A Black Bean Burger recipe and a brief sponsored review**.

These black bean burgers are packed with lots of “good-for-you” stuff. The main ingredients are veggies, beans, and oats. Then, those ingredients are paired up with a few other ingredients that help pack in some flavor. But don’t let the list of healthy ingredients in these black bean burgers fool you. These burgers taste great and are quite simple to make, requiring only a few steps.

Black bean burgers in 5 easy steps:

1. Chop up the veggies.

2. Mash up the beans.

3. Add the other stuff.

4. Cook the burgers.

5. Put the burgers onto buns.

Freeze the leftovers for another time.

You can get eight burgers out of this recipe. The patties freeze and reheat really well, so I would suggest freezing the ones you don’t eat right away. When you are ready to eat them you can just pull one out of the freezer and zap it in a microwave for one minute and 15 seconds.

I actually enjoyed making these black bean burgers!

The last time I made black bean burgers I regretted it half-way through. Have you ever tried to make a recipe and half-way through you decided you didn’t want to make it anymore, but you were already half-way there so you decided to push through and finish the recipe anyway? You might have felt that way if you ever tried to blend two cans of beans in a food processor that had little blades at the bottom of it. The food processor we had was an old one that had seen better days, and it clearly was just not up for the task.

Do you have a food processor that won’t do its job?

It was time for my food processor to retire. There were four little blades at the base of our food processor that were about 2 inches long so all of the beans at the bottom of the blender mashed a little bit, but the top 3/4 of the beans barely moved. Our food processor could not handle even a half of a can of beans, let alone two full cans. Once the blender started to smell like it was overheating, I decided I’d better take out most of the beans and just blend them in batches, which was messy, took some time, and just made the whole experience not fun. Mostly, it was irritating, and it taught me two things… It taught me that I didn’t want to make black bean burgers ever again and that I really wanted a new food processor.

A new day has come!

Well, I am happy to tell you that after two years, I finally got my new food processor! But not just any food processor, a NINJA one! And it came in a set that included a blender and a spiralizer! Let me just tell you, this Ninja® Intelli-Sense™ Kitchen System with Auto-Spiralizer™ is a BEAST! It can tackle anything… even this recipe that consists of beans, oats, and veggies. I could not believe how easy these black bean burgers were to make once I had the right kind of food processor. It was seriously a breeze, a joy even.

Check out this Ninja® Intelli-Sense™ Kitchen System with Auto-Spiralizer™ that I just got recently:

Does this set look awesome, or what!? I love absolutely everything about this set!

Okay, so I have been dropping little hints about what is coming in December on Meal Planning Mommies. The picture above is another hint. If this “hint” doesn’t get you excited I don’t know what will. I am BEYOND thrilled!

Can I make black bean burgers without a food processor?

Yes, you can. If you don’t have a workhorse of a blender/food processor like the one above, you can still make these burgers and not have to deal with the hassle of blending in batches like I did. Instead, I would suggest chopping up the vegetables into small pieces, mashing the beans with a masher, and then mixing the veggies and beans together, along with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.

Are you ready to make some black bean burgers? (I am including what buttons I pushed in my Intelli-Sense food processor, in case if you will be using one.)

Update: About the light buns.

The FreeStyle Smart Points total per burger in this recipe includes the 8 light hamburger buns. There are actually lots of different kinds of light buns. You can go to our list of low Smart Points buns and breads for a list of light hamburger buns that are just 2 WW FreeStyle SP each and bread that is just 1 WW SP per slice.

Okay, now on to our recipe.

Here is what you need:

1 medium zucchini
1 small onion
1 carrot
3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
2 (14 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1-1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Cooking spray
8 light hamburger buns

Optional additional toppings: Light mayonnaise, ketchup, red onions slices, tomato slices, lettuce

Here is what you do:

Preheat a skillet or sauté pan to medium heat.

Chop zucchini, onion, and carrot in a food processor about 20 seconds. (Push the “Chop” button if using the Ninja food processor, and it will do all the work for you)

Add applesauce and black beans. Blend 1-2 minutes, or until beans are fully mashed. (Push the “Puree” button if using the Ninja food processor)

Add in all of the remaining ingredients, except the buns. Blend 1-2 more minutes. (Push the “Puree” button again if using the Ninja food processor)

Measure and shape 1/2 cup of the bean mixture into a patty.

Spray the preheated pan with cooking spray and cook patties 4-5 minutes on each side.

Serve black bean patties on light hamburger buns and top with toppings of your choosing. One black bean burger without any additional toppings is 6 WW FreeStyle SP. If you add 1 tablespoon light mayonnaise and 1/2 tablespoons ketchup to each burger, as picture below, it would make it 7 WW FreeStyle SP per garnished black bean burger. Another tasty option is to top it with barbecue sauce.

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Print Recipe

Black Bean Burgers

8 Green, 6 Blue, and 4 Purple points per burger

Makes: 8 burgers

Calories: 203

Author: Alisha Hughes

Ingredients

• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 small onion
• 1 carrot
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
• 2 (14 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1-1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Cooking spray
• 8 light hamburger buns

Instructions

• Preheat a skillet or sauté pan to medium heat.
• Chop zucchini, onion, and carrot in a food processor about 20 seconds. (Push the "Chop" button if using the Ninja food processor)
• Add applesauce and black beans. Blend 1-2 minutes, or until beans are fully mashed. (Push the "Puree" button if using the Ninja food processor)
• Add in all of the remaining ingredients, except the buns. Blend 1-2 more minutes. (Push the "Puree" button again if using the Ninja food processor)
• Measure and shape 1/2 cup of the bean mixture into a patty.
• Spray the preheated pan with cooking spray and cook patties 4-5 minutes on each side.
• Serve black bean patty on a light hamburger bun and top with toppings of your choosing. One black bean burger without any additional toppings is 7 WW SP. If you add 1 tablespoon light mayonnaise and 1/2 tablespoons ketchup to each burger, as picture below, it would make it 8 WW SP per garnished black bean burger.

**Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”