Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers
These healthy vegan black bean burgers feature oats, sweet potato, jalapeno, and corn for a tasty patty that’s easy to make, holds together well and is perfect on a burn or salad.
Recipe Features
- Dietary: Vegan, nut-free and gluten-free. Great option if you have dietary restrictions.
- Versatile: Enjoy on a bun, salad or on their own for a snack.
- Nutritious: These burgers are low in fat, high in fiber and contain 7 grams of plant-based protein each.
- Firm on the outside, tender on the inside.
- Hold together well through cooking and eating!
- Budget-friendly and easy to make with simple pantry ingredients.
Ingredient Notes
A complete list of ingredients with amounts and full instructions is located in the printable recipe card below. This section covers ingredient and substitution considerations.
- Black Beans: Canned works great, just drain, rinse and you’re ready to go. Kidney beans or white beans also work here.
- Sweet Potato: You’ll need about 1 cup cooked, use this method for baking sweet potatoes beforehand.
- Corn: Canned, fresh or thawed frozen both work fine.
- Oats: Quick oats are best for their fine texture but rolled oats are ok too.
- Flax: Helps to bind the recipe. Make sure you use ground flax seeds, not whole flax seed.
- Jalapeno: Adds a bit of heat and flavor, make sure you de-seed it otherwise they’ll be SUPER spicy!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Quick Tip: You will need 1 cup of cooked sweet potato for this recipe. If you don’t have that prepared, start that first. You can use this tutorial for how to bake sweet potatoes.
Step 1. Add the jalapeno and onion to a food processor and pulse a few times to process into a rough chop.
Step 2. Add the sweet potato and black beans, reserving 1/3 cup of the beans. Process until mostly smooth.
Note: If you don’t have a food processor, finely chop the veggies by hand then mix everything in a bowl until you have a smooth, combined texture.
Step 3. Add the food processor mixture and the rest of the ingredients, including the reserved beans, to a bowl and mix it all up.
Chill the mixture in the fridge for 20 minutes. If baking, preheat the oven to 400 F.
Step 4. Use your hands to create 6 burger patties, placing them on a lined baking pan.
Step 5. Cook the burgers. If baking, bake for about 10 minutes per side.
If frying, cook in a good non-stick pan for 3-5 minutes per side over medium heat. I recommend using a bit of cooking spray or oil to cook.
Serving
- Low-Carb Option: Wrap in lettuce with your favourite burger toppings.
- Top with roasted red peppers or quick pickled red onions.
- Try this tzatziki, spicy vegan mayo or caesar dressing for a sauce.
- For an appetizer option make them meatball or nugget-sized and serve with dipping sauce. This also works for making sliders.
- Serve with fries, a simple green salad or something like this pasta salad, orzo salad or avocado corn salad.
Notes
- Jalapeno can be omitted if you’re sensitive to spice.
- Chipotle chili powder is a nice alternative to smoked paprika.
- If you don’t have smoked paprika, regular paprika is ok.
MAKING AHEAD & STORING
- Fridge: Cooked patties can be stored in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Cooked patties can be frozen in a sealed container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Reheat your burgers in a pan or in the oven for 10-12 minutes at 350 F until heated through. They can be reheated in the microwave but get a bit soggy. You can also enjoy them cold.
- Make in Advance: Raw patties can be prepared 1 day in advance and stored in the fridge in a sealed container or covered on a plate until you’re ready to cook them.
Related Recipes
Loving these veggie burgers? Here are some more must-try recipes:
- Spicy Chickpea Veggie Burgers
- Quinoa Beet Burgers
- Zucchini Tahini Burgers
- Buffalo Cauliflower Wraps
- Spicy Chickpea Avocado Wraps
And don’t forget to serve these with a side of oil-free baked fries!
Did you try this recipe?
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I’d love to hear about it! Click here to leave a review and be sure to tag me @runningonrealfood if you post it on social media.
Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Delicious sweet potato and black bean veggie burgers that are gluten-free and easy to make with simple, everyday ingredients.
Ingredients
- 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 medium sweet potato, cooked, peel removed (about 1 cup cooked)
- ⅓ cup corn kernels, canned or frozen
- ½ cup red onion
- 1 jalapeno, seeds removed
- ¾ cup quick oats (75 g)
- 3 TB finely chopped cilantro
- 2 TB ground flax
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Slice the onion into wedges; the jalapeno in half and remove seeds, and add both to the bowl of a large food processor. Pulse a few times to roughly chop.
- Add cooked sweet potato and the black beans, reserving ⅓ cup beans. Process until mostly smooth.
- Add remaining ingredients, including reserved beans, to a medium mixing bowl. Add processed potato mixture to bowl and stir to combine.
- Place the bowl of burger ingredients in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. During this time, preheat the oven to 400 F if baking, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Once chilled, divide the mixture into 6-8 “patties.” Bake for 10 minutes each side, spraying with oil if desired. If not baking, burgers may also be pan-fried for 3-5 minutes on each side in a good non-stick pan, using non-stick cooking spray or a touch of oil to cook, if needed.
- Serve on a bun with burger fixings such as mustard, ketchup, onion, lettuce and tomato.
Notes
I had medium sweet potatoes that looked to be what I’d normally buy for a meal. Raw they were 10-12 oz and cooked 9.6-10.5 oz. It was about 1 cup when scooped out of the skin before adding to the food processor. Use this tutorial for how to bake sweet potatoes if you don’t have any prepared.
Corn can be thawed frozen or canned that has been rained and rinsed.
I used Chosen Foods Avocado spray for both pan-fried and to spray the ones in the oven so they browned nicely.
Leftover patties can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 burger
- Calories: 160
- Sugar: 3.4 g
- Sodium: 481 mg
- Fat: 2.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 28.3 g
- Fiber: 8.6 g
- Protein: 7.6 g
Keywords: black bean burgers, sweet potato black bean burger recipe
As someone who has tried many vegan burgers, this is the best I’ve ever had. I’ve made them twice now and they turn out perfectly delicious. Thank you for sharing.
That’s awesome, Lesli! Thanks for letting me know. You might love my spicy chickpea burgers too, they’re my most popular recipe!
Could any of your plant-based burger recipes be used to make “meatballs” for spaghetti?
Thanks.
I haven’t tried it but I think some readers have with success. Let me k ow if you do!
Absolutely delish and so easy to prepare! Thank you for another wonderful recipe!
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You are so very welcome!
I loved it and my husband as well he is a meat eater person but I can make it burger any time for him 😁.
Very easy to make better than buying in shop.
Can’t wait to try more like this 😋
★★★★★
So glad to hear that, Anita! Let me know what else you try!
Just made these January 6.21. Used old fashioned rolled oats, no cilantro or jalapeño. Threw in some red pepper flakes. Burgers held together great. Tasted amazing. Had to cook 15 minutes per side but they were yummy. Would make again.
★★★★★
Amazing! So glad you enjoy them. Thanks for the feedback on cooking time!
These sweet potato/black bean burgers are delicious! I forgot how much I love baked sweet potato!! I followed the recipe to a T, but will add more jalapeno next time. Mine were served on portobello buns, topped with tomato and avocado. You know it’s right when the carnivores in the house love it, too!
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Awesome! So glad they were enjoyed.
Made these today and they were super yuuummy!! I also substituted the oats for millet flakes and everything held well together 🙂 Will definitely make it again, thanks for this lovely recipe.
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I have tried other recipes.
This is the best so far !
Holds together well….awesome flavors!
Freezes well.
Thank you
From a happy family in New Zealand !
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You’re welcome, from Canada! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I love peanut butter however my granddaughter has a severe allergy to it so we don’t have it our house. I wanted to try the other recipe you had but it has peanut butter so I will try these are they sound delicious. If you have other recipes that are peanut free, I would love to try them.
You can use almond butter or sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter in the other one, and more or less make that substitution for any of my recipes that use peanut butter. I also have this quinoa burger if you’re looking for burgers.
Mmmmm!
So good. Love the recipe.
★★★★★
I am seriously getting hooked on Deryn’s recipes. They are so simple, easy and delicious! I am new to plant-based cooking and have been looking for a great burger recipe for some time now. I loved the south-west flavours and all of the vegetables! Another amazing recipe – I can’t wait to try another!!
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We can’t do corn – what would you suggest in substitute? Extra black beans?
You should be able to leave it out or maybe do some diced bell peppers. Enjoy!
I love the simple and healthy ingredients, the straight forward way of making i, the texture and the final product.
My daughter has celiac, and she was so excited to eat it and said it is the best GF, vegan patty we have made so far at home.
One thing I will add is maybe ginger or curry or another spice to balance the sweetness from the sweet potatoes.
Thanks, Deryn, for sharing this amazing recipe with us!!
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These sound so good! Would luv to make them but OATS are not my friend anymore! My digestive system isn’t having it. lol Any thing else I could use??
You could try quinoa flakes or breadcrumbs. Let me know if you try it!
I made these with regular potato cos my family doesn’t like sweet potato and they turned out lovely.
Excellent! Full approval from all at dinner last night. Don’t skip chilling in the fridge step. I think that helps with shaping and keeping them from falling apart. PLan to make more to stick in freezer and would like to try BBQ for cooking. PS. spicy chickpea burgers are also a favourite.
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them!