This Quinoa Veggie Burger with Pomegranate Molasses has been in my head for awhile now. It is a veggie burger FULL of flavor. And…it has a secret ingredient 🙂
What is the secret ingredient, you ask? Tater Tots! Yes, they are vegan-friendly. We cooked them so they had some crisp to them, then broke them up. The same process could be done with hashbrowns. Carrots, celery, onion, black beans and quinoa round out the ingredient list.
We made a flax “egg” to act as our binder (instructions below) and added a small amount of bread crumbs. The nuttiness of the quinoa and that potato flavor really come through.
A few tips. They are pretty fragile burgers until cooked. I would process them a little less next time leaving a bit more texture. In our recipe testing, thinner burgers cooked longer fared much better than those that were thicker and browned more quickly. Low and slow is best here. Make sure your tater tots are cooked and your quinoa has no moisture left in it.
Optional glaze: I saw this recipe for pomegranate molasses on Food Network. I just had to try it! Store bought pomegranate juice mixed with a bit of sugar and lemon juice cooked down until it resembles…well, molasses. It took a good hour, but it was worth it! It concentrates the flavor and was really delicious on the burger.
We served our burger on a bed of blanched brussels sprouts (some leaves and some we halved) and finally, topped it off with pomegrate seeds. Be sure to season with salt and pepper.
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Quinoa Veggie Burger with Pomegranate Molasses {Vegan}
Ingredients
- FOR THE BURGERS:
- 1 C Tater Tots baked until crisp and broken up
- 1 Carrot chopped
- 1 Celery Stalk chopped
- 1 small Onion chopped
- Garlic Powder to taste
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1/4 C Black Beans
- 1/4 C Quinoa cooked and drained of all moisture
- 1/4 - 1/2 C Breadcrumbs this will vary depending on how much moisture your mixture has
- 2 C Brussel Sprouts peeled or halved
- Pomegranate Seeds from 1 pomegranate
- FOR THE POMEGRANATE MOLASSES:
- 16 oz. 100% Pure Pomegranate Juice
- 1/2 C vegan Sugar
- 1 Tbl Lemon Juice
- FOR COOKING:
- 1 tsp Vegetable Oil
Instructions
- Bake Tater Tots per package instructions until crispy.
- Start the pomegranate molasses by combining the pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until it resembles syrup. This can take upwards of an hour. It should reduce quite substantially in volume.
- Create a flax "egg" mixture by combining 1 Tbl ground flax seed and 3 Tbl Water and refrigerate this mixture for at least 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the black beans, carrot, celery and onion in a food processor until finely chopped along with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Roughly break up the baked tater tots with your fingers and fold into the mixture along with the quinoa.
- Add in the flax egg mixture.
- Once fully combined, add enough bread crumbs until the mixture comes together and can be easily formed into burgers. I used Italian Style bread crumbs, but I think Panko or even homemade dried bread cubes broken up would work just as well, if not better, in this burger.
- Divide evenly into 4-6 burgers. Do not make too thick.
- Heat a skillet on medium high heat and add the teaspoon of oil. Saute the burgers until cooked through and browned on both sides. They should be firm now and hold together well.
- Serve on a bed of blanched brussel sprouts. We peeled some of the larger leaves off for presentation and halved the rest.
- Spoon the pomegranate molasses over the burgers.
- Top with pomegranate seeds and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
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