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If you were to ask me what one of my absolute favourite weeknight meals is, I would very likely include these chipotle black bean patties in my top three – pretty much alongside my Mediterranean chickpea burgers and my red lentil burgers.

Over the years, I’ve tweaked this recipe so that now they are super simple to make, require no special equipment like a food processor and they even freeze super well so I can make a large batch and enjoy them at a whim.

No, these don’t taste like a beef burger – and they’re not supposed to. Instead, I’ve combined a lot of flavours that make these taste beany, bright, smokey and delicious!

Using plenty of lime, cumin, cilantro and chipotle chiles, these patties are a fantastic vegetarian dinner option that are also pretty healthy!

How to Make Chipotle Black Bean Patties

This simple recipe starts, unsurprisingly, with black beans!

You can cook your own beans (that is my preferred method as I think they taste better) or simply use canned black beans. No shame in using cans – anything to save some precious time!

Drain and rinse your beans and transfer them to a large mixing bowl.

Using a potato masher, mash the beans until they are about two-thirds broken down – you do definitely want a few whole beans in the mush.

Then, finely chop some shallots. I like to use shallots here, but you can use a yellow onion or a red onion if you’d like. It really doesn’t matter too much. Add your finely chopped shallot to the bowl with the beans.

Next, it’s time to finely chop a whole bunch of fresh cilantro. This is an important ingredient that adds quite a lot of freshness to the recipe. Add your cilantro to the bowl with the beans as well.

And finally, fish out a few chipotle chilis in adobo and finely chop them and add them to the bowl.

I always transfer my cans of chipotles to a zip-top bag and stash them in the freezer and then I use them as needed. There is no need to figure out how to use an entire can of chipotles just because one recipe calls for them!

Adding shallot, cilantro and chipotle to the mashed beans — Adding shallot, cilantro and chipotle chilis to the mashed beans

Set the large bowl aside and in a small mixing bowl, crack in a couple of eggs. These act as the binder for your bean burgers.

To your eggs, add some lime zest and juice, cumin, salt, a bit of olive oil and grate in a couple of cloves of garlic with a rasp-style grater. Then whisk this all to combine.

Pour the egg mixture over the bean mixture and fold together using a rubber spatula to ensure everything is well combined.

Now, it’s time to add your panko breadcrumbs.

These act as a bit of glue to hold the burgers together. It is important that you don’t overmix once you do add the breadcrumbs to ensure that the burgers don’t get tough.

Fold the breadcrumbs into the bean mixture until just combined.

Then, divide the burgers equally into four pieces. Using your hands, roll each piece into a ball and then press into a patty. Repeat with the remaining pieces.

To cook, heat about a tablespoon of neutral oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet until shimmering. Add your burgers and cook for about five minutes on one side before flipping and repeating.

Serve immediately – these are absolutely fantastic topped with some chipotle mayonnaise, pickled red onions and maybe some pickled jalapeños or served with a side of guacamole or Mexican restaurant-style salsa and some tortilla chips or even some chipotle mashed sweet potatoes!

Chipotle Black Bean Burger Patties

These black bean patties use bright Mexican flavours and are super simple to make!

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Servings 4

Prep Time 10

Total Time 20

Ingredients

2 (400g/14oz) cans black beans drained
2 shallots finely diced
1 tbsp cilantro/coriander chopped
4 chipotle chiles in adobo chopped
2 eggs
2 cloves garlic grated
Zest of 1 lime
1 tbsp lime juice
1½ tsp ground cumin
3 g (½ tsp) coarse sea salt
75 g (1¼ cups) panko breadcrumbs

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, mash the beans using a potato masher until 2/3rds are mashed and 1/3rd remain whole. Add the shallot, cilantro and chipotles
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, garlic, lime zest and juice, cumin and salt.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bean mixture. Stir until well combined. Dust the panko breadcrumbs over the bean mixture and stir until just incorporated.
Divide the bean mixture into 4 equal patties and form them with your hands.
Add one tablespoon of neutral oil to a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Heat until shimmering and add the burgers. Cook on one side for five minutes before flipping and cooking for another five minutes. Serve immediately.