Twinkle's Kitchen | Healthy Black Bean Burgers

Planning healthy meals for now and for later can be a hassle if you’re a busy person. And a quick burger from a drive-through when you’re rushed can pack on the calories.

If a burger is what you are set on, prepping some spicy black bean burgers ahead can satisfy all those cravings while saving you time and money.

You don’t have to be vegetarian to love this dish. And if you are worried about eating healthy, these patties pack a ton of protein and other helpful vitamins and minerals. Yummy black beans and hearty oatmeal come together with rich spices to make this a burger you’ll want to put permanently on your meal plan.

Spicy Black Bean Burger

• 2-8 oz. cans black beans
• ½ cup of rolled oats
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tbs. coarse ground pepper
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp. freshly chopped jalapeño
• 1 tbs. fresh lime juice

Place all ingredients into a food processor and pulse five times or until everything is well blended.

Separate into 4 equal sized balls.

Pat each ball out into the shape of a burger and set on parchment.

Stack burgers on top of each other placing a square of parchment in between each one.

Freeze for at least 2 hours before cooking. The patties can be frozen for up to 6 weeks.

To cook, heat a frying pan to medium-high and coat with a tsp. of olive oil.

Place frozen burgers into pan and cook for approximately 8-10 minutes on each side, making sure they are warm throughout the center.

Serve with bread and condiments of your choice.

Twinkle’s recommendation:
Pair with seasoned, baked sweet potato and zucchini fries.

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Twinkle VanWinkle was born in a small town in Mississippi. A life-long lover of music, media and food, she grew up following those three things along her path. She has almost 20 years of professional cooking under her apron strings, feeding thousands of friends, family and other folks while working in restaurants and bakeries in Oxford, Miss. She baked apple pies for the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and appeared on Food Network's “The Best Of...” in the same year. Along with producing dynamic lifestyle content for LIN Media, she is a mother, musician and social media fanatic.

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