Whether you’re a veggie-loving beast or full on meat-craving carnivore these Veggie Sweet Potato Garden Burgers will definitely please! Meatless Monday never tasted so delicious!
Veggie burgers are not a ‘new’ thing yet in the past 3 or so years they’ve become a menu regular. Heck, there are some restaurants that only serve veggie burgers. It’s funny how I actually more often will order a veggie burger than a regular burger these days. I’m not a vegetarian and still love meat but there’s just something intriguing about these things. You wouldn’t expect a veggie burger to be juicy or packed with so much flavor yet they are.
I mean just look at my Chunky Portabello veggie burger. That single burger recipe has bridged the gap between salad heads and meat beasts; both teams love them. Vegetarians absolutely love the fact that you have a burger that is hearty, packed with a bajillion veggies and that is seriously the “best damn veggie burger” out there. And meat lovers…don’t get me started! Their minds are blown by the fact that they are eating a burger that tastes so much like beef (or a real burger as they’d say) but is made with all veggies. I mean I had some guy argue til he was blue in the face that there was no way anyone could make a veggie burger taste delicious let alone tastes like a ‘real burger’. One bite and I shut him up.
Now before I go any further I should disclose that there is one person that doesn’t like this – Mr. Fantabulous. He doesn’t quite “get” the whole non-meat thing and swears if I try to turn him vegetarian he’s moving out. For him, honestly, it’s a textural thing I thing as most veggie burgers are a tad more ‘creamy’ in the center. Sure you’ll have chunks of veggies but you never get that same texture as you would with meat. Challenge for me? Perhaps but honestly it’s not that big of a deal and hey if he doesn’t like it, it’s just more for me.
So making veggie burgers have become a regular thing for me. And to be completely honest they come from my need to clean out my vegetable bin or use up those last bit of veggies we had with dinner a few nights earlier. Oh sure I’ll make them on purpose but it kind of seems like I make them more as a way to re-purpose what’s in the fridge and prevent it from turning. This burger is kind of a mishmash of the two. I had a crap load of baked sweet potatoes in the fridge – I kind of roasted too many and didn’t eat them fast enough. Plus I only had like a cup of corn left and a few rogue peppers that had seen finer days.
Secondly, I was craving a fat burger. I had made him some fat steak burgers but I just wasn’t feelin’ that whole meat thing. I wasn’t going to go with a black bean burger but I knew I had to use up those sweet potatoes. Now sweet potatoes are something that you can incorporate in pretty much any type of meal whether it’s savory or sweet. It just works For this burger I thought about mashing it but instead, I let the beans act as the creamy binders. Instead, I left the potatoes more in a soft chunk state.
Okay so some TIPS ABOUT MAKING VEGGIE BURGERS:
- Form the burgers with wet hands. If you don’t, the mixture will stick to your hands and fingers which mean you won’t get a solidly formed burger patty.
- The mixture must be able to hold a shape when you form a patty. If it does not then the mixture is too wet. Even if you follow the recipe exactly, not all veggies are identical. My peppers could have less water content than yours. It’s normal. So this is where YOU need to adjust the recipe. You need to add a bit more breadcrumbs or element like that that will ‘suck up’ the extra liquid.
- These are VEGETARIAN, not vegan. Now I’m neither of these so I look to the TKW Family on to veganize it. Many use 1 tablespoon ground flax seed with almost 3 tablespoon of water in lieu of the egg. Whisk it together and let it rest til it thickens.
- You must fry these up as soon as you form the patties. Do not form them and then put them to rest in the fridge. Because these are vegetables they have liquid in them which means the longer you let them sit (while cut up) the liquid will start to seep out. What was once a beautifully formed burger can turn into a mushy glob of well, yuck, in the fridge. Fry them up then either freeze them or store in the fridge.
- They freeze perfectly AFTER they are cooked.
- I’ve not tried grilling these as I don’t have a bbq but if you try it and it works, let us know how you did it!
- Make it your own. What I mean is you can use pretty much any vegetable in this. Try roasted asparagus or chopped Brussels sprouts.
- And yes, it’s TOTALLY OK to add bacon on a veggie burger *wink*
The beauty about veggie burgers, at least for me, is that you can eat them as a burger or you can use them in pretty much any type of dish. Granted you can do the same with chopped meat burger but to me, it just doesn’t taste ‘right’ say in a burrito bowl or what not. These burgers are, as you can see, RIDICULOUS on a brioche bun with some melty cheese, arugula and a slathering of my Mexican Crema spread. That’s just really thick crema mixed with cream cheese, some garlic powder, dried onions, red pepper flakes, parsley, salt, pepper, and chives. Just mix it until it’s spreadable.
These same burgers, chop them up and pile them on top of some warm tortilla chips with some chopped tomatoes, avocados, more beans and cojita cheese and it’s like a fiesta! Or stuff them into a pita with some red onion, shredded lettuce and tzatziki sauce and OMG! And one little tidbit – you can make these as sliders or…
wait for it…
MEATBALLS!!! Yep! Just form as meatballs, fry them up and you’re rollin’ all fat and happy in meatball heaven! Psst… think THESE MEATBALLS over top SPAGHETTI SQUASH! What just happened?! LOL
So if you’re looking for a new veggie burger, then definitely make this one. Oh, side note… these are PERFECT for a weekly meal prep!!! As I just shared above you can take this single recipe and transform it into an entre week of meals that are all slightly different yet equally delicious!
Veggie Sweet Potato Garden Burgers
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- Yield: 6-8
Ingredients
Burger
- 1 cup cauliflower rice
- 1 cup cooked sweet potato, cut into small cubes
- 1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and divided
- 1 cup whole kernel corn
- 1/2 cup chopped red peppers
- 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes, flesh only; no juice
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 large shallot, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs (or can substitute in grated parmesan)
- 2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley)
- 1 tablespoon Montreal Steak Seasoning
- 2–3 tablespoon olive oil
Toppings
- Arugula
- Avocado Slices with sea salt and black pepper
- Cheese
- Ranch
- Whole wheat or brioche buns
Instructions
- In a large bowl add 1/2 of the black beans and mash until somewhat smooth and creamy (some lumps are OK). Next add in the rest of the ingredients, except the olive oil and mix until combined. The mixture should be tacky to the touch but will hold a shape when made into a patty.
- Place a medium non-stick pan over medium heat and add in 2 tablespoon of oil.
- Once the oil starts to shimmer (about a minute or two), using dampened hands (the mixture will stick to you if you don’t), scoop a 1/2-3/4 cup of mixture into the palm of your hand and gently shape into a tight burger all the while pressing together. The mixture must hold a burger shape. If it doesn’t add just a tablespoon or more of breadcrumbs.
- Place the formed patties in the oil and cook for 4-6 minutes per side or until golden brown and a crust has formed on each side. Flip ONLY once. If the patty does not have a nice crust, it may fall apart when flipping.
- To assemble the burgers, spread some ranch on both sides of the burger bun. Add some arugula, burger, cheese, avocado slices and more arugula.
Oh, this? Yeah I took this all Mexican style by adding some sliced avocado, Chihuahua cheese and crema.
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