Mung bean sprout burger

Posted by

Başak

October 11, 2024

On January 22, 2020

Preparation: 10 mins

Cooking: 10 mins

Difficulty: easy

Yields: 2 portions

Cost: low

If you want to go straight to the recipe click here

About Zucchini and Mung Bean Sprout Burger Recipe

After tasting these vegetarian mung bean sprout burger, you’ll think to invite your friends for dinner to brag about your culinary skills. Let’s just keep it between us, they’re very easy to prepare. They have a texture that is very similar to meat, which can come as a pleasant surprise to many omnivores and non meat eaters. Thanks to the sprouting process (see here how the sprouts are prepared), the concentration of anti-nutrients such as phytic acid in legumes decreases significantly, while the digestibility of proteins(*) increases. In addition, the use of plant-based ingredients makes it possible to create a tasty and satiating meal, with less cruelty, less pesticides and more sustainability for all.
As if that were not enough, the cost of this sprout burger recipe is truly negligible. Which is in contrast to the commercial ones, which are affected by the current fashion (normally 160 g of vegan burgers cost around 4 euros). Almost all the food brands we know offer a veggie line, which bodes well for the growth of conscious consumers and interested in sustainability. However, when a 200-gram pack of plant based burgers costs as much as the 400-gram of meatballs, this does not make it an affordable solution for everyone’s pockets. Aside from the cost, these products, are not always very healthy; they often contain high amounts of salts, fats, carbohydrates and also many extras such as food additives. In addition, they use many resources for packaging. So, as long as you can, prepare them yourself: this allows you to reduce the food waste in the kitchen, creating delights with an infinite number of ingredients.

We can also prepare them for more servings and freeze the extras: when you really need them, they will be ready for use, just like those that we buy at the supermarket on double / triple prices (but much better in every sense).

So what are you waiting for? Soak your beans and let them sprout!

Ingredients for delicious mung bean sprout burgers

1 zucchini cut in mini cubes of 150-200 grams
2/3 cup of mung bean sprouts
20 g of crumbled tofu
2 slices of wholemeal bread, soaked in soymilk/water and squeezed well, or 3 tablespoon of wholemeal bread crumbs
1 egg (use 2 tbsp of chia seeds mixed with 2 tbsp of water to obtain a vegan egg alternative)
1 clove of garlic
1 cup of fresh herbs to taste (I used parsley)
50 grams of string cheese (vegan or not)
salt, pepper, paprika, curry
1,5 tablespoon of oil

Directions for easy mung bean sprout burgers

Step 1. In a large pan let the sprouts and zucchini cubes soften with a half tablespoon of extravergine olive oil: 5 minutes over medium-high heat is enough. Then, turn off the heat and let them cool.

Step 2. Put all the other ingredients in a large bowl, and make a homogeneous mixture using only your hands, or with a blender; finally add the sprouts already cold. Give them the shape you want by hand, or with two spoons (for these mung bean sprout burger / meatless veggieballs in the picture I used simply my hands), otherwise use a professional burger mold.
Now handle them with care, and transfer them inside a non-stick pan, already hot and oiled.

Step 3. After about 4–6 minutes of cooking over medium heat, when the underside of the sprout burger no longer sticks to your spatula, turn them on the other side. Cook for another 3 minutes, and they will be ready to serve.

Smart combos

As in the photo I created a bed of lettuce seasoned with lots of lemon an little olive oil, and then I garnished the sprout burgers with thick natural yoghurt, flavoured with tahini and paprika. Moreover, in the two little bowls you can see two sauces: one is humus (for my father’s recipe click here) of about 2 spoons, and the other is carrot mezze with mint, made with one big grated carrot and then sautéed in a pan with a little oil and garlic, finally added with 4 spoons of unsweetened soy drink to make it more spreadable. What can I say, a cheap, healthy and sustainable dinner, with so much taste that it has nothing to envy to the typical dishes of fast food!

Enjoy your zucchini and mung bean sprout burger and good revolution to all

Bibliography
(*) : Kataria A., (1989). Antinutrients and protein digestibility (in vitro) of mungbean as affected by domestic processing and cooking. Food Chemistry, ISSN: 0308-8146, Vol: 32, Issue: 1, Page: 9-17