Butternut squash burgers made with 7 ingredients and as easy as roast, pulse, shape and cook! Switch up your regular burger routine with this flavor bomb of fall flavors. Mix and match the toppings for your favorite combos every time.
This burger is similar to the autumn burger in my book, but with a few slight differences. So for those of you who don’t have it, it’s a little sneak peek at what you will see there. If you enjoy the recipe, I’d love it if you bought the book and checked out all the other recipes!
I usually keep my burgers pretty simple, roast some veggies or cook rice if needed, pulse in a food processor, shape and cook. They all freeze well and keep in the fridge so prepping them before the day you need them is key to a fast dinner.
This butternut squash burger is customizable and so flavorful on it’s own, you don’t even need much. You can eat it in a bun, or even with a lettuce wrap or on a salad. Drizzle on a bit of dressing, side of baked fries and you’re good to go!
You can also pair it with the avocado and kale salad for a whole well rounded meal!
How to make easy butternut squash burgers
Although there is some cooking time involved here, the active prep part is quick and easy. Prep the day before and take all the manual labor out of dinner for a smooth meal time.
- Roast veggies and cook rice.
- Pulse veggies and then rice in the food processor.
- Mix together using your hands and shape into patties.
- Cook and top with all the things!
More Vegan Burgers and Sandwiches You Might Like
- Low Fat Gluten Free Black Bean Burgers
- Down Home BBQ Burger
- The Ultimate Mexican Nacho Burger
- Buffalo Wing Sliders
- Sweet and Spicy Black Bean Burgers
- Buffalo Chickpea Burgers
This recipe was originally posted in October of 2015.
Butternut Squash Apple Burgers
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked rice (I use brown or a wild blend) , about 1 cup dry (cook according to package directions)
- 1 1/2 cups diced butternut squash , about half of one small sized squash
- 1/2 cup chopped shallots
- 1 cup diced granny smith apples , about one small apple
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt , divided
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds , unsalted or adjust salt
Serving suggestions:
- Caramelized Onion Sage Aioli
- Vegan Ranch Dressing
- Caramelized onions
- lettuce or arugula
- burger buns , I used pretzel rolls
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F/ 205 C.
- Place diced squash on a parchment lined cookie sheet, sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt and bake for 15 minutes.
- At the 15 minute mark, add apples and shallots to the cookie sheet and sprinkle with the other 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bake another 30 minutes. Set aside to cool while you assemble everything else.
- Put the veggie mix in a food processor with the thyme and pulse until chunky. Do not puree into a mush or paste. Add to a large bowl.
- Next add the cooked rice and pumpkin seeds to the food processor and pulse until chopped a bit but still chunky. Add to the bowl.
- Mix everything well. Add more salt if preferred.
- Shape into 4 patties, then cook on stove top in a pan over medium heat for 7-9 minutes on each side or until browned. Keep pan covered to help the burger cook throughout and not dry out. If you're mixture was on the wetter side, then leave uncovered. Let sit for a few minutes after cooking to help the burger get more stable before eating.
- Serve with toppings of choice!
Notes
- You can use any rice you prefer, just make sure it's hearty and not too mushy.
- If you want to roast the squash/apples/shallots with a drizzle of oil you can, however I did not and it turned out great.
- I like these with both the aioli or the ranch with caramelized onions on top. Mix it up however you choose!
- If your mixture seems dry, you make not have cooked the rice enough. If it is too wet, you probably overcooked the rice or used too much water to cook it.
- Roast the veggies/fruit, make the rice and/or sauces ahead of time. You can also make the patties and store in the fridge until the next day.
- Form these into small nugget sized pieces or even balls. Serve ranch as a dip.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate.
Amanda says
Can I freeze these? I have to make these ahead of time and freeze them because I’m leaving for 4 days and want my ingredients to go bad.
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Amanda! Yes, you can. You can freeze them before you cook them or after. If you freeze them before you may have to shape them back up a bit once they defrost. Either way wrap in plastic, then foil and then store in an airtight container.
Cynthia A Robinson says
Love this recipe because of adding the apple, have not tried it because I don’t eat grains… they seriously make me bloat. So… asking… what would you suggest in place of?
Please note… I am on Keto so that makes a HUGE difference I know!
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Cynthia! The rice is what keeps this together and gives it texture. Taking it out would really change the recipe especially because you don’t eat grains. You could try quinoa (it’s considered a pseudograin) but not sure how texture would be. I don’t know much about Keto and what’s allowed. So sorry!
Pauline says
I used chickpea instead of rice as have effect. I also threw in some sweet potato it was great. Served with camerlised onion hummus, Delia Smith’s cheat camerlised onion & either sour cream or creme Fraise if not vegan ☺️
veggiesdontbite says
Glad you liked them Pauline!
Sharoyn says
Have you tried scrambling the mixture instead of forming into patties? I was wondering about how this would do as a yummy substitute for ground beef for tacos and such?
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Sharoyn! I haven’t tried that but I bet it would be delish!
Grant says
Amazing, delicious patties.
I used a mix of seven grains (emmer, barley, durum wheat, buckwheat, red rice, black rice and oats) plus toasted sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and because the mixture was a little loose I bound it with some gram (chickpea) flour.
They cooked up a dream in a fry pan with a little rapeseed oil, lovely and crunchy on the outside but moist (not mushy) on the inside. A real variety of textures and perfect flavour from the roasted butternut squash, apple (I used Russet rather than Golden Delicious) and red onion (rather than shallots).
Thank you for the great recipe, it will definitely be used again and again.
veggiesdontbite says
Thank you so much Grant! I am so happy you liked the recipe. And I really appreciate the great review!
Elizabeth says
These look amazing1 Going to have to try them I think. 🙂
veggiesdontbite says
Thank you Elizabeth! Let me know if you do!
Laura says
The flavor on these was awesome! So tasty on toasted sourdough with caramelized onions aoli. My mix was super dry and there was no way it would form patties so I added a flax egg. It helped but they were still pretty crumbly so I guess next time I’ll try cooking my rice longer? Or adding more flax egg.
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Laura! So happy you liked them! I love sourdough so I bet it was amazing. Yes, I am guessing your mix was dry because you didn’t cook the rice long enough and didn’t have enough liquid. I’m curious what kind of rice you used? Long grain rice is more al dente and not as chewy as short grain, so it may not hold together as well. Also, your butternut should be roasted well enough to blend a bit in the food processor and help keep the burgers together. You can definitely use a flax egg if you want!
Samantha Cabaluna says
I made these last night — wow! Simple and divine. I did do the veggie and apple roasting in advance, which males these super quick from pulsing to chowing. 😊 My husband and I devoured them. Probably the best homemade veggie burger I have ever had. I used red rice and we ate them on our burger bun of choice — english muffins. If you haven’t tried that, I recommend it. Texture and bread ratio is ideal. Thanks!
veggiesdontbite says
Thank you so so much Samantha! Yes! I too prep the dat before to make them quick and easy the day I want to eat them. It does take some time to roast all those yummy veggies, and roasting really does bring out the best flavor. But it’s a good thing I can get a lot of other stuff done while the oven takes care of that! I am LOVING the idea of the English muffin. Totally trying that next time!
Tami says
So I saw this recipe and thought how good it sounded. It was – but so time consuming that I wouldn’t try to make it again. Too bad, as my husband really liked it and getting him to eat vegan is a miracle! I just added chopped garlic to regular mayo to save time.
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Tami, I am happy to hear how much your husband liked the recipe. As mentioned in the recipe, it does take about an hour cooking time. Unavoidable as you need to roast the veggies that go in it. I (along with a bunch of others that have made this) like to roast the veggies and cook the rice the day before (and even prep any toppings you like to use), this helps with keeping them pretty quick the day you make them. Unfortunately some delicious recipes do take longer to make!
Cassie Thuvan Tran says
I love a deliciously flavorful veggie patty that contains all types of various veggies and ingredients. I never really had a burger that was mainly composed of rice, but hey, I’m down to try new things! Combining butternut squash and apples sounds remarkable–I’d totally pair them with barbecue sauce and caramelized onions!
veggiesdontbite says
Thank you so much Cassie! I love the idea of the bbq sauce!!
The Vegan 8 says
I love this recipe of yours girl and totally need to try them! I love how hearty the texture looks and on a pretzel bun?? I know these babies are good! My mouth is watering!
veggiesdontbite says
Thanks so much! Pretzel buns are so so yum!
Emily Kemp says
These look so delicious, I can’t think of a better burger to celebrate Autumn!
Wendy says
Can I substitute quinoa for the rice? Should the measure be adjusted
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Wendy! I wouldn’t suggest using quinoa as the texture will be much different. Quinoa tends to be really mushy in burgers and it takes a lot of trial and error to get that right texture with quinoa. You’re welcome to experiment but I’d definitely reduce the liquid a bit to start.
Allison says
Just curious, how well do these freeze? I live alone and don’t want to eat the same thing for multiple meals in a row
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Allison! They do freeze. The only thing would be that when they defrost they have a little more moisture from the freezing so texture may be affected a bit but other than that they are great! I would wrap them well with saran wrap, parchment and/or tin foil! put in a freezer safe container too.
Clara says
I’ve only been vegan three months and have tried several bean burger receives,all have ended up really dry,well these…..are amazing,so moist and easy to make. All my family loved them. Yummy ?X
veggiesdontbite says
Thank you so much Clara!! I so appreciate you telling me! And I am so happy you loved them!