Southwest white bean veggie burgers with black bean and corn salsa make for a flavor-packed, nutritious vegetarian meal, or even appetizer! A great make-ahead option for busy weeknights!
The veggie burger. Can you get on board? It’s fairly impossible to trump a big beefy burger with melted pepper jack cheese and bacon, but veggie burgers certainly have their place in my mouth.
Especially when they’re double whammy-ed with Southwest-style ingredients and then topped with hunks of avocado and Southwest Black Bean and Corn Salsa.
Feast your peepers on this:
Little known fact: Pecos Bill made his veggie burgers in a cast iron skillet.
Other than all things Southwest, the southwest veggie burger patties are made with white (cannelini) beans and brown rice, making them gluten-free.
They’re super easy to put together and can be served as an entrée or an appetizer. I like to go bun-less with these burgers, but you can certainly bun ‘er up.
Go to the Southwest. At least twice.
Southwest Veggie Burgers with Black Bean and Corn Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 14-ounce can cannelini beans (or white beans), drained and rinsed
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small jalapeño seeded and chopped
- 1/3 cup red bell pepper finely chopped (about ¼ of a bell pepper)
- 1/3 cup corn kernels about 1/2 an ear of corn
- 1/3 cup black beans
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- Southwest Black Bean and Corn Salsa for serving
Instructions
- Prepare the Black Bean and Corn Salsa and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Rinse the white beans well and pat them dry.
- Add the beans at the cooked rice to a food processor and pulse until well combined. It’s okay if the mixture is slightly chunky.
- Add the white bean/rice mixture to a mixing bowl and mix in the lightly beaten egg.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir together until combined.
- Note: If you’re using canned black beans and corn, be sure to rinse them and pat them dry before adding them to the mixture.
- In a cast iron skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of grapeseed or canola oil over medium (or enough oil to coat the surface well).
- Measure 1/3 cup of the burger mixture and form a patty using your hands (the mixture will be sticky, and that’s okay!). Carefully place the burger on the hot cast iron skillet and allow it to cook for 5 minutes. Carefully flip to the other side and cook an additional 5 minutes.
- Repeat for remaining burger mixture.
These burgers have become a staple in my cooking repertoire since you posted them. I make them once a week! Everyone raves about them. Thanks so much for posting this delicious recipe!
Evie, you’re so very welcome! I’m happy to hear you like the veggie burgers!! Amazing how great a burger can be with such simple ingredients. Thank you for your kind comment and enjoy your week 🙂 xoxo
These are INSANE. I’m off to buy a cast iron to feast my eyes on the babies in REAL LYFE!!!
I knew you’d love these!! You can definitely make them in a non-stick pan. I tend to be a jackass on my high horse by insinuating you couldn’t possibly make the burgers without a cast iron skillet. It’s totes possible, I swears it 😉 Let’s eat these!
Well if these are good enough for Pecos Bill, then they’re good enough for me! I want to go to the southwest a gazillion times over if it means getting to eat a gazillion of these.
You’d love them! Pecos would want you to have them.
Veggie burgers are my weakness! And these look incredible. I’ll have to grab a few ingredients at the store and try them over the weekend. Cannot wait to try the black bean and corn salsa. Boom indeed! *hehe*
So happy you’re going to try them, Courtney! Let me know what you think 🙂 BOOM!
OK—it’s Memorial Day weekend and this post has me craving a veggie burger!
Glad you like the burgs and hope you had a fun weekend!
Oh my goodness. Who needs traditional burgers when you can have these? So good!
Thanks, lady! They’re definitely lots of fun 🙂
Black beans and corn are one of my faves! Loooooooving this fabtabulous burger!
Now this is what I’m talkin’ bout! Dynamite is my favorite meal too. I think these would blow a meaty burger out of the water, but that’s just me.
Enjoy your weekend, lady!
These look amazing! I never get my veggie burgers to stick together this well without baking them! You must have the magic touch 😉
They took a bit of gentle handling, for sure! The day I figure out how to make a veggie burger that sticks together as well as a beefy burger, I’ll certainly let ya know!
I’ve been thinking about these burgers since you posted a preview photo the other day!!! My weekend has just been made!!