Let me tell you. I’ve made my share of veggie burgers and black bean burgers, but I’ve never been satisfied with the texture, consistency…mouth-feel. Basically, I want more to my burger and I don’t want to worry about it falling apart in the pan or on my plate when I eat it. I’ve worked with TVP quite a bit and have yet to master seitan (but I haven’t given up). These 2 ingredients are the key to this burger.

Part of the challenge with veggie burgers is keeping it together. I know that vital wheat gluten does this well and I know that TVP has an excellent meat-like texture. So off I went on a Google search. This is the recipe I selected to try first and although the texture isn’t perfect, it’s much better than my past veggie and black bean burgers and the flavor is amazing. I ate about 3 of the burgers while the were cooling off!

I want to tackle adapting this recipe to make a breakfast sausage patty. If I’m successful, you’ll hear about it.

Onto the recipe…

"Meaty" Vegan Burgers

Yield: 20 sliders or 8 full-sized burgers

2/3 cup dry TVP
2 cups hot vegetable broth
1/4 cup vegan ketchup
1/4 cup vegan worcestershire sauce (I made my own using Martha’s recipe a few weeks ago so I had it on hand)
1/2 tsp. molasses
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. smoked or regular paprika
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. liquid smoke (this is not in the original recipe)
1/2 tsp. salt
ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
6 Tbsp. unbleached whole wheat flour
1-1/2 cups vital wheat gluten

In a large bowl, pour hot vegetable broth over dry TVP and let it soften for 10 minutes.
Add the remainder of the ingredients, except the vital wheat gluten, and stir to combine.
Stir in the vital wheat gluten. You should have a wet dough, similar to wet seitan dough.
Let the dough rest (for about 10 minutes) while you heat the oven to 350*F and line a 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Form the dough into patties, place on the parchment-lined pan, and cover with foil.
Bake covered for 30 minutes for full-sized burgers, or 20 minutes for slider-sized patties.
At this point, either turn the patties, baste with barbecue sauce or olive oil and bake for 15 more minutes uncovered (or 10 for smaller patties), or grill on low heat for 5 to 7 minutes per side.