So all day Wednesday I could not wait to come home and eat dinner. I had been craving Turkey Spinach Feta burgers for the longest time! And since I bought 5 pounds of spinach the other day I knew it was a great way to use up the mound of greens in my fridge.
When I got home I changed so fast and ran into the kitchen. It didn’t help either that I was starving AND had a killer workout over lunch today.
I got to chopping, dicing, mincing and sauteing … my kitchen was smelling magical!
That is…
…until I opened the package of ground turkey!
<insert biggest Mr. YUCK face ever combined with the ‘I’m gonna hurl’ surprise eyes!>
I’ll spare you any further details of exactly how rancid this was but let’s just say it needed put in a plastic bag, locked in a metal box, buried in a hole 6 feet under, covered by cement and then relocating me to the other side of the country.
it was THAT bad!
*shudder*
As I stood there in grossed-out-ness, I started smelling my onions. Crap! Now what? I had no other meat and everything else prepped for the turkey burgers. I went over to my pantry and stood there (okay I turned the onions to low while I stood in front of my pantry)….
…and stood there
…and stood there hoping some magical package of fresh ground turkey would appear but it didn’t.
What did appear (but not magically… trust me, if there something magical coming out of my pantry it’s Ina Garten, Sarabeth Levine and endless supply of money so I could cook and bake all day with my two idols).. sorry, I got sidetracked. 🙂 What did appear were 2 cans of beans. Hmmm.. beans are meaty. Beans are packed with protein. It could work.
Well people let me tell you what… Not only did it work but it worked AMAZINGLY FANTASTICALLY AWESOME! Yes.. go with that verbiage!
So all you meat lovers, trust me on this. It is not your typical cardboard veggie burger that is flavorless and flat-out gross. This thing was so full of flavor and juiciness. I mean seriously as I’m typing this I’m honestly thinking about going and having another piece! It’s hearty like a meat burger and super high in protein and packed with antioxidants.
I mean seriously.. LOOK AT THIS!
Double Bean Spinach Feta Burgers
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Ingredients
- 1 can black beans, rinsed
- 1 can white beans, rinsed
- 1/4 cup onions, chopped small
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 Tbl olive oil and enough for burger sautéing
- 2 Tbl red peppers, minced
- 2 cups spinach
- 1 tsp Montreal Steak Seasoning
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup plain bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta
Instructions
- In a large skillet, melt butter and 1 tbl olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and sauté for 5-6 minutes or until translucent. Add in the spinach and cover. Cook on medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until the spinach is wilted. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Take 1 1/2 cups of each type of beans and mash in a large bowl. Add in the remaining whole beans, red peppers, seasoning, egg, bread crumbs, feta and cooled onion & spinach mixture.
- Mix until combined. *Note – it will be sticky so if you want, lightly wet your hands with water as you mix. Just be sure not to add water to the mixture. Form into 6-8 patties, depending on how big you want them. Add enough olive oil to the bottom of the pan with the heat set to medium high.
- When the oil is hot enough, add the patties in leaving a 1” space between them. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until the bottom has a nice golden brown crispy crust. Flip and cook for 4-5 minutes or until it has a nice golden brown crispy crust. Set your oven to 375. Once patties are made, lightly coat them with olive oil.
- Put them on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flip and continue baking for another 15 or until they are golden brown and crispy.
This is how I ate mine… I just put on more spinach, a hearty grain kaiser roll and Tuscan Herb Hummus (recipe in the works).
I’m wondering if it is a matter of either/or when it comes to cooking them. Pan fry OR oven or are both steps part of the process?
Hi Laurie!
If they are thick, go with the pan fry and the oven. If they are say 1/4 pounder size, the pan fry is sufficient. The reason I also mentioned putting them in the oven is to ensure that they are ‘cooked’ all the way through since there is egg. You could go with a pan fry if you lower the heat after you brown each side.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
This was so good! I did make some changes – I added a minced garlic clove with the onion, I substituted sun-dried tomato for the red pepper and I used Panko for the bread crumbs. I also found it unnecessary to bake it after frying – it dried it out.
★★★★★
These are really good! They don’t fall apart. The first time I made them my meat-loving son took a bite and asked me to send him the recipe!
★★★★★
Yeah!!! That’s awesome to hear! Thank you so much!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
I just popped these in the oven but wondering if it was a matter of either/or when it comes to cooking them. Pan OR oven or are both steps part of the process?
Thank you for sharing your recipes,
without a doubt your veggie burgers are the best I’ve ever had
I made the portabella ones last week and the 2 bean spinach feta today
Both are way up there wow!
Yeah!!! I’m so happy you loved them! Thank you so much!
Best Kitchen Wishes’
These are delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe! Did you post a recipe for your Tuscan Hummus? Looks good.
★★★★★
I made these tonight and they were very good! They taste nothing like a boxed veggie burger. I will definitely be adding them into my rotation. My vegetarian son will be very happy when he comes home from work! Next time I will add just a bit more bread crumbs, as a couple fell apart. Very tasty, though.
★★★★
Thank you so much Mary! I’m so happy that you loved these as much as I do!
Best Kitchen Wishes!