Don't Throw Out Those Tortilla Chip Crumbs; Use Them In Black Bean Burgers

We all hate waste. Sitting in traffic wastes gas. Being put on hold wastes time. Impulsive online shopping wastes money. But perhaps the most common type of waste is food. Compass Group estimates that a third of the global food production either never makes it to a consumer's plate or gets tossed before use, while the average American family loses over $1,800 a year in discarded groceries. 

Most of us have been guilty of throwing out edible food for convenience's sake at some point. Maybe we tossed the peanut butter jar before scraping the remnant globs off the bottom. Or perhaps we didn't bother to check the produce drawer in the fridge before our next grocery run. So how do you salvage what seems unusable? Sometimes all it takes is a little creativity by upcycling ingredients.

Take tortilla chip crumbs: when they're too small for dipping, they make a great flavor enhancer in Southwestern-style cuisine. Recipes calling for crushed chips, like this 30-minute taco casserole, are an obvious choice. But you can do a lot more with those little bits of deliciousness.

Take the humble black bean burger, for example. Any black bean burger worth eating represents a conglomeration of tastes, textures, and tidbits — the latter usually being leftovers. Use up those last scraggly veggies you roasted two days ago. Toss in the last kernels of corn left in the can. Scrape in that stuck-on quinoa from the bottom of the pot. What could have been compost fodder is now the base for an amazing meal.

One ingredient all black bean burgers have in common (besides the beans, of course) is a binder. This item holds all those diverse components together cohesively, so it won't fall apart when you flip it. Common binders for black bean burgers include oats, breadcrumbs, and rice. 

But instead of those flavorless, starch-based binders, you can repurpose your tortilla chip crumbs for the role instead. Their salty, umami-filled goodness will add much more interest to the burger's flavor palate than the standard binders. Just use them cup for cup as your would the called-for binder. And hey, since they're primarily composed of super-healthy legumes packed with fiber and protein, surely your black bean burger can afford to splurge on tortilla chips' higher sodium and fat content.

More and more Americans are experimenting with plant-based protein options, and black bean burgers are one of the most popular choices out here, even for non-vegetarians. If making the leap from meat to plant-based protein sounds too bland, you may just need the extra flavor kick that an unexpected ingredient provides — like tortilla chip crumbs.

And the flavor boost doesn't have to stop with black bean burgers. You can also strategize those mini morsels as a texturizing layer in crowd-pleasing casseroles or a crunchy topping on Monterey Mac and Cheese. Almost any Southwestern-style dish could benefit from the addition.

Remember, though, tortilla chips are usually high in sodium. If you're trying to limit your sodium intake, consider using them as a substitute for a savory ingredient and added salt. For example, a homemade vegetable soup recipe might require ground meat for richness and salt for, well, saltiness. Tortilla chip crumbs can meet both needs simultaneously, all while saving a bit of food from ending up in a landfill. Your nearly empty tortilla chip bag has never looked so useful — and delicious.