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Cashew Cheesy Sauce - Sharp & Tangy
Cashew Cheesy Sauce - Bold & Spicy
Cashew Cheesy Sauce - Rich & Smoky
These vegan cheeseburger cups will be a hit with both kids and adults alike! An easy to make dinner recipe made in your muffin pan and ready in less than 30 minutes. This recipe is sure to satisfy hungry tummies and best of all the recipe is vegan, dairy free, egg free and gluten free friendly.
How to Make Muffin - Tin ‘Cheeseburgers’
These meatless cheeseburger bites come together easily so skip the drive thru and serve this healthy comfort food option for dinner instead.
I advise soaking your red lentils for a few hours before making this recipe! Red lentils that have been soaked cook faster, will give you a more creamy texture and are easier on digestion. Plan accordingly for soaking time.
Next, you will need to make your gluten free corn muffin cup. Combine your flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Slowly cut in your dairy free butter and unsweetened applesauce with a fork or pastry blender. Add in your dairy free buttermilk. You can easily create dairy free buttermilk with almond milk and lemon juice.
Fill your muffin tins with your cornmeal mixture and then indent the middle of each muffin by pressing down lightly. This area will be where your meatless red lentil cheesy mixture goes. Bake at high temp for a few minutes.
While your muffins are pre - baking, make your red lentil mixture. In a medium sized skillet, combine your diced onion and garlic and saute for 3 - 5 minutes. Add your rinsed red lentils and vegetable broth, water and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, if your broth absorbs too quickly, add additional water. After your lentils are done, quickly stir in your spices, Core and Rind Sharp and Tangy Cheesy Sauce, ketchup, mustard, molasses and balsamic vinegar.
Fill your muffin cups with about 1 heaping tablespoon of your lentil mixture and then bake for another 10 minutes.
Note! This cheesy meatless mixture is SOOO delicious that the lentil mixture is actually double of what you will need for the ‘cups’. I recommend serving the extra lentils with your muffin burger cups or keep them on hand to make nachos or cheesy fries.
Don’t forget variations! Feeling a little spicy? Use Core and Rind Bold and Spicy in lieu of the Sharp and Tangy! Core and Rind Rich and Smoky adds flavor depth as well to these easy cheesy cups.
How to Serve Cheesy Burger Cups
These cheesy lentil burger cups are delicious when served with all your favorite burger toppings such as bread and butter pickles and ketchup! Also, be sure to drizzle extra Core and Rind Cheesy Sauce on the top of each muffin for an extra cheesy taste.
A great pairing would be to serve these ‘cheeseburger’ cups with the recipe for Vegan Cheesy Chili!
When you use the extra lentils from the recipe, this vegan recipe is perfect to serve as a vegan cheesy-burger bowl! Place fresh lettuce of choice in a bowl, crumble your muffin cheeseburger in the bowl, add additional lentil mixture, drizzle with ketchup and extra cheesy sauce and then finish the bowl off with some pickles slices! YUM!
The options are pretty endless when it comes to serving these easy cheesy lentil burger cups, we can’t wait to hear how you eat them! Tag @coreandrind on social media so we can see your cheesy meatless muffin cup meal.
Ingredients for Vegan “Cheeseburger” Cups
Gluten Free Corn Muffin
- 1 3/4 cup gluten free measure for measure flour
- 2/3 cup yellow gluten free cornmeal
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup unsweeteend applesauce
- ¼ cup dairy free butter - cold
- 1 cup ‘buttermilk’ (1 cup unsweeteend almond milk combined with 1 tblsp lemon juice)
Cheesy Red Lentil ‘Burger’ Filling
- 1 cup red lentils (soaked for 2-3 hours, then rinsed and drained)
- ½ cup sweet onion, diced
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 cup Vegetable broth
- 2 cups waters
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp tsp liquid smoke
- ½ tsp Chili powder
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Oregano
- Pinch of Salt & pepper
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup Core and Rind Sharp and Tangy Cheesy Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Yellow Mustard
- 1 tsp dark molasses
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- Additional cheesy sauce for drizzle
- Additional ketchup and pickles for serving
Directions for Gluten Free Corn Muffin
- Preheat oven to 450°F and grease a 12 cup muffin tin.
- Combine gluten free flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium sized mixing bowl; cut in dairy free butter and applesauce with pastry blender or fork until mixture is combined. Add ‘buttermilk’; stir until mixture is just combined.
- Roll cornmeal mixture into 12 even sized balls and place into prepared muffin pan. Press each ball into the sides and bottom of each muffin cup, and then indent the middle of each one. This is where you cheesy meatless mixture will go.
- Bake for 5 minutes, remove from oven and reduce temp of oven to 400 degrees.
Directions for Cheesy Meatless ‘Burger’ Filling
- In medium sized skillet over medium heat, saute your diced onion and garlic for 3 - 5 minutes until onion is translucent. Add your drained and rinsed red lentils with water and vegetable broth and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring constantly. You want the liquid to evaporate completely. Add a ½ tblsp of water at a time as needed until lentils are soft and cooked.
- Quickly add in all spices, liquid smoke, ketchup, cheese sauce, mustard, molasses and vinegar. Stir to combine.
- Place 1 heaping tablespoon into the middle of each muffin. You will have some leftover mixture! Serve this with your cheeseburger cups.
- Place in oven and bake another 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven, let rest for 3 minutes, then remove each muffin cup from pan to wire rack to cool.
- Serve warm with additional lentil mixture, ketchup, Core and Rind Cheesy sauce and pickles!
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator.