Spicy Lentil Quinoa Burgers with Avocado Dressing
These vegan, gluten-free, spicy lentil quinoa burgers offer a flavorful blend of protein-rich plant-based ingredients with a little kick.
Veggie burgers can go in many directions. Some offer a hearty burger-on-a-bun dining experience. Others are best enjoyed with a fork. These spicy lentil quinoa burgers are the latter. But don’t let their delicate texture deceive you. They are packed full of protein and flavor. Try them on a bed of baby romaine with chunks of baked sweet potato, sliced tomato, and a tart avocado dressing.
Ingredient Prep
You can mix up these spicy lentil quinoa burgers in less than 15 minutes if you have a few ingredients prepared ahead of time. These include:
Lentil Taco Salad is one of my most popular recipes. Now I’ve given you another reason to make lentil taco “meat”—as well as a reason to keep baked sweet potatoes and cooked quinoa on hand.
Taco Seasoning
The recipe also calls for taco seasoning. I recommend mixing your own. You may have some left over from making the lentil taco meat. But if that’s not the case, here’s a quick recap of the recipe I found on Allrecipes.com:
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- ½ tsp ground paprika
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
You can add the ingredients to a small container with a lid and give it a few good shakes to mix everything. Then, label the container so you remember what’s in it! 😁
What’s Needed
You don’t need any special equipment to make these patties. But the lentil taco meat is made in a rice cooker, so you can fix it and forget it. An immersion blender also makes short work of the avocado dressing. And while I’m sharing all my secrets, I should mention I usually bake these patties in my toaster oven so I don’t have to bother heating our big oven.
Spicy Lentil Quinoa Burgers with Avocado Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. ground chia seeds
- ¼ cup water
- 15.5 oz can low sodium pinto beans rinsed and drained
- 2 cups lentil taco meat
- ⅓ cup mashed baked sweet potato
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- 2 Tbsp. salsa
- ½ medium onion chopped
- 1 large stalk of celery chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- ½ Tbsp. taco seasoning
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- ¼ cup olive oil
Avocado Dressing
- ½ large avocado peeled
- ½ cup water
- juice from 1/2 lemon
- 2 tsp. nutritional yeast
- ¼ tsp. garlic granules
- ⅛ tsp. fine sea salt
Instructions
Burgers
- Preheat oven to 400ºF.
- Add ground chia seeds to ¼ cup of water and stir with a wire whisk. Set aside to thicken.
- Add pinto beans to a large mixing bowl and mash with a potato masher. (I find twisting the masher as I press down works well.)
- Add chia seed mixture, lentil taco meat, mashed sweet potato, pumpkin sees, salsa, onion, celery, garlic, nutritional yeast and taco seasoning to the mashed pinto beans and stir with a large spoon until well mixed.
- Add cooked quinoa to the mixture and stir until well mixed.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Form burger mixture into patties by rolling and flattening large spoonfuls between your hands.
- Place patties on parchment paper and lightly brush tops with olive oil.
- Bake at 400ºF for approximately 15 minutes then carefully turn patties, brush tops with olive oil and bake for another 15 minutes.
Avocado Dressing
- Combine avocado, ½ cup water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic granules, and salt in a blender (or immersion blender cup) and blend until smooth and creamy.
Notes
Nutrition
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