Chickpea Zucchini Veggie Burger

As with most recipes, I started with a base and then improvised from there. Adding and deleting ingredients – this Chickpea Zucchini Veggie Burger turned out crazy good!!!

You could cook the burger in the oven, on a grill or pan fry them. I pan fried mine with a tiny bit of oil and they turned out beautifully. I made quite a few and wondered if I should stick a couple in the freezer and not too worry….my husband put his in a wrap, my daughter had one for breakfast and lunch and I had one in my hand and another for lunch. Gone!

Here’s what you’ll need….

To create your Chickpea Zucchini Veggie Burger:

One can of chickpeas drained and ready to go in the food processor for mashing.

1 can (540 oz) of chickpeas – drained and rinsed. I saved the liquid from the chickpeas to make a meringue for lemon tarts (another blog – still working on this one)
2 c grated zucchini
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 chopped red onions
2 T chia seeds
1/2 c water
4 T hot sauce
1.5 t cumin
1 t garlic powder
1 t. salt
1/2 t pepper

To prepare your Chickpea Zucchini Veggie Burger:

Grate your zucchini, I leave the skin on, more colour and nutrients (mine came from my garden – bonus!)
Mashed chickpeas, zucchini that is grated and had liquid removed, carrots fresh from the garden and ready to grate.

After you grate your zucchini you are going to put them in a strainer and sprinkle some salt on the zucchini. Let that sit for about 20 minutes or more…we are trying to draw out the excess liquid. When 20 or so minutes have passed, put the zucchini into a clean tea towel and twist the top and bottom, squeezing out as much liquid as possible. When that is done, put the zucchini in a large mixing bowl
Chia seeds soaked in water. Will turn into a bit of gel paste. This is an excellent way to bind ingredients in most recipes and they are super good for you too!

While you are waiting for the zucchini, put 2 T of chia seeds into a cup with about 1/2 c of water, stir till all seeds are covered in water and then let it soak
Take your chickpeas and put them in the food processor to mash up, add them to the mixing bowl
Grate your carrots and add to the bowl
Chickpeas, zucchini and carrots ready to mix. Add your chopped red onions now. Beautiful colours and textures.

Chop your red onions and add them in too
Add in your spices and hot sauce, salt and pepper
Soaked chia seeds ready to add to the veggie mixture. Will bind in all together. Takes awhile to blend the gel like mixture in.

Add in the chia seeds and mix everything up till well mixed. Will take awhile to get the chia mixed in.
When well mixed, form into patties for cooking. I got 7 good sized patties out of mine. I also covered and placed in the fridge till I was ready to cook.
Raw burger patties. You can cover and store in the fridge till you are ready. They look amazing!
The patties are ready to eat! Look at that wonderful lightly browned colour on the outside of the patties.

To cook…you can pan fry with a bit of oil, flip till nicely browned or cook in the oven on broil or on the grill, your choice
Serve on your favourite bun or wrap or all on their own. I used a bun with all my favourite burger fixins….pickles, ketchup, mustard, vegenaise, fresh tomatoes, relish and avocado.
Put is all together with your favourite toppings! I like ketchup, mustard, vegenaise, pickles, tomatoes, avocado…really anything goes!