Chickpea and beetroot burgers

I have made these chickpea and beetroot burgers several times now. I made a similar version at work once but there were a few ingredients I didn’t like and so have made a few adjustments and made them my own. The vegetarian burgers have become a permanent dinner staple in our household and were approved at a small dinner gathering with family recently so I thought I’d share the recipe. Now as you can see in the photo above I serve my burgers naked but they are firm enough if one were to choose to put them inside a bun. I just find them a bit lighter without the bread. Shall we get on with the recipe then!

Ingredients:

1 400g can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 small beetroot, peeled and grated

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves. finely chopped

1 tbs tahini

1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs + some extra for rolling the burger patties in

1 egg , beaten

30g Greek feta cheese, crumbled

2 tsps ground cumin

2 tsps smoked paprika

A bunch of fresh parsley, chopped

For the tzatziki:

2 cups Greek yoghurt

1/2 cucumber , grated and drained

2 garlic cloves, minced

Juice from 1/2 lemon

A small bunch of mint leaves, finely chopped

Start by pulsing the chickpeas in a food processor until almost smooth. Add the onion, garlic, tahini, parsley and spices and pulse a few more seconds until everything is incorporated. Transfer to a bowl and add the egg and mix. Next mix in the panko.

Lastly mix in the beetroot and feta. Pour some of the extra panko on a plate. Separate the burger mix into four equal pieces and roll them into balls. Take one of the balls and lightly press down into the panko until it resembles a burger patty. flip it and lightly press again so it ends up being covered in panko. Repeat the process with the rest of the patties. Let the chickpea and burger patties rest in the fridge for at least 4 hours. I like to prepare these the night before.

While the burger patties are in the fridge resting mix all the ingedients for the tzatziki.

Serve the burgers with some roasted potato wedges and a nice green salad.

Enjoy!