The Key Ingredient That Gives Veggie Burgers A Meat-Like Texture
When you shop for plant-based burgers at the grocery store, it's pretty easy to find options that both look like meat and have a similar texture when cooked. However, if you attempt to make them from scratch, that flavor and consistency is a lot harder to get right. The most common way to make your veggie burgers taste meatier is by using mushrooms, as they contain glutamate, an amino acid that's also present in meat. When it comes to the texture though, mushrooms unfortunately aren't very burger-like. Fungi are a fun addition, to be sure, but for a true texture boost you'll need to crack some nutshells.
Homemade veggie burgers tend to be mushy due to too much moisture being present, and mushrooms are naturally absorbent. High-moisture veggies like zucchini, eggplant, and other common veggie burger add-ins are also often to blame. While draining these veggies and cooking them down until the water evaporates out can certainly help reduce mushiness, incorporating sturdy, chewy walnuts can give veggie burgers a meat-like texture with very little effort.
Why walnuts improve the texture of veggie burgers
Most people don't consider nuts as meaty, but the truth is when you prepare them a specific way, they can be used as a ground beef substitute. Walnuts in particular are ideal for burgers because they're fatty, and they don't have a strong nutty flavor. Unlike other nuts such as almonds and pistachios, walnuts also have a softer texture that's a lot closer to meat.
Though you might expect a veggie burger made with walnuts to be on the crunchy side, that won't necessarily be the case. The key is to soak them overnight or for 30 minutes in hot water. After soaking, the walnuts will have softened even further, and once you drain them, they can be put through the food processor. A few pulses later, and the walnuts will form a mixture that resembles ground beef, which you can easily turn into a veggie burger.
How many walnuts should you add to veggie burgers?
Soaked, chopped walnuts by themselves work well in tacos, pasta sauce, and other dishes that call for ground beef, but because they're crumbly, they have to be bound together with other ingredients. Otherwise, you won't be able to form them into patties, and they could easily fall apart during cooking.
For best results, PBS recommends ½ cup of chopped walnuts combined with breadcrumbs (other recipes opt for cooked grains or legumes) and a binding ingredient such as egg or tofu. To this mixture, you can half a pound of any vegetables of your choosing, such as mushrooms and beets, in addition to one can of beans, and one cup of breadcrumbs. As for seasoning, you can use any spice mix you'd like, but there are also plenty of ingredients that can complement the meatiness of the walnuts, including liquid smoke, soy sauce, and nutritional yeast.