Monday, June 27, 2011

walnut burgers

one of my road trip vacation stops last year was at beans & barley in milwaukee, wi. there was a really delicious walnut burger on the menu, and our server kindly explained that it was inspired by a little hotel in trempeleau, wi. the next night, on our way to minneapolis, we decided to stop in trempeleau. it was the quaintest little hotel - no tv, no phones, shared bathrooms etc. it was almost like a bed and breakfast (without the breakfast). it was the coolest little place to stay, and home of the apparently famous walnut burger. although their version isn't vegan, i came home with the express intent to re-make it vegan friendly.

the finely ground walnuts replace bread crumbs in this recipe and give it a serious flavour boost.


  • 2 cups cooked short grain brown rice
  • 1¼ cup finely ground walnuts
  • 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
  • 1½ tablespoons tamari
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

it's important that you use short grain brown rice in this recipe as it provides a much stickier texture than long grain rice. make sure it's cooled down to room temperature. combine all ingredients except for walnuts and rice into a medium mixing bowl. mix into a dry crumbly paste and incorporate the rice. the rice and paste should combine to be a pretty thick and sticky mash. last, fold in the ground walnuts.

you should be able to create about 5 1/2-inch patties.  these don't really firm up like a standard veggie burger, but the flavor is phenomenal.  just be gentle when cooking them and you shouldn't have any problems.

fry: grill in a non-stick skillet with about 1 tablespoon oil for about 10 minuets on each side.
bake: on a greased cookie sheet, bake at 375°f for 15 minutes on each side.  i've also baked them in an oil-rubbed cast iron grill pan.
grill: heat grill to medium and use a non-stick olive oil spray to prevent sticking. grill for 10-12 minutes on each side.

12 comments:

Mihl said...

I think I never had walnuts as a burger ingredient, but it sounds really awesome! Especially in combination with liquid smoke.

Vic Robinson said...

Those look awesome! Very innovative too! I really need a grill. I think i am missing out. :(

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Ali - YumVeggieBurger said...

those look amazing! I can't wait to try them. glad to hear you tested them on the grill too - I can't bring myself to cook any veggie burgers on the stove while it's summer, but I have had some bad experiences with ones that didn't hold up on the grill! :)

Jen said...

Walnuts are great in veggie burgers! Since going vegan, I make my own burgers all the time.

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It sounds so yummy. Wow! a walnut as a burger ingredient!. I'm impressed. I'm going to try it.

Margaret said...

WOW, Do those look great. I will have to try them. Thank you for this post.
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Jeane M. said...

Really interesting dish to have. Love to have this in my table for this weekend tummy adventures. Got my eye on your blog now.

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Bob said...

These walnut burger should satisfy my weekly burger craving.

tao of badass said...

Thanks for your share experience with us, I like this post, not only it has taught me a lot, but also let me continuous learning everyday.

L said...

forest food is rebuilding our earth-i eat all walnut n lettuce n celery-workin on including more lettuce trees-like slippery elm-and linden leaves-esp the mini linden leaf variety of tree-support tree food growers anyway u can-thanx-btw in the snowy north-the white walnut (butternut) is native of those snow -n is frost resistant-so grow walnuts in canadian frosty prairies too-just needs water-n lots of sunny open elbow room-walnut n flax powder burger in linden leaves roll ups-is all u ever need