If you’ve grown tired of the average veggie burger, you’ll be delighted with this roasted beet and sweet potato burger—made with just 10 simple ingredients.

Name: Roasted Beet and Sweet Potato Burger
Prep time: PT-471235H28M4S
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 43 min
Cuisine: Burgers
Ingredients: 3 medium beets; 2 sweet potatoes; 2 eggs; 1 1/2 cups cooked rice; 1 1/2 cups Panko bread crumbs; 1 teaspoon paprika; 1 teaspoon garlic paste; 1/2 teaspoon cumin; 1 teaspoon salt; Pinch of pepper; 1 tablespoon olive oil

With the rise of products like Beyond Beef and the Impossible Burger, it’s clear that people want more meatless options. Luckily, we’ve turned a corner with vegetarian options that taste great. But, it sometimes feels like I’m stocking up on the same ol’ veggie burgers and whipping up the usual dinner-minus-the-meat. Incorporating this beet and sweet potato burger into your meal planning is easy!

If you’re a beet salad fan, you’ll know how satisfying some freshly-roasted beets topped with a little goat cheese and pickled onions can be. So, I thought, what if I swap out my usual rice, beans, and corn for some roasted beets in my next sweet potato burger? Voila, the beet burger was born.

Beets, beets, beets

I’ll admit that my initial inspiration for this burger came after stocking up on cans of julienne beets (hey, we were entering a pandemic!). If you love beets, too, you’ll understand why beets were on my must-haves during a time when we weren’t sure if we’d have access to produce. Beets have a mild flavor, but some people either love them or hate them. But, combined with sweet potatoes and the right seasoning blend, and you may be surprised with how many people will love these burgers!

Beet preparation

Ideally, the beets should be drizzled in olive oil and roasted. However, I realize that this isn’t always an option. If you don’t have access to fresh beets—or don’t have 45 minutes for roasting—you can use a few quick substitutions:

• Canned beets

• Frozen beets, thawed in hot water

• Previously cooked beets (like these ones from Love Beets)

There are two ways to prepare your beets for roasting. First, remove the stems and peel. But, if you’d prefer to skip this step, you can. Start by trimming the tops off your beets and place them in some foil. Drizzle with olive oil, roast until tender, and let cool. Once they’re cool enough to handle but still warm, simply start to rub the outside of the beets and the skins will slough off. Easy!

Sweet potatoes

The aforementioned substitutions are also great for sweet potatoes. I often cook several sweet potatoes at once, knowing that I’ll use them in another recipe over the subsequent few days. So, use this opportunity to transform leftover sweet potatoes into your next meal, or use frozen sweet potatoes and thaw in hot water.

Your food processor will come in handy once your root vegetables are cooked. For the beets, simply chop them into cubes and pulse a few times. If you opt for frozen sweet potatoes, allow them to thaw and repeat pulse in the food processor. Otherwise, boiling fresh sweet potatoes will make them soft enough for mashing sans pulse chopping.

Heat up the griddle

Unfortunately, I have yet to test these burgers on a barbecue or grill. It’s likely that they’ll stay intact if refrigerated ahead of time. But for now, let’s utilize your cast iron skillet or griddle.

You can’t go wrong with a cast iron skillet. Because they retain heat so well, you’ll get a thoroughly cooked burger without over-charring the outside. Start by heating your skillet to medium-high, and then immediately lower it to medium-low. This ensures that the heat is circulating, but not so hot that it’s going to burn your burgers.

Cast iron is great for heat retention, but it can be a little tricky when it comes to even heat distribution. I use this trick before cooking anything in my cast iron skillet.

Burger prep

Depending on the size of burgers you want, this recipe will yield between six and eight patties. The burgers pictured here are made with the 6-patty rations. But, they’re a bit dense. You can pare down your portions and get eight patties (or 20 sliders!).

It’s important to wrap and refrigerate your burger mix prior to cooking. This gives the eggs and panko time to create a little “glue” and hold your patties together. Allow for at least an hour, but you can make them up to 24 hours in advance.

Ready to make these exciting new veggie burgers? Save the recipe below!

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Roasted Beet and Sweet Potato Burger

Author: Nancy
Prep Time: 15-40 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 43 minute
Yield: 8 burgers 1x
Category: Vegetarian
Method: Cook
Cuisine: Burgers

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Description

Not all veggie burgers are created equal! This burger features roasted beets, sweet potatoes, and a few spices for a hearty flavor.

Ingredients

Scale

3 medium beets

2 sweet potatoes

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

1 1/2 cups Panko bread crumbs

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic paste

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

Pinch of pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425º.
Cut the stems off of the beets, cut into halves or quarters, and lightly drizzle in olive oil. Wrap in foil.
Roast for 45 minutes or until they’re tender. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Meanwhile, cook the sweet potatoes.
Peel and cube sweet potatoes and add to a large stockpot of salted boiling water.
Let cook for about 15 minutes, or until they’re tender.
Drain the pot and let sweet potatoes cool.
Once the beets have cooled enough to be handled, gently rub the outside of the beet to remove the skins. They should easily slough off—you can always peel them prior to roasting, if you prefer.
In a food processor, pulse the beets until they become shredded and fine enough to mash,
In a large bowl, combine the sweet potatoes and beets. Using your hands, a whisk, or a potato masher, begin to lightly mash them together. Then, add your rice.
Season the beet and potato mixture with salt, paprika, cumin, garlic paste, and pepper.
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs.
Pour eggs over the beet and potato mixture and gently fold until they’re well mixed in.
Add in the bread crumbs 1/2 cup at a time, ensuring that they’re evenly distributed.
Line a cutting board with plastic wrap and scoop the beet and sweet potato mixture onto the board.
Cover completely with plastic wrap, rolling the mixture out until even in a rectangular or square, and refrigerate for an hour (up to 24 hours).
Remove from the refrigerator and break into 6-8 portions, creating a round patty.
Heat a cast iron or stainless skillet to medium heat and drizzle with olive oil, then reduce to medium-low.
Cook burgers for 8-10 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and cooked through.
Serve over a seeded bun and garnish with goat cheese, arugula, avocado, and pickled onions—or your favorite toppings!