Easy Black Bean and Sweet Potato Vegan Burgers (Oil-Free)

This easy-to-make black bean and sweet potato burger hit the bullseye not just because of its tantalising taste but also because of its simplicity.

I’m not into making complicated burger recipes.

My idea of perfection is for it to be quick-n-easy to create, just like these ones are.

The secret for making burgers is to master the basic concept, then play around with the texture and flavours and personalise it each time until you come up with your favourite combo.

The Basic Ingredients for these Oil Free Black Bean and Sweet Potato Vegan Burgers

• Black beans or a mix of black beans and chickpeas
• Sweet potato flesh
• Tapioca starch
• Maize flour / Chickpea flour
• Ground flax seeds
• Oyster mushrooms or sub with standard mushrooms
• Tamari or gluten-free soy sauce
• Nutritional yeast
• Fresh herbs of choice e.g. fresh cilantro or fresh basil
• Chilli powder to taste
• (Optional cumin powder or a spice blend)

The basis for these burgers is the black beans and/or chickpeas, the sweet potato and some binder to hold them together.

On top of that, I like to add some mushrooms for texture, and the rest of the ingredients are for flavouring.

I used tapioca flour, maize flour and chickpea flour in this version.

And a teaspoon of flax which acts as an egg replacement. You can swap the chickpea and maize flour out for another gluten-free flour of your choice.

How to Cook the Black Beans (and Chickpeas) for the Burgers

The best thing about making homemade black bean burgers is that I’ve recently discovered how to cook dried pulses from scratch without all the hassle that normally goes with them if you don’t have a slow cooker.

In the past, I used to buy chickpeas in a jar and black beans in a tin for convenience. But they’re far cheaper and much tastier if you cook them yourself.

Simply leave them to sit in salty water for 5 hours or overnight, then drain the beans and place them into the rice cooker. Cover with fresh water so that there is plenty of water covering the beans/chickpeas and switch on the rice cooker.

Read: how to cook chickpeas in a rice cooker

Cook the beans just as you would cook rice, but instead of leaving it to switch itself off, come back and check your beans in about 30 minutes. Keep checking them until they are soft, then switch off the rice cooker and leave to cool.

This way you can always have delicious and cheap beans in the fridge for use in recipes or for making tasty instant vegan snacks.

Preparing the Other Ingredients for the Black Bean and Sweet Potato Vegan Burgers

Put the sweet potato into the microwave and cook on high heat until it is soft through. Peel off the skin and add the flesh to the bean mix.

Fry the oyster mushrooms in a little water in a frying pan with a sprinkle of salt and any spices you choose for flavouring the vegan burger. My standard choice is chilli powder and cumin powder and plenty of black pepper – but any others you fancy will also do fine.

When the mushrooms are looking cooked, add a small dash of Tamari or gluten-free soy sauce to the pan and stir fry for a moment.

Add half the oyster mushrooms to the bean mix. Chop the other half finely and set aside to add back into the mixture after the blending is finished.

Finally, pour in 2 tbs tapioca flour, 1 tbs maize flour, 1 tsp chickpea flour, 1 heaped tsp ground flaxseed,

Pulse the blend in your food processor but be careful not to turn it into a smooth paste. You want it to be mixed and broken up but not smooth through.

There should be some bits of beans still in it to bite on. You can also reserve some whole beans for adding back into the mix if you like it with more texture still.

Once you’ve pulsed the mixture re-introduce the other half of the mushrooms and some of the whole beans, which you can roughly mash first.

Making the Oil-Free Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burgers

To make the patties, wash your hands and half-dry them, leaving them a tiny bit damp. This makes the mixture easier to handle. If it starts sticking to your skin, rinse your hands again and the burger mix will behave again.

Put a spoon full of burger mix into the palm of one hand and roll it between your palms to make a ball.

Repeat this until all the mixture has been used up.

Take a spatula and press each ball to flatten it out into a pattie.

Preheat the oven to 200ºc and cook the patties for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes.

Serving Oil-Free Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burgers

These burgers aren’t dry so they go perfectly in a gluten-free burger bun but you can also eat them as a snack straight from the fridge or reheat them in the microwave.

They go divinely with a helping of hot ‘n spicy kimchi on the side and a serving of air-fried smashed potatoes.

I’m not such a fan of burger-bun type bread and I very rarely eat bread at all, so I prefer to place a burger on a piece of iceberg lettuce and top it with avocado and cherry tomato.

Next, add a blob of cilantro sauce on top and fold the lettuce leaf over on top.

Enjoy a tasty and nutritious snack which is great as part of a whole foods plant-based diet.

How to make a really easy oil-free vegan burger is one of the common FAQs that I get asked. If you’ve ever wondered about that question I hope this post offers you the solution.

Enjoy your burgers!