Mediterranean Lentil and Beet Veggie Burger

I have a few different veggie burger recipes on here (here, here and here), and this one is super different than the others! For starters, it uses lentils as the protein base. And it has BEETS. Now, I typically don’t like beets. I kind of think they taste like grass. But I’m trying to incorporate different ingredients into my recipes and lemme tell ya, they WORK in this recipe! The lemon juice and garlic totally takes away the grassy flavor and it’s so delicious.

Read the back of your bag of lentils to see how to prepare them. I rinsed them and boiled them for a few minutes and then strained the remaining water off. You can also let them sit in water overnight, or microwave them. Whatever you prefer. Just be sure to cook them before you blend.

When you blend the lentils with the garlic, don’t blend them completely smooth. It should look like this photo, parts of it smooth and parts still with lentil chunks.

To cook the beets, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Chop off the top and bottom of the 3 beets and place them in the boiling water for 30 minutes. When you remove them from the water they should be able to be punctured by a fork easily. Let them completely dry, cool and then peel off the skin with a vegetable peeler. *the more dry they are, the less sticky your dough will be*

Place the beets in the same blender you used for the lentils (after removing the lentils) and blend. Again, you don’t want them to be completely smooth but with small chunks like in the photo. Having some texture and different consistencies makes the veggie burger more exciting.

Once you have blended the beets, add them to a bowl with the lentils. 

I wanted to take a photo of the onion to show you how small of pieces to dice it into. Since these will be in the burger itself, you don’t want them to be too big, because no one likes getting a huge chunk of onion in one bite.

Add all of the ingredients into the mixing bowl and stir together. How GORGEOUS is that pink color?? Gosh, so many good nutrients packed into one recipe. 

Roll the dough into patties and let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour. This will help the patties hold their shape. Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan and cook the patties for ~2 minutes on each side! Only cook what you are going to eat. Wrap the rest of the patties in foil and freeze them for a super easy dinner later! All you will have to do later is de-thaw them and then cook in oil and BAM dinner is ready!

The yogurt sauce is super easy- all you do is add all of the ingredients into a bowl and stir together. I LOVE the lemony, garlicy, yogurt paired with the beets. AKA don’t skip the sauce!

I put mine in a pita, but you could totally use a hamburger bun instead. I also froze the rest of the pita that I didn’t use so that I can have it on hand for when I want to use the rest of the patties!

Topped off with some more red onion, lettuce and feta and there you have it! I am literally so in love with these- they are SO healthy and have so many different flavors. I hope you love them too!!

Thanks for reading!!

Emily xx

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Mediterranean Lentil and Beet Veggie Burger

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• Author: nutrititarian
• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 5 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
• Yield: 8 burgers
• Category: Vegetarian
• Method: Pan Fry
• Cuisine: Mediterranean

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Description

These lentil and beet veggie burgers are the perfect make ahead meal to freeze for later.

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Ingredients

Veggie Burger

• 3 c cooked lentils
• 3 beets
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3/4 c red onion (diced)
• 1 c bread crumbs
• 1/2 c feta
• 1.5 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp dill (dried)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• olive oil (for pan frying)

Yogurt Sauce

• 1/2 c Greek yogurt
• 1 clove garlic (minced)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp dill (dried)
• 1/4 tsp salt

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Instructions

Cook 1 c of lentils per the directions on the bag.

Strain the water from the lentils. Add cooked lentils and 3 cloves of garlic into a blender/food processor and pulse for ~1 minute. Lentils should be partially smooth but not completely blended. Scoop blended lentils/garlic into a large mixing bowl.

To prepare the beets: Bring a pot of water to a boil. Rinse off the beets and cut off the top and bottom of each beat. Place beets in the boiling water. Let boil for ~30 minutes, or until beets are easily punctured with a fork. Strain the water from the beets, and peel the skin off with a vegetable peeler. Place beets in a blender/food processor and blend for ~ 30 seconds. There should be small pieces of beets.

Add the beets to the lentils in the large mixing bowl. Next, add in the bread crumbs, lemon juice, egg, red onion, salt, dill and feta and stir all together.

Scoop out veggie burger dough and make into patties, about 3 inches in diameter. Let the patties sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Heat up olive oil in a large frying pan on medium heat. When oil is hot, add veggie burgers. Cook for about 2 minutes per side, or until lightly browned.

To prepare the yogurt sauce: In a small mixing bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, sun dried tomato, dill and salt. Stir together until well combined.

To assemble the pita: Cut a pita in half. Stuff it with lettuce, red onion, a veggie burger, yogurt sauce, and extra feta if you wish. Place in the toaster oven for 3 minutes and serve hot.

 

 

 

 

Keywords: lentils, beets, vegetarian, pita, veggie burger