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Spicy Plant Burger, Made with Tofu

Flavor packed tofu burgers. Bursting with citrus notes, spicy sriracha and bold herbs. A spicy plant burger perfect made quick and easy.

Well, welcome to a week of vegan brunch burgers! We are kicking this week off just the way I like it… spicy! This spicy plant burger has everything going for it. Between the spicy sriracha (..and ketchup), citrus-y lemongrass and beautiful bold herbs your tastebuds are in for a wonderful ride. But don’t worry this recipe can be as mild or as spicy as you’d like. Trust me, even I don’t like TOO MUCH spice. It’s all about balance so that you can really enjoy the flavors. We won’t waste time with this.

Gather Your Ingredients

I’m going to keep it real with you. You may not have all of the ingredients needed on hand for this recipe. Mainly, it’s the fresh herbs like mint, cilantro and basil you may not have. Everything else like tofu, sriracha, spicy ketchup, etc. you’ll likely have or plan on buying anyways. But good news the herbs are easy and inexpensive to get in order to make this spicy plant burger recipe.

Plus, if you need ideas for other ways to use the fresh herbs check out the end of this blog post where I share some recipe ideas. That way you can easily chop them up and use them later.

For this recipe you won’t need much. Here’s what will get you started:

• 14 ounces of firm tofu
• Shallot, finely diced
• Fresh lemon juice
• Lemongrass + Garlic minced (or processed) into a paste
• Fresh mint, chopped
• Fresh cilantro, chopped
• Fresh basil, chopped
• Kosher salt
• Tomato paste
• Sriracha
• Spicy Ketchup
• All-Purpose Flour
• The Fixings
  • Hamburger bun
  • Garlic Tahini
  • Red Bell Pepper
  • Carrots
  • Cucumber

Mix Your Spicy Plant Burgers

Next you’ll want to mix your plant burgers. To do this, take a large mixing bowl and crumble in your firm tofu. Then add the remaining ingredients:

• One shallot, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons Lemongrass-Garlic paste (see notes below for how to make this)
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped mint
• 5 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 – 3 tablespoons sriracha
• 1 – 3 tablespoons spicy ketchup
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour

Form Your Burger Patties

Stir ingredients until well combined. Then form your burger patties. If you have seen the TikTok video where I share this recipe then you know how I prefer my vegan burger patties. But if you’d like to save the click then I’ll share the secret here… I like my patties thick. In all seriousness, I believe this helps bring out the texture in the burger rather than having a thin patty that’s “drowned” out by the burger toppings. Make sense?

Cook Your Spicy Plant Burgers

Of course, the last thing you’ll want to do before assembling your burger is to cook your burgers! I have no special secret tips for this other than I enjoy using a cast iron skillet when cooking my burgers inside. I do this simply because the cast iron skillet tends to hold a lot of great flavors and that’s exactly what you want!

When cooking your burgers and 1 – 2 tablespoons of neutral oil in your skillet and allow to warm over medium heat. Then add your spicy plant burger patties. Allow your tofu burgers to cook over medium heat for about 7 minutes on each side. Only flipping once.

Assemble Your Burger

Once your burgers have finished cooking it’s time to assemble! For this recipe I used the following toppings:

• Garlic Tahini (simply tahini mixed with minced garlic)
• Thinly sliced Red Bell Pepper
• Thinly sliced Carrots
• Thinly sliced Cucumber

I also made a matcha burger bun for this spicy plant burger recipe. Of course you can use regular burger buns if you’d like. But if you’re feeling adventurous (matcha and citrus are a match made it heaven!) then you can easily make these matcha burger buns too! Simply follow this recipe from Bob’s Red Mill and add 2 tablespoons of powdered matcha to the mix.

Recipe ideas for Fresh Herbs

• Cozy Breakfast Ramen Recipe
• The Best Vegan Brunch Frittata
• Thai Chickpea Salad

Spicy Plant Burger

5 from 4 votes

Recipe by Sagen Jackson Course: Recipes

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Calories

138

kcal

Ingredients

• 14 ounce 14 tofu

• One shallot, finely chopped

• 1 Tbsp 1 lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons 2 Lemongrass-Garlic paste (see notes below for how to make this)

• 2 tablespoons 2 freshly chopped mint

• 5 tablespoons 5 freshly chopped cilantro

• 2 tablespoons 2 freshly chopped basil

• 1 tablespoon 1 kosher salt

• 2 tablespoons 2 tomato paste

• 1 – 3 tablespoons sriracha

• 1 – 3 tablespoons spicy ketchup

• 1/4 cup 1/4 all purpose flour

Preparation

• Crumble tofu into a large mixing bowl. Then add remaining ingredients to bowl.
• Mix well until all ingredients are combined.
• Form your plant burger mix into patties. This mix should make about 3 – 4 patties.
• Heat 1 – 2 tablespoons neutral cooking oil on a cast iron skillet. Add patties to skillet and allow to cook for about 7 minutes per side.
• Remove burger patties once cooked through and serve warm on top of hamburger buns with thinly sliced carrots, bell peppers, and cucumbers. Enjoy!

Notes

• Please note this recipe calorie count does not include the hamburger bun or remaining toppings.
• To make the lemongrass garlic paste simply add one chopped lemongrass stalk and 4 tablespoons minced garlic to a small food processor and pulse until paste is formed. You likely won’t need this much for the recipe but you can always save it and add to ramen or other asian noodle recipes later. I would not keep past one week.

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