This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
I hear all the time from parents that their kids “just don’t like meat!” For all those children and parents out there that want a delicious burger without the red meat, this one’s for you! These Eggplant Burgers are easy to prepare, freeze and will fulfill your craving for a big juicy one!
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
I dread the winter months when many of my favorite foods are out of season. Nothing’s worse than craving a food you love to eat and knowing you have to wait eight months for it to return. Sure, these days you can get almost anything year round at your local grocery, but I’m not big on buying fruits and veggies that have to travel thousands of miles on planes, trains and automobiles to get there. So what’s the solution?
Recently, I’ve made a big point of doubling most of my recipes and freezing half so that our family has food to eat on the day and also something to look forward to down the road. That’s a real plus when I’m craving apples or pears in summer, or peaches or tomatoes in winter. And it means on cold nights when I’m dreaming of these Eggplant Burgers, they’re only 10 minutes — not 8 months — away! These burgers have a firm texture, are moist inside and have a crisp outer crust. And since they’re shaped into patties, they’re perfect to put on a bun with some melted cheese and place in your little one’s hand to munch on, for a snack, lunch or dinner. When time isn’t on your side, but you still want something healthy and easy to prepare for dinner, you’ll be happy to have these on hand — no matter what time of year!
Eggplant Burgers
Ingredients
- olive oil
- 1 medium eggplant, cubed (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and cook the eggplant cubes for 3 minutes.
- Add the garlic and salt and continue to sauté for another 2 minutes.
- Add 1 tbsp of water, cover and cook for an additional 3 minutes or until eggplant is fork tender. Allow to cool.
- Place the eggplant and remaining ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth.
- Use about 2 tbsps of the eggplant mixture for mini burgers, 1/4 cup for bigger burgers and form into patties.
- Heat about 1-2 tsps of oil in a large sauté pan and cook the eggplant patties for 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- * To freeze place the cooked patties on a baking sheet, freeze for 1 hour and place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze up to 3-4 months. When ready to serve, place patties on a baking sheet in a 300 degree oven for 10 minutes until warm.
Do you have dried parsley? You can use 1 Tbsp of dried parsley. Or you can use cilantro 🙂
Catherine, I can’t wait to try this tomorrow night, but what should I do if I don’t have fresh parsley? Thanks!
This was a big hit tonight. I too am thinking about baking them next time and even adding some mushrooms. “Wee” loved them!
Thank you!
Do you think these could be baked instead of fried? I want to make a bunch and freeze them and just hate the thought of frying them all.
Thank you so much for the terrific recipe. I couldn’t believe it as I watched my uber-picky 8-year old DEVOUR this burger. He (and my husband) were both skeptical when I suggested these for dinner, but they turned out to be a major hit.
Your recipes are magic! 🙂
Wow! These are delicious!!! I placed them on the whole wheat bagel with a little mayo and some shredded mozzarella. Everyone loved them, and they’re so easy! Thanks again weelicious!
You can use nutritional yeast instead of parmesan and you can do the flax instead of the egg, I have not tested it with the flax – make sure there is not excess liquid since you will be using flax/water mixture so it may get a little runny, if anything add extra breadcrumbs 🙂
My toddler is allergic to egg, milk and soy. Any reason I couldn’t omit the parmesan and use flax in place of egg?
I don’t see why not, but i would make sure the rice is a little sticky 🙂
We loved these! I was hoping to make them for friends who are gluten-intolerant. I read that some used quinoa, but they didn’t have enough substance. Would cooked rice work?
You can use any kind of panko, i used whole wheat bread crumbs 🙂
Did u use wheat panko? Looks sooo good I can’t wait to make them!
I like Eggplant. I felt that it was a good meat “replacement” when I was a vegetarian (in terms of taste/texture). But recently when I had my first baby, I researched the nutritional value of eggplant, and came up with just about nothing.
Am I wrong about that? Yes, of course fiber is nice, but any vegetable gives you that.
for some reason my mixture was quite damp, so i coated the burgers with polenta and they turned out really well! will def do this one again.
These look delicious! We like eggplant around here and I usually make cheesy eggplant sticks for the kids, but these look even better!
Oo! i bet these would be really good if you coated them in bread crumbs and fried them (slightly) to make them crunchy. Then you could top them with tomato sauce and cheese. it’s be like Eggplant parm! Or make little nuggets or “strips” and dip them in tomato sauce. I’m am SO going to buy an eggplant right now!