Here’s How to Turn your Juice Pulp Into Healthy Veggie Burgers High in Fiber

|Updated Sep 23, 2020

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So you’ve officially turned into the epitome of a vegetable loving health nut and are making your own juice. You're not alone, as sales of juicers are projected to rise 8 percent a year from 2019 through 2023. Now that your favorite neighborhood juice place is not serving, and you have more time for breakfast, your juicer has become your favorite kitchen toy. Cleaning it, on the other hand, is about as fun as making the bed

While prepping the veggies and preparing the juicer might be an extra step, the multicolor healthy and fresh juice makes it worth it. But what’s even better than all that fresh juice is what you can do with the leftover pulp that gets spit out and collected in a side container. If you don’t happen to compost you can give it new life as satisfying, veggie-packed burgers. Not only does repurposing the rainbow-colored pulp reduce food waste, it also puts all that healthy fiber back into your diet.

These are easy enough for a weeknight. You can add to it savory ingredients such as mushrooms, beans, and plenty of spices to flavor it like meat, and, everything comes together in minutes. You don’t even need a skillet or BBQ, just as long as your pan is large enough. If you don’t have a juicer or leftover juice pulp on hand, make these burgers with the same amount of grated beet, carrot, celery, and chopped kale--the more veggies, the tastier. If you do have a juicer, our recipe below is a no-fail burger recipe, which can be adjusted to your tastes. The only rule would be to stick to non-sweet veggies such as celery, and save the apple, pears and orange for making smoothies or muffins.

A nice change-up from heartier burgers at your weekend BBQ, these also make a great salad topper to have on hand during the week. Take advantage of the fresh seasonal produce, and buy what’s available and looks fresh, which lets the pulp last longer in the fridge until you make your burgers. As with most plant-based ingredients, the sooner you use it, the more antioxidants you'll get in every bite.

No matter what combination of veggies you use, these burgers are the perfect base for a winning dinner. Toast up some whole wheat or sourdough buns, and load ‘em up with all your favorite classic accouterments, such as lettuce, onions, tomatoes, pickles and even some vegan cheese slices. Jam-packed full of veggies, these burgers are the healthiest thing imaginable, and any side goes. We’re looking at you, salt and vinegar chips!

Juice Pulp Veggie Burgers

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Serves 10

Ingredients

For the Juice

3 Carrots, peeled and chopped in thirds
1 small Beet, peeled and chopped in half
2 Celery stalks, peeled and chopped in thirds
Handful Parsley or Kale, chopped in half
1-2 inches of Ginger, peeled
½ Lemon, rind removed
Juice all ingredients in juicer, makes 2 generous servings of juice

For the Burger

1 1/2 cups Juice pulp (preferably containing beets, carrots, kale, celery, or parsley)
1 shallot, or a small onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, diced
1 cup chopped mushrooms, or pulse in a food processor until fine
1/2-cup white cannellini beans, (any kind of bean works too)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. salt

Instructions

Prepare the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
Heat up 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the chopped shallot, garlic and mushrooms. Cook for 5-7 minutes until cooked through. Add in the drained and rinsed beans and spices, mashing slightly with the back of the spoon.
Turn off the fire, and add the veggie pulp to the skillet. Mix well until combined with an ice cream scoop or two spoons, form 10 2” inch patties. Drizzle with some oil and bake for 25 minutes until crispy, flipping midway. Let cool on the tray before serving.

Nutrition Info: Nutrition information is a rough estimate.

Calories 31 Total Fat .2 g Sat. Fat 0 g Sodium 263 mg Total Carbs 6.5 g Fiber 1.7 g Sugars 2.1 g Protein 1.5 g