December 6, 2011
(last updated January 27, 2020) 
I should probably think twice before I toss around words like “ultimate”—there are a lot of raw mushroom burgers out there, and this is but one of them. With that said, it’s probably my favorite raw burger so far, and I’ve got a bunch that I love: most recently, I posted a raw spinach burger that was pretty delicious. What I like about this burger is its “meatier” texture (most of my burgers are a little crumbly) and the earthy taste that comes from mushrooms and seasonings.
To be honest, I could have gotten a lot more creative with this burger. That is, I could have added more seasonings, more spice, more…stuff. But with my raw recipes, I nearly always come to a moment where I do a taste test, and in spite of knowing that I could do a lot more, I feel really good about the recipe just the way it is. Minimalism and raw eats go hand and hand.
So on that note, I’ll skip the chatter: let’s talk raw shroom burgers!!
Raw, Vegan Mushroom Burgers (vegan, raw, GF if you use GF tamari)
Serves 4
3 large portobello mushroom caps, chopped
2 tbsp tamari (I use low-sodium) or nama shoyu
2 tsps liquid smoke
1 tbsp agave
1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup chopped carrot (or carrot pulp)
1/2 cup chopped celery (or celery pulp)
1 tsp rosemary or thyme
1) Mix the tamari, liquid smoke, agave, and ACV in a bowl. Add mushrooms and try to mix them well into this marinade. Let sit for about 2 hours.
2) In a food processor fitted with the S blade, grind pumpkin seeds till smooth.
3) Remove mushrooms from the marinade (reserving it) and add to the processor. Process till the mixture has very little texture, but isn’t as smooth or uniform as a nut pate. If it’s overly pasty, add a few tablespoons of water or your leftover marinade.
3) Add the carrot, celery, and thyme, and pulse to incorporate it all, still leaving some texture.
4) Shape into four patties and dehydrate at 115 for about 2 hours, flip, and keep dehydrating for another 3-4, or until they’re the texture you like. Alternately, you can bake these at 325 degrees for about 30-35 minutes, flipping once. Serve over greens, on some raw bread, or in a wrap sandwich!
No matter how you serve, these are a delicious and satisfying part of a meal, and especially appropriate for this time of year.
These are also a great use for carrot pulp, if you happen to be tired of making carrot cake muffins (which I’m so glad you guys liked!).
And now, it’s time for me to wrap up the express post and get back to some biology. Till tomorrow, folks!
xo
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The texture was mush for me ☹️
Wow. They look amazing.
Any idea how it would work without a dehydrator..?
And is liquid smoke raw?
They did not turn to mush, were easy to flip and tasted great. I didn’t have pumpkin seeds so I used pecans mostly an walnuts.
I made these and they are excellent.
So glad you liked them!
HI Gena,
Can you make these using a different variety of mushrooms? I just bought a bunch that are sitting around from the farmer’s market and I’d love to use them.
Thanks!
Gena,
I just made these and they turned out great! I baked (a little guilt cheating!) but I had trouble flipping them- they were crisp on the outside but fell to mush once I flipped. Do you have any suggestions on holding it together?
Side Note: I didn’t have any liquid smoke or agave, but it did not stop these patties from being delicious! I chopped up a little onion to marinate with the mushrooms and seasoned with paprika and chili powder.
Gabi
Are you freaking kidding me? I’m dying over here drinking my juice as I thumb through your recipes. This one is a MUST MUST try! Cannot wait to share this with my friend who is also raw, nor can I not wait for my fast to be over with so I can try this. I’ll be back to post after I tried it.
I wish some of the comments were from people who had actually TRIED the recipe…=(
Making these tonight- can’t wait! I’ve been looking for an ultimate burger for a while…! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I love the idea of having a raw burger but just can’t get over having to dehydrate it for so long- I am just the kind of person that likes to throw it together and eat it. Any suggestions on how to ease into using a dehydrator? I had a great one an excalibur but ended up giving it away.
Deb,
I often eat raw burgers raw! For serious. You should give it a shot — it’ll be mushy, of course, but I still get major satisfaction from it. If you need to learn how to use the dehydrator, simply always dehydrate overnight! that’s what I do.
G
These are in the dehydrator right now, except I used sprouted sunflower seeds instead of pumpkin seeds, chopped baby portabellas instead of the large ones, and coconut aminos instead of the tamari. I also added finely chopped onion and garlic. The wet mixture tasted good, so I am expecting a tasty final product.
Those look great and very easy to make!
I just love the minimalism idea behind raw food. It’s always surprising to me how much flavor comes out of minimal spices. In fact I mentioned it in today’s post! Can’t wait to try these.
Really knowing when to stop adding ingredients makes a great chef. Those sound fantastic, I can just taste them when I was reading the ingredients. My dehydrator is in storage I miss it!! I will be making these when we reunite!!
perfection!! we loved your last burgers and I am sure these will be no different!!
perfect recipe to pop my (new) dehydrator cherry!
These look great. Question for you…where do you get liquid smoke in NY? I have looked (fairway, food emporium, health food stores on the UES), any suggestions on where I can get it?
Hey Gena,
I’m curious, in your instructions, when you give both options to dehydrate or cook in the oven, do you typically use your dehydrator (I’m assuming so, but, wondering)? I’m curious because dehydrating seems to take hours upon hours (I don’t have one, but, just from reading raw recipes), so, as a busy student, you must be really planning your meals out, right? I’m a PhD student, so I completely understand how school becomes your life–I don’t think I’d ever have the time or even be able to plan/wait/cook something that took so long! How do you go about doing it? I’d love to hear! 🙂
These look BEYOND amazing!!! I am going to seriously have to try. I’m such a sucker for portobellos, though, so probably anything involving them would be good for me. But I love that these are raw and vegan to boot. 🙂
Mushrooms definitely add a lot of flavor to raw burgers! The first time I made your sunflower seed burgers I added mushrooms to the mix and it was delicious. They add such a deep, savory flavor.
I love a good raw mushroom burger. I am still struggling with the simple aspect of raw though in all honesty. When energy is really really low it has been hard to call raw simple to me beyond a smoothie and salad. But you could jut say I am a failure at mastering it.
Delicious! I love mushrooms.
I have always noticed that my body does not digest raw mushrooms very effectively and I supposed it had to do with the chitin makeup of their cell walls. I know very little on the subject but I found the following link full of helpful information: http://www.mykoweb.com/articles/EatingRawMushrooms.html
for those of us who don’t digest raw mushrooms very well, perhaps “cooking” them in a lemon juice marinade would help , as suggested by the link’s author?
I’ve read that too about mushrooms. But essentially this recipe is doing that, the mushrooms are processed and in acid and salt, so they will break down a bit before you eat them.
I like how these don’t contain tons of nuts and seeds. Nice and light the way raw should be!
i’m impressed too! cant believe these are raw! i have had portobello burgers before, but of course, they were cooked! very cooked 🙂 i cant wait to get a dehydrator and make a raw version!
These look really delicious, and I have most of the ingredients already! Bookmarking your recipe for later this week. 🙂
Must. Buy. Dehydrator. These look great!
I may try and make a cooked version in the mean time. Any suggestions on what I could sub for liquid smoke – I can’t find it anywhere! Smoked paprika maybe?
I think smoked paprika would be the best substitute, yes. Let me know how it goes!
This looks like a great winter dinner – satisfying and delicious!
Considering I would ecstatically eat that list of ingredients chopped together as a salad with a spoon… hurrah, Gena! In this horrible/brilliant insanity that is the Christmas period with concerts and weddings and horrific work deadlines and no sleep, such a recipe is exactly what I need 🙂
I was blessed with a loaner dehydrator today, and I can’t wait to start using it. Definitely picking up mushrooms tomorrow!
We have a lot of pulp that we don’t use. This is a great way to use the pulp. Thanks for sharing!
These sound and look totally great.
I’ve heard that you don’t get much nutritional benefit from raw mushrooms because cooking is needed to make the nutrients available. Do you know whether that’s the case? I’d eat these either way, but I’ve often wondered about that when I’ve seen raw recipes featuring mushrooms.
Girl, I think you are going to wind up with a cook/semi-raw/vegan/health tips book on your hands one day.
Ahhh yum! Wait what exactly is liquid smoke
It’s a seasoning fluid that’s extracted from smoked wood chips — great for giving vegan dishes smoky flavor.
Hey Gen,
These look fantastic. I might make a cooked version since I’ve moved to snowy Canada!
Oh my these look great 🙂
Gena these look wonderful and I am impressed that you were able to keep them raw.
“Minimalism and raw eats go hand and hand. ” — agreed and sometimes simple is best. Minimal on prep and work and add-in’s but still full-on in terms of taste.
Good luck with your bio studying!