A Tasty New Veggie Patty to Reinvigorate Vegetarian Burgers
BBQ season is coming up, and even though I love grilling every type of meat on my Weber, we have a lot of vegetarian friends, so BBQ season also means it’s time to get creative with our veggie burger options. We could easily purchase one of the many pre-made options. However with a large food processor, you can make the filling for any veggie burger patty in no time. My classic formula is to combine some beans, a starch, some onions or garlic, and some spices and pulse away until you get a dense enough mixture to form into patties.
My favorite option recently has been this sweet potato chickpea veggie burger recipe. Sweet potatoes are an excellent choice for a starch. They’ve got a luscious, rich texture, and of course because it’s hard to find a child or adult who doesn’t love the taste of sweet potatoes. Chickpeas provide protein and also work as a great binder to keep the filling together and not falling part on a skillet or grill. I like to add some Indian spices to make it feel just a bit more exotic but feel free to leave the spices out. It’ll be just as good and the vegetarians at your summer BBQ definitely won’t feel like they were an afterthought.
Helpful tools: 1) Food processor; 2) Skillet; 3) Sheet pans
Cooking Smarts:
- How to quickly cook sweet potatoes. Video below
How to Quickly Cook Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes
Learn our trick for quickly making potatoes or sweet potatoes on a weeknight with this video.
Ingredients
- Sweet potatoes, cooked - 1½ lbs.
- Onions, diced - ½
- Garbanzo beans / chickpeas - 1 can
- Garam masala (Indian spice blend) - 2 tsp.
- Frozen peas - 1 cup
- Burger buns (optional) - 6 to 8
- Cheese (optional) - 6 to 8 slices
Instructions
Prep
- Sweet potatoes – Halve and score. Place into a microwave-safe pan. Add in 2 tbs. of water, cover with a damp paper towel, and pop into the microwave for 5 to 8 minutes (see video). Let cool
- Onions – Dice
- Make patties – Scoop flesh of sweet potatoes into a food processor. Add in drained chickpeas, garam masala, generous dash of salt, and onions. Pulse until everything is combined. Add in peas and then form into 6 to 8 patties. Place onto a sheet pan lined with foil and sprayed with cooking oil
Make
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Optional step – If you want to sear the patties to give them extra color and caramelization, heat up a skillet and add some cooking oil to the pan. Add in patties when oil is heated. Sear for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until you get a nice golden color. Move back onto sheet pan
- Bake patties in the oven for 15 minutes. Add cheese in the last 2 minutes
- Heat up grill to 500 degrees
- Grill patties for 2 to 3 minutes on each side at this temperature. Lower heat to 400 degrees. Cook for another 10 minutes. Add cheese in the last minute
