Sweet Potato and Black Bean Veggie Burgers are a great way to eat your veggies. These burgers are made by combining sweet potatoes, black beans, corn, shallots, garlic, quinoa, and old-fashioned oats. It is a plant-based meal that you feel good about eating.
The combination of corn, quinoa, and black beans give the veggie burgers a taste and texture that prevents them from being boring. My husband Charles isn’t the type of guy who would ever order a veggie burger, but he happily ate these burgers and especially liked that they were made with quinoa.
The preparation time for these veggie burgers is about 90 minutes, but the active preparation time is only 20 minutes. Much of the time is spent roasting the sweet potato, preparing the quinoa, and letting the burgers chill in the fridge.
I served the Sweet Potato and Black Bean Veggie Burgers on a brioche bun with grilled onions, heirloom tomatoes, American cheese, and a touch of ranch dressing. I’ll admit that I am one of those people who is obsessed with ranch dressing and I think that it makes most things even more delicious – but you can skip the ranch and add mustard, mayonnaise, or ketchup instead.
If you want to skip the burger, you could serve the veggie burger between lettuce buns instead. Sometimes I just put the veggie burger on a bed of lettuce and then cut it with a fork and knife to eat it.
I tested this recipe a couple of times and I learned that the oats are an absolutely necessary ingredient. Without the oats, the veggie burgers are too moist and they will fall apart. I used the food processor to break up the oats, and I couldn’t even taste them once I mixed them into the burger.
Another key to preventing the burgers from falling apart is chilling them in the fridge. Let the veggie burger mixture cool in the fridge for 30 minutes before forming them into patties. Then once I made the patties I let them chill in the fridge for an additional 30 minutes. This really helps to hold the Sweet Potato and Black Bean Veggie Burgers together.
You can use either whole black beans or refried beans. If you want the beans to maintain some of their texture, use canned black beans. If you want the burgers to have a more consistent texture, use refried beans. I opted to use refried beans.
This recipe makes 8-10 veggies – plenty for a party! Or you can freeze cooked veggie burgers and eat them later.
How to make Sweet Potato and Black Bean Veggie Burgers:
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Veggie Burgers
Ingredients
- 2 cups of chopped Sweet Potatoes about 2 Sweet Potatoes
- 1 cup of Quinoa
- 1 cup of Vegetable Broth
- 1 cup of Water
- about 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Shallot
- 3 cloves of minced Garlic
- 2 cups of Old Fashioned Oats
- 1 Egg
- 1 14 ounce can of Black Beans or Refried Beans
- 1 8.75 ounce can of Whole Kernel Corn
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Onion Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- Brioche Buns
Burger toppings:
- Lettuce
- Tomato
- Red Onion
- Ranch Dressing
- American Cheese
Instructions
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Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Peel the sweet potatoes and chop them into pieces about 1 inch big. Place the sweet potato in a mixing bowl, drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil over, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and stir to evenly coat the potatoes. Spread the potatoes out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast the potatoes until they are soft, but not browned. This will take about 30 minutes.
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Meanwhile, prepare the quinoa. Pour the water, vegetable broth, and quinoa into a saucepan, bring to a simmer and cover. Let cover while simmering for 20 minutes, until the quinoa is soft and fluffy.
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Next, chop the shallot. Coat a skillet with just a touch of olive oil, add the shallot and garlic and saute until soft.
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Place the oats in a food processor and pulse to break them up a bit. You don't want them to be crumbs, you just want to break them up. Pulse about 12 times, then pour into a bowl and set aside.
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Combine the sweet potato, black beans, shallot, and garlic in the food processor and pulse until it is well mixed. Then pour into a large mixing bowl.
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Add the egg, quinoa, oats, corn, paprika, garlic powder, onion salt, sea salt, and black pepper to the bowl with the sweet potato and black bean mixture. Stir to combine. Then place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
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Once the mixture has chilled, form it into patties. I like to make large patties to match the size of the buns I am using. You should be able to make 10 patties. Let the patties chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.
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Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat, add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan, and add the veggie burgers. Cook each side for 4 minutes, until golden brown. Once you flip the burgers, add slices of cheese on top of each one. You can grill the red onion alongside the burgers if you like.
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To assemble the burgers, place the cooked burgers on a bun and top with grilled onion, lettuce, tomato, and maybe a touch of ranch dressing.
Recipe Notes
You can use either whole black beans or refried beans. If you want the beans to maintain some of their texture, use canned black beans. If you want the burgers to have a more consistent texture, use refried beans. I opted to use refried beans. This recipe makes 8-10 veggies – plenty for a party! Or you can freeze cooked veggie burgers and eat them later.
Eileen Greenberg
Monday 16th of November 2020
I do not see that a egg is used in the recipe Thanks
thekittchen
Tuesday 17th of November 2020
I am so sorry for that mistake. You need one egg - I just updated the post. Thank you for bringing that to my attention.