The rise of the veggie burger

Not too long ago, you might see the occasional veggie burger on a menu as a half-hearted attempt to appease vegetarians in an establishment that was heavy on the meat offerings. Usually there wasn’t much thought put into the patty; it was likely a frozen commercial product. These days chefs are not only revisiting the veggie burger, they are reinventing it.

You know the veggie burger is being taken seriously when Daniel Humm, chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan, puts on on the menu at his nearby NoMad Bar. Humm uses grains, fresh vegetables, quinoa and lentils as the “meat” of the patty, which is held together with eggs, cream cheese and Dijon mustard. “We wanted this to be able to stand next to our beef burger and our chicken burger, not be a dish we just put on the menu for the sake of it,” he says.

Other NYC chefs are following suit. Former Del Posto pastry chef Brooks Headley has built an entire restaurant around his veggie burger, “which is arguably the most acclaimed burger of any kind in New York in the last few years,” according to the NYT, which awarded the restaurant two stars. While the article focuses on New York’s veggie burger scene, there has also been an increase in veggie burgers in the EYB Library from cookbooks, blogs, and websites. Here are some new additions plus a few Member favorites: 

Halloumi veggie burgers from Green Kitchen Travels by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl
Chow veggie burger from Chow.com
Green curry veggie burgers with black beans & walnuts from The Kitchn
Our favorite veggie burger from The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon
Ultimate veggie burger with pickled carrot slaw from BBC Good Food Magazine by Jennifer Joyce
Double drive-thru veggie burgers from Food & Wine Magazine by Chloe Coscarelli (pictured top)