Spinach and feta chickpea burgers
The sun has finally got his hat on! Hip hip hip hooray!
Well, actually, he had it on over the weekend, but seems to have taken it part of the way off again today. The joys of living in Britain.
Anyway, as soon as the sun shines, my thoughts turn to summer foods – picnics, salads, BBQs… and although I didn’t actually cook these chickpea burgers on a BBQ, a big fat burger stuffed with salad and drenched in ketchup and mayonnaise is definitely enough to make me feel summery. If you do want to use your BBQ, I’d recommend cooking them in the oven beforehand to let them firm up, and then reheating them later on the grill – you’ll still get that charred BBQ flavour, even if they’ve been pre-cooked.
I used my favourite egg-and-baking method (ha, it’s funny because it sounds like egg-and-bacon) for these chickpea burgers to help them stick together – add an egg to the veggie burger mixture and then bake them, and they hold together and firm up beautifully. I did try frying one too, but they were much better done in the oven – which is good, because it’s the healthier way of cooking them.
I often find chickpea burgers a bit dry (I’m looking at you, falafel), but the egg in these also serves to keep them nice and moist. The feta helps a lot too – there’s nothing better than biting into a juicy, salty chunk of feta cheese in the middle of your burger. When you’re making these, make sure you don’t cut your feta into pieces that are too tiny – its flavour becomes a lot milder as it cooks, so you need nice big chunks to get the flavour you want.
I stuffed my burger bun with more spinach (because why the heck not), some fresh tomato and a good smear of mayonnaise, and it went down a treat. I used a nice crusty roll too, because I personally find them much tastier than a soft burger bun – but use whatever bread and burger toppings you fancy!
Spinach and feta chickpea burgers
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Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 1 1/2 in x 400g tins chickpeas 360g total once drained, drained
- 1 egg
- 120 g feta cheese cut into 1cm dice
- 40 g spinach finely chopped
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 2 spring onions sliced
- Salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F).
- Add the chickpeas and the egg to a food processor, and process for 30 seconds or so until a thick paste is formed. Transfer this mixture to a large bowl, and add the feta, spinach, parsley and spring onions. Season with plenty of black pepper and a touch of salt (remember that the feta is salty too), and mix well.
- Shape the mixture into a few burger shapes (I made 5, but you could easily make 4 or 6 if you prefer), and place them on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Place in the oven for around 40 minutes, until firm and golden brown.
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Like vegetarian burger recipes? Try my cheesy lentil burgers too!
Nice enough, but I think the addition of toasted pine nuts and nutmeg would take them to another level.
Love toasted pine nuts!
I made these tonight. When I served them I used a homemade tzatziki instead of the mayo. Delicious!!! Will definitely make again. Thank your for sharing the recipe.
Mine tasted great but fell apart right away! Any suggestions?
Hi Dena, so sorry about that! Mine held together pretty well, so I’m not sure what happened with yours. Perhaps try adding an extra egg to help bind them a bit more? You do need to be a bit gentle with them but they shouldn’t fall apart straight away!
Really, really good. Made them today with roasted sweet potato chips. Yum! Thanks for the recipe…
Finally a chickpea burger recipe without breadcrumbs!! Looks amazing, will definitely be making. Are they suitable for freezing do you think?
Thanks Anna! I’ve not tried freezing these so I can’t say for sure, but personally I think it’s always worth a try!
these look so good ;-)
Yaaaaay for sun! I admit, we’ve been lucky here all winter – it’s been nothing but sunshine and bluebirds. Yesterday and today, it’s been all drizzly and raining on the sunshine parade, but I guess you have to have a little precip from time to time :)
These burgs look AMAZING!! I love the spinach and feta. They look so simple and satisfying. And your cheesy lentil burgers? Yes, please!!
Haha well we had a massive thunderstorm last night so I think I spoke too soon!
Stop it! These look absolutely amazing! The only thing that I couldn’t put in them is the feta, vegan here, but I bet I could swap it out for the cashew cheese I make.
Thank you! You’d need to use an egg substitute too if you’re vegan, but I’m sure with a bit of experimentation you could get it to work :)
This sounds delicious! What would you recommend as an egg substitute?
Would Organ no egg be OK?
Hi Harsha, I eat eggs so I have no idea about a substitute. But I always think it’s worth giving things a go once so just use your favourite substitute and see how it goes!