Crisp on the outside and moist in the middle, this sweet potato burger has a wonderful earthy flavor from rosemary & paprika.
I couldn’t wait to make this sweet potato burger after seeing this recipe. I made a few alterations based on the ingredients I had (or rather, didn’t have) in my kitchen. I ended up making them with tofu instead of beans, which worked out great. I flavored them with rosemary and paprika, which was a nice earthy balance to the maple syrup. Sometimes veggie burgers can be too starchy and brick-heavy, but this one was moist in the center and crispy on the edges.
Because there are just 2 of us, I made half the recipe that I listed below. Later that week, I made this hummus with the leftover 1/2 sweet potato mash… which by no coincidence resembles the flavors in this burger because they happened to be the ingredients I had around. Hey, cook once eat twice, right?
For more veggie burger recipes, try this mushroom-based patty or this black bean quinoa burger!
Adapted from Healthy. Happy. Life.
Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers
- 1 sweet potato, baked, peeled, and mashed
- ⅓ block of extra-firm tofu (from a 14 oz package)
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon minced rosemary
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ cup panko (to roll the patties in before baking)
- Sea salt and fresh black pepper
- Slider or regular hamburger buns
- Whatever fixings you like on your burger: I had avocado, red onion & sprouts
- Preheat the oven to 425.
- Place the mashed sweet potato in a bowl and crumble in the tofu with your hands.
- Mash together with a fork until the tofu falls apart even more.
- Mix in the tahini, maple syrup, garlic, rosemary, paprika, salt & pepper.
- Form into patties. They will be messy; that's ok.
- Put the panko on a plate and coat the outside of each patty with the crumbs.
- Place patties on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are brown and crisp.
- I turned the broiler on for the last 30-60 seconds to help the browning along.
- You could also pan fry these in a skillet, but I baked them so they'd have less of a chance of falling apart.
- Serve on buns with whatever fixings you like. Or serve without a bun over a mixed greens salad.
Delicious – but definitely think it needs an egg. I added a flax egg because I knew it would be wet. Didn’t seem to do anything. I think adding an egg would make it more of a cake and less of a mashed potato ball.
But great flavor! Sweet and garlicky with the crispness from the panko.
This was pretty good! We replaced tahini with soy butter and used 2 cloves of garlic for more flavour. The mixture fell apart pretty easily, so we added an egg to help bind everything together.
Is this Vegan?
This recipe sounds delicious and I want to make these but I was wondering if anyone ever froze these or if the mixture will last a couple of days in the fridge. Thanks in advance! 🙂
Can you substitute medium-firm tofu for the extra firm tofu?
Hi Kierianne, firm or extra firm is best because there’s already a lot of moisture in this recipe – if you use medium, just try to press some of the water out before you use it. (set it out on towels for a bit then dab off the moisture)
How can the cook time be so short, how do you bake the sweet potatoes this fast? Every recipe i find is atleast 40min for baking sweet potato? Or am i missing something?
Hi Malin, the recipe starts with sweet potato mash from an already cooked sweet potato – sorry the instructions are unclear. Bake the sweet potato until it’s done, and then start with step 3.
Just want to say that I printed this recipe off at Christmas time and have used it ever since! My absolute favourite vegan burger recipe – thank you for sharing 🙂
Hi Charlotte, that’s so great to hear! Thanks for sharing!
Hi! I really wish I could try these (I love sweet potatoes and the burgers look delicious!) But unfortunately I am allergic to soy! Is there any good substitute for the tofu??
Thank you so much!
Love, Lucie
I made these tonight, the only difference was that I used tarragon in place of rosemary because I did not have rosemary, and I used whole wheat bread crumbs because that’s just what we use in my household. They were AWESOME. My meat loving (and former sweet potato hating) hubbs loved them, my one year old girl loved them and my three year old son loved them! I also loved them ;)The kids ate them alone (no bread or toppings, just cut up in pieces) and both had seconds. My hubbs and I ate them on the Ezekiel sesame bread, lightly toasted with sauteed mushroom, onion and spinach, and Emril’s New York deli style mustard. The mustard was a great complement to the sweetness. YUMMMM!!! Definitely a keeper 🙂 Thank you!
wow, so glad everyone liked them! I’ve been eating everything with mustard lately, so I’ll have to try that next time for sure 🙂
I tried these since I’m always looking for alternatives to burgers, especially vegan/gluten free alternatives (I used a combination of rice cakes and corn chips combo crumbled via the food processor in lieu of panko). The finished burgers were wet, very wet and the sogginess did not bake away. I was tempted to add some oatmeal to help absorb the moisture but was afraid of the heaviness of the finished product. Any suggestions? Anyone else have this problem? I did bake them in my countertop toaster oven but I don’t that should have made a difference.
Hi Mark,
If you’re gluten free (and don’t want to use panko), I would try crumbling up some gluten free bread to make bread crumbs — that should absorb moisture better than rice cakes and corn chips. And then I would just add more breadcrumbs if the patties seem to wet. I would be afraid that oatmeal might become gummy and, yes, maybe a bit heavy.
Also, I would really suggest baking them in a regular oven… Mine were pretty moist in the middle but still crispy, not soggy around the edges. (I find a lot of veggie burgers are dry so I liked them that way). I’m not super familiar with toaster ovens but I’m guessing they would bake more thoroughly in a stronger oven.
Ground flax seed might help. Having the same problem right now as they cook! That is what I’ll try for next time.
These sound fantastic! Can’t wait to try them with the sweet potatoes from our garden, and serve them in our restaurant this week. Thanks for your lovely blog and truly inspiring recipes.
I made these last night and even Todd actually liked them! Served them on mini challah rolls with goat chefs, caramelized onions, avocado, and arugula. So good!! Today I had a salad for lunch with the extra patties. Yummerz 🙂
I made this recipe for a dinner party today and it was a big hit. Absolutely delicious! Thanks so much for posting this. I paired it with rosemary/sage potato wedges and a salad with a cranberry-orange vinagrette.
so glad they were a hit! Thanks for sharing…
Yummm on my menu this week!
Fabulous! I just made my own variation. Didn’t have tofu so I cracked open a can of northern beans and used a couple spoonfuls of those instead. Worked great! Since I had also made some mixed split pea soup, I just served the patties over greens from the garden with a dollop of mayo. Thanks for sharing this!
Hi Peggy,
I’m glad these worked out for you! Thanks for sharing.
I can’t to try this and love the fact that the recipe is just for two 🙂
Woah there. I am obsessed with savory sweet potatoes in every form so naturally I feel compelled to make these ASAP! Mega yum.
Brilliant!
These sound fantastic warm. I wonder if they would also be good cold/room temp. If so, they would make fantastic picnic food.
I made the Happy Healthy Life version a couple weeks ago but I love the little variations on the burger! And pretty picture, too!!
Sounds so healthy and delicious!