Today I will be sharing with you my recipe of Lentil burger.

“Lunes de lentejas” is a common phrase that you can hear in Peru (really common on Lima, the capital), it means Lentil Monday, in many houses, people prepare Lentils every other Monday, as a kid, I remember my grandmother and mother cooked lentils in different ways, my grandma added potatoes to it, fried some fish to make it tastier, my mother in the other hand served it with a variety of Salads, she also added meat to mask some of the flavors of lentils, however for me that was not enough, I was tired of Lentils. tired of arguing with me my mother stopped preparing Lentils on Mondays, and life continued.

Nowadays, we have “internet” or Pinterest, where we can get thousands of recipes with Lentils, if my mother had those tools at that time, maybe my meals would have been different, just to clarify, my mother is an excellent cook she loves food as much as I do, and that allowed her to be adventurous with food and try different recipes and ingredients, however “internet” wasn’t a thing back at those days, she had to “create” or replicate some recipes she saw on magazines or newspapers.

Thinking on my younger self, that little kid loved burgers, he loved that first bite, where all the flavors came together at once at his mouth, the flavor of juicy meat, the crunchiness of tomatoes, and the strong flavor of onions, He just loved it. Said that I challenged myself to create a lentil burger that young Brandon would have loved, I know it might an impossible task, but it was totally worth trying.

So here I am sharing with you my recipe of Lentil Burger, I made it vegan however you can customize it the way you want it, adding some smoked cheddar, or fried egg are just some suggestions.

What exactly is it made of?

This recipe is really similar to a “Tacu Tacu”, it uses lentils, rice, some veggies to enhance the flavor of the burger, rice will add some moisture and will help to keep all the ingredients together.

Why Rice?

Lentils and rice are great together, they complement each other, and they are easy to cook. however, it can be replaced for buckwheat, quinoa or any other starchy grain.

Can I storage them?

Yes, these burgers will last for 3 days on your fridge and up to one week in the freezer (but I do not recommend freezing it).

Can I use any other bean instead of Lentils?

Of course, you can use any beans you have on hand, you might need to change the ratio of rice. the ratio is for every cup of cooked bean add a half a cup of rice

Burgers have to have flavor, however, I like to keep it simple, onion, garlic, and chili are all the flavors you need if you do not have Ají Amarillo you could use any chili paste (not so spicy) you have on hand.

Integrate your ingredients, season them and then shape them into burger patties.

Allowing it to rest on your fridge will give it some firmness, so it does not fall apart while cooking but is this is optional.

Baking it might be an extra step, however, by baking it you will remove some of the extra moisture, and center will hot.

Go with your favorite toppings, get creative as possible, anything you add to it will make this burger just better and tastier.

Serve it with Sarza Criolla it goes great with this burger, I will be honest with you when I had this burger I was really happy with the results, I believe my younger self would be happy with it too, he probably would have still complained about it ‘cuz he was a picky eater but he would have eaten the whole burger.

What is your favorite way to have Lentils? comment below!