How to Make Nicely-Shaped Veggie Burgers

When people see my veggie burgers inevitably they mention how nicely shaped the burgers are and they want to know how to make similarly shaped burgers. Somewhere along the line, I forget where, I learned the following method which I’m showing pictorially. I know, it would be nice if Tom made a video but time is running short here and editing Tom’s videos is very time consuming. So this is what you get tonight…

VEGGIE BURGERS: Baked veggie burgers, ready to eat or freeze!

My tips to make a nicely shaped veggie burger: After mixing the ingredients, roughly divide the mix into similar sizes depending on the number of burgers you’re making. For each burger, roll the mix around and around in the palms of your hands, shape doesn’t have to be perfect.

The next steps are shown and explained in these images and captions:

MAKING BUCKWHEAT GROATS and BLACK BEAN BURGER #1: With the palm of your hands, roll the burger mix into a round shape. Then flatten a bit in the palms of your hands. Next and very **important**, use your thumbs to flatten out the outside edges of the burger by moving the burger around in a circular motions, around and around, until the edges are smooth.

MAKING BUCKWHEAT GROATS and BLACK BEAN BURGER #2: Set the edge of the burger on the Silpat or parchment paper.

MAKING BUCKWHEAT GROATS and BLACK BEAN BURGER #3: For this step, roll the edge of the burger back and forth on the Silpat until the edge is flat and smooth.

MAKING BUCKWHEAT GROATS and BLACK BEAN BURGER #4: This step is the last step – flattening. With your finger tips, mash the burger to make it the thickness that you like.

That’s IT, easy!

You can use this method on any plant-based recipes. Delicious whole food, plant-based burgers are created to be firm, keep their shape after baking and they don’t fall apart!