STOP. THE. PRESSES.
I’m sure I was getting some pretty weird looks in the lunchroom today because I was audibly moaning between every bite of my Chipotle Sweet Potato Burger and staring at it in awe. Seriously the best thing I’ve eaten in quite a while (and those Black Bean & Avocado Enchiladas were pretty spectacular.
So here’s the cool thing about these burgers – the patty itself is vegan and gluten free. I happened to put them on wheat buns and slather some mayo on the bun, but you could easily use veganaise or wrap this puppy up in a gluten free tortilla. Either way, the burger itself is gonna blow your little taste bud brains.
Non-meat burgers come in a lot of textures… This burger is rather soft and moist compared to most because I didn’t use any flour or eggs as a binder. Because of that, you want to be careful while handling them so they don’t fall apart on you. It’s worth it, I promise.
I tested two cooking methods (I knew you’d want to know). I fried two of them up in a skillet with a little oil and I baked the other two after coating them with non-stick spray. Each method had pros and cons. The skillet was tasty, obvi, because it was cooked in oil. But, because it cooked quickly, it was more moist and therefore softer and more likely to fall apart. The baked patties only browned on the under side, were a bit drier, and therefore more solid. Both tasted great. I’ll stick to the skillet method because it’s faster and, well, oil=yum.
Chipotle Sweet Potato Burgers
Chipotle Sweet Potato Burgers
Servings 4 large patties or 6 smaller pattiesIngredients
- 1 lb. sweet potato ($1.00)
- 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels ($0.31)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($1.19)
- 1 whole chipotle pepper in adobo sauce ($0.33)
- 1/2 cup cornmeal, divided ($0.12)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 1/4 bunch fresh cilantro (optional) ($0.19)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil (for frying) ($0.02)
- 4 wheat rolls ($1.42)
- 1 avocado ($1.19)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise (optional) ($0.45)
Instructions
- Wash the sweet potato well and then poke it several times with a fork so that steam can escape while it cooks.
- To cook it in the microwave: wrap it loosely with a paper towel, set it on a microwave safe plate, and microwave on high for five minutes. Carefully squeeze the potato to make sure it is soft all the way through. If it is not, microwave longer, in one minute increments, until it is soft all the way through (mine took 8 minutes).
- Took cook it in the oven: heat the oven to 400 degrees and then bake the potato for 45-60 minutes, or until it is soft all the way through (either directly on the oven rack or on a baking sheet).
- While the sweet potato is cooling, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Place the frozen corn in a large bowl. Drain and rinse the black beans. Allow as much excess water to drain away as possible, and then add them to the bowl with the corn. Roughly chop the cilantro leaves and then add them to the bowl, along with half of the cornmeal (1/4 cup), garlic powder, cumin, and salt. Take one chipotle pepper out of the can, mince it, and then add it to the bowl along with about one teaspoon of the adobo sauce from the can.
- Once the sweet potato is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and add it to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Stir everything together and then either use a potato masher or the back of a fork to slightly mash the beans. Cover and chill the mixture for 30 minutes to allow the cornmeal to absorb some of the moisture.
- Divide the sweet potato mixture into four (or six) portions and shape each into a patty, approximately 3/4 inch thick. Use the remaining 1/4 cup of cornmeal to coat the outside of the patties. This will provide a nice crunch to the burger.
- To cook the patties in a skillet, heat 1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot (it should look wavy on the surface), add two of the patties. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side or until the patties are golden brown. Add more oil and cook the remaining two patties. Remember to turn the patties carefully as they are quite soft and can fall apart.
- To cook the patties in the oven, Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and then coat lightly with non-stick spray. Place the patties on the foil and then spritz the top of the patties lightly with non-stick spray (this will help it crisp up). Bake for 25 minutes, or until the patties are heated through and the bottoms are golden brown.
- Spread one tablespoon of mayonnaise on each bun and top with a chipotle sweet potato patty. Slice the avocado and place 1/4 of the slices on top of each burger. Top with extra cilantro leaves, if desired.
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Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
First cook the sweet potato. I like to do this in the microwave because it takes less than ten minutes, as opposed to almost an hour in the oven. Either way, you’ll want to prick the skin several times with a fork to allow steam to escape as it cooks.
To cook it in the microwave, loosely wrap the sweet potato in a paper towel and then cook on high for five minutes. Give the potato a gentle squeeze to make sure that it is soft all the way through. If the center is still stiff, microwave more, in one minute increments, until the center is soft. Allow it to cool for 5-10 minutes. (Or you can bake it in a 400 degree oven for 45-60 minutes).
While the sweet potato is cooking, you can prepare the rest of the ingredients. This is what the little can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce looks like. These peppers have a smokey, spicy flavor. You can usually find them in the Hispanic ingredients section of most major grocery stores.
When you open up the can, this is what you’ll see. Little fat peppers and lots of sauce. You can freeze the rest of this can, so that you don’t have to buy a new one every time you want to use one or two peppers. Just transfer it to a small freezer bag.
The peppers are pretty small, but potent. Just take one pepper out of the can and mince it up (remove the stem if it is attached). Also take about one teaspoon of the sauce from the can and add it to the bowl with the other ingredients.
Once the sweet potato is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and add it to a large bowl along with the corn kernels, drained and rinsed black beans, roughly chopped cilantro, 1/4 cup of cornmeal, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and minced chipotle pepper + sauce.
Stir everything together and then use either a potato masher or the back of a fork to mash up the beans. Refrigerate this mixture for about 30 minutes so that the cornmeal has time to soak up some of that moisture.
The mixture will be very wet, but you should be able to form it into four patties. These patties were pretty large, so you may even want to do five or six patties. Use the remaining 1/4 cup of cornmeal to coat the outside of the patties. This adds a nice texture to the finished burger.
You can either fry the burgers in a skillet with a little oil (about 5 minutes on each side over medium heat) or…
Bake them in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes. I sprayed the tops with non-stick spray, although the tops didn’t brown at all. The patty in the front is flipped over so you can see the browned bottom. Flipping half way through baking may be a good solution, although I haven’t tried it.
While the patties are cooking, you can prepare the buns and toppings. Need help with slicing avocados? Check out this step by step photo tutorial. I used mayonnaise for a little extra moisture, but that’s optional. Why am I just now thinking about how awesome sriracha would be on there? Someone please try it for me.
And then it’s time to experience… NIRVANA.
Hi! Do you think the patties will freeze? I am planning on making these tonight, but it’s just my husband and I, so I would like to freeze the rest of the patties. Any suggestions? Love the site!
I think they would. I would put them between sheets of either wax paper or parchment to keep them from sticking, then into a freezer bag. :)
We have had these fresh so many times but this is our first time attempting to freeze a dozen! (Double recipe divided into 12!) we didn’t precook – any recommendations on how to take them from the freezer to the plate with the most success? Thanks!
You’ll probably have the most success if you let them thaw in the fridge the night before. Depending on how thick your burgers are, you may be able to cook them in a skillet over low heat until they thaw and brown on the outside. Just be careful not to turn up the heat too high or else the outside will burn before the inside has time to warm through.
Hi Beth,
I want to make these ahead of time since I get home so late from work. Would they be OK to sit in the fridge for about 22 hours?
Yes, that should be fine. :)
This is one of my favorites. Love it
Going to try these tonight. Can I just say, I am not the “commenter-type”, but I read your recipes all the time and I love the way you describe. The right amount of photos, good explanations, humor, etc. There are many food blogs that I _would_ follow if they didn’t put 700 photos for every recipe. For those of us who don’t have ultra-900GB-a-second internet connections it takes a long time and way too much scrolling to actually get to the recipe. But I love everything about yours. Oh, and your homemade enchilada sauce is THE BOMB. Will probably try your pozole soon. Thanks!
Another easy and delicious recipe!
Could I substitute almond meal for cornmeal?
No, unfortunately almond meal will not absorb moisture the same way cornmeal does.
Can I add an egg in here instead of the cornmeal?
The egg will actually add moisture and the cornmeal acts to absorb moisture, so I think an egg would make the mixture too wet and gooey to form into patties.
Hi Beth, would you recommend cooking these on a foreman grill? If so how long would you cook them for?
I think 5-7 minutes should do the trick on a Foreman grill. They’re a little delicate, so be sure not to press the top down too hard on the grill or they’ll just squish down. Everything in the mix is edible even uncooked, so you’re really just heating them through. :)
Delicious! The texture is awesome!
Did you use cornmeal so it helps with binding? I want to make these tonight and I dont have cornmeal on hand so I wanted to know if I could leave this ingredient out :)
The cornmeal helps absorb some of the moisture from the sweet potatoes to make the burger a bit more solid. It doesn’t really bind, per se, just makes it less mushy. If you have bread crumbs you could try that, although it will flavor the patty a bit.
I’ve had this bookmarked and finally made them this evening thinking they’d be for lunches this week. They’re gone! (My family devoured them, not just me:) So good! I actually used the pulp from my juicer after juicing two small sweet potatoes and followed your recipe! Thank you!
I usually hate the taste of vegetarian burgers but my oh my, these were delicious and I actually like these better than beef or turkey burgers. Yum!
Does anyone know if this recipe will work without the beans? (I have an allergy/intolerance for all legumes–the higher the protein content, the sicker I get.) I understand that I might have to play with the ingredient ratios… suggestions?
Are lentils legumes? That would be a easy 1:1 replacement. If not, a starchy vegetable like softened carrots could work, and whole grains like brown rice or quinoa are great in meatless burgers. Possibly mushrooms, though I’ve never tried that since they’re not my taste.
Unfortunately, peas, peanuts, lentils, and all beans (including soy) are legumes. I also react to sesame and quinoa. I like the foods, but they don’t like me, (or at least my digestive tract doesn’t like them.) I loved the one small bowl of split pea soup I had and haven’t had a doughnut in 10 years because I have not found any that do not contain soy flour. :( At least I can eat most tree nuts in small quantities and haven’t landed in the hospital like my niece and some friends.
In my last post, I forgot to say how much I like your site, especially the pictures and the no-nonsense approach! (Another site with a somewhat similar recipe had the cook dicing and then boiling the sweet potato(es)–wasting time and nutrients, while adding nothing to the taste. Mike it or roast it, which ever is your preference, then get to it!)
I meant first post…. Anyway, I tried this recipe with minor adjustments and LOVE it! The hardest part of this recipe was waiting the 1/2 hour for the cornmeal to soak up the extra moisture before I could cook it! (I kept snitching!)
However, I was worried that if I did not use beans, that I would have a problem with the ?cohesiveness? of the already soft patty and a loss of volume from the missing ingredient. So, what I did: 1) I sauteed some onions and added them to the mixture 2) I added 1/4 cup more frozen corn 3) since we had a bag of frozen bell pepper strips, I pulled out about 1/2 cup of green and a few red for color 4) put in more than 1/4 cup corn meal–more like 1/3 cup in the patty mixture.
Now, I can’t wait till we get more sweet potatoes and I can make a mega batch to freeze–if they last that long! Thanks again for such a yummy recipe!
Lol! My original comments are still here! And, like some other commenters, I had making enough for leftovers for future meals. I finally had a few when I made a super mega batch! 😂
Holy Yummers!! I made this for dinner last night and it was tasty!! Will add this to my cooking arsenal! Thank you
These were great the day I made them, and I was also able to freeze them and eat them during Finals Week. Thanks for helping out a starving student. :)