Copycat Gardenburger

When I worked at Doc Watson's, they served a veggie burger, which I now believe was made by Gardenburger. They may have even been called this on the menu. The original Gardenburger was created by Paul Wenner in Wenner's vegetarian restaurant, Gardenhouse, in the early 1980s. Wenner closed his restaurant and began to concentrate on marketing his veggie burger under the brand Gardenburger in 1985. The company was incorporated as Wholesome & Hearty Foods, Inc., in March 1985 and acquired by Kellogg's in 2007. It is now sold under the brand name of Kellanova.

I did a search for them and one site has The Original Gardenburger that comes in a box very much like the box I saw at Doc Watson's. These are the ingredients. I probably liked them due to the nuttiness of the brown rice and mushrooms being a main ingredient.

Ingredients: Cooked Brown Rice (Long Grain Brown Rice, Water), Water, Mushrooms, Onions, Rolled Oats, Mozzarella Cheese (Pasteurized Part-Skim Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Annatto For Color, Enzymes), Hydrated Bulgur Wheat (Water, Bulgur Wheat), Cheddar Cheese (Pasteurized Milk, Salt, Enzymes, Cultures, Annatto), Soy Protein Concentrate, Contains Two Percent Or Less Of Salt, Parsley, Modified Vegetable Gum, Wheat Gluten, Garlic Powder, Yeast Extract, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Spices, Citric Acid, Malted Barley, Natural Flavors, Annatto Color, Whey, Maltodextrin, Malted Barley Flour, Dehydrated Onion, Dehydrated Mushrooms, Guar Gum, Turmeric Color.

Copycat Recipe Below

This is a recipe I found that seem similar to the original Gardenburger. It borrows heavily from Top Secrets recipe (or is his recipe). The one thing I do not like about this recipe is that it has you drop the mixture from the spoon into the pan like you are making pancakes, brown them, then bake them to finish them off. The ones at Doc Watson's were cooked on the grill.

From the ingredients listed on the box, I would definitely want to add these:

Cooked Brown Rice
Water
Mushrooms
Onions
Rolled Oats
Mozzarella Cheese
Hydrated Bulgur Wheat
Cheddar Cheese
Soy Protein Concentrate (powder, enhances protein content)

Contains Two Percent Or Less Of
Salt
Parsley

Modified Vegetable Gum (texture enhancement, binder, moisture retention, shelf life)
Wheat Gluten (binding agent?)

Garlic Powder

Yeast Extract (umami flavor)
Autolyzed Yeast Extract

Spices

Citric Acid?
Malted Barley (Maillard reaction during cooking)
Natural Flavors?

Annatto Color
Whey - powdered milk?
Maltodextrin (carbohydrate, white powder from rice, corn, wheat, or potato starch) - cornstarch?
Malted Barley Flour (Browning effect)

Dehydrated Mushrooms

Turmeric Color

Problems with the recipe:

  1. The recipe obviously has too much moisture. I've seen other veggie-type burger recipes that baked the mushrooms to remove some of the moisture. Steaming will cook them, but not remove moisture which is probably why the Top Secret recipe has you drop them like batter into a pan. And several reviewers said they were mushy. Google's AI results returned this:
    • Veggie burgers can become mushy due to excess moisture, insufficient binders, or improper cooking techniques. Using too many wet ingredients, not drying out vegetables and beans properly, or using a food processor to blend everything into a paste can all contribute to a mushy texture, according to The Kitchn and Yahoo.
    • Allow the mixture to rest in the refrigerator before shaping the patties, which helps the ingredients bind together and the flavors meld.
    • Try browning them, then turn the heat down.
    • Coarsely grated carrots, parsnips, beets, sweet potatoes, and even winter squash have the advantage of both not needing to be pre-cooked in the oven, and also contribute body to the burger in the form of vegetable texture that retains some of its integrity.
    • Pictures I have seen of these definitely show whole pieces of oatmeal, brown chunks that are probably mushroom and what looks like either pieces of rice or slivers of onion.
    • From a review on SeriousEats where it came in first, "Made with brown rice, mushrooms, oats, bulgur wheat, onions, and a whole lot of cheese (mozzarella and cheddar), these burgers were praised for their great texture ("Tender!" and, "It's actually cohesive") with large chunks of real grains and mushrooms. When griddled, the edges get nice and crisp, and pockets of cheese ensure that the interior stays moist and satisfying as you eat it. "Sweet, oniony, earthy flavor," that "tastes like the sum of its parts." This is a patty that most of us would happily put between our buns, with or without extra cheese and bacon. The Original Gardenburger has a pleasantly diverse range of textures with no mushiness."
  2. The only reason I can find for the recipe below to add cottage cheese is that one of the ingredients listed for Gardenburgers is whey, but only down in the list for less than 2%. Powdered milk might be a better choice as it doesn't add more moisture.
  3. According to the ingredient list, brown rice should weigh the most and doesn't, rolled oats should come after onions and before mozzarella cheese, but it comes after all ingredients except cheedar cheese. Otherwise the ingredients have the same order. I'm not sure if this would make a difference.

 

Veggie burgers are made from cooked ingredients, like beans, grains and vegetables, which are formed into a patty. When you cook a veggie burger, you’re just making it hot, not cooking its components from a raw state. Along with making it hot, you want to crisp the burger, on both sides, to give it good texture. Good texture means it’ll have a little crunch when you bite into the burger.

Copycat Gardenburger
from https://www.cdkitchen.com/

This recipe is similar to Top Secret's recipe.

2 tablespoons bulgur wheat [1.8-2.1 ounces or 50-60 grams]
1 pound fresh mushrooms, halved or quartered
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup oatmeal (rolled oats) [1.41 ounces or 40 grams]
2/3 cup cooked, cooled brown rice [5.33 ounces or 151 grams]
1/2 cup shredded low-fat Mozzarella cheese [2 ounces or 56 grams]
2 tablespoons shredded low-fat Cheddar cheese [0.49 ounces or 14 grams]
2 tablespoons low-fat cottage cheese [?]
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 dash black pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch
non-stick cooking spray
1/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup water

Stir wheat and boiling water together in small bowl and set aside until wheat has doubled in size, approximately 1 hour.

In small saucepan, saute mushrooms in small amount of water until tender, 5-7 minutes.

Remove to condiment bowl and repeat with onions. Remove onions to separate condiment bowl. Set both bowls aside.

Let oats soak in remaining water for 10 minutes. Drain excess water from wheat and oats. Place grains, mushrooms, rice, cheeses and seasoning in food processor and pulse until finely chopped but not pureed, about 4 or 5 times. [Do not process, it turns it to mush, plus the original patties has

In medium bowl, combine chopped mixture with onion and cornstarch until well mixed.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Spray skillet with cooking oil; place it over medium-low heat.

Drop 1/2 c. mixture into pan at a time, shaping into burger bun size patties, about 1/2" thick. Brown patties on each side and remove from frying pan. [Another web site says "Now, this is where I changed the instructions. Original recipe had you frying these first then baking them but whenever I tried that the really wet mixture just stuck to the pan like glue no matter how much oil I used. I then thought- of course, bake them first then fry once they can hold their shape. D'oh! facepalm. Should have thought of that first!! Works perfectly."]

Arrange patties on lightly sprayed baking sheet. Bake 22-25 minutes in oven, turning patties halfway through cooking time.

After cooling, wrap patties and seal in resealable bag and freeze.

4 servings