The Big Ben Veggie Burger

The Big Ben Veggie Burger is a delicious vegetarian copy-cat of the fast food favourite.  Make it  a slider or a single for the little ones or slap on another patty and have a Double Big Ben for the big appetites.

Shortly before Christmas, Ben, our grandson became sick and couldn't eat for almost a week.  The poor child was ravenous by the time he was feeling better.  While he was sick and longing to eat he started drawing pictures of food.  This is his drawing of a hamburger. You'll notice he has quite a sophisticated palate with the lettuce, tomato, pickles and cheese. 

When we were talking to Ben on the phone he asked if I could make him a burger next time we visited.  I knew they were coming during the Christmas holidays so I promised I'd make a special burger just for him and I'd name it after him! 

When Ben arrived at our house, while he was still in the porch taking off his boots, he asked when we would be having burgers for supper.  Fortunately, I had remember that promise made a few weeks earlier and the burgers were scheduled for a dinner during the week. 

As these burgers were a special request and named after Ben he wanted a hand in making them.  The little girls were quite interested in what Ben was making. 

I think we have a chef in training.  Breaking the eggs proved to be an easy task.  It was a busy day in the kitchen.  If you look closely at the table in the background you will see the homemade play dough and cookie cutters that the kids were playing with during the morning.

Ben wanted to play restaurant so he could take everyone's orders. I quickly printed a menu for our pretend restaurant.  Of course, that started a trend for the remainder of the holiday.  The girls each had a turn with their own menu and choice of dinner. *Go to the bottom of this page/post to see the full menu.

Eating at "Big Ben's Restaurant".  Ben had the Big Ben Double Veggie Burger.  Lori and Emily had Big Ben Sliders. 

Printable recipe at bottom of post.

The Big Ben Veggie Burger
1 cup vegetarian burger (I use Yves Ground Round)
1 cup cottage cheese, rinsed and well drained  (See pictures below.) Do NOT use cottage cheese that has been frozen.
1 cup toasted bread crumbs
½ cup chopped onion
3 eggs
1 teaspoon savoury or sage
½ teaspoon hamburger or steak seasoning
¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
About ¼ cup oil for frying

Mix together all ingredients except oil for frying .  Form mixture into 6-8 patties.

Heat half the oil in a heavy frying pan.  Place the patties in the hot oil and fry slowly on both sides over medium low heat.  Don’t crowd the patties in the pan. You may have to fry in two batches. Use the other half the oil for second batch or as needed. Use patties in burgers or with gravy for main dish.

Makes 6-8 patties or about 12 slider sized patties.


To make the Big Ben Veggie Burgers you will need:

6-8 burger patties
6-8 hamburger buns, split

Use 2 burger patties for a Double Big Ben Veggie Burger.

Choose what you like to place on your burger.
-Tomato slices
-Lettuce leaves
-Cheese slices
-Chopped raw onion
-Fried onions
-Pickles, sweet or dill
-Ketchup, mustard, relish
-Mayonnaise or burger sauce

Serve your burgers with your favourite sides.  We like French fries with our burgers.

Before you begin to make the burgers get a few ingredients ready.  This may seem strange but rinse the cottage cheese and let it drain dry.  Blot it with a paper towel if it feels very wet.  If you don't rinse and drain the cottage cheese the burger mixture will be too soft.  Now get the toasted bread crumbs ready.

To toast the bread crumbs spread a rounded cup of crumbs on a baking sheet.  Place in a 350 degree oven and immediately turn the oven off.  Remove after 5 minutes. Measure to make sure you have a full cup of crumbs.

I use Yves Ground Round most of the time as it's readily available but any vegetarian burger will work.  Make sure to thaw any frozen products before you measure.  1 cup of Yves Ground Round is about 2/3 of the package.

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix, mix, mix.

Form the mixture into patties using about one-quarter to one-third cup per burger.  Ben gave me a hamburger press for Christmas which I found quite handy for making the patties equal size.  Thanks, Ben!

Fry the patties slowly in the oil over medium low heat.  You want them cooked through and the onions cooked as well.  Flip the patties over, adding more oil if necessary.  Don't crowd the patties in the pan. 

You can see the grill-like marks on the burgers that were made in the hamburger press.

Most of the family had a Double Big Ben Veggie Burger.  I had made large hamburger buns so we sliced them in three pieces to hold the two patties.

This is how the double burger looks before it is dressed.

We put mustard, ketchup, pickles or relish, onions and cheese on the bottom layer. 

The top layer had mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato.  It's up to you what you want on your burger.

Homemade French fries make a tasty side dish with The Big Ben Veggie Burger.

A delicious burger for pretend restaurants or family meals.

***********

Here is the full menu for Big Ben's Restaurant.  We had lots of fun with Ben's, Lori's and Emily's Restaurant menus.  I changed the picture and restaurant names and printed off enough for each child to pass out to their customers.  You will notice the prices are quite reasonable!  Ha, ha.

print recipe

The Big Ben Veggie Burger

by Lois Gill January-31-2018

A tasty vegetarian copy-cat of a fast food favourite.

Ingredients

• 1 cup vegetarian burger (I use Yves Ground Round)
• 1 cup cottage cheese, rinsed and well drained (See pictures below.) Do NOT use cottage cheese that has been frozen.
• 1 cup toasted bread crumbs
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon savoury or sage
• ½ teaspoon hamburger or steak seasoning
• ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
• About ¼ cup oil for frying

Instructions

Mix together all ingredients except oil for frying. Form mixture into 6-8 patties.

Heat half the oil in a heavy frying pan. Place the patties in the hot oil and fry slowly on both sides over medium low heat. Don’t crowd the patties in the pan. You may have to fry in two batches. Use the other half the oil for second batch or as needed. Use patties in burgers or with gravy for main dish.  Makes 6-8 patties or about 12 slider sized patties.


To make the Big Ben Veggie Burgers you will need:

6-8 burger patties
6-8 hamburger buns, split

Use 2 burger patties for a Double Big Ben Veggie Burger.

Choose what you like to place on your burger.

-Tomato slices
-Lettuce leaves
-Cheese slices
-Chopped raw onion
-Fried onions
-Pickles, sweet or dill
-Ketchup, mustard, relish
-Mayonnaise or burger sauce

Serve your burgers with your favourite sides. We like French fries with our burgers.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 25 mins Yield: 6-8 patties