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!
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.
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Could these be cooked on an actual grill, or would you stick to only stovetop?
I made these burgers tonight with the help of my 2 y.o. The whole family enjoyed them. The 2 y.o. was eating the mixture out of the food processor bowl and would barely let me make the burgers (of which he did not like other than for a little nibble)!
I’ve made these twice now. The first time went great. Delicious! Tonight’s batch, however, was no good. I think I may have used too much eggplant. Can you please change the recipe to state how many cups of eggplant cubes are needed?
Just made these tonight. Yum! Trying them tomorrow for dinner!
how do you know when they are done? they still look raw inside?
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Not a silly question at all! You do not need to cut the seeds out! 🙂
I’ve never cooked or even cut open an eggplant. Do you leave the seeds inside or cut them out? Sorry if it’s a silly question!
I made these tonight – burger form for me and panko crusted nuggets for my 13 month old. We both loved them – I think he ate 5 nuggets! I prepped during naptime -including sauteing the eggplant – and then combined and cooked at dinner time so the eggplant was fully cooled. I wonder if that makes a difference for those who ended up with a more watery batter. I used half basil and half parsley because that’s what I had. Next time I may use spinach for part of the greens. There will definitely be a next time.
sorry…until then it *was* hard (difficult)…
hi, i like the taste, they are great. For some reason i had trouble with it being very watery, falling off my fingers and could barely form the patties. It became more solid when pan fried but until then it hard and afterwards had a bit of a feeling like they weren’t cooked through (although they were very thin). I tried adding more crumbs and then eggplant but it improved it only mildly. Any suggestions? Great idea.
This recipe was a definite winner with my picky 2 year old! It’s one of the first items that he was willing to eat without seeing it a million times first! One question I have is, can I use other grated cheeses in this? My husband said that he liked the taste of them, but had a hard time getting past the “stinky cheese” smell. (Not a fan of Parmesan) What non-stinky cheese could I substitute?
My 2 y/o devoured these. If you have a little extra time, I recommend roasting the cubed eggplant with the garlic clove, olive oil, salt and pepper. It adds a little more flavor to the eggplant and you need less oil and no water. Then just proceed as directed. Delicious!
Dear Catherine,
I love your website and so does my 2 year old son who loves to cook with me and watch you cook with your kids.
On this recipe, which I’ve made several times, I never know how many cups I should have of the eggplant. I usually have to add a second egg to the food processor during the mixing process because it is just too dry…I figure if I could get the eggplant amount correct that this wouldn’t happen. But other than the fact that I have to tweak to avoid this problem, we LOVE this recipe!
Thank you for your creativity and charisma.
Alexandra