I cannot believe how good these Pepper Jack Black Bean Burgers are!
Can you believe David is the one who turned me on to black bean burgers? Yep, it’s true!
David has a giant cafeteria where he works and there are hundreds of employees, so they have to offer a variety of food options. They do have meatless options available. A few weeks ago he got a black bean burger for lunch. I had never had a black bean burger before. So I was curious about how they tasted, and I knew if David would eat one, I would too.
A couple of weeks ago for Meatless Monday, I made these pepper jack black bean burgers. The burgers are made of black beans, but I put a Tex/Mex flare on the traditional black bean burger. Red onion, fresh cilantro, and spicy pepper jack cheese give these burgers a little extra flavor that will make your mouth happy!
How To Make Pepper Jack Black Bean Burgers:
In a small bowl combine sour cream and chipotle pepper; set in the refrigerator until ready for use.
Next, prepare the burgers. Add the black beans to a large bowl.
Using a potato masher, coarsely mash the beans so that it appears about half are still whole.
Add the bread crumbs, egg, cumin, cheese, onion, and cilantro to the beans. Season with salt, to taste.
Stir and mix well, until all the ingredients are well-distributed. With wet hands, form the bean mixture into four ½-inch-thick patties and transfer to a plate. Refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes to let the burgers set up.
Heat a large heavy-duty skillet (preferably cast iron) on high heat until very hot; add the oil and one tablespoon of the butter. When the butter melts ad begins to foam, swirl the pan to coat the bottom.
Cook the burgers until browned, with a good crust; about 2 to 3 minutes.
Carefully flip and cook, flipping again if necessary, until the burgers feel firm when pressed with a fingertip, another 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the burgers from the pan.
In the same pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and toast the buns.
When the buns are toasted remove them from the pan and assemble the burgers.
Add a thin layer of chipotle sour cream to the bun. Add the burger and top with extra pepper jack cheese.
Next top with pico de gallo and poblano slices, and extra cilantro.
Top with the bun and serve with fries.
Oh yeah, I see more of these in our future! How about you?
Other Black Bean Recipes
- Easy Black Bean Burgers
- Healthy Crock-Pot Black Bean Soup
- Roasted Cauliflower Black Bean Tostadas
- Grilled Corn and Black Bean Salad
Pepper Jack Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients
Pepper Jack Burgers
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- 15.5 ounce can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Kosher salt
- 3 ounces pepper Jack cheese grated + extra for topping burgers
- ½ red onion diced
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped + more for topping burger
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 4 hamburger buns toasted
- chipotle sour cream (recipe to follow)
- poblano pepper roasted, seeded and deveined, cut into strips for serving (optional)
- Pico de Gallo for serving (optional)
- lime wedges for juice for serving (optional)
Chipotle Sour Cream
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce finely chopped
Instructions
Chipotle Sour Cream
- In a small bowl combine sour cream and chipotle pepper; set in the refrigerator until ready for use.
Prepare the burgers
- Add the black beans to a large bowl. Using a potato masher, coarsely mash the beans so that it appears about half are still whole.
- Add the bread crumbs, egg, cumin, cheese, onion, and cilantro to the beans. Stir and mix until all the ingredients are well distributed.
- With wet hands, form the bean mixture into four ½-inch-thick patties and transfer to a plate. Refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes to let the burgers set up.
- Heat a large heavy-duty skillet (preferably cast iron) on high heat until very hot; add the oil and one tablespoon of the butter. When the butter melts ad begins to foam, swirl the pan to coat the bottom. Cook the burgers until browned, with a good crust, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Carefully flip and cook, flipping again if necessary, until the burgers feel firm when pressed with a fingertip, another 3 to 5 minutes.
- When the burgers are done remove from the pan.
- In the same pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and toast the buns. Remove the buns after they are toasted and assemble the burgers.
- Add a thin layer of chipotle sour cream to the bun. Add the burger and top with extra pepper jack cheese.
- Top the black bean burger with pico de gallo and poblano slices, and extra cilantro and the top bun. Serve with fries or chips.
Dana @ IveGotCake says
I’ve never made one either but that looks pretty delicious.
Might have to take a stab at it . Great protein option too.
Hmm..an idea’s brewing 🙂 🙂
The Mountain Kitchen says
David had another one today from the cafeteria from work. He treats those just like a regular burger because they don’t have the Tex/Mex flare like mine did.
I know you don’t do lactose. Leave out the cheese and add jalapenos to get the spice instead! 😉
David says
Yum, Debbie!
The Mountain Kitchen says
I think these would be totally grillable too, David… 😉
Julie is HostessAtHeart says
I eat frozen Black Bean burgers when hubby is gone. These look a heck of a lot better than the little hockey pucks that I eat. I love them but think your’s look a heck of a lot better!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Julie they are easy to make and I cannot imagine what the frozen ones taste like. Make some and freeze them for those times…
Anna Buckley says
These look yum Debbie. I love your Meatless Monday posts. I have a few vegetarian friends who I struggle to cook for. These burgers would be perfect and I might just double the quantity and put a batch in the freezer.
The Mountain Kitchen says
Thanks Anna! These Meatless Monday posts are quite a challenge sometimes. I’m glad you and others can benefit from them! xoxo
Cheryl "Cheffie Cooks" Wiser says
If David grills them let me know how they turn out?! Thanks
The Mountain Kitchen says
I sure will, Cheryl! 🙂
Rachel says
Black bean burgers are my FAVORITE. One of my husband’s too. I’ve always topped mine with pepper jack cheese, but putting some in the patty… umm GENIUS!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Thanks, Rachel! These were really good. I can only imagine what David has been eating….
Terrie says
I just made these tonight and they were excellent! One question though. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of butter, divided. But in the directions I only see the instructions for using 1 of the tablespoons for the buns. What is the other tablespoon for? I did not see any mention of it. Thanks for posting great recipes.
The Mountain Kitchen says
Hi Terrie! Thank you so much for the great review. I’m a little embarrassed that the recipe wasn’t written correctly. The other tablespoon of butter went into the pan with the oil to fry the burgers. No big deal, but it probably would have tasted a little richer with the butter. Thanks for pointing out the issue. I have corrected this recipe for others. Much appreciated! Debbie