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Vegetarian Carrot Chickpea Burger with Cilantro Pesto

Carrot Chickpea Burger with Cilantro Pesto

Looking for a healthy AND tasty vegetarian burger recipe? Look no further: This Chickpea Carrot Burger served with a refreshing Peanut Cilantro Pesto delivers on every level. It is the best veggie burger I’ve ever tasted. 

Course dinner, main
Cuisine American, Middle Eastern
Keyword best vegetarian burger patty, chickpea burger recipe, spicy chickpea burger
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 8 people
Calories 400 kcal
Author Kiki Johnson

Ingredients

For the patties

  • 1 can chickpeas 19 fl oz, drained
  • 1 big garlic clove
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp curry powder
  • 1 carrot grated
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 egg L
  • 80 g breadcrumbs 2 slices day old white bread
  • 8 whole wheat buns or any bun or bread you like
  • 8 lettuce leaves
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • 8 slices tomato
  • 2 cups shredded red cabbage
  • 8 tbsps sour cream
  • optional: 8 tsp mayo

For the Cilantro Peanut Pesto

  • 1,5 - 2 cups tightly packed cilantro
  • 1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
  • 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
  • 1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
  • 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup oil peanut or sunflower

Instructions

  1. Peel the carrots, grate them coarsely and set them aside.
  2. Peel and roughly chop the garlic.
  3. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and put them into a food processor with the garlic, ground spices, salt and pepper. Pulse quickly to obtain a rough paste. Transfer the mix to a bowl and stir in egg, grated carrots and breadcrumbs.
  4. Put the mix in the fridge to set for about 30 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, mix all the ingredients for the pesto in your food processor and pulse until you have a smooth green paste. Set aside in a little bowl.
  6. Heat the oil in a frying pan and divide the patty mixture into 8. Shape into patties and fry in batches for 2–3 minutes on each side, until golden, then drain on kitchen paper.
  7. Assemble your burgers to your liking.
  8. I like to spread some mayo or sour cream on the bun before I top them with salad and veg. You can also put a dollop of sour cream on the patties and top it with some cilantro pesto (see in the picture above)
  9. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Here's a little tip: If you don't want your Chickpea Carrot Patties to fall apart while frying, you absolutely need to make sure you don't overprocess your chickpeas!

You'll want a rough chop while processing. I sometimes even skip the processing altogether and just mash them a bit with my potato masher.

If you go for the food processor method mix in the rest of your ingredients by hand, if you can. That gives you more control!