Best Ever Burgers – VeganMoFo Day 13

For VeganMoFo day 13, the prompt is “An alien lands on your doorstep. What are they going to eat?” Now goodness knows, these days, I’d probably ask if they could take me with them and we’d go dine on their planet. But my husband says the aliens would like to eat burgers, because everyone likes burgers. I have to agree to be honest, burgers are pretty great.

Vegan burgers can often be full of vegetables and beans – which are tasty, but mean the burger tends to end up quite squishy. You bite into the burger bun and the burger goes squishing out the other end! A messy business. These burgers, however, are made from seitan and TVP mince, which makes the burger firm with a nice bite to them. These would be great for grilling on the barbecue!

The burgers take a while to do – you have to steam them first before frying/grilling them, but once steamed you can keep them or even freeze them until you want to use them.

Start by hydrating the TVP in vegetable stock, mix it with the vital wheat gluten and seasonings, then stir in the liquid ingredients and knead until springy. Form into patties and wrap in foil, then steam for 45 minutes. Once steamed you can either fry them straight away or leave to cool and save for another time! You could also form this into little balls for meatballs if you like.

Best Ever Vegan Burgers

• Servings: 6 patties
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Ingredients

• 50g TVP mince
• 150ml hot vegetable stock

Dry Ingredients

• 175g vital wheat gluten
• 1 tsp onion granules
• 1 tsp garlic granules
• 1/4 tsp mustard powder
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

Wet Ingredients

• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 120ml cold water

Directions

1. Begin by rehydrating the TVP. Mix the TVP and hot vegetable stock together in a bowl, and leave for 5-10 minutes until all the water is absorbed.
2. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients until well mixed.
3. Stir through the rehydrated TVP with the dry ingredient mix.
4. Make a well in the middle and add the wet ingredients. Mix very well.
5. Knead for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is firm but elastic.
6. Form the burger mix into 6 burger patty shapes, and wrap in packets of tin foil.
7. Place in a steamer and steam for 45 minutes.
8. Remove from steamer (careful – hot!) and unwrap.
9. If you intend to eat them now, heat up some oil in a frying pan and fry each burger over medium-high heat for 3 or so minutes on each side, until crisp and golden.
10. Serve in burger buns with salad, tomatoes, and condiments of your choice!