Name: The Ultimate Air Fryer Veggie Chickpea Burger (Vegan)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 27 min
Ingredients: 14 oz Chickpea can (Rinsed and drained); 1 medium-size boiled potato; 1/4 cup Chopped coriander or parsley leaves; 1/4 cup shredded carrot and cabbage; 1 TSP cumin powder; 1 TSP Garam masala; 1 TBSP lemon juice; Salt and pepper to taste

Air Fryer Veggie chickpea Burger is my favorite recipe whenever I want to quickly wrap up a meal or run out of ideas for kids’ school lunch boxes. Of course, I always have them in my frozen section.

Whether I pan fry or air fry chickpea burger, it comes out tender inside and crispy on the outside.

Overall, I love anything that is made with chickpeas. Whether they are falafel balls, simple vegetables mixed chickpea balls, roasted chickpeas, or Indian style Chole, my family loves it!

Assembled burger with two patties on side on wooden board

This chickpea burger is made from simple ingredients that you quickly find in your pantry. I made them with canned chickpeas, shredded carrot, cabbage, and other spices with boiled potato as a binder.

You can serve this chickpea burger on your favorite bun with tomato, cucumber, pickles, vegan mayonnaise, or whatever you prefer on your burger.

The only thing you have to keep in mind is that you need an excellent binding agent when you are working with a chickpea burger. You can use boiled potato, sweet potato, or even cornflour (not avoiding gluten). Boiled potato or sweet potato works excellent as a binding agent.

Corn starch works great as a binder if you have moisture in your crushed chickpeas. But, no matter which binding agent you add to your chickpea burger, it turns out moist on the inside and crispy on the outside in the air fryer, oven, or pan fry.

What is Veggie Burger?

A veggie burger is a burger without meat. Instead, they are made with chickpeas, black beans, haricot beans, soybeans, or lentils. You can also add freshly chopped vegetables and seasonings to make it taste better. Air Fryer chickpea burger comes out crispy from the outside and tender from the inside. You can also pan-fry chickpea burger.

Ingredients you need to make Veggie Chickpea Burger

To make a Veggie or Vegan chickpea burger, you need,

Chickpeas (canned or freshly boiled)
Boiled potato
Freshly chopped coriander/parsley leaves
Shredded or finely chopped carrot
Shredded or finely chopped cabbage
Lemon juice
Fresh chili pepper (optional)
Cumin powder
Garam masala (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

I did not put onion and garlic because I do not eat them. But you can add them to your burger.

And you need an Air Fryer. You can cook veggie/vegan chickpea burgers in any model of Air Fryer- basket model, tray model, or Instant pot crips lid.

How to Make Air Fryer Veggie Chickpea burger (Vegan)?

Mash the chickpeas and boiled potato in a mixing bowl.

Shredded carrot, cabbage and chickpea mixture

Add finely chopped or shredded carrot, cabbage, coriander leaves, and lemon juice.

Then add spices – salt, pepper, coriander powder, garam masala (if you have it handy) and mix together.

Refrigerate the mixture for 20-30 minutes.

four burger petties on a parchment paper in Air fryer basket

Divide and shape into four patties.

Preheat Air Fryer at 360°F/180°C.

Line the Air Fryer crisper tray with parchment paper.

Place the chickpea burger patties in a crisper tray and spray them with Avocado cooking spray. Then put the tray in an Air Fryer basket.

Cook the chickpea burger for 10-12 minutes, flipping them halfway through.

four cooked burger petties on a parchment paper in Air fryer basket

Assemble your burger on your favorite bun and add desired toppings.

Tip for making Vegan/Veggie Chickpea burger

Whether you are using canned chickpea or freshly cooked chickpea, make sure to drain them well before you start making burger patties.

If you find your burger mixture watery, add 1-2 tablespoons of oats (for a Gluten-free option) to soak up the moisture before refrigerating them for 20-30 minutes. Oats will soak up any moisture.

You can also add cornflour or white flour (if okay with gluten) to firm up the mixture if hard to form patties.

Use a measuring cup or lid of a mason jar to form uniform patties.

If you prefer thicker burger patties, add a few more minutes to cook in Air Fryer.

What else can you add to Veggie or Vegan Chickpea Burger?

There are various ingredients you can add to make your ultimate Chickpea burger. Here are some of my suggestions,

Beans – You can use black beans, haricot beans or white beans, Kidney beans, lentils instead of chickpea.

Vegetable – You can add grated zucchini, grated cauliflower, grated broccoli, finely chopped mushroom, frozen corn, shredded beets, etc.

Seasoning – You can add paprika, Italian seasoning, or other herbs that you like.

Binding agent – I have used boiled potato in this recipe, but you can use boiled sweet potato, egg, cornflour, white flour as a binding agent.

How do you serve Veggie Chickpea Burger?

You can serve your veggie chickpea burger however you like. Here is how I like my chickpea burger.

Hamburger buns
Vegan Mayonnaise
Lettuce
Tomato
Cucumber
Pickles
Hot sauce

Here are some of the toppings that work great for any burger.

Kale
Spinach
Avocado
Cheese slices
Pickled jalapeño peppers
Caramelized onion or fresh onion slices
Bean Sprouts
Coleslaw

FAQs

Why does my vegan or vegetarian burger fall apart?

When making vegan or vegetarian bean burgers, the important thing to consider is adding a binding agent. If you don’t add a binding agent, your burger will fall apart.

I have made a chickpea burger without adding potato for a low-calorie option. It holds well, but you have to be careful once it cooks. It will fall apart if you are not careful.

But for this recipe, I used boiled potato as a binding agent. It helped to bind all the ingredients together. Also, refrigerating the mixture helped too.

You can also try another biding agent like oats, eggs, flax eggs, cornflour, and white flour depending on your preference.

How long to cook Veggie Burger in Air Fryer?

Depending on the type and model of Air Fryer you have, the cooking time for a veggie burger varies. Therefore, you will have to experiment with the time and temperature of cooking veggie burgers in your air fryer model.

But as a general guideline, I cooked my burger at 360°F/180°C for 10-12 minutes. So, you can use this time and temperature as your general guideline. But, of course, it is always a good idea to check the burger before it is up.
Cooking time also depends on how thick your patties are. If your patties are thick, you need a few more minutes to cook, and if your patties are thin, you need to decrease the cooking time.

Can you refrigerate the leftover veggie chickpea burger?

Veggie burgers are great as a meal prep recipe. You can fridge or freeze them in advance or a batch. I always have extra veggie burger patties in the fridge or frozen section.

You can refrigerate any leftover veggie burger in an airtight container for 3-5 days. They taste great when you heat them when you need to use them.

Can you reheat the Veggie burger in Air Fryer?

You can reheat the veggie burger in the air fryer at360°F/180°C for 5-6 minutes. So you can quickly reheat a burger in an air fryer or microwave when you want to assemble a burger.

Can you Freeze Veggie Chickpea Burger?

Absolutely, you can cook them in a batch and freeze them for later use. Like frozen pierogies and potato cheese balls, I always have veggie chickpea burgers in the frozen section. Here are a few tips for freezing them.

Lay the parchment paper on a baking tray. Now place your burger patties (without Air Frying) on parchment paper. Space them well, so they don’t stick to each other.

Now place the baking tray in the freezer section and keep it there overnight to let them freeze. Once they are frozen, transfer them into Ziplock Freezer bags.

Squeeze the air out from the ziplock bag and freeze them flat in the Frozen section.

When are you are ready to use them, take them out and put them in an Air Fryer. You can air fry them for 360°F/180°C for 12-15 minutes.

Alternatively, you can let your Air Fried veggie burger patties come to room temperature. Then place them in Ziplock freezer bags and freeze them.

Both methods work great for freezing veggie burger patties.

Can this recipe be made gluten-free?

Yes, this chickpea burger recipe is gluten-free. As long as you use gluten-free buns or your burger Pettie in a lettuce wrap, this recipe is gluten-free.

Can you cook veggie chickpea burgers on a grill?

You can cook them on a grill. But you have to handle them very gently, so make sure that they don’t fall apart.

Other Air Fryer Recipes

Vegan Air Fryer Chickpea Burger

Air Fryer Frozen Pierogies

Air Fryer Potato Cheese Balls without Breadcrumbs

10 Minutes Air Fryer Flatbread Pizza

Vegan Air Fryer Breaded Mushroom

Crispy Air Fryer Rice paper Spring Rolls (Vegan, Vegetarian)