You’ll love this easy vegetarian burger recipe! It’s packed with protein, easy to make, and so good, you’ll shock the biggest skeptics!
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One of the most common things we hear when people find out we’re vegan? “But where do you get protein from plants!?“
I may have once asked the same thing myself, but as a long-time vegan and chef, I’ve made plenty of delicious veggie vegan burgers. These though? By far my favorite vegan burger to make at home.
If you’re skeptical about protein and plants yourself, let me introduce you to these high-protein veggie burgers and prove to you that you aren’t missing anything.
The biggest reason? The average beef burger has 15g of protein. These? A whopping 24g of protein. More protein, no harm to animals, all plant based ingredients.
These are meal-prep friendly, great on the grill, firm and packed with flavor!
Jump to:
Why You’ll love this recipe
- High Protein – You can use this for patties, meatballs, and crumbles if you wanted and then you’ll have multiple ways to pack in the protein! Each recipe makes 6 burger patties and has a whopping 144g of protein in each recipe
- Meal Prep/Freezer Friendly – You can prep this ahead up to 5 days ahead or you can make and freeze them making this great to have on hand all summer!
- Flavor – with the right flavor combo, you’ll be surprised at how much flavor we packed in here and taste like a delicious burger!
Veggie Burger Ingredients
Gather your ingredients!
Cooked Brown Rice
It is best to use day old or cooled rice as that also soaks up and holds better when making a recipe like this.
Substitute: Any rice will theoretically work. You could even use minute rice to make things go faster. But brown rice does absorb better.
TVP Crumbles
TVP, or textured vegetable protein, is a soy byproduct that has no fat or cholesterol. It resembles ground meat when rehydrated, making it the perfect substitute in these vegan burgers.
Substitute: You could use cooked brown lentils, crumbled block of tofu, including chickpea tofu or pumfu (pumpkin seed tofu) instead.
Vital Wheat Gluten
VWG is a high protein flour that helps the structure of recipes. It’s used to make seitan recipes and in this burger recipe is helping to form our meat like texture.
Substitute: Ground oat flour is an alternative for vital wheat gluten, though you’ll loose some of the “meatiness”.
Beets
We are using freshly grated beets in order to give us the color of traditional burgers.
Substitute: This can be omitted entirely, noting the color change, as it’s purely for aesthetics and doesn’t affect the recipe.
Vegetable Stock
We like to go for a low-sodium stock as we can season the burgers later if needed.
Tapioca Starch
Substitute: If you don’t have tapioca starch, you could sub for cornstarch or arrowroot powder. However, the texture will be slightly different than our original recipe.
Nutritional Yeast
Also known as “nooch” this is traditionally used in vegan recipes for a cheesy component; however, we’re using it here for an umami, nutty subtle undertone.
Spices
We’re going to be using a combination of onion powder, garlic powder, fresh garlic, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Additionally, you’ll need soy sauce and vegan Worcestershire sauce for the flavor components.
Substitute: for the vegan Worcestershire sauce, you can sub a steak sauce (like A1), as it has a similar flavor profile.
Vegan Veggie Burger Serving Suggestions
In the photos, we’re serving these vegan burgers on homemade vegan buns, as well with vegan mayo, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, smashed avocado, and vegan cheese.
Other toppings that go well on these burgers are sliced or pickled red onions (or level up with vegan onion rings), pickles, mushrooms, caramelized onions, or vegan bacon.
Other sauces that go great are mustard, ketchup, or our homemade bbq sauce.
What to serve with vegan burgers?
You got the burgers, it’s a beautiful day, and you’re ready to have a full on cookout. Here’s some of our top rated summer recipes!
More vegan burger recipes:
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Best Vegetarian Burger (High Protein)
Ingredients
- 2 cups TVP crumbles (136 grams)
- 1 ¾ cups boiling vegetable stock (397g – could sub for boiling water)
- 2 cups cooked brown rice (340g cooked; 1 cup uncooked yields 3 cups cooked; cook in vegetable stock preferred)
- ¼ cup vital wheat gluten (36g – can sub oat flour or bread crumbs – see post notes)
- ¼ cup +1 tablespoon tapioca starch (35g)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons grated beets (raw or roasted)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt (optional)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- To a medium bowl, add 2 cups dried TVP crumbles and carefully pour 1 ¾ cups boiling vegetable stock. Set aside and allow to soak for 5-10 minutes.
- Once TVP crumbles are rice are ready, into a food processor, add the TVP mixture, 2 cups cooked brown rice, ¼ cup vital wheat gluten, ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon tapioca starch, 3 cloves minced garlic, 2 tablespoon each grated beets, olive oil, and soy sauce, 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, 2 teaspoon each vegan Worcestershire sauce and onion powder, 1 ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon each garlic powder, smoked paprika, and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Pulse for a few times and then blend, scraping down the sides as needed until a cohesive mixture forms.
- Once blended well, use a kitchen scale to form 6 equal size patties. Rub a small amount of oil on each burger if grilling or to a skillet if doing indoors. Cook the burgers for 3-4 minutes on each side until a nice sear has developed and the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- Repeat until all burgers have been cooked, then serve on buns or lettuce wraps with your favorite burger toppings and sauces.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions:
A main component of this dish is TVP crumbles which is soy based. Swap with crumbled chickpea tofu or pumfu (Pumpkin seed tofu).
The vital wheat gluten can be subbed for oat flour if needed.
The Worcestershire sauce has gluten and soy. You could also purchase a gluten free version of the worcestershire sauce.
As far as the soy, I haven’t yet found a vegan version that you can buy that doesn’t contain soy; however, you could make your own homemade worcestershire sauce, like this one, and replace the soy sauce with a no soy soy free sauce.
Depending on the allergies you have, you can replace the soy sauce with gluten-free tamari, coconut aminos or a Top 8 no soy sauce (click links to see each).
These burgers will last in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days no matter if they are cooked or not.
Yes. Flash freeze them on a baking sheet and then you can move them from there to a freezer safe container or bag. Thaw overnight when ready to use. Best if consumed with 6 months.
This post was originally published on 5/18/2020 and last updated on 5/29/2025.
Holy cow. This recipe is awesome! My carnivore husband gave it a thumbs up and said it was a keeper. The taste… delicious. I kept sneaking bites of it “raw” . So good!!
HAHA, love that! Glad it was enjoyed
Once again, you’ve nailed it! This recipe was a hit with the whole family. I baked them in the oven. Delicious!
Love that!
Sounds great! I can’t wait to try this.
Hope you love them!
Made this yesterday. Excellent. I’ve been a vegan a lot of years and have tried MANY vegan burgers. I think these were the best i’ve tried. I made them per the recipe. I also tried your vegan fried chicken and that was also excellent. Thank you and your partner for sharing the recipes.
So happy that you are enjoying the recipes so much!
I always have a mix of cooked brown rice & quinoa on hand, think that will be ok?
Yes, I think it would
I’d love to try this recipe, but beets and my belly do not get along. Is there a substitute you would recommend?
beets are really for the color. If you aren’t that concerned there, you can do shredded carrots or potatoes even.
Can you freeze them ?
Yes