Because I’m such a huge fan of vegan burgers and veggie patties, I decided to make this post: The Anatomy of a Perfect Vegan Chickpea Burger. A couple of days ago I made this vegan chickpea burger and I was AMAZED by how delicious it turned out. It was incredibly good! Honestly, I think it could easily trick an omnivore!

From spices, ingredients, sauces, greens, veggies and gluten-free homemade buns, everything was just perfect! It would be a pity not to share it with you. Of course, if you don’t want to stay too much in the kitchen, you can just buy some vegan burger buns, but in my case, I also wanted to make them gluten-free. They are actually easy to make; it’s just mixing and baking. 🙂

So, what makes a perfect vegan chickpea burger?

Burger buns are a very important part! They must be fluffy, with just a bit of crunch. Also, they must have a mildly sweet and buttery taste and definitely some seeds on top.

Below, you will find the recipe I used for my gluten-free vegan burger buns. It’s quite simple. Instead of butter I just used coconut oil, which is amazing, and instead of eggs, I used some psyllium husks. Because I used gluten-free flour, I added more liquids than usual, and this made them fluffy.

Because my gluten-free flour mix is too white and the bread I bake are usually as white as paper, I decided to make a mix of olive oil and turmeric powder and coat each bun with it. This was used instead of milk and beaten egg yolk, which is used for non-vegan burger buns. It was just perfect! It made the buns golden. To make the buns taste a bit “smoky”, I also sprinkled them with some smoked paprika.

I love black cumin seeds, so I sprinkled them all over the buns. You can use any seeds you want. 🙂

2. Vegan Chickpea Burger Patty

The vegan burger patty is the most important part of a vegan burger. In my opinion, the patties must look like real meat patties, have a similar texture and definitely have the taste of real meat burgers. In order to achieve this, I used a couple of tricks I will share with you. 🙂

The spices are VERY important. Thyme and smoked paprika are a must! The patties will have a subtle smoked flavor you’ll love! 🙂

For making the patties look like real meat patties, I added some carob powder in order to change their color to brown. This may sound like an unusual ingredient to use in vegan patties, but trust me, it’s perfect!

The patties should be just a bit oily and have a nice crunchy crust. So, I recommend lightly frying them instead of baking them. When baking, you risk making them dry, so their texture will change a lot.

Besides the main ingredient in this, chickpeas, I also added some greens (parsley) and a dry veggie mix with carrots and celeriac. In case you don’t have a dry veggie mix, you can just grate some carrots and celeriac. It gives the patties a special flavor.

Sauces are a big deal! The perfect vegan burger MUST have very good sauces! I used a combination of ketchup (Heinz, my favorite) and vegan aioli. You can also use mayo instead of aioli, but garlic makes this burger special, so I wouldn’t replace it!

I found a great vegan aioli recipe you can use (it’s in the ingredients list), or you can just buy it.

4. Greens

I LOVE valerian leaves! You can use any leafy greens you want, from baby spinach, wild garlic, lettuce, to arugula and others! Pick your favorite and add a handful in each vegan burger.

5. Veggies

Tomatoes (which are technically fruits) are a MUST! I also add some thin onion slices.

I am thinking about trying a vegan burger with some lightly cooked eggplant or zucchini slices. What do you think? 🙂

6. Pickles

Yes, pickles! Any pickled veggies you like will work. Personally, I find pickled roasted red bell pepper absolutely amazing in this!

So, here it is – the anatomy of the perfect vegan chickpea burger! Hope you’ll like it. Well, I’m sure you will!

Let me know how it turned out!

