the easy delicious recipe.
Kiersten says
I'm glad you enjoyed them!
nikki says
Hi
These look awesome, I can't eat oats though, so any sub ideas? Maybe quinoa flakes, i've heard they are like oats would that work do you think?
Also would dried red lentils be ok?
Sorry with all the questions but live in France and not always easy to find ingredients!
Thanks in advance :o)
Kiersten Frase says
Red lentils tend to fall apart a little more than green/brown lentils. I think I'd use Puy lentils (which I believe are French, so you should be able to find them!) before I'd use red lentils. As for the oats, I haven't worked with quinoa flakes myself, so I'm not sure how they'd work out.
Nikki says
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Yes I can definitely get puy lentils, so will try this ASAP and let you know how the quinoa flakes work out.
Kind Regards :o)
Kiersten Frase says
I hope it works out! 🙂
Emma Lana Chin says
These were so much better than I thought! I'm new to clean eating and these were simple and delicious! Thanks!
Kiersten Frase says
Yay, I'm glad you liked them! 🙂
Betty says
No alcohol in my house. What's the purpose of the wine in this recipe? Does it just add flavor or does it help tenderize? Could I leave it out or would you recommend something else in its place?
Kiersten Frase says
The wine adds flavor to the recipe. You can make the burgers without it, but the flavor won't be quite the same.
Pooja says
I made there last night for my husband and i, and they came out great! I didn't have stock so i just used water and sherry instead of red wine since i didnt have any red wine. My husband is a meat eater and even he loved them. Thanks for this great recipe!
Stephanie Jane says
Wow, these are so delicious! I made them this evening and we both enjoyed them, even 'must have meat' boyfriend.
Chopping the mushrooms so finely was a bit of a faff without a food processor and I used 1 tbsp of Worcester sauce in place of the soy, and good pinch of mixed herbs in place of the Italian seasoning. The burgers are amazingly filling. I thought we'd need two each, but struggled to eat more than half of the second. My coleslaw didn't even get a look in!
So happy with this recipe, many thanks for posting it 🙂
Joanna says
I'd love to make these for dinner tonight. We have a package of refrigerated, cooked Trader Joe's lentils in our fridge right now. Would it work to use those for this recipe? Thanks!
Kiersten says
I've never bought those before, so I'm not sure how firm they are - I've found that fully cooked lentils usually result in a mushy burger, so I undercook mine slightly.
Gabrielle says
These are so tasty! I made them for dinner tonight and they were even better than I imagined they would be. Plus they're *so* easy to make, not nearly as labour intensive as so many other veggie burger recipes. I'll definitely be returning to this one! Thank you thank you!