I love burgers. Beef and veggie alike.

The gourmet burger trend in Toronto is booming at the moment too, which is awesome.

At home, if you take the time to make a homemade beef burger, you’ll almost always get a better end product than what you would find frozen in a box.

Sadly, that doesn’t seem to be the case with the veggie version.

And while pre made veggie burgers can taste pretty good, they’re not necessarily a healthy option and they often contain a ridiculously long list of ingredients (many of which are hard to pronounce).

I was actually spending the afternoon testing several batches of oven baked sweet potato fries when I found this quick and easy recipe online.  I thought it would be a good compliment to my fries, which I planned on posting about for the blog.

Thing is, the fries were…well, not good.  I trialled several recipes all guaranteed to be healthy and crispy.  I think I’m coming around to the idea that good fries just need to be fried. And I’m fine with it.

The burgers though.

Whoa.

Big asian inspired flavour and a satisfying texture using a few simple ingredients. In hindsight, I’m glad I took photos. My toppings of choice for this burger were avocado, mango salsa (atulfo mango, red onion, parsley, lime juice & salt), and sriracha mayo (mayo & sriracha). All on a sesame egg bun.  A big crunchy piece of lettuce would have been a perfect addition if I’d had some.

Do you have a favourite homemade veggie burger? Do tell!

Erin

Tofu Almond Burger

Print recipe

Serves	5-6
Prep time	20 minutes
Cook time	10 minutes
Total time	30 minutes
Website	Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients

• 3/4 of a package extra firm tofu (about 325g) (patted dry)
• 1/2 cup toasted almond slices
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 shallots (minced)
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 2 teaspoons grated (ginger)
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
• 1 large egg
• panko breadcrumbs (if needed)
• 2 tablespoons canola oil

Directions

1.	Cut tofu into large chunks. Combine with almonds in a food processor and pulse until it resembles the texture of ground beef.
2.	Heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté shallots, carrots and ginger until softened, about three minutes.
3.	In a large bowl, add sautéed vegetables, tofu almond mixture and remaining ingredients (aside from breadcrumbs) and mix until well combined.
4.	Each burger will use about a 1/2 cup of the mixture, give or take, to make 3.5" inch patties. If the mixture is too sticky, add a Tbsp of panko breadcrumbs at a time (if you add too much at once, the mixture will become dry and the patties will fall apart). Once formed, let them set in the fridge for at least an hour.
5.	In a medium sauté pan, heat 2 Tbsp of canola oil over med-low to medium heat. Pan fry each patty for about 3 minutes per side until nicely browned and heated through. You will have to do this in 2-3 batches. Be gentle when flipping the burgers.
6.	Serve on a bun with your toppings of choice.