Vegetarian Burger (Indian Style)

5 from 6 votes

These Indian style Vegetarian Burgers are spiced with garam masala & cumin! These masala burgers are so flavorful and would be the perfect burgers for your summer BBQ and parties.

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Summer is here, which means lots of outdoor parties, grilling and of course burgers. This Indian style Vegetarian Burger is loaded with veggies & flavored with spices like garam masala and cumin!

The mixed vegetable patties are so flavorful and the spiced mayonnaise sauce makes it even better! These burgers are perfect for grilling at your next summer BBQ.

vegetarian burger with lettuce, tomato and a dripping burger sauce

With summer around the corner, I had to share a vegetarian burger recipe with you guys. Actually I plan to share more in the next month but I thought I will start with this Indian style Vegetarian Burger aka Masala Burger!

When I was a kid, I used to get these veggie burgers from my school canteen. They used to be my favorite and these reminded me of those burgers.

These days when I crave for the Indian style vegetarian burger, I often head to my local Trader Joe’s and grab their Vegetable Masala Burger. Have you guys tried them?

You can find them in the frozen section where they have all other Indian stuff and seriously they are so good! In fact I prefer them over any other frozen burger patties. The ones you get at Indian grocery stores are just no match!

a pair of hands holding a burger

But this time around when I was craving for masala burgers, I thought of making them at home. And these turned out so good you guys! The patties are spicy, flavorful and pair so well with the spicy burger sauce. I added some sriracha to the mayonnaise to make it little spicy.

Well, you guys know my heat tolerance level so it was just spicy enough for me. You can obviously make it much more spicy.

Topped with sliced tomato, onion, cucumber and lettuce, these veggie burgers made a hearty meal. I ate one for dinner and one the next day for lunch! Next time, I might try freezing the patties, this time we just finished them pretty quickly.

Sarvesh loves all Indian style burgers, sandwiches, pizzas so they disappear pretty quickly from my kitchen!

What’s Inside This Indian Style Vegetarian Burger

  • These burgers are packed with lots of vegetables like potatoes, carrots, peas, cauliflower, green onion & green beans.
  • Spiced with garam masala, cumin, amchur and red chili powder.
  • Flavored with ginger, green chili & cilantro.

Ingredients

Vegetables: since this is a vegetable burger, it uses lots of veggies like potatoes, cauliflower, carrots and beans. You can use other veggies like bell peppers, sweet potato as well. But I prefer this combination.

Spices: since these are masala burgers, there are some spices like cumin, garam masala, red chili powder, amchur. You can adjust the spice levels to taste. Add more of the red chili powder for spicier burgers.

Buns: you can either use homemade burger buns or get your favorite buns from grocery store.

Burger Sauce: the sauce adds so much flavor to these burgers and it’s made with mayonnaise, sriracha and vinegar. You cannot miss it!

How to Make Indian Vegetarian Burger – Step by Step Pictures

You can make these burgers in 4 steps!

1. Make the burger patties – by steaming & boiling the veggies and then sauteing them with spices

2. Fry the patties – make a batter for frying the burger patties

3. Prepare the burger sauce – make an easy sauce to add to the burgers

4. Assemble the burgers – with add-ins like tomato, cucumber, onion & lettuce!

It might seem like only 4 steps but it takes some time to put it all together! Let’s see how!

PS: There are plenty of pictures because this recipe has a number of steps.

vegetarian burger with tomato, lettuce on a brown plate

Method

Chop cauliflower, carrots and green beans. Place them in a steamer basket along with green peas. Add 1 cup water to the inner steel pot of your Instant Pot and then place the steamer basket inside.

Close the lid and press the steam button. Steam (high pressure) for 2 minutes and then do a quick pressure release. Remove the basket carefully from the Instant Pot.

You may also steam veggies using your regular steamer over a pot of water.

vegetable in steamer basket

Also boil the potatoes until soft. You can do this in a pressure cooker or on a stove top. Keep the steamed veggies and boiled potatoes in a plate and set them aside.

veggies and potatoes in a white plate

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add grated ginger, chopped red onion, green onion and finely chopped green chilies to it. Cook for around 4 minutes, stirring frequently.

Then add in the steamed veggies along with the boiled potatoes.

Reduce heat to low and start mashing the veggies using a potato masher. Then remove pan from heat and add the garam masala, cumin powder, amchur, red chili powder and salt. Mix well.

mashed veggies with spices in a pan

Add in the chopped cilantro and mix.

Then add 1/2 cup bread crumbs to the pan.

mixed veggies with bread crumbs in a pan

Mix until its well combined. We will now make patties out of this mixture.

mashed veggies in a pan

Make equal sized patties from the mixture. I was able to make 8 patties out of it and each weighed around 90-100 grams. Set them aside.

burger patties in a white plate

Make the batter to fry the patties by mixing together cornstarch, rice flour with water until you get a smooth paste. The paste should be thick and coat the patties.

cornflour batter in a bowl

Heat 3-4 tablespoons oil on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, dip patties (one at a time) into the batter.

burger patties dipped in batter

and then roll into a plate of breadcrumbs.

burger patties rolled in breadcrumbs

Drop the patties into the hot oil, one at a time.

burger patties getting fried in hot oil

Fry until the patties are golden brown from both sides. You may also deep fry them. Fry all patties in a similar way and place on a tissue paper to drain oil.

golden fried burger patties

To make the burger sauce, add to a bowl- mayonnaise, sriracha,vinegar, sugar and salt to taste.

burger sauce in a bowl

Mix until you get a smooth sauce. Set it aside.

burger sauce

To assemble the burgers, heat the burger buns on a pan on medium heat. You may apply some butter or oil while heating the buns.

burger buns bring heated on a pan

Apply generous amount of prepared burger sauce on both parts of the bun, then place a piece of lettuce on one side.

burger buns with lettuce

To the other part (on which there’s no lettuce), add the prepared burger patty and top with tomato, onion and cucumber.

vegetable burgers on a red plate

Close the burger and serve immediately. Repeat steps to make the remaining burgers. Enjoy masala vegetarian burger as such or with a side of these air fryer masala fries!

Making In Advance & Storage

You can make the patties in advance and keep them refrigerated. This will you won’t have too much work to do on the day you plan to serve these. The burgers are great for kids lunch-boxes as well.

Freezing the burger patties is also a good way to save time on busy days. Let the patties cool down completely, then place them in a pan in a single layer on a sheet of parchment paper and put in the freezer for couple of hours.

Once they are solid, transfer to a freezer bag and freeze. You can place some sheet of parchment paper between each patty so that they don’t stick.

Tips & Notes

  • You can make these burgers vegan by using vegan mayonnaise.
  • If you don’t want to use breadcrumbs in the patties, you can use crushed rolled oats (pulse them in a food processor few times) or even use soaked poha (soak for 5 minutes). These will also make the patties crunchy.
vegetarian burger with lettuce, tomato and a dripping burger sauce

More Vegetarian Burger Recipes That You Might Like

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Vegetarian Burger (Indian Style)

5 from 6 votes
Prep: 40 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 1 hour
Servings: 8 burgers
These Indian style Vegetarian Burgers are spiced with garam masala & cumin! These masala burgers are so flavorful and would be the perfect burgers for your summer BBQ and parties.

Ingredients 

Burger Patties

  • 2 medium potatoes 430 grams
  • 2 carrots 115 grams
  • 3/4 cup cauliflower florets
  • 12 green beans 77 grams
  • 1/2 cup green peas I used frozen peas
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 2 inch ginger 24 grams, grated
  • 1 medium red onion 100 grams, chopped
  • 3 stalks green onion chopped
  • 2 green chilies finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon amchur also known as dried mango powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs

To Fry The Patties

  • 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup rice flour
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 3-4 tablespoon oil to fry the patties

Burger Sauce

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1.5 tablespoon sriracha or to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar
  • salt to taste

To Assemble The Burgers

  • 8 burger buns
  • onion cut into rounds
  • tomato cut into rounds
  • cucumber cut into rounds
  • lettuce
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Instructions 

Make the Burger Patties

  • Chop cauliflower, carrots and green beans. Place them in a steamer basket along with green peas. Add 1 cup water to the inner steel pot of your Instant Pot and then place the steamer basket inside. 
  • Close the lid and press the steam button. Steam (high pressure) for 2 minutes and then do a quick pressure release. Remove the basket carefully from the Instant Pot. You may also steam veggies using your regular steamer over a pot of water.
  • Also boil the potatoes until soft. You can do this in a pressure cooker or on a stove top. Keep the steamed veggies and boiled potatoes in a plate and set them aside.
  • Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add grated ginger, chopped red onion, green onion and finely chopped green chilies to it. Cook for around 4 minutes, stirring frequently.
  • Then add in the steamed veggies along with the boiled potatoes. 
  • Reduce heat to low and start mashing the veggies using a potato masher. Then remove pan from heat and add the garam masala, cumin powder, amchur, red chili powder and salt. Mix well.
  • Add in the chopped cilantro and mix. Then add 1/2 cup bread crumbs to the pan. Mix until its well combined. We will now make patties out of this mixture.
  • Make equal sized patties from the mixture. I was able to make 8 patties out of it and each weighed around 90-100 grams. Set them aside.

Make the Batter & Fry The Patties

  • Make the batter to fry the patties by mixing together cornstarch, rice flour with water until you get a smooth paste. The paste should be thick and coat the patties.
  • Heat 3-4 tablespoons oil on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, dip patties (one at a time) into the batter and then roll into a plate of breadcrumbs.
  • Drop the patties into the hot oil, one at a time. Fry until the patties are golden brown from both sides. You may also deep fry them. Fry all patties in a similar way and place on a tissue paper to drain oil.

Make the Burger Sauce

  • To make the burger sauce, add to a bowl- mayonnaise, sriracha,vinegar, sugar and salt to taste.
  • Mix until you get a smooth sauce. Set it aside.

Assemble the Burger

  • To assemble the burgers, heat the burger buns on a pan on medium heat. You may apply some butter or oil while heating the buns.
  • Apply generous amount of prepared burger sauce on both parts of the bun, then place a piece of lettuce on one side.
  • To the other part (on which there’s no lettuce), add the prepared burger patty and top with tomato, onion and cucumber.
  • Close the burger and serve immediately. Repeat steps to make the remaining burgers. Enjoy masala vegetarian burger as such or with a side of french fries!

Notes

  1. To make this burger vegan, use vegan mayonnaise or your favorite vegan burger sauce! 
  2. If you do not care about crispy burger patties, you can skip the entire step of making the batter. Simply shape the patties and pan fry in hot oil.

Nutrition

Calories: 419kcal, Carbohydrates: 49g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 20g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 5mg, Sodium: 863mg, Potassium: 230mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 2800IU, Vitamin C: 14.8mg, Calcium: 127mg, Iron: 2.9mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Your feedback is valuable!Please share your comments, ratings, and any suggestions or adaptations below to help us improve and make our recipes more successful.

Hi, I’m Manali!

Bringing you easy, delicious vegetarian & vegan recipes! Eating veggies can be fun, you just need to get creative in the kitchen with the right set of ingredients!


5 from 6 votes (1 rating without comment)

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Recipe Rating




19 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Thank you! I have had masala burgers before without the bread crumb coating and they were really good but they were soft and juicy. The coating and bread crumbs are a smart and tasty addition, what a great idea! A local Indian restaurant sells them — to students for a very low price and does not show them on the menu

  2. These were so tasty! Mine turned out crispy on the outside and kind of mushy on the inside. I am not used to frying my food. Any tips?

  3. I’ve just made these patties they are yummy Just wondering if they freeze well. And if so should I cook them first and freeze ?
    Thanks

    1. freeze them uncooked…first place them on a baking sheet and freeze for 1-2 hours. Once rock solid, transfer patties to a ziplock bag and freeze. hope this helps. I have never tried freezing them but should work.

  4. 5 stars
    Super tasty. Although it looks like a lot of ingredients it wasn’t Hard. The instructions are very good and the burgers were perfect. Thank you.
    Josephine

  5. 5 stars
    I loved the patties, thank you!
    Instead of rice flour I used chickpea flour which worked great.

  6. Hi Manali, I loved your recipe. I just wanted to know what kind of instant pot you used. Can u suggest any brand? I have the steamer basket but not the pot. Thanks

    1. Hi Smita, Instant Pot is the brand itself (its a brand of electric pressure cooker). ! look on amazon! I have the 6QT DUO (the model number)