black bean burgers

These protein-packed black bean burgers are one of our favourite meat-free Monday dinners. They pass the carnivore and suspicious child test with flying colours, but I love them because they’re healthy and easy to make, and give me the satisfaction of noshing a burger whilst feeling smugly virtuous. I always keep canned black beans in the cupboard and cooked brown rice in the freezer so they are so easy to throw together. You can also make them in bulk and freeze them. If that hasn’t convinced you, try my beef, turkey and salmon burger recipes instead.

Finding black beans

Black beans are easy to find in cans in the US, I buy mine at Trader Joe’s there. We’re not as familiar with them in the UK but I found them in cans with the Jamaican food in the international aisle in Tesco. I also get them in the canned pulses section at Waitrose. You’ll use black beans in loads of Mexican recipes so I’m hoping, now that Mexican food is really taking off in the UK that you’ll see them more and more.

Why frozen brown rice makes life so much easier

If you get into the habit of always cooking more brown rice than you need and then freezing it, you’ll be able to make these burgers in no time. I’ve shared my foolproof brown rice cooking and freezing tips here along with other ways you can use it. Most supermarkets sell frozen brown rice now too – the frozen stuff has nothing weird added unlike the pouches of ready-cooked rice.