Sometimes you just want an old school veggie burger, am I right? But, really, this white bean walnut burger slathered in buffalo sauce is made with whole foods and great on the grill!

Burger on a plate with chips, in a picnic table setting with pitcher of iced tea

Now, I’m not one of those vegans that says, “Meat analogs are for people becoming vegan.” I love the plant-based meat selection in stores and find them super convenient! That being said, I love a veggie burger that is done well. This buffalo white bean burger has lots of flavor, great texture and is made for grilling! Of course you can make them in your oven if need be.

ingredients for buffalo white bean burgers on a cutting board

Originally I had made this as part of a partnership with Vitacost last year, and made it totally gluten-free, but I’ve made it with both GF and regular panko crumbs and both work perfectly fine. Now, the slaw is a stroke of genius just because I took veg usually served with buffalo-sauced anything and tossed it in vegan ranch. Doesn’t get much easier than that, does it?

collage of processing burger mixture in a food processor and forming into patties

Substitutions and Tips:

Walnuts – pecans would also work here, and have the right texture. Other nuts will either be TOO crunchy or too soft.
White beans – I made it easy and just used a whole can of white beans (drained) but if you’re cooking your own, you’ll need roughly 1 1/2 cups of beans.
Vegan Worcestershire – I find this at natural food stores like Sprouts or Whole Foods, mostly, BUT some chain super markets have “accidentally” vegan sauce that doesn’t have fish in it. If you can’t be bothered, just use some tamari! For a soy-free option use coconut aminos + more salt.
Gluten-free bread crumbs – I prefer these to panko crumbs because they are less coarse in texture, and help really hold the burger mix together.
Vegan ranch – you can use store bought, or make some using my ranch recipe!
If you want the burgers to have a stronger buffalo flavor, add 2 tablespoons of buffalo sauce to the burger mix.
Grilling – each grill is different and has it’s own hot spots, so while the times I give are a guideline, keep a close eye on the burgers to make sure they’re not being over or under cooked.
Food processor – I do recommend this over a blender, because the burger mix will likely become too much like a puree. If you don’t have a food processor, finely chop the walnuts and onions together, then mash the beans and mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.

collage of prepped veg and making ranch slaw

Other Burger Recipes You’ll Love!

brushing buffalo sauce onto bean burger patties while on the grill

Yield: 4

Grilled Buffalo White Bean Walnut Burger

Sometimes you just want an old school veggie burger, am I right? But, really, this white bean walnut burger slathered in buffalo sauce is made with whole foods and great on the grill!

Ingredients

Burger Ingredients:

1 cup (85 g) walnuts
15-ounce (425 g) white beans, drained/rinsed
1/2 cup (70 g) diced yellow onion
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegan Worcestershire sauce (GF if necessary)
2 tablespoons (30 g) tomato paste
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried parsley
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup (120 g) gluten-free breadcrumbs
Buffalo sauce, for brushing

Assembly Ingredients:

1 cup (70 g) thinly sliced celery
1 cup (50 g) thinly sliced romaine lettuce
1/3 cup (40 g) thinly sliced yellow onion
3-4 tablespoons (45-60 ml) vegan ranch
4 gluten-free, vegan buns
1/4 cup (46 g) vegan mayo

Instructions

1. Place walnuts in a food processor equipped with an s-blade and pulse until pieces are roughly 1/4-inch or slightly smaller in size. Add the white beans, onion, Worcestershire, tomato paste, onion powder, smoked paprika, parsley, salt and pepper to the pitcher and pulse until combined and beans are almost paste-like with a few chunks.

2. Remove blade and fold in the breadcrumbs until combined. Line a plate with wax paper and dampen your hands with water. Scoop out heaping 1/2 cups (145 g) of burger mix and mold it into a patty that is about 3/4-inch thick. This should form 4 large patties. Freeze the patties for 1 hour.

3. Next, make the slaw by combining the celery, romaine, onion, and vegan ranch in a bowl, tossing to coat evenly, then chilling until ready to use. When there is 15 minutes left of freezing time, preheat grill to 400F. Spread a light coating of mayo on the inside of each bun.

4. Place burgers on the grill and brush buffalo sauce onto the top side of each. Grill for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the grill marks are pronounced and they release easily from the grates. Flip, brush with more sauce and grill another 5 to 7 minutes, placing the buns mayo-side-down on the grates to toast for the last 2 to 3 minutes.

5. Once everything is grilled, remove from grill and set aside burgers about 5 minutes before serving. Assemble each burger with bottom bun, burger patty, more buffalo sauce (if you like), ranch slaw, then top bun, and serve!

Notes

Walnuts - pecans would also work here, and have the right texture.
White beans - I made it easy and just used a whole can of white beans (drained) but if you're cooking your own, you'll need roughly 1 1/2 cups of beans.
Vegan Worcestershire - I find this at natural food stores like Sprouts or Whole Foods, mostly, BUT some chain super markets have "accidentally" vegan sauce that doesn't have fish in it. If you can't be bothered, just use some tamari!
Gluten-free bread crumbs - I prefer these to panko crumbs because they are less coarse in texture, and help really hold the burger mix together.
Grilling - each grill is different and has it's own hot spots, so while the times I give are a guideline, keep a close eye on the burgers to make sure they're not being over or under cooked.
Food processor - I do recommend this over a blender, because the burger mix will likely become too much like a puree. If you don't have a food processor, finely chop the walnuts and onions together, then mash the beans and mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1 burger
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 642Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 3gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCarbohydrates: 93gFiber: 12gSugar: 8gProtein: 16g

Buffalo Burger on a plate with chips, in a picnic table setting with pitcher of iced tea, plate of burger patties and bowl of chips

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Elizabeth Handler

Wednesday 30th of July 2025

I already had some slaw made, so I used that. I whirred my mixture a little too long in my food processor, but these are really tasty. I cannot eat a large burger, so I portioned it out into a dozen instead. Yum!

Jackie @ Vegan Yack Attack!

I'm so happy to hear this, Elizabeth! And I know from personal experience that if you layer the extra patties with parchment paper for freezing they last quite a while.