Fantastic for meal prepping, this sweet potato black bean burger recipe is simple to prepare and full of flavour. Smother it with my chipotle BBQ sauce and/or my oil-free chipotle mayo for an even bigger flavour boost!
Simple ingredients
No food processor needed
Ideal for meal prepping
And delicious of course!
Ingredients For Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers
The base for these homemade veggie burgers is made from:
- Steamed sweet potato
- Black beans
- Brown rice
My preferred method for cooking the sweet potato is to steam it. Although you can roast or boil the sweet potato, I find that it is a little more water logged with these methods. Steaming the sweet potato, just until tender (10-15 minutes), helps the burger patties to hold together a little better while you are cooking them.
Likewise, I prefer to cook the sweet potato and rice in advance. This way, the ingredients have time to chill in the fridge before forming the patties. Working with hot ingredients will create more steam inside the patties and make them a little more delicate.
The flavour boosters for this sweet potato black bean burger are:
- Toasted & ground walnuts, sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds
- Diced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (for some heat & great flavour)!
- Tamari or soy sauce
- Cumin, smoked paprika, and salt
Method
Steaming the sweet potato and cooking the rice are the two elements of preparation for this vegan burger recipe. If using canned beans and roasted nuts or seeds you won't have to do any preparation for those ingredients.
However, if you are like me and you cook your beans from scratch, then you hopefully have a batch in the freezer that you can defrost. Similarly, I tend to buy raw nuts and quickly toast them at home. Sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds can be quickly toasted on a frying pan but if you are using walnuts, you can follow my instructions here.
- Once your base ingredients are cooked, just add everything to a bowl and mash it all together.
- Next, scoop ½ cup amounts of the mixture and form the patties with your hands.
- Then, cook the patties on a frying pan or flat griddle for 3-5 minutes on each side!
These patties will be a little too soft to cook on a grooved grill so a flat surface is best. I love that these sweet potato black bean burgers do not require a long baking time!
Boost up the flavour of your burgers even more by:
- Brushing both sides with my chipotle BBQ sauce.
- Smothering your bun with my oil-free chipotle mayo.
- And loading your burger up with your favourite condiments (make sure to try my quick pickled red onion for some crisp crunch)!
How To Freeze Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers
If you want to batch cook these burgers and freeze some to make your summer BBQ's that much easier, here's how:
- Form the mixture into patties.
- Lay the patties on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Place the tray in the freezer for 1-2 hours until the patties are frozen.
- Transfer the frozen patties to a freezer safe bag or container with a piece of parchment paper or wax paper between each layer.
To cook the patties from frozen:
- Air fry for 20 minutes at 350 F, flipping halfway through. (Baking them in a conventional oven at 350 F might take a few extra minutes). OR...
- Defrost them overnight in the fridge and proceed to cooking them on your stovetop.
Recipe Cost
This sweet potato black bean burger recipe makes 8 patties and costs me under $5 Canadian! Using my black beans cooked from scratch brings the cost of these patties in at $4.54. If I use canned black beans my cost increases to just over $5.
For comparison, my cost per patty is about 60 cents. If I buy veggie burgers from my wholesale store they cost me $1.20 per patty and beyond meat burgers cost me $2.50 per patty. From my local grocery store the cost for plant-based burgers ranges from $1.75 to nearly $4 per patty!
So with a little bit of prep work at the beginning of the summer you could have a big batch of delicious veggie burgers in your freezer and you will likely be saving some hard earned dollars!
Let me know in the comments how you like this sweet potato black bean burger and how you load it up! I have a feeling you might like my Sweet Potato Black Bean Tacos too and for a really simple, one ingredient, burger patty... try my Portobello Mushroom Burger!
Print
Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger with Chipotle
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A vegan sweet potato black bean burger recipe that is fantastic for meal prepping! Simple to prepare, full of flavour, & easy to freeze!
Ingredients
- 300 g sweet potato, cooked and mashed (about 2 medium sweet potatoes)*
- 2 cup brown rice, cooked (250 g loosely packed, can use your preferred rice)
- 1 ½ cups black beans (15oz can, 250 g, cooked, drained, and patted dry)
- ⅓ cup walnuts, toasted and ground (or sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds)
- 1 ½ tbsp diced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 1 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ¾ tsp salt
- Chipotle BBQ sauce (for brushing the finished burgers, optional)
*Ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
*I have found that the burgers hold together best if the sweet potato is steamed versus boiled or roasted. This recipe will work with sweet potatoes cooked in any way but the less moisture in the sweet potatoes, the better the patties will hold together as they are cooked.
- Feel free to prepare the ingredients for these burgers in advance and refrigerate them until you are ready to form the patties. Peel sweet potatoes, chop them into larger (1-2 inch) chunks and steam for 10-15 minutes or just until fork tender. Meanwhile, cook the rice according to your package instructions and toast the walnuts or seeds. Once the walnuts or seeds are cool, grind them using a mortar and pestle, food processor, or chop them as finely as you can. Ideally, allow all of these ingredients to cool before proceeding.
- To form the burger patties, add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and use a potato masher to crush and combine everything. The beans will still be mostly intact and that is fine, they don’t need to be crushed into a paste.
- Lightly oil your hands if desired and using a measuring cup for ease, scoop scant ½ cup amounts of the mixture. Turn the mixture out into your palm and use your hands to form it into a compact patty. Lay the formed patty on a silicone baking mat or plate and continue with the remainder of the burger mixture.
- Heat a frying pan or flat griddle over medium low heat (these burgers will be too soft for a grooved grill). Once hot, lay the burgers on the pan or griddle and cook for 3-5 minutes on the first side until some dark char appears. Carefully flip the burgers and if the edges get a little messy just use a spatula to pat them back into place. Cook on the second side for 3-5 minutes. If your frying pan has taller edges, push the burger against the edge of the pan and slowly rotate it along the edge to cook the sides of the burger. Additionally, brush the burgers with my chipotle BBQ sauce or a sauce of your choice.
- To serve, smother your buns with my oil-free chipotle mayo and/or more chipotle BBQ sauce. Layer lettuce, tomato, pickles, pickled red onion or any other toppings you love.
- To freeze these patties before they are cooked, freeze them in a single layer on a lined sheet pan. Once frozen (1-2 hours) transfer the patties to a freezer safe bag or container with wax paper or baking paper between layers. Cook from frozen in an air fryer at 350 F for 20 minutes flipping halfway through (baking in a conventional oven may take a little bit longer). Alternatively, defrost in the fridge overnight and pan fry.
Notes
Approximate Cost: $4.54 Canadian using black beans cooked from scratch and walnuts. That works out to about 57 cents per patty. For comparison, at our wholesale store, veggie burgers cost us about $1.23 per burger and beyond meat burgers cost us $2.50 per burger. Plant-based burgers from our local grocery store range from $1.75 to nearly $4 per burger.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Burgers & Sandwiches
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American, Canadian
Susan
Followed the recipe exactly, however omitted the peppers as I did not have these. It formed a perfect patty that was easy to fry in a pan and kept it’s shape really well. These are delicious and we topped them with vegan mayo, pickles, caramelized onions and tomatoes with a vegan coleslaw on the side. We have extras for leftovers tonight. Love how easy these were to make. Yumm.
Kathryn Alexandre
I'm so glad you found these easy to make and you have extras for tonight! I love the addition of caramelized onions. That would go so well with the bit of sweetness from the sweet potato! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a 5 star review Susan. Enjoy your leftovers!