How to grill veggie burgers that celebrate real vegetables

By Ben MimsCooking Columnist

June 21, 2023 7:11 AM PT

It’s finally grilling season and with it comes backyard barbecues, asadas in parks around the city and picnics of hot dogs under the shade of trees. The sounds of sizzling burgers and brats and steaks and half-chickens on the grill, along with the smells of charcoal smoke mingling with various rubs and spices in the air — it’s the best time of the year to eat. And while I’m a vocal advocate for meat grilling, this year it’s time to switch it up a bit and focus on veggies. I’m not talking about those piles of insipid grilled zucchini, peppers and mushrooms that everyone feels compelled to present alongside the ribs and steaks. I’m talking about vegetables in a place where they get to be the center of attention: veggie burgers.

Remember those? The ones made with real vegetables and not fake meat? Though some might consider them an afterthought, they’ve crept back into the public consciousness in the past couple of years, almost as a reaction against the Impossible and Beyond Meat burgers that have dominated plant-based eating, especially at fast-food spots. Even with the popular embrace of veganism across the country, veggie burgers have, for some reason, skirted that embrace; but no more.

Veggie burgers are a thing of hippie beauty. They hew to the American mainstream in form while retaining their against-the-grain charm, running counterculture to the omnipresence of beef burgers in our country. They’re disestablishmentarian in nature; punk, if you will.

Meat substitutes like Impossible and Beyond Meat gave carnivores a dupe for their beloved beef burgers. Those products allowed beef eaters to engage in their carnivorous fantasies while simultaneously feeling virtuous or “healthy,” though the substitutes are processed and contain sodium and saturated fat, so the health differences might be negligible. Veggie burgers, on the other hand, aren’t a fantasy. They announce themselves proudly and force you to choose a side; you’re either for them or against them.

As someone who has different burger moods, I’ve loved the modern option to have a beef burger, a fake-meat burger or a veggie burger all on the same menu. But the novelty of fake-meat burgers, at least for me, has worn off (I’m fine with them being there for those who want them, but I’ll never choose them). Veggie burgers, though, are not just one type and have an expanding palette of textures, ingredients and flavors. If you like shredded vegetables but hate beans, there’s a veggie burger for that. If you’re a mushroom abstainer, you don’t have to choose that portobello cap; you can have a burger packed with chickpeas and greens instead.

This renewed love of veggie burgers was spurred on by the rerelease of Lukas Volger’s cookbook “Veggie Burgers Every Which Way: Fresh, Flavorful, & Healthy Plant-Based Burgers,” which was originally published in 2010. In the book, Volger, who ran a veggie-burger business for about four years, provides all the tips and insights you need to make veggie burgers that live up to the hype or, better yet, expand your thinking on what a veggie burger can be.

The types of burgers run the gamut from bean- and grain-based burgers to those made with 100% vegetables (my favorite kind), and even those made with tofu, seitan and tempeh, fulfilling a niche love for those who adore the firmer texture they provide. But lest you think the book is just veggie patties that you swap out for beef ones in your regular store-bought buns, Vulgar refreshingly goes the extra mile to extend his ethos to buns, sides and condiments that create a fully realized world of veggie burgers.

Spinach-chickpea veggie burger patties on the grill

Two of his recipes show this off best, and I haven’t stopped making them for months. One is full of two of my favorite vegetables, cabbage and sweet potato. The vegetables are shredded and mixed with caramelized onions, toasted sesame oil and tahini, which give them a distinctive flavor that’s brilliantly lifted with fresh lemon juice and a pinch of cayenne. An egg and a little bit of breadcrumbs help bind everything together to form patties that aren’t that dissimilar to potato latkes — crisp and lacy on the edges, soft and tender in the center. Placed on a bun with some yogurt, sprouts and cucumbers, it’s an oddly refreshing burger for summer that doesn’t weigh you down like beef.

And for those protein-heads who prefer bean-based burgers, I’ve loved making Volger’s spinach and chickpea burgers. Spinach gets cooked in olive oil with toasted ground cumin so the spice perfumes the leaves with its heady aroma — I’ve tried these with Swiss chard and baby kale in place of the spinach, and they work equally well. The greens are then minced and mixed with chickpeas — you can use homemade or canned — and blended with eggs and chickpea flour, which keeps the burgers gluten-free. And while Volger’s suggestion to dress these up with classic burger toppings like lettuce, tomato and mustard works excellently, I’ve also found that crumbled feta and some thin slices of jalapeño or serrano chile work well and complement the Mediterranean flavor profile of the burgers.

One of the criticisms of veggie burgers can be that they’re sometimes difficult to work with. And there is one thing to keep in mind if you’re a first-timer working with them: They are, indeed, softer than ground-meat burgers. But Volger also addresses this in the book and gives plenty of tips for handling the burgers, particularly when to lean into their softness — which preserves their moisture — by precooking them in a skillet so they firm up before trying to place them on a grill. I actually think veggie burgers are even better for summer grilling precisely because they can be made and cooked a couple of days in advance, so all you have to do is reheat them on the grill to imbue them with those characteristic marks and a little smoky goodness.

So this summer, don’t be afraid to pull up to the barbecue or grill with a tray of veggie burgers, but ones that you made with intention and care, not something from a freezer. Volger’s recipes will set you up for success and offer so many options that you’ll have no problem finding a burger, or two or three, that everyone can get behind. Or better yet, host your own veggie burger grilling party to show the lovers, haters and the agnostic among us just how exciting and delicious real veggie burgers can be when the focus isn’t on replacing meat but celebrating vegetables in all their fresh, hearty and texturally diverse splendor.