This cauliflower burger recipe makes the most flavorful, delicious, and filling vegetarian burger I've ever had! And to make the burgers even more delicious and healthy, I used sweet potato buns.
So I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We like burgers in our house. A lot.
We eat them at restaurants.
We make them at home.
We talk about them.
We rank them.
We dream about them.
Well, maybe I haven’t gone into THAT much detail, but now you know.
We also like cauliflower. A lot.
While it’s great just by itself, we turn it into pizza crust.
We turn it into fried rice.
We turn it into gratin.
And cheese sauce.
And mashed “potatoes”.
Watch Me Make A Cauliflower Burger
So, I guess, it was inevitable — really — that we’d eventually combine our love for burgers and our love for cauliflower into a whole new kinda love.
Cauliflower burger love.
OMG guys, this cauliflower veggie burger is no joke.
- It’s healthy.
- It’s delicious.
- It’s filling.
- It’s crunchy.
- It’s savory.
- It’s vegetarian.
How To Make Spicy Cauliflower Burgers
I have to admit I was BLOWN AWAY with how tasty this spicy veggie burger turned out.
While a lot of the yummy factor has to do with the delicious toppings, the actual quinoa cauliflower patties hold their own.
And that’s not even mentioning the sweet potato bun I used to hold all this goodness together!
YUM.
I’m tellin’ ya. If you love veggie burgers or vegetarian cauliflower recipes, this is for you.
If you’ve never tried a cauliflower “hamburger”, this is for you.
Even if you’re not a huge fan of cauliflower, this is one great new way to try it out again.
As for the steps required for making the cauliflower burger recipe, you have to:
- Start with the buns. For this cauliflower burger, the buns I used are made following my sweet potato rolls recipe. I shaped the dough into rolls as I would normally do to make sweet potato rolls, then I flattened the rolls into hamburger buns.
- After the buns are in the oven, you can start working on the baked cauliflower patties (detailed instructions for how to make quinoa cauliflower patties are highlighted below).
- Once the buns and cauliflower patties are ready, you can start assembling the cauliflower burger. A list of yummy toppings can also be found later on in this post.
The Many Benefits Of Cauliflower
Before going into details about how to make the quinoa cauliflower patties, let’s take a moment to discuss the awesomeness of cauliflower.
Cauliflower is healthy, highly nutritious, and offers you many benefits.
Cauliflower is…
- a great source of minerals including potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and manganese;
- a great source of vitamins including vitamin C, vitamin K, and B vitamins.
- high in fiber – fiber is important for maintaining a healthy digestive system and for reducing inflammation;
- a great source of antioxidants (antioxidants protect you from inflammation and harmful free radicals);
- great in weight loss diets because it’s a great low-calorie (only 25 calories per cup) and low-carb (5 g per cup) alternative to rice;
- versatile – it can replace rice and grains but can also be eaten raw in salads or roasted as a side dish. Or used in my spicy burger recipe.
How To Make Cauliflower Patties In A Food Processor
The cauliflower patties recipe is, believe it or not, very easy. And YUMMY. And perfect for a cauliflower burger. Where was I? Right! I was talking about how to make the quinoa cauliflower patties.
- Start making the quinoa cauliflower patties by roasting cauliflower in the oven for 25-30 minutes;
- Allow the cauliflower to cool, then pulse it in the food processor until it turns into small pieces;
- Transfer the cauliflower to a mixing bowl and add cooked quinoa, eggs, almond meal, and salt;
- Mix and form the patties;
- Moving to the how to cook veggie burgers part – to cook the quinoa cauliflower patties, add a little bit of olive oil into a pan and cook the patties until they are golden brown. Flip and cook on the other side.
To make the cauliflower patties vegan, replace the eggs with flax eggs.
Your cauliflower patties are now done and ready to be added to your burger buns and topped with some other delicious ingredients.
Hooray!
Why Quinoa Is Good For You?
But wait! Since I talked to you about the benefits of cauliflower, I think it’s only fair I talk to you about the benefits of quinoa as well. Because quinoa is pretty awesome too. So, if you were wondering if quinoa is good for you, I have the answers! Quinoa is not considered a superfood for no reason! In fact, quinoa…
- is a great source of protein;
- is a great source of fiber;
- is high in minerals including magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, iron, zinc, and copper;
- contains vitamins B1, B2, B6, B9 and vitamin E;
- is a great source of antioxidants.
TOPPINGS FOR SPICY CAULIFLOWER VEGGIE BURGERS
Since we covered the main ingredients of this spicy cauliflower recipe - cauliflower and quinoa, I think it’s time to talk about the toppings. Burger toppings are the key to delicious burgers. And veggie burgers are no exception. To make the cauliflower burger so yummy, I chose simple but tasty toppings and I assembled the burger as follows:
- I covered the bottom bun with a generous layer of avocado lime spread;
- then the spicy cauliflower patty comes to the mix;
- the patties are topped with red cabbage then drizzled with ranch dressing;
- add the top bun and dig in!
Can You Freeze Quinoa Cauliflower Burgers?
Before ending this post with a few more cauliflower recipe recommendations, let me be the bearer of good news one more time. The cauliflower quinoa burger can be made ahead of time. I’m talking about he quinoa cauliflower patties because the toppings are super quick to prep. And, if you don’t have time for the sweet potato buns, you can always replace them with whole wheat burger buns. But the cauliflower patties need to be in your freezer so you can make this cauliflower quinoa burger any time you want.
To freeze the cauliflower burger…
- place the quinoa cauliflower patties on a baking sheet;
- put the baking sheet in the freezer for 2 hours;
- transfer the patties to Ziploc bags and store in the freezer for up to 2 months;
- when ready for a delicious burger, place the cauliflower patties in the oven at 375 degrees F until cooked through or in a pan for approximately 10 minutes.
More Healthy Recipes With Cauliflower
I’m a huge fan of vegetarian recipes with cauliflower. But I also love to pair cauliflower with meat protein such as chicken to make chicken cauliflower fried rice. I also love to turn cauliflower into pizza crust and use my favorite pizza toppings to make healthy pizza. For realz, the cauliflower possibilities are endless.
- 25 Minute Chicken Cauliflower Fried Rice
- Cauliflower Hash Browns (Just 15 Minutes!)
- Cauliflower Cheese Sauce
- How To Make Cauliflower Pizza Crust
- Cauliflower Tortillas (Just 42 Calories!)
The cauliflower pizza crust is healthier than regular pizza crust. And it allows you to eat pizza all the time without feeling guilty. How amazing, right? Get the recipe.
Spicy Cauliflower Burgers With Sweet Potato Buns
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
For The Cauliflower Patties:
- 1 large head cauliflower
- 1 ½ cup quinoa, cooked
- ½ cup almond meal
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt divided
- 3 eggs
For the Toppings:
- ½ red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 large avocado, mashed
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt, divided
- 1 ½ tablespoon lime juice, divided
- ranch dressing, as desired
- 6 Sweet Potato Buns
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Break the cauliflower into florets and lay out on the baking sheet.
- Drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil, the ground cumin, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and ½ tsp. sea salt and toss to coat.
- Transfer the cauliflower to the oven and roast until until lightly browned and caramelized, about 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Once the cauliflower is tender, allow to cool. Then, very quickly pulse in a food processor to form small, evenly sized pieces. We don't want puree the cauliflower, just to break it up into small pieces so it sticks together.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked, broken-down cauliflower, cooked quinoa, almond meal, eggs, and the remaining ½ tsp. sea salt. Mix until well incorporated.
- Form into 6 even patties.
- To cook the patties, we’re going to place onto a hot pan over medium-high heat with a little olive oil and cook the patty until golden brown on each side, flipping very carefully to avoid breaking. Repeat with the remaining patties.
- Next we need to prep our other toppings.
- To make the quick avocado lime spread, combine an avocado with ½ tsp. sea salt and 1 tsp. lime juice and mash together, then set aside.
- To make the crunchy cabbage slaw, combine the thinly sliced red cabbage, ¼ tsp. sea salt, and a tbsp. of lime juice.
- For the buns, I’m using my sweet potato rolls recipe, except instead of shaping the dough into rolls, I flatten the rolls into a hamburger bun.
- To assemble the burgers, start off with spreading the avocado mash generously over the bottom bun, followed by the cooked spicy cauliflower quinoa burger, and then the red cabbage slaw. Drizzle the ranch dressing generously over the top, and then top off with the rest of the bun to make a seriously amazing (and vegetarian!) burger.
Video
Nutrition
This post contains affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Dustin
Super creative!
Lacey Baier
Thanks!!! xoxo