Veggie Pizza Burger with a Surprise Ingredient - Easy

Photo  by Katie

Welcome again to another guest post by Katie!  For those of you who don't remember, Katie previously wrote about her awesome homemade Oreos.  She's back, this time with her take on a delicious and healthy veggie pizza burger, that even bean haters will love!  Take it away, Katie!

Tonight we tried something different in my house. We tried vegetarian pizza burgers. I followed the recipe from Happy Herbivore: Light & Lean by Lindsay S. Nixon. It’s a simple enough recipe to follow and the burgers are so good! My parents and I highly recommend them. 

 Since this was the first time I made these burgers, I followed the recipe closely and did not deviate. The cookbook says that you can eat these burgers without or without a bun. We chose to have our burgers with a bun, so we finished them off with mozzarella cheese (the book recommends Parmesan), marinara sauce and some spinach.

The following recipe yields 4 burgers:

1 (15 oz.) can white beans (such as navy or cannellini), drained and rinsed

1/4 cup pizza or marinara sauce (jarred okay), plus more for topping

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder
a few dashes Italian seasoning

1/3 cup instant oats
4 hamburger buns

shredded mozzarella or grated parmesan cheese (for topping)

spinach leaves, well rinsed and dried (for topping)

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, mash beans with a fork until mostly pureed but with some whole and half bean parts left.  It should be somewhat chunky rather than smooth.

Stir in sauce and spices until well combined; mix in oats until well distributed.

Divide into four equal portions and shape into thin patties. Arrange in a single layer on prepared baking sheet.  Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.  Flip patties over and bake another 5-7 minutes or until crusty on the outside and lightly golden.

Split open hamburger buns.  Top each bottom half with a burger.   Spread a tablespoon or two of pizza (or marinara) sauce on each burger.  Top with shredded cheese and spinach leaves to taste.  Pop a buns top over each and serve.

And that’s it. Simple and tasty. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!