Green Grilling

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by Hannah (BitterSweet)

The 4th of July is a holiday of many hats, and stands for a wide range of things to many people: Independence, the birth of a nation, family togetherness, parades, fireworks, and of course, grilling. It just wouldn’t be a celebration without someone whipping out one of those half-round furnaces and incinerating big hunks of meat. Now that sounds like a party, no? …Um, no. I’ve never gotten into the great annual tradition of setting the backyard on fire, and you’d better believe there’s been no meat on my menu for quite a few years now. Typically, I’m the one who provides a side dish for this sort of affair, like samosa potato salad, pesto quinoa salad, or bean dip, but am them relegated to some lame, bland soy pucks that someone scrapped out of the back of their freezer. Well, in the spirit of Independence Day, I’m here to say “no more!” and this time, I’m making my own veggie patties.

More interesting than your average mish-mash of random vegetables and textured soy protein, I went the route of taking the flavors of a crave-worthy salad dressing, green goddess, and translated them into burger form.

If you can operate a food processor, you can make these babies, so there’s no excuse for going the store-bought route yet again this year. Wonderfully flexible and customizable as well, feel free to swap out any herbs you’d like or have on hand, or try using another leafy green vegetable for the spinach; I’m thinking that kale might make an especially tasty substitute.

Though I do bake my burgers in the oven, you can make them in advance as written, keep them in the fridge, and then toss them on a well-oiled grill when you’d like to serve them up. You can even take them on the road with the right camping grill at your disposal. Just be gentle when flipping the patties, as they’re a bit more fragile than most mass-produced options.

Green Goddess Burgers

1/2 Cup Rolled Oats
2 Cloves Garlic
2 Scallions
1 14-Ounce Package Firm Tofu, Drained and Patted Dry
7 Ounces Fresh Baby Spinach
1/4 Cup Fresh Tarragon
1/2 Cup Fresh Chives
1/2 Cup Fresh Parsley
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
Pinch Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.

In your blender or food processor, combine the oats, garlic and scallions, and pulse to combine. Once finely minced and no large chunks of raw garlic remain, crumble in the tofu, and follow with the spinach and fresh herbs. Blend briefly to break down all of the greens (it may seem like a lot when you put them in the machine, but they’ll puree down pretty fast.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add in the mustard, lemon juice, cumin, cayenne, and salt, and processor one final time. When the mixture is thoroughly combined but still just a little bit chunky, it’s ready to go.

Scoop out 1/3 – 1/2 cup of the mixture onto your prepared sheet for each burger. It will be very wet, so you can’t really “shape” them, but use a spatula to spread the blobs out into as even circles as possible. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes, until darkened in color and they no longer appear wet. They should remain plenty moist on the inside. Let cool for at least 10 minutes on the sheet before serving as desired.

Makes 6 – 8 Burgers

Printable Recipe

44 thoughts on “Green Grilling”

  1. I love that burger. That’s exactly what I would crave for now on. Sorry to hear July 4th is an excuse to eat more meat than usual. Here, July 14th is famous for its firework not for making a huge meal. Pesto and quinoa together sounds delicious. I’m gonna try this tonight.

  2. Excellent! I’ve been doing some veggie burger trials myself recently. I’ve made two recipes from Joni Newman’s blog, and now I’m definitely going to try your version. Also, I love that they’re green!

  5. Yum! Exactly what I’m looking forward as I’m moving away from the store bought patties. I love how it has green leafy veggies in it. :-)

  6. Yum. I love how you always reinvent flavors in different forms. Homemade veggie burgers really are a million times better. I had one last night at the Chicago Diner and it reminded me that! I love the idea of the green goddess flavors in a burger. This sounds amazing. I will also admit I’m more of a side dish gal.

  8. Hahahaha…bland soy pucks is funny! Your green goddess burger is chock full of good nutritious ingredients. Looks like a winner! It’s a great alternative for my vegetarian friends when I have a bbq. I just need to get my grill.

  9. Okay, these look live heaven in burger form. I love burgers SO much and this has got to be the most unusually delicious looking burger I’ve seen in a looong time. What a fantastic spin on an old classic. You better believe I’ll be making these this week. Thank you for another fantastic recipe. You are endlessly creative.

  10. I love how you turned the ingredients of a dressing into a burger :) Baking veg patties sounds like a great idea. I always cook them on a counter-top grill. Must try this way!

  11. To be honest, I always prefer a good veggie burger to a hamburger even though I’m an omni all the way. One of these babies with your samosa salad – and I’d be set.

  13. While I have no idea what Green Goddess Dressing is and 4th of July isn’t a holiday in Aus (bar it being my Grandma’s birthday), I really do think I’ll make this asap! It’s nice to see a burger recipe that isn’t made of beans, particularly as I have some quick oats that I’d like to get rid of (do you think they’d work, instead of rolled oats?)

  14. Simply beautiful looking! What a stunning green. For our veggie BBQ, I made baked lentil burgers that we’ll grill up later.
    VEGirl

  15. I would love to eat a burger like that! While I can (and will) eat meat burgers I am not a huge meatfan and will take any opportunity to switch it for something like this. Sounds great!

  17. Me parece genial la receta, voy a experimentar a ver como me sale.
    Muchas gracias.
    Feliz 4 de Julio y lindo fin de semana.
    Besos.

  18. These burgers look awesome, and I might try them tomorrow when we grill! My husband and I love green goddess dressing. Thanks, Hannah!

  19. Hannah, I was looking for a good meatless burger to serve to a vegetarian friend next weekend at a BBQ. This looks fantastic – you are one creative chickadee :)

  20. I would love to see the looks on my family’s faces if I brought these to a cookout. They’d be so weirded out by green burgers! lol They sound good to me though!

  23. Love all the fresh herbs you have in here and the great green colour! I’ve tried making my own veggie burgers many times and they never seem to turn out very well. It seems difficult to make a decent veggie burger!

  29. Just tried this recipe (I know it’s late, but it’s summer down under now, and it was winter here when you posted this). Didn’t have chives or scallions and used a bit of fresh lemon thyme and dried thyme (and omitted the tarragon). They were great! I loved the fact that they were practically the consistency of hummus going into the oven but were firm on the outside and soft on the outside just out of the oven. Excellent!

  35. […] 4. Tofu Green Goddess Burgers Sometimes it’s not easy being green, but this burger gets its verdant hue by default with such ingredients as scallions, spinach, tarragon, chives, and parsley. Oats and tofu provide the base while mustard and lemon juice add a citrusy tang. […]

  36. […] Tofu Green Goddess Burgers: The 4th of July is a holiday of many hats, and stands for a wide range of things to many people: Independence, the birth of a nation, family togetherness, parades, fireworks, and of course, grilling. It just wouldn’t be a celebration without someone whipping out one of those half-round furnaces and incinerating big hunks of (via Bitter Sweet) […]

  38. […] Tofu Green Goddess Burgers: The 4th of July is a holiday of many hats, and stands for a wide range of things to many people: Independence, the birth of a nation, family togetherness, parades, fireworks, and of course, grilling. It just wouldn’t be a celebration without someone whipping out one of those half-round furnaces and incinerating big hunks of (via Bitter Sweet) […]

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