How to make high protein veggie burgers using soybean pulp- or Okara!
These Okara veggie burgers have a meaty flavor and are delicious in a healthy burger. You’ll be wanting to make these burgers every time you are making homemade soymilk!
This recipe shows you how to make homemade soymilk and how to reuse the leftover soybean pulp to make these okara veggie burgers.
What Is Okara?
Okara is soybean pulp. When you make soymilk you will be left with soy pulp after you squeeze out the liquid. This pulp is high in fiber and high in protein.
The texture of it is light and even slightly fluffy due to it’s high fiber content.
Okara is often used in veggie patty recipes (like this recipe) but is also used to make ‘vegan fish’. It can also be used in baked goods and added to stews.
In Chinese medicine Okara is eaten to help support weight loss. The high fiber and protein content helps keep you full for longer while being low in calories- ideal for weight management.
Customize your Okara Burger
This recipe offers a few options to adjust the texture of this burger.
The first option is to mix in TVP, or texturized Vegetable Protein. TVP is made up of dehydrated tofu pieces that has a texture similar to ground beef. It is very affordable especially when you order it in bulk.
A fun fact about TVP is that it’s origin was to help extend meat, so if you cook with beef you would add TVP as a ‘filler’ to help extend your meat. Beef is much more expensive than TVP so that was one of it’s original uses!
Another way to adjust the texture of the okara burger is to add Konjac Flour to it. Konjac is a starchy root with little to no calories. Adding a little bit of this to the burger helps it thicken up without drying it out. It also adds in more fiber to the burger and makes it more filling without adding calories.
The last way you can enhance the texture of your burger is you could add in 1/4 cup of oats the mixture. The oats helps add in a nice chewy texture.
Looking for Other Meaty Vegan Recipes?
- These Seitan Steak Bites are meat made from wheat! This recipe has you make beef flavored seitan that you shred, fry, and simmer for even more flavor.
- This Seitan Beef Recipe is another beef flavored seitan that is more like your classic roast beef. It has you wash the flour and simmer your seitan in a flavorful beefy broth.
- Smoked Seitan Bacon has you cure and smoke pork flavored seitan to give you a delicious vegan bacon.
- Looking for a gluten free vegan ‘meat’ option? These Oyster Mushrooms have been prepared to taste like bacon- which would be a great burger topping!
Okara Veggie Burger
Equipment
- Cheesecloth
Ingredients
Soy Milk
- 2 cups Soybeans dried
- 14 Cups Water
Burgers
- Soy Bean Pulp From previous section
- ½ White Onion
- ½ Beet
- 1 Black Chickpeas or bean of choice
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 2 tbs Tomato Paste
- 2 tbs Dark Soy Sauce
- 2 tbs Nutritional Yeast Flakes
- 2 tbs Olive Oil
- 2 tbs Chia Seeds
- 2 tbs Flax Seeds
- ½ tbs Black Peppercorns
- ½ tbs Smoked Paprika
- 1 tbs Konjac Flour Optional, helps firm up the burger and increases fiber even more
- 1 Cup Bread Crumbs
- ½ Cup TVP Optional, helps add texture to the burger while increasing protein
Instructions
Soymilk
- Soak soybeans overnight, they will double in size
- Add half the soybeans to a blender with 7 cups of water, blend for about 30 seconds until smooth, repeat with the other half of the soybeans
- Line a large pot with a cheesecloth or nut milk bag and strain the pulp from the milk. Set aside the pulp in a large bowl
- Bring soymilk to a boil and then simmer for ten minutes, stirring to prevent burning.You can either curdle this milk to make tofu, or you can bottle this up. Use within 1 week.
Okara Veggie Burgers
- Add everything to the blender expect leave out the soybean pulp, bread crumbs, and TVP.Blend until smooth then add in the soybean pulp, breadcrumbs, and TVP (if using)
- Preheat oven to 180C 240f Grease a baking sheet, shape the mixture into patties and bake in the oven for 20 minutesFlip them and bake for another 10 minutes
- They are ready to eat out of the oven. Pan fry or Grill to reheat
