Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers (Vegan, GF)

These sweet potato black bean burgers will rock your world! Sweet potatoes add colorful flavor and texture to this healthy veggie burger recipe. You’ll love that these burgers are gluten-free, oil-free, and that the texture is perfect. See below for topping ideas, along with the calories in a bean burger. Be sure and make a double batch and freeze half!

I love these sweet potato black bean burgers. I’ve been making them nearly every day this summer. They definitely fit into my easy vegan lifestyle. Simply stated, I don’t want a lot of complicated recipes in my life. We can tolerate a few…amiright?

But the majority of my recipes need to be straight forward and do-able.

These sweet potato black bean burgers fit that to a tee!

Along these lines, I highly recommend making a double batch and freezing half. That way you can return to the freezer for your own, homemade vegan black bean burgers

How to Make Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers

It’s pretty easy to make these sweet potato black bean burgers.

You will need a food processor, although you can get by with a blender. Here is the list of equipment used in this recipe:

• food processor
• skillet
• convection toaster oven (although any oven will do).
• spatula for flipping burgers

Now, on to the ingredients. These are the ingredients in this recipe:

• sweet potato
• oatmeal
• walnuts
• black beans
• dehydrated onions
• garlic powder
• nutritional yeast flakes
• taco seasoning
• ground flax seeds
• fresh corn

That’s right. Only ten ingredients to make these delicious vegan black bean burgers!

Cooking Instructions

The first step is to cook your sweet potato. First, you’ll wash it and then prick it with a fork, and then place in the microwave. Cook it between 2 – 3 minutes.

You’ll place the oats and walnuts in a food processor and pulse until a very course flour is developed. It’s ok if you see bits of oatmeal; it will add texture.

Next, chop up the cooked sweet potatoes and pulse that until smooth. Then drain the beans and add them to the food processor along with the seasonings.

Notice I don’t add any salt. It’s not needed! Canned beans have salt already, so no need to add any extra.

I like to add a little bit of fresh corn. It adds both flavor and color to the recipe.

Finally, form the dough into patties and then cook in a skillet over medium-high heat until browned on both sides (about five minutes each). Then place the burgers in a heated oven and cook for around 10 minutes. This helps the burgers set and become firm.

Expert Tips

Here are some tips for making these vegan black bean burgers perfect every time:

• You may need to use a spatula to help stir the ingredients in the food processor.
• Add the corn last
• Use either fresh or frozen corn. Canned corn could work too, but it’s not as good as fresh or frozen
• Cook the burgers on both sides until browned
• Have your oven preheated so you can bake the burgers up to 10 minutes after they’ve been browned to create a firm texture
• The burgers will firm up as they cool
• You can freeze these black bean burgers. Cook burgers and allow them to cool and then transfer to a freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 2 months.
• If you’re using a low salt taco seasoning, you can add additional salt to the burger batter, up to a 1/2 teaspoon
• Sometimes I’ll sub different seasonings for variety, such a a mesquite grilled seasoning or spicy chipotle seasoning.
• If you want to grill these burgers, I suggest skipping the skillet and send the patties straight to the oven. Bake for about 10 minutes and then grill them. That way they’ll get a little firmness and will grill nicely.

Are Black Bean Burgers Good For You?

Yes, the majority of black bean burgers are good for you. That’s because they’re made with black beans, vegetables and grains. Black beans are loaded with fiber, potassium, folate, and a whole host of other important phytonutrients.

When we go out to eat, I always search the menu for black bean burgers. Sometimes it may not be listed on the menu, but ask your server because it may be an off-menu item.

Can I freeze black bean burgers?

Freezing black bean burgers is one of the things I love about making them homemade. I prefer to make a double batch and then freeze half. The recipe below yields 4 – 6 burgers (depending on the size of the burgers), so you can expect anywhere from 8 – 12 from a double batch.

Going to the freezer and heating up a tasty sweet potato black bean burger makes dinnertime SO MUCH easier!

Black Bean Burger Toppings

These are my favorite burger toppings:

• lettuce/greens
• tomato slices
• sliced onions
• creamy vegan coleslaw
• mayo (store-bought vegan or homemade vegan mayo works)
• homemade BBQ Sauce
• vegan cheese
• vegan bacon (or maybe even my vegan bacon almond slivers)

There’s no end to delicious toppings for veggie burgers. What’s your favorite bean burger topping? Is it onion rings? Something unusual? 🤨 Leave it in the comment below!

Gluten Free Black Bean Burgers

One thing I love about this black bean burger is how simple it is. The ingredients are pretty basic, but it delivers a delicious burger, time and time again!

Another great benefit? These sweet potato black bean burgers are gluten-free. Even if you don’t have sensitivities to gluten, it never hurts to give your body a break. In fact, the wheat consumed 50 years ago is different than the wheat we eat today. Wheat was re-engineered so it would produce larger yields. As a result, some people claim that the wheat today is harder on your body.

I’m not celiac, but I definitely experience side effects to gluten, so I keep it limited in my diet. That means, I do consume some gluten, but my priority is to minimize it in my diet.

That’s one reason I used oatmeal in this recipe instead of flour. And good thing I experimented with that because it’s my new favorite veggie burger ingredient!

We hope you love this recipe for vegan Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers. If you decide to make them, be sure and snap a photo and share it with me using #namelymarly on Instagram. I LOVE seeing your photos!

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers

You’ll love these easy, healthy, and delicious Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers. Make a double batch and freeze some so you can make this healthy dinner any night of the week! 

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 195kcal

Author: Namely Marly

Ingredients

• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1 cup oatmeal
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts
• 15 oz black beans (canned) rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon dehydrated onions
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon taco seasoning (See note on salt)
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
• ¼ cup frozen corn

Instructions

• Scrub and wash the outside of a sweet potato. Use a fork to stab the potato several times and then place it in the microwave and cook for two minutes. Use oven sits to remove from the oven and allow it to cool. After it’s cooled, chop into large cubes.
• Place the oatmeal and walnuts in a food processor and pulse until a course flour is formed. 
• Add the cubed sweet potatoes, drained black beans, onions, garlic powder, taco seasoning, nutritional yeast flakes, and ground flax seeds. Pulse for a couple of seconds and then use a spatula to push the ingredients back down. Pulse again for several seconds. It’s good to leave some texture in the burgers so don’t puree it down to a paste, just creating a cohesive mass.
• Add the frozen corn and use a spatula to stir it throughout. Let that mixture sit for about 5 minutes.
• When you’re ready to cook the burgers, turn your oven to 200F and spray a skillet with vegetable cooking spray. Place the skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Form patties and place them in the heated skillet using a spatula.
• Cook patties about 5 minutes on one side. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the uncooked side of the patties. Flip the patties and cook on the other side until the patties have firmed up and are brown on both sides.
• Place the cooked burgers on a baking pan and place that pan in your heated oven or toaster oven. Repeat cooking any remaining veggie patties using process described above until all the burgers are cooked, allowing each about 10 minutes to stay in the oven before serving.
• Serve on toasted buns with dairy-free mayo, pickles, onions, and sliced tomatoes.

Notes

If your taco seasoning is a low salt variety, you may choose to add a 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt or a teaspoon of mild miso paste to this recipe, depending on your taste preferences. We try to keep added sodium to a minimum.

I like to reserve a few whole black beans to add to the mix with the corn to add visual interest to the final black bean burgers.

Enjoy!