These vegan sweet potato and black bean burgers are smoky, spicy and a little bit sweet! A delicious crowd-pleasing veggie burger recipe that's super easy to make and perfect for everything from cookouts to busy weeknights.
When it comes to veggie burgers, black beans are where it's at. They're convenient, super healthy, and downright delicious when blended up with zesty seasonings.
But why stop at just black beans? There are so many delicious foods that compliment black beans really well, and sometimes it's nice to add a little something extra to your black bean burgers. That's where sweet potatoes come in.
I'm basically in love with the combination of sweet potatoes and black beans, as evidenced by my sweet potato black bean chili, tostadas, and burrito bowls.
In the case of these burgers, sweet potatoes add a touch of earthiness and sweetness, taking them over the top as far as flavor goes. Sweet potatoes also pair really well with some of the spices I love to use in my burgers, like cumin, garlic, onion, cilantro and chipotle peppers.
All in all these spicy patties are a total flavor-bomb!
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Sweet potato. You'll need one medium orange sweet potato, which may be labelled as a "yam" at the supermarket, depending on what region you're shopping in.
- Rolled oats. Oat flour or panko breadcrumbs can be substituted if needed.
- Black beans. We're using canned black beans to keep things simple. If you prefer to cook your beans from scratch you'll need about 2 cups of them (measured after cooking).
- Red onion.
- Garlic.
- Canned chipotle peppers and adobo sauce. These will add heat and smokiness to your burgers. Look for them in the international aisle of the supermarket. If you're not into heat, just use a small amount of adobo sauce and no peppers, or leave both out and add a teaspoon of smoked paprika for some heat-free smoky flavor.
- Ground cumin.
- Fresh cilantro. Cilantro haters can leave this out.
- Salt.
- Burger buns. Make sure your buns are vegan, as some brands contain milk derivatives.
- Toppings. Use what you like here! I'm always big on classic toppings like lettuce, tomato, onion, and ketchup. These burgers also go particularly well with sliced avocado or guacamole, salsa or hot sauce.
Tip: Use certified gluten-free oats and buns if you need to keep these burgers gluten-free.
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Start by baking your sweet potato. Simply poke a few holes in it with a fork or knife, then stick it right on the oven rack and bake it until it's soft.
Tip: Short on time? Microwave your sweet potato instead. Poke holes in it like you would if you were baking it, then place it on a microwave-safe dish. Zap it for 4 to 5 minutes.
Place your rolled oats in a food processor bowl.
Blend the oats to a coarse powder.
Tip: If you don't have a food processor, simply substitute oat flour or panko breadcrumbs for the oats. Mash the beans with a fork and mix everything in a mixing bowl.
Once your sweet potato has cooled, scoop out the flesh and add 1 cup of it to the food processor bowl, along with the beans, onion, garlic, chipotles, adobo sauce, cumin, garlic and salt.
Run the machine for a few seconds at a time until the ingredients are finely chopped and well-blended. Don't overdo it or your burgers will be mushy. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl well.
Shape the burger mixture into 4 large patties (or 6 small ones) and bake them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Stuff the patties into buns, pile on the toppings, and enjoy your black bean sweet potato burgers!
Meal-Prep Tips
You have a few options as far as prepping ingredients in advance to save time on the day of serving these burgers:
- The onion can be diced in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a day or two.
- The sweet potato can be baked in advance. Store your baked sweet potato in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Alternatively, you can do all steps of the recipe except baking and shaping the burgers in advance. Store the blended up burger mixture in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover sweet potato black bean burger patties can be stored in an airtight container or bag in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Burger Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats
- 1 (14 ounce or 400 gram) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup diced red onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 chipotle pepper (canned), seeded and finely chopped (Note 1)
- 2 tablespoons adobo sauce from the can of chipotle peppers
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- salt, to taste (I use 1 teaspoon)
- 6 burger buns
- Toppings of choice, such as avocado, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, salsa or hot sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°.
- Scrub the sweet potato and poke a few holes in it with a fork or sharp knife. Place the sweet potato directly on the oven rack and bake it until easily pierced with a fork, about 45 to 60 minutes (Note 2). Leave the oven on.
- Cut the sweet potato open and let it cool for a few minutes when it's done baking.
- Place the oats into the bowl of a food processor fitted with an s-blade. Blend them to a coarse powder.
- Scoop out 1 cup of the sweet potato flesh and place it into the food processor with the ground oats (Note 3). Add the beans, onion, garlic, chipotle, adobo sauce, cumin, cilantro, and salt.
- Run the machine for a few seconds at a time, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula between runs. Continue until the ingredients are blended but still have some texture.
- Taste-test the mixture and make adjustments as needed, adding more chipotles, adobo sauce, or salt if needed.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Shape the mixture into 6 patties (Note 4) and place them on the baking sheet. The mixture will be very soft at this point, but the burgers will firm up when you bake them.
- Bake the patties for about 30 minutes, carefully flipping them halfway through, until lightly browned.
- Stuff the patties into buns and top them with toppings of choice. Serve.
Notes
- The chipotle pepper and adobo sauce will add some heat. Decrease the amounts for milder burgers, or increase for spicier burgers. For burgers with no heat, leave both out and add a teaspoon of smoked paprika.
- If you're short on time you can instead microwave the sweet potato. Poke holes in it with a fork or knife, then place it on a microwave-safe dish. Microwave it for 4 to 5 minutes, until fork tender. Let it sit for a few minutes before removing it from the microwave.
- Depending on the size of your sweet potato, you'll probably have some extra. Save it for another use or make a snack of it.
- You could also make 4 or 5 larger patties.
- Nutrition information includes 1 bun and 1 patty. It does not include toppings.
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This tasted fantastic and it is now a favourite of mine. Yum. Thank you