Homemade Southwest Black Bean Burgers are one of my go to recipes! Topped with fresh guacamole these are a protein-packed flavorful vegetarian burger option.
Hi dear reader,
You might be surprised at how easy it is to whip up homemade Southwest Black Bean Burgers! They really don’t take a lot of time and are super tasty. If you are a vegetarian, you need this recipe in your bag of tricks. It’s one of my favorite go-to meals!
Wouldn’t this be lovely at a cookout? 4th of July maybe???…. just sayin!
I’d even venture to say even if you do eat meat you should make these Southwest Black Bean Burgers part of your cooking repertoire. They obviously don’t taste like a real burger, but they are flavorful and delicious from the cilantro, cumin and oregano.
It’s a nice healthy alternative to red meat and something different to make for meatless Monday. Plus any vegetarian who comes to your house for a cookout will be super impressed with your efforts. You can grill them or cook them on the stove top!
My Southwest Black Bean Burgers are topped with fresh, homemade guacamole… so really how can you go wrong here? I’ve honestly been known to eat these without the buns if I’m not feeling the carbs. They honestly don’t even need the bread.
You can even make a big batch and freeze them.
AND just if you weren’t convinced enough, my meat loving hubby gives these 2 thumbs up!
Southwest Black Bean Burgers
Southwest Black Bean Burgers are one of my classic Running in a Skirt recipes that I finally had a chance to re-shoot! Some of my favorite recipes are the old ones on the site with terrible images. Many of those recipes are the ones I’ve been making for years, so I’m trying to go back this summer and redo them.
Just for fun, this is what the photos looked like the first time around. I had just gotten my nice camera, but didn’t know how to use it or much about food styling! Sadly my favorite yellow plates and cutting board wasn’t doing me any favors!
If you are newer reader, I really hope you enjoy them. If you’ve been a loyal fan from the beginning, I hope you enjoy seeing the transformation the blog has made and watching these old posts get a little makeover! I’d love to hear what you think about the idea.
And here’s that handy dandy recipe. Now in printable form whoooo-hooo!….

- For the burgers:
- 2 15 ounce cans low sodium black beans rinsed and drained
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
- 1/2 onion diced (approximately ½ cup)
- 1/4 red pepper diced (approximately ¼ cup)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne or chiplote pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4- 1/2 teaspoon salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper to taste
- Optional: 1 tablespoon Cholula or Chipolte Cholula
- For the guacamole:
- 1 ripe avocado
- 2 teaspoons red pepper diced
- 1/4 cup red onion diced
- 1 roma tomatoe diced
- 2 tablespoon cilantro chopped
- 1/2 lime juiced
- 1/4- 1/2 teaspoon salt to taste
- Extras:
- cooking spray
- Buns
- Lettuce or Spinach
- Lime
- Put half of the black beans in a chopper or food processor. Process them until they become more of a paste.
- In a bowl combine all of the beans (both the processed and the whole beans), cilantro, onion, red pepper, garlic, panko, cayenne, cumin, oregano and optional Cholula. Stir mixture well. Add salt and pepper. Check spices now before you add the egg.
- Whisk the egg in a separate bowl. Add the egg to the black bean mixture in the big bowl and combine well.
- Divide the mixture in 4. Use your hands to form 4 balls out of the mixture and then flatten into a patty. They should be about a ½ inch thick. Place the burgers on a cookie sheet and put in fridge. Allow burgers to chill for approximately 30 minutes if you can. This helps them stay together.
- Make Guacamole! Dice avocados. Add all other gaucamole ingredients in another bowl and combine. Place in fridge to chill.
- Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Heat the skillet on medium heat. Add the burgers to the pan. Cook 5 minutes each side. You can just as easily cook these on a grill. Just be careful flipping because they are not as study as regular burgers.
- Top with gaucamole and serve on your favorite buns.
Like it? I’d love it if you could pin this to your favorite Pinterest board! Thank you so much for the support.
Thanks for stopping by today! Tomorrow I’m showcasing a “cold shoulder” dress for Fashion Friday.
Your turn!
Have you ever made a homemade vegetarian burger?
Bloggers what do you do with your old recipes that you might want to redo?
Do you like these flashback posts with new text and photos?
[…] Southwest Black Bean Burgers […]
[…] recipes for a vegetarian cookout menu with my friends. I settled on serving my homemade Black Bean Burgers with Guacamole, my favorite Summer Grilled Vegetables (with Whipped Garlic Feta Dip! <—because feta […]
[…] Southwest Black Bean Burger […]
[…] Black Bean Burgers […]
These were yummy! Fell apart a bit, but I didn’t have time to chill before cooking so that probably didn’t help! My husband loved and wants me to make again very soon!
Thanks for the recipe!
[…] Homemade Southwest Black Bean Burger with Guacamole […]
I absolutely love your recipe! I am writing vegetarian recipe round ups on my blog in 2018 (to encourage people to try meatless monday- everyone has to start somewhere) and would love to feature you. You can check out my blog (for beginner environmentalists) at sunshineguerrilla.com. Is it alright if I share this link to your recipe?
Thanks Barbara! No problem! Thanks for sharing.
Made them several times, they are two thumbs up but, they fall apart and we end up eating it with a fork. Your’s looks so perfect in the picture. Any suggestions?
[…] Southwest Black Bean Burger with Guacamole […]
[…] Black Bean Burgers with Homemade Guacamole […]
Thanks for sharing! Do you form them into burgers before you freeze or into balls?
Hi Suzanne! Go ahead and make them into burgers. Enjoy!
Yum! I’m excited to try this! Are they very crumbly?
No! The egg holds them together well! I hope you enjoy them! Just don’t overcook them!
[…] Serve my light Pimento Cheese at a party with vegetables and crackers like shown or use it to make a sandwich. It’s also a brilliant topping on a homemade veggie burger. […]
[…] Southwest Black Bean Burgers from Running in a Skirt […]
[…] Southwest Black Bean Burgers @ Running in a Skirt […]
I made these tonight and they were a hit! I have a 5 year old, so I made mini burgers or sliders, instead of the full size, because little food tends to go over well. I wish I had followed your advice to put the burgers in the fridge for a while before cooking because a few of mine did fall apart. Aside from that, everyone including my husband loved them. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Looks great! When freezing do you recommend wax paper or just a zip lock bag alone? Also do you cook from frozen or thaw first? Thanks!
These look amazing! Can’t wait to try them, hoping we get at least one BBQ in this summer. Thank you for linking up with us for Meatless Monday!
Thank you so much Sarah! I hope you enjoy them.
I don’t like ground beef so I never eat burgers but I would totally go for this black bean burger. And anything is delicious when guacamole is added to it. Yum!
It’s really good and tasty! I hope you get a chance to try them.
Aughhhh, these look so good! I need to make a big batch of em’! <3!
You do! They would freeze great!
OMG yum! The way to my heart is definitely paved with delicious black bean burgers 🙂
Hahaha!! Love that :-)))))
I love the Southwest Flavors for your Black Bean Burgers, they look delicious. Have a great weekend and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
This looks amazing, Julie! Love the guac!
I LOVE all the flavors going on in these Southwest Black Bean Burgers – YUM! And your photos are absolutely gorgeous!
i have not been successful at making homemade black bean burger yet but your version looks so good. i will definitely making this one of these days 🙂
I am HUGE fan of black bean burgers. This recipe looks delicious and totally doable!
Hi Mikki! It is totally doable. Make a double batch and freeze them for the rest of summer.
Those pictures made my mouth start watering! Yummm! These look flavor packed! Adding to my must-try list! 🙂 Thanks!
Hi Hollie! Thank you so much! That means so much to me!
I love a good veggie burger! Especially if it had a Southwestern flare. The Cholula is never optional for me. 🙂
Hi Laura! Never optional 🙂
I do like the flashback posts with
new text and photos. They also
take me back to that time. This must
do that for you with your big life change
leaving WLOS. I’m glad all has turned
out so well for you. You were fantastic
at WLOS but you certainly needed to
make the change.
I’m so glad you liked them! I did need to make a change. Much happier and healthier now.
I used to think that veggies burgers were so boring, but I am now discovering that they are definitely now. There is so much that you can do with them.
They are really versatile! They might not taste like a “real” burger but it doesn’t mean they aren’t good!
[…] Southwest Black Bean Burgers […]
Thanks Annette!
Looks wonderful!