Vegan Black Bean Burgers
I have been making these vegan black bean burgers for many years, and they are my go-to burgers to serve for family events. This is one of the best vegan burger recipes I’ve had, and also is our readers’ favorite.
I decided to update the photo, since I made some just in time for the 4th of July. This recipe is no-fail, they don’t fall apart, and can even be grilled.
This is an easy vegan burger recipe with simple ingredients that you more than likely already have in your pantry, and you can also easily substitute anything missing with ingredients you have available. See more of my tips below!
This vegan burger recipe is also gluten-free. I used Little Northern Bakehouse Millet And Chia Seeds Gluten-Free Hamburger Buns to eat with my burgers.
My burgers can be made in larger quantities, and they freeze well. Also, try my homemade Vegan Mayo Recipe as a topping.
These burgers are delicious served with my flavorful Baked Jicama Fries or Oven Baked Potato Wedges.

What Is Bragg’s Liquid Aminos?
Liquid aminos, like soy sauce or tamari, is made with soybeans. It adds the “umami” or savory flavor profile that is essential to adding depth for many recipes. I also use it in place of some salt, since it not only adds saltiness but also flavor.
Liquid aminos also has the amino acids that are present in soybeans that are necessary for vegans to eat. I love ingredients that improve my food while also adding nutritional benefit.
Unlike many common soy sauces, Bragg’s liquid aminos is gluten-free. I love using it for this reason, I never need to check the label, however if you do not have access to liquid aminos there are specifically gluten free soy sauces you can use instead.
If you are looking for a non soy based alternative, there is aminos made from coconut. It isn’t made from the actual coconut that you may be thinking of, but actually the sap of the coconut tree. It has that same umami flavor, similar to soy sauce, while also being vegan, soy free, and gluten free.
What Are Nutritional Yeast Flakes?
When one mentions yeast, you will usually think of the tan granules used to make bread and other wheat based bread products. However, nutritional yeast flakes are something completely different.
Although all three common yeasts are made from the same species, unlike brewer’s and baker’s, nutritional yeast is not left alive. It doesn’t have the same function as those, and is manufactured specifically to be for food.
Nutritional yeast adds an umami, savory or cheesy flavor, making it one of my favorite seasonings to add an extra “something” to my dishes.
But just like many of my ingredients, it is secretly a powerhouse. Nutritional yeast flakes contain all nine essential amino acids that you must intake, making it what is known as a complete protein. This can be rare, especially for vegans, making it an easy way to make sure you have no deficiencies.
Moreover, it contains vitamin B12, and other B vitamins in fact. Vitamin B12 is most commonly found in eggs, dairy, or meat, meaning that many vegans have a B12 deficiency if they aren’t careful.
Being deficient in vitamin B12 makes you feel sluggish and mentally foggy, which can be quoted as the reasoning for why some people’s vegan journeys fail. Adding nutritional yeast to your diet is extremely easy, as it can be added to most savory dishes quite easily, possibly eliminating the need for expensive supplements.

Tips For Making Vegan Black Bean Burgers
- Black beans may be substituted with cooked kidney beans, white beans, chickpeas.
- Pecans, almonds, or cashews may be used instead of walnuts.
- This oatmeal burger recipe can be modified to use the herbs that you like. It is such a versatile recipe, so it is difficult to mess it up.
- If you are allergic to oatmeal, then substitute with quinoa flakes.
- You can also substitute the ground flaxseeds with chia seeds.
This version is very delicious. My eight-year-old Daevyd, helped me to make these burgers and he enjoyed eating his burger so much. He kept telling me how good it tasted! He is very picky and he actually wanted another burger!
Gluten-Free Black Bean Burgers
This recipe is originally from the early days of my website before I was on a fully gluten-free diet. However, in 2019, I decided to experiment and update my recipe to make these into gluten-free black bean burgers. As mentioned above, just serve with gluten-free hamburger buns such as Little Northern Bakehouse’s option for a fully gluten-free vegan experience.

Vegan Black Bean Burgers Ingredients
- Oatmeal
- Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
- Onion
- Garlic
- Nutritional Yeast Flakes
- Italian Seasoning
- Cayenne Pepper
- Cooked Rice
- Walnuts
- Black Beans
- Ground Flaxseeds
How To Make Black Bean Burgers?
- Preheat oven to 400℉. Bring water to boil in a saucepan.
- Add Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, onion, garlic, yeast flakes, Italian seasoning, and cayenne pepper to the saucepan.
- Stir in oats, cooked rice, walnuts, black beans, and flax seeds.
- Reduce heat, and keep on stirring until liquid is absorbed, usually about 2 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from heat, and allow the oat mixture to cool until you are able to handle it.
- Using a large canning jar lid, including both the cap and rim, form mixture into patties and place them on a lightly oiled cookie sheet.
- Bake for 30 minutes, turning halfway. You may also cook in a lightly oiled skillet on both sides. Top with your favorite toppings!

Other Delicious Vegan Sandwich Recipes
- BBQ Jackfruit Sandwiches
- Easy Chickpea Salad Sandwiches
- BLT Sandwich
- Vegan Egg Salad
- Vegan Tuna Salad
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Categories
- Categories: Gluten-Free, Vegan
- Course: Sandwich
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
(Per portion)- Energy: 329 kcal / 1375 kJ
- Fat: 10 g
- Protein: 14 g
- Carbs: 46 g
Cook Time
- Preparation: 5 min
- Cooking: 30 min
- Ready in: 40 min
- For: 10 burgers
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos sauce, or Braggs liquid aminos, soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper, (optional)
- 4 cups quick cooking oats, or rolled oats
- 1 cup cooked rice, or quinoa
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1/2 cup black beans, cooked
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉. Bring water to boil in a saucepan.
- Add Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, onion, garlic, yeast flakes, Italian seasoning, and cayenne pepper to the saucepan.
- Stir in oats, cooked rice, walnuts, black beans, and flax seeds.
- Reduce heat, and keep on stirring until liquid is absorbed, usually about 2 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from heat, and allow the oat mixture to cool until you are able to handle it.
- Using a large canning jar lid, including both the cap and rim, form mixture into patties and place them on a lightly oiled cookie sheet.
- Bake for 30 minutes, turning halfway. You may also cook in a lightly oiled skillet on both sides. Top with your favorite toppings!
Is there a version that does not include rice or quinoa?
Hello Stephanie, can you have a sweet potato? Then bake, air fry or boil one and mash one and add it instead.
I’ve been meaning to write a comment to tell you how much I appreciate this recipe. While I have been making it for the last 5 years it has been particularly appreciated the last few years while the pandemic changed our lives. Not being able to go out so much altered my cooking habits. The Black Bean Burgers are a wonderful pantry dish and freezer so well. Thank you so much for sharing your skills including this recipe.
That’s amazing Martha, this has been an old favorite of mine as well. I’m so happy it is yours too. Many times I have thought about updating it because I used to get a lot of feedback 10 years ago. I really appreciate your comment, thank you.
Fantastic burger! Comments are accurate. I’ve tried many vegan burgers and these are absolutely delicious. A nice change from the typical bean-flavoured burgers.
This was the perfect breakfast on this cold autumn day. The whole family loved it and my youngest daughter asked if we could have it everyday! Thank you for sharing your amazing recipes. I can’t wait to try more if them.
Malaika, I’m so happy that you and your family enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy the other recipes. Thank you for your feedback.
I made this with a few substitutions. I used quinoa flakes because I didn’t have enough oats. Fresh out of nuts and chia seeds, I chose to substitute with 3/4 cup pumpkin seeds. I used basil, garlic and oregano to replace the italian seasoning. The recipe made 11 burgers, larger than the ones you can buy in the freezer section by various makers. Much better tasting than those with no worries about eating processed food. Thank you!
Penelope, I love how you adjusted the ingredients and made it your own. Thank you for sharing your adjustments with us. I’m happy you enjoyed it.
This burger recipe is the best to date for me. I love it and so do my children. The preparation is straightforward and simple. The burgers are quite tasty. This is definitely a winner. Michelle, once again you’ve knocked it out of the ballpark. I enjoy your recipes. Well done.🙂
Kita, you are so sweet, I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing your feedback.
Bravo! I have been looking for a vegan burger none of which I found to my liking. The comments convinced me to try it and I used it in a vegan cooking class. Everyone including meat eaters LOVED IT! So thankful I finally found a great vegan burger recipe! Burgers are one of my favourite foods that I missed after becoming a vegan. And now I won’t need to miss it anymore!
Leila, I’m so happy you and your students enjoyed my recipe. Thank you very much for sharing your feedback, I truly appreciate it.
Do you grind up the walnuts or other nuts and the black beans or do you keep that stuff in small pieces when forming burgers?
Michelle, I love the texture of the walnuts so I like them finely chopped. For the beans, they are so soft when cooked, I just mix them as is. but if you mash them the recipe will turn out just as great so it is up to you.
Omgness! I just made these burgers and they are delicious! WoW! I never would have thought they’d be this good. LOL. I’ve other bean recipes in the past and they weren’t all that great but this recipe uses so much oatmeal and rice that you can’t even taste the beans. I did however have to substitute butter beans for black beans this time because I was completely out of black beans. I also added a tablespoon of liquid smoke to my burgers and a bit of salt. I fried them in walnut oil instead of baking them. They were so good, I ate 4 of them by themselves while cooking! LOL. I thought I’d try one, then ended up eating three more. Thank so much for this recipe. I will definitely be following your page! Have a blessed day!
Hello Nita, I’m so happy you enjoyed them. I love your adjustments. Thank you so much for leaving your feedback with us.
Michelle- these are brilliantly awesome! Thanks for the recipe! I used quinoa instead of rice since I had some leftovers from yesterday. They looked and tasted somewhat “meaty” and held together like a hamburger. My hubby and I pan fried one then baked the rest in the oven. The pan fried one had a nice crust on it. This will definitely be our go to recipe for burgers!