
Red meat has all kinds of health downsides and, we are not even talking about several other philosophical reasons to not eat meat. Still, steaks and ground meat have a lot of handy uses.
On top of that, eating steaks might be more fun than eating, say, beans, which means it is easier to make children eat meat than beans, which are much healthier.
Eating beans, together with some carbohydrates (like the ones in rice) can give vegetarians amino acids that are usually hard to find with a meat-free diet and is, generally speaking, a much healthier option than meat.
What might not be so obvious, is that beans can also replace meat in shape and not only in nutrients. They can be used to make Hamburgers, Steaks and even “Meatballs”, known in Italian as Polpetta.

The basic recipe would consist of just using cooked beans (you can use canned beans, although a purist cook would cook their own) and smashing them and mixing them with flour.
Because I can’t resist more complex mixtures, and to enhance both flavor and nutrition value, I cooked something equivalent to Trudy’s Ratatouille and mixed it together.

Ingredients
- 250g (9oz) of cooked beans
- 4 tablespoons of flour
- Roasted vegetables (Optional, you may need to add more flour if you use the vegetables)
- 2 spoons of olive oil
Directions
- Cook the beans, if you don’t have them cooked already
- Use the beans at room temperature
- Use the food processor, the blender or a potato masher to smash the beans
- Add the olive oil
- Put in a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon while adding the flour
- Let rest for about 5 to 10 minutes
Serving suggestions
- Make patties for hamburgers and serve with bread, just like any other burger
- Make steaks and cover with bread crumbs, cook in the oven slightly covered with oil.
- Make balls and stir fry to use as “meatballs” (Polpetta)
This recipe makes about 4 big steaks and can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days or frozen for longer periods of time.
And if you want, you can replace the beans with lentils, chickpeas or even a mix of your favorite legumes.









