Vegetarian Dinner Patties

Vegetarian Dinner Patties are delicious and tasty served plain or with gravy and the left-overs make great sandwiches.

I've been making these patties for years and they eventually evolved  into what they are now.  I don't have a written recipe for them (well, I guess I do now) as I just throw what I think is the right amount of everything into the bowl and they usually turn out about the same each time.  I suppose it's as the old adage says, "practice makes perfect" and these are pretty near perfect for taste and texture, at least to the family's liking.  

Sometimes I use the oatmeal in the mix and sometimes I just use the bread crumbs.  The crumbs alone will give you a softer texture.  Adding the oats will give you chewier patty similar in texture to a hamburger. The herbs and spices can be changed to your own particular taste and made as mild or spicy as you want.  If you use a non-salt spice base, add about 1 teaspoon salt to the mix.  Gravy is delicious served with these patties but if  I use Italian herbs I usually serve them with a tomato sauce. 

Grind or chop the nuts as fine as you can or you will keep biting into little bits of nut.  Of course, you might not mind that.  One of my boys hated the feel of nuts in his mouth so I would grind them in the blender with the eggs until they were quite smooth.  He never complained about the nuts if I made them that way. 

These Patties are great served with dinner alongside mashed or baked potato and a few veggies.  If you have left-overs they can be used hot or cold in a sandwich or burger.  Double or triple the recipe and freeze in dinner size portions for another day.  

Printable recipe at end of post.

Vegetarian Dinner Patties

• 2½ cups stale whole wheat bread crumbs (may substitute ½ cup oatmeal for ½ cup bread crumbs)
• 1 medium onion, chopped small
• ½-1 cup cheddar cheese
• ½ cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped or ground fine
• 1 teaspoon steak seasoning
• 1 teaspoon savory or favourite herb
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder 
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk, if needed

• Oil for frying

How to make it:
Mix everything together, except oil, in a large bowl.  Heat frying pan over medium heat.  Add about 1 or 2 tablespoons oil and add patties.  I used a ¼ cup measure for each patty and flattened them with my hand.  An ice cream scoop works well, too.  

Fry for 3 or 4 minutes on each side until golden brown.  You may eat the patties right from the pan but I like to bake them at 350 degrees for half and hour in a gravy.  Use your favourite gravy, a mix or diluted cream of mushroom soup.  

Makes about 8 patties.

Place the bread crumbs (and oats if using), chopped onions, grated cheese and chopped nuts along with the herbs and spices in a large bowl.  I didn't add salt to this recipe because the steak spice is very salty.

Add the eggs and mix.

The mixture should be moist but not sloppy.  If it is dry, add a couple of tablespoons of milk.  If you use oatmeal you may need the extra liquid.

I used a ¼ cup measure to scoop out the patties.  

 The patties can be used right from the pan or baked in a gravy.

These have been baked for 30 minutes. Make your favourite gravy, use a mix or bake in diluted cream of mushroom soup. 

 Dinner!

 Dinner close-up.

You can almost reach in and taste them.

To print click on arrow upper right side.⇩