A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary. We are so busy in our everyday lives, we didn’t do anything spectacular, so we went to Berkeley and ate at a vegan restaurant chain. I am not vegan, but I eat mostly plant based and vegetarian. Partially I do out of habit as I really prefer lots of veggies over meat and also because I have Eczema and some digestion issues with dairy. Anyhow, my husband who is a meat eater, took me to this restaurant because he likes it too and just going out to eat together is a nice treat.

Anyhow, I bought a vegan burger made with the Beyond Meat patty and sweet potato fries, my total cost was about $15. I don’t really blink an eye at the cost because its typical for the Bay Area (where we live). Also, it was a special night and usually the food at this establishment is pretty good. I won’t say that we didn’t like our food, but it definitely was not worth the money. I was so disappointed with my food, I then turned it around to a challenge for me. Could I create a burger at home that was vegan and taste as good as or better than some sold in restaurants?

I believe that this burger is damn good if not one of the best I’ve had. Shout out to my good friend Molly who is a registered dietician and also works at Whole Foods and guided me to try the wonderful “cheese” below.

The Burger and its Components

This burger relies on all its different components to create an outstanding product and taste like a real burger. Part of my issues with a lot of vegan burgers sold at restaurants is that they use the beyond meat patty, which to me doesn’t taste great and has an awkward texture, I instead used an Amy’s Black Bean Veggie Burger Patty. There is a burger restaurant chain in the Bay Area called Super Duper Burgers. They do a GREAT veggie burger, and what I think makes it so great is that the patty is really hot and crisp. I think they cook them on the grill top, so when you eat the burger the veggie patty has great texture.

Another component is the bun, I love hamburger buns that are toasted and maybe have a little oil (you could use vegan butter) on the bun. I bought vegan hamburger buns from whole foods, see the photo below.

Cheese is a big issue because some vegan cheese I find a little revolting, I apologize if I offend anyone. Thanks to my friend Molly, I found this vegan cheddar that not only tastes amazing (I couldn’t tell it wasn’t real cheese), but it MELTS! The brand is Field Roast Vegan Chao Slices, see photo below for reference.

I personally do not like lettuce on my burger, partially because usually people put too much on it, and sometimes the quality of the lettuce is not good. I do like tomatoes, which I did use on the burger because it gives a good acidity counterbalance to the fat. Make sure you season (salt) your tomatoes before putting on your burger.

Many famous burger joints use a “Secret Sauce” that is a mayo based with ketchup and seasoning. I found a recipe on Epicurious which has a highly rated secret sauce. I only changed one component to keep the entire burger vegan, which I used a vegan mayo instead of regular mayo. This addition on the secret sauce makes this homemade burger taste like its from a burger joint, so good!

Lastly, I put homemade fried onions in it. This last component gives a lot of umami to the burger, and I honestly was somewhat fooled, meaning - it tasted like a real burger! I used a vidalia onion which is a bit sweeter than regular onions.

Recipe

Vegan Hamburger Buns

Vegan Cheddar - Field Roast Vegan Chao Slices

Tomato Sliced Thin

Veggie Burger Patty (whatever you prefer)

Fried Onions (see recipe below)

Secret Sauce (see recipe below) adapted from Epicurious.com

Secret Sauce Recipe

1/4 cup vegan mayo

1 1/2 tsp pickle juice

1 1/2 tsp ketchup

1 tsp yellow mustard

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

Put all ingredients into a bowl, whisk well. Keeps in fridge for about a week.

Fried Onion Recipe

1 Vidalia Onion, sliced into thin rings

1 cup of unbleached all purpose flour

pepper

1 tsp of kosher salt

3/4 tsp of cayenne pepper

sprinkle of garlic powder

neutral oil for frying

In a deep sauce pan heat 1/2 to 1 inch of neutral oil on medium heat. If you have a thermometer, you could heat the oil to 350-375F, but I don’t do that, I just wait 5-7 minutes when the oil is hot. Put all the flour and seasoning into a large bowl. With clean hands drop onion slices into flour mixture, coat well and drop into hot oil. Don’t crowd pan with too many onions, fry in batches to get even cooking. Keep an eye on the onions, let them get brown and place on a paper towel to absorb extra oil. Can season with salt. The fried onions will keep room temperature in a container for 2 days, although you might have to reheat in a hot oven for a couple of minutes to re-crisp before using.

The Put Together

Microwave your veggie patty for 30-60 seconds, until warmed through. Put onto a skillet heated with vegan butter or oil and crisp up veggie patty. Can add cheese on top of second side of veggie patty so that it melts a little. Toast hamburger buns in oven or in skillet. Serve hamburger hot with sides and pickles. Let me know if you make this, I know I will be making again!! Bisous!

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