Teriyaki Chickpea Burgers

Burgers are often not considered the healthiest food, but they can be! Ok, so the teriyaki sauce component itself isn’t the healthiest, but the rest of this recipe is, and with all the fiber this contains, it’s a net positive healthwise, even before considering the protein, vitamins, minerals, and assorted phytonutrients.

You will need

• 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups of chickpeas, cooked drained and rinsed)
• ¼ cup chickpea flour (also called gram flour or garbanzo bean flour)
• ¼ cup teriyaki sauce
• 2 tbsp almond butter (if allergic, substitute with a seed butter if available, or else just omit; do not substitute with actual butter—it will not work)
• ½ bulb garlic, minced
• 1 large chili, minced (your choice what kind, color, or even whether or multiply it)
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 1″ piece of ginger, grated
• 2 tsp teriyaki sauce (we’re listing this separately from the ¼ cup above as that’ll be used differently)
• 1 tsp yeast extract (even if you don’t like it; trust us, it’ll work—this writer doesn’t like it either but uses it regularly in recipes like these)
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tsp fennel powder
• ½ tsp sweet cinnamon
• ½ tsp MSG or 1 tsp low-sodium salt
• Extra virgin olive oil for frying

For serving:

• Burger buns (you can use our Delicious Quinoa Avocado Bread recipe)
• Whatever else you want in there; we recommend mung bean sprouts, red onion, and a nice coleslaw

Method

(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

1) Preheat the oven to 400℉ / 200℃.

2) Roast the chickpeas spaced out on a baking tray (lined with baking paper) for about 15 minutes. Leave the oven on afterwards; we still need it.

3) While that’s happening, heat a little oil in a skillet to a medium heat and fry the shallot, chili, garlic, and ginger, for about 2–3 minutes. You want to release the flavors, but not destroy them.

4) Let them cool, and when the chickpeas are done, let them cool for a few minutes too, before putting them all into a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients from the main section, except the oil and the ¼ cup teriyaki sauce. Process them into a dough.

5) Form the dough into patties; you should have enough dough for 4–6 patties depending on how big you want them.

6) Brush them with the teriyaki sauce; turn them onto a baking tray (lined with baking paper) and brush the other side too. Be generous.

7) Bake them for about 15 minutes, turn them (taking the opportunity to add more teriyaki sauce if it seems to merit it) and bake for another 5–10 minutes.

8) Assemble; we recommend the order: bun, a little coleslaw, burger, red onion, more coleslaw, mung bean sprouts, bun, but follow your heart!

Enjoy!

Want to learn more?

For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

• Three Daily Servings of Beans/Legumes?
• Hoisin Sauce vs Teriyaki Sauce – Which is Healthier?
• Sprout Your Seeds, Grains, Beans, Etc
• Our Top 5 Spices: How Much Is Enough For Benefits? ← we scored 4/5 today!
• Monosodium Glutamate: Sinless Flavor-Enhancer Or Terrible Health Risk?

Take care!