A couple cans, a few fresh ingredients, and some dairy-free tzatziki, and you’ve got healthy vegan falafel burgers for a quick weeknight meal. The recipe can even be doubled, making extra patties for a second dinner or for a unique lunch box sandwich.

According to Cans Get You Cooking, most Americans throw away spoiled fresh fruits and vegetables two times a week on average, wasting 15 to 20 percent of fresh produce each year. As they note, by keeping your pantry stocked with essential canned ingredients, you can create meals like these vegan falafel burgers using both canned and fresh ingredients to help avoid buying excess produce.

Special Diet Notes: Vegan Falafel Burgers

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, optionally gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free, optionally soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian. Just be sure to choose your bread wisely and use a dairy-free tzatziki recipe. For the breadcrumbs and buns used in this vegan falafel burgers recipe, I like Rudi’s Bakery. They offer both organic (whole wheat) and gluten-free options, and their bakery is dairy-free.

Note that the patties for these vegan falafel burgers will be soft, so they are best pan-fried or baked. They won’t work well on the grill.

