Healthy Buffalo Cauliflower Veggie Burger
Buffalo cauliflower burgers, but easier and more nutritious! These cauliflower veggie burger patties are protein-packed thanks to the addition of soft and creamy white beans. They’re fully vegan, and ready in 30 min.
Burgers are a forever fave food around here. I love them so much that I don’t want to eat them just once in a while…so I’m pretty obsessed with dreaming up veggie burgers that are super delicious while still delivering on plant power. This dietitian is all about the easy plant-based recipes that still deliver on FLAVOUR. So I’m teaming up with my friends at Silver Hills Bakery once again to create an addictively good buffalo cauliflower burger that takes less than 30 minutes to make from craving to serving!
How to make an easy buffalo cauliflower burger at home
Buffalo cauliflower typically involves breading and roasting cauliflower, then saucing and roasting again. It creates an amazing texture…but it’s also a lot of work and I’m certainly not doing it on a Tuesday night! Plus, I can eat pretty much a whole head of Buffalo cauliflower and still feel hungry. Give me protein!! As delicious and nutritious as they are, vegans cannot survive on veggies alone.
My take on a Buffalo cauliflower burger is about combining classic Buffalo cauliflower ingredients – cauliflower, onion powder, Frank’s Red Hot – into a white bean veggie burger that whips up in a few simple steps:
- Pan-fry the cauliflower quickly with garlic, salt and pepper to build flavour
- Pulse all of the ingredients together in the food processor
- Form patties
- Fry the burgers in a skillet, basting with extra hot sauce once they’re done
That’s it! You’ll have a homemade veggie burger in about 30 minutes flat. So simple…and paired with Silver Hills Bakery Sprouted Power Burger Buns, it’s a healthy meal that doesn’t taste like a compromise. Sprouted Power Buns have that soft texture you love but they are made with sprouted grain Red Fife flour so they contain a host of minerals such as zinc, selenium and manganese plus 4 grams of fibre and 9 grams of protein per bun! Not to mention, sprouting makes it easier for the body to digest and absorb these wonderful minerals and nutrients.
I love giving these burgs the full Buffalo treatment with my avocado ranch dressing and a simple celery slaw: I use my mandolin to finely shave celery and then give it a toss with a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper. You could even add some plant-based blue cheeze if you like…but I’ve never been a blue fan so I opt for mozzarella-style.
How to make your own healthy breadcrumbs
Typical supermarket breadcrumbs aren’t always the healthiest…so what’s a dietitian to do? I DIY of course! It will help you reduce food waste too.
My family kind of refuses to eat bread butts. If that’s the first time you’ve heard that bread has a butt, it’s what we call loaf ends at home! Anyhoo, my Silver Hills bread ends accumulate in the freezer faster than I can eat them, so I came up with a way to reduce waste and DIY breadcrumbs that are much healthier than store-bought. And it’s super easy!
- Toast the ends of your Silver Hills breads very well in the toaster so they are crispy and dry
- Tear them into the food processor and pulse until a fine crumb forms
- Toss prepared crumbs into the freezer so they stay fresher, longer!
Health benefits of cauliflower
To me, eating well and enjoying food is not about a good/bad, healthy/unhealthy framework. I love decadent-feeling food that still packs nutrition – and nutritious food that has tons of flavour and is pleasurable to eat!
Which is why I am always creating recipes that help you eat more plants…so much so that I created a whole cookbook to get you inspired. It might not be brightly coloured, but cauliflower is a nutritious and versatile food that deserves a regular spot on your menu rotation.
- Cauliflower is high in vitamin C, and contains folate and other B vitamins for energy metabolism
- It is high in choline, an important nutrient in a plant-based diet, that helps support the nervous system and DNA synthesis
- As a cruciferous veggie like broccoli and kale, it contains a host of important anti-inflammatory phytochemicals such as sulforaphane and isothiocyanates
- It’s super versatile, making it an easy way to sneak more veg into your meals, whether you bake it into breads, create a pizza crust with it or even add it to (or substitute it for) your rice
Buffalo Cauliflower Veggie Burger Tips + Substitutions
- This is a soft and squishy burger..but it’s not crumbly! If you want a firmer texture, use psyllium husk instead of ground flax because it has a firmer hold.
- You can absolutely substitute chickpeas for white beans if that it what you have in your pantry, and it will also firm up the texture a bit.
- Make it gluten free: just swap in gluten free breadcrumbs and buns!
- Make ahead: these burgers will refrigerate and freeze beautifully. Refrigerate on a parchment lined plate or baking sheet for up to a day. If freezing, freeze with pieces of parchment separating the burgers for easy removal. Use within a month.
- These burgers would be SO delicious with my easy avocado crema to up the creamy factor by 100.
Looking for more plant-based BBQ ideas?
- Easy Vegan Pasta Salad
- Avocado Ranch Potato Salad
- Beet Walnut Black Bean Burgers
- Cold Soba Noodle Salad
Healthy Buffalo Cauliflower Veggie Burger
Ingredients
- 2-398 ml cans of white beans, like cannelini , rinsed and drained well
- 2 cups bite-sized pieces of cauliflower
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup chopped parsley, packed
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons Frank's Red Hot Sauce, or Valentina Hot Sauce, plus 1/4 cup for basting
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil, divided, plus more for frying
- 2 tablespoons ground flax, or 1 tablespoon psyllium husk
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
For Serving
- 6 Silver Hill's Bakery Sprouted Power Buns
- Avocado Ranch Dressing
- shaved celery
- mozzarella or blue cheese-style vegan cheese
- vegan mayo
- Dijon mustard
Equipment
- Food Processor
Instructions
- In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tbsp avocado oil over medium-high heat. Cook cauliflower until cauliflower is a bit browned – about 4-5 min. Turn off heat and add garlic and let gently cook for 1-2 more min, stirring constantly, until garlic turns golden. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.
- Place beans and cauliflower in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to break them up. Then add breadcrumbs, parsley, flax, remaining tbsp oil, nutritional yeast, salt, cumin and onion powder and pulse a few more times until about 75% blended to preserve some texture. If it looks too dry, add 1-2 tbsp water and stir it in by hand. Mixture should be a thick paste.
- Divide mixture into six equal parts (about 1/2 cup each) and form into 1-inch thick patties.
- Add another drizzle of oil into the same skillet and heat on medium. Add patties and cook until they form a golden crust on each side, about 4-5 minutes. Carefully flip and brush each cooked side with more hot sauce – they’re soft!
- Serve with your favourite burger fixings. Delicious with my avocado ranch dressing and shaved celery for the full Buffalo experience!
3 Comments on “Healthy Buffalo Cauliflower Veggie Burger”
This is really healthy, thanks for sharing the recipe, I will try on my own.
What would you recommend in place of cauliflower? I’ve discovered cauliflower is one of those foods that causes a lot of pain and other issues, but I’d like to try this recipe!!
Hi Colleen,
I haven’t tested it with anything else…so I can’t promise results, but you could absolutely try broccoli or just all beans!