These Vegan Quinoa Patties are flavored with curry powder and aromatics, and filled with delicious vegetables and chickpeas. Air fry or bake these quinoa patties for crispy perfection. This plant based burger is great to meal prep to have all week.

If you'd like more easy quinoa recipes make sure to check out this Southwest Quinoa Black Bean Salad, Tahini Kale Quinoa Salad and this Peanut Tofu Quinoa Buddha Bowl next.
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
I have been making these delicious curry quinoa burger patties for a few years now. This recipe is one of my staples that I make just about every week.
- They’re quick and easy to make and can be tailored to fit whatever I might have in the fridge that week.
- Quinoa is high in protein, a complete protein and is amazingly good for you. Check out the seven benefits of quinoa.
- Great recipe to make a big batch and meal prep for lunch all week.
- Full of healthy plant-based protein and cholesterol free.
- Great meatless option for burger night.
🧂Ingredients
I love how this recipe is made with simple ingredients
- Quinoa - you can use any quinoa that you have on hand: red quinoa, white quinoa or multicolored all work.
- Spices - I love a blend of curry powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and black pepper.
- Ground flax meal - when you mix ground flax seeds with water, it creates a flax egg that acts as a binding agent and egg replacer. You can also use chia seeds, but it will create a different texture.
- Flour - Just a little flour helps prevent the patties from crumbling. To make this gluten free, use oat flour, almond flour or chickpea flour.
- Beans - I usually use chickpeas in this recipe, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Kidney beans, brown lentils, white beans, black beans, pinto beans are all good.
- Fresh vegetables - Use whatever veggies you have on hand, just make sure they're shredded or chopped really small. I love shredded carrots, fresh cilantro and frozen peas. Bell pepper would also be good in this.
👩🍳Expert tips
- Make the quinoa the night before to cut down on cooking time. This recipe is also a great way to use up leftover quinoa.
- When I'm in a hurry, I skip sautéing the onions and garlic and just add everything into a large mixing bowl and let the oven cook everything.
- Bake these vegan burgers in an oiled muffin tin to prevent them from falling apart.
- Learn how to cook quinoa in this blog post.
- I recommend either baking or air frying these. Pan frying them makes them a bit soggy. It also cuts down on the amount of oil you need to use.
- Use a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper if baking these.
- If you want to be even more hands off, you can prepare all of the ingredients in a food processor.
🔪Directions
Make sure to scroll to the recipe card for full step-by-step instructions.
Step one: Cook the quinoa with vegetable broth in a small saucepan according to the package's instructions. It's best to do this the night before, or use leftover quinoa.
Step two: Mix the ground flax seeds with water and set aside to let it thicken into a gel. This is our egg replacer.
Step three: In a large bowl, mash the chickpeas with a fork or potato masher. Shred the carrots and chop the onions and garlic. You can sauté them on medium heat in some oil to deepen their flavor, then add them in.
Step four: Once quinoa is cooked, add it to the large bowl with the mashed chickpeas. Add in the flax eggs, spices, flour, cilantro and vegetables and mix well.
Step five: Form the quinoa into patties and place them on a lined baking sheet. Add a pinch of salt to the top of each patty. Bake for 20 minutes, then flip and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the patties are golden brown and crispy.
🍔 Topping ideas
Now, on to the fun part. you can top these crispy quinoa patties any way your heart desires.
- I treat mine like a meat burger and top it with relish, red onion, vegan mayo, ketchup and mustard.
- Avocado is also delicious on these burgers. They also add healthy fats.
🍟 Serving suggestions
Instead of a bun, I serve it on romaine lettuce leaves or collard green leaves to give it an extra crunch and boost of nutrition.
I love eating greens and I try to incorporate them into my diet any way that I can.
You can also serve this on pita bread.
Serve these patties with a side dish of air fryer baked potato, air fryer sweet potato cubes, some vegan mac and cheese or air fryer asparagus.
❄️ Storing and reheating
These make wonderful leftovers since they taste even better the next day after they've had a chance to sit.
Fridge - These will last 5-6 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
Freezer - These can be frozen in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
To reheat, throw them in an air fryer, oven, microwave or in a non-stick pan.
❓ Recipe FAQs
Using a mixture of a flax egg (ground flax seeds mixed with water) and a little bit of flour helps to prevent the burgers from crumbling. I also like to bake them instead of pan frying them. Baking them in a muffin tin will also help them to stay together.
These quinoa burgers do great frozen. Just make sure to seal them in a freezer friendly bag or container.
🍛 More curry recipes to try
If you loved this recipe, leave a 5 ⭐️ rating on the recipe card and comment below!
📖 Recipe
Easy Vegan Quinoa Curry Burgers
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon ground flax seeds mixed with 5 tablespoons of water
- 1 cup dry quinoa
- 1¾ cup vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ½ red onion (finely chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 medium carrot (shredded)
- 2 tablespoon curry powder
- 15 oz can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
- ½ cup oat flour or regular flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
To serve
- 9 romaine leaves (or burger buns)
- vegan mayo
- ketchup
- mustard
- relish
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
- Mix ground flax with water in a mug and set it aside for later to give it a chance to thicken and form a gel. This is our binding agent and egg replacer.3 tablespoon ground flax seeds mixed with 5 tablespoons of water
Prepare quinoa
- Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. This is important and will prevent quinoa from tasting bitter. Place it in a pressure cooker with the vegetable broth. Cook on high pressure for 1 minute then let it slow release for 12 minutes.1 cup dry quinoa, 1¾ cup vegetable broth
- If cooking the quinoa on the stove use 2 cups of vegetable broth. Bring it to a boil, turn down heat to a simmer. Simmer with the lid on for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat, but keep the lid on. Let it sit for another 15 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
Prep the vegetables
- Shred carrots, chop onions and garlic and cilantro.
- In a sauté pan add the oil. Add the onions and sauté on medium heat for 2 minutes or until they become translucent. Add the curry powder, garlic and shredded carrots and sauté for another minute. When done, transfer this mixture to a large mixing bowl.1 tablespoon oil, ½ red onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 medium carrot, 2 tablespoon curry powder
Mix
- Add the drained and rinsed chickpeas to the mixing bowl with the sautéed ingredients. Mash the chickpeas with a potato masher or the back of a fork.15 oz can of chickpeas
- Once quinoa is done cooking, add it to the mixing bowl with the chickpeas and sautéed veggies. Add 1-2 tablespoon of water to help the flour bind better. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon - be careful as the quinoa will be hot!½ cup oat flour or regular flour, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ cup frozen peas, 1 tablespoon water, ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, 2 tablespoons water
Baking instructions
- Form into 2"- 3" patties - this should make about 9. Put on oiled or lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Flip the burgers and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Serve on romaine leaves with relish, red onion, vegan mayo (or avocado) and ketchup! Toppings are important and I highly recommend vegan mayo to add some creaminess.
Air frying instructions
- Form into 2"- 3" patties - this should make about 9. Air fry at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, flip them then air fry for another 5-10 minutes or until they're crispy.
- Serve on romaine leaves with relish, red onion, vegan mayo (or avocado) and ketchup! Toppings are important and I highly recommend vegan mayo to add some creaminess.
Video
Notes
- Make the quinoa the night before to cut down on cooking time. This recipe is also a great way to use up leftover quinoa.
- When I'm in a hurry, I skip sautéing the onions and garlic and just add everything into a large mixing bowl and let the oven cook everything.
- Bake these vegan burgers in an oiled muffin tin to prevent them from falling apart.
- Learn how to cook quinoa in this blog post.
- I recommend either baking or air frying these. Pan frying them makes them a bit soggy. It also cuts down on the amount of oil you need to use.
- Use a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper if baking these.
- If you want to be even more hands off, you can prepare all of the ingredients in a food processor.
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Lou
The curry gives it a wonderful flavor and the peas add texture and color.