My dear and glorious Vital Wheat Gluten! Hint: it make burgers really solid.
This baby never fell apart.
I enjoyed my previous bean burgers very much, but I longed for something a little more solid, a little more like store-bought vegan burgers. Firm. Chewy. I found a recipe that required walnuts and browning sauce. (It’s a gravy-ish….thing. I don’t know what it is, I’ve never seen it.). Whatever it is, I didn’t have it or walnuts. I went searching for anything remotely nut-like in the pantry and excavated a large amount of sesame seeds. Hmm, that’s nut-like enough for me, I thought. Then, instead of browning sauce I threw in some brown sauce, (a favorite condiment in the UK – kind of like ketchup.) The result was….wow. VWG performed it’s magic and held everything together like a charm. Invest in some Rudi’s white hamburger buns for these. You won’t regret it.
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbs ground flax
- 2 Tbs soy sauce
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds, ground to a fine powder in a coffee grinder (some of the seeds will remain whole, and that is ok.)
- 3/4 cooked brown lentils, well drained
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 Tbs finely chopped parsley
- 1/3 cup + 2 Tbs Vital Wheat Gluten
- 1/2 tsp browning sauce or brown sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 Tbs olive oil
How-To:
1. Combine flaxseeds and soy sauce in small bowl- whisk until viscous.
2. In a food processor, add sesame seeds, lentils, onion, parsley, VWG, brown(ing) sauce, flax mixture, salt and pepper to taste.
3. Pulse until everything is well-combined, but with some texture remaining.
4. Shape into patties, refrigerate on a plate for 30 minutes. See how they stick together? Nice.
5. Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium-low, then brown patties on each side.
A brilliant idea of yours!!!
These burgers look indeed very firm & ooh so appetizing too! 
Yum Yum Yum! I must make them tomorrow & I finaly have found vital gluten at my Bio planet shop!
Yay! If you can find walnuts and browning sauce, I’d love to know how they were “supposed” to taste.
Brilliant idea to add the vital wheat gluten! I make seitan, and I make lots of veggie burgers but never thought to add the VWG to the burgers to make them firmer and more meaty!
Mmm….yes, it worked out quite well. Oprah actually has a well-loved seitan burger….I plan to try it soon… http://www.oprah.com/food/Sizzling-Seitan-Burgers
Just checked out that link! Fantastic, if you make them before I do (race ya)
let me know how they turn out!
Sounds good, girl! Oprah, right? Who knew?
She did spearhead the beef industry and get sued after she said she would never eat another hamburger after cattle rancher gone vegan Howard Lyman went on her show.
Her and Howard ended up winning the lawsuit. Sweet.
Really? I gotta look up this saga. Sounds like a good story…I really never paid much attention to Oprah, as I grew up with no TV and carried on the tradition as an adult. But I do have the internet with which I can view clips….
It’s a great story. The cattle rancher, Howard Lyman wrote a book called “Mad Cowboy” He is now part of PETA and all sorts of other vegan organizations.