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