RECIPES

Vegan Cheeseburger Bowl

September 3, 2022

Our quest for good, wholesome recipes with a touch of naughty indulgence began with our Vegan Cheeseburger Bowl. We wanted all the trimmings, packed with all the familiar flavours we know and love, without any of the heaviness from a Macca’s meal. Impossible? Surely not. We set to work. Some iterations later, we settled on an entirely vegan, gluten-free and absolutely delicious work of art. Our Vegan Cheeseburger Bowl was born – with a filling cauliflower rice and lettuce base, topped with a flavour-rich mustardy, tomato lentil mince, drizzled with a rich, creamy cashew cheese sauce and sprinkled with crispy onions, chopped pickles and toasted sesame seeds to boot. Our Vegan Cheeseburger Bowl makes for the perfect light lunch, packed with nutritious whole-food ingredients to keep you going for longer and all the vibrant flavours of your favourite fast food cheeseburger.

What you need

Strainer

Chopping board

Knife

Bowl

Food processor

Ingredients

4 SERVINGS

LENTIL MINCE

1 tbsp. ketchup

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp. American mustard

1 beef stock cube, crumbled

2 tsp. liquid smoke

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tbsp. nutritional yeast

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

½ cup burger pickles, diced

2 tsp. sesame seeds

¼ iceberg lettuce, shredded

CHEESE SAUCE

1 cup cashews, soaked

½ potato, steamed

1½ tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1½ tsp. miso paste

½ cup nutritional yeast

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. turmeric

½ tsp. smoked paprika

3 tbsp. canola oil

Cauliflower rice or regular white rice to serve

Salt & pepper, to taste

Preparation

Step 1
Sauté ½ white onion in vegetable oil in a pan on medium to high heat until golden brown.

Step 2
Add lentils, stock cube, paprika and garlic powder and fry for another 4-5 minutes.

Step 3
Add tomato sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, nutritional yeast, liquid smoke and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 4-5 minutes or until the mixture resembles a mince-like texture.

Step 4
For cheese sauce, add all ingredients except for oil to a food processor and blend, adding a few tablespoons of water if needed to move the sauce. Drizzle in oil slowly whilst blending again, until it’s totally emulsified.

Step 5

Put one cup of cooked rice in a bowl, top with ½ cup of mince, ½ cup of shredded lettuce, 1 Tbsp. of diced onion, 1 Tbsp. diced pickles, 3 Tbsp. of cheese sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds. This recipe should make about 4 bowls – depending how generous you’re feeling!

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

RECIPE NOTES

CAULIFLOWER RICE vs. REGULAR RICE: We usually prefer regular white rice over any other form of rice. And this is no exception – but the way the lentils are flavoured, the meal as a whole really does taste like a cheeseburger. This recipe holds cauliflower rice really well, and it’s a great way to pack some extra fibre into your meal.
CHEESE SAUCE: Our Rooted cheese sauce has gone through vigorous rounds of testing in our prep kitchen! The key really is to drizzle the vegetable oil in slowly as the food processor is going to really give it a chance to emulsify and turn into a rich, creamy, mac-and-cheese consistency. You’ll be using this sauce a lot – trust us.
ALTERNATIVE VEGAN OPTION: Vegan mince has come a long way in recent years. We’ve moved off the textured vegetable protein (if you know, you know!) to the pretty decent Beyond/ Impossible brands. If you’re not a fan of lentils and want to make this with your mince alternative, go for it! We’ve tried it – it’s great.
MINCE: For the carnivores out there, you can make this dish with meat by switching out the lentils for beef mince. But trust us when we say you won’t miss it here – give the lentils a go first. If for nothing else, then for that extra hit of fibre and to say you tried it first!
FREEZING: We made this in very large batches for our meal delivery service and froze it. The only difference is that we used cabbage instead of lettuce (because lettuce doesn’t fare well reheated!). The rest freezes brilliantly and you can dip into this pre-made meal for lunch or dinner whenever the craving presents itself.