Last Updated on March 17, 2022 by Chenée Lewis
Chickpea sweet potato patties are vegan, gluten free, and so good! This sweet potato patty recipe is a delicious weeknight dinner! Read on to see how to make sweet potato patties that you'll love! And for more delicious savory vegan goodies, check out my Vegan Couscous Salad with Charred Corn, my Vegan White Bean Dip with Lemon and Pistachios, and Fried Potatoes and Onions!
Sweet Potato Patties - Vegan Recipe
Let's make a hearty, filling sweet potato patty recipe! Even better that it's vegan, gluten-free, and super healthy! These sweet potato patties are made with baked sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and jalapeños, and they're so full of amazing flavors! They're a great way to brighten up a rainy day, and they're a fantastic dinner option for the whole family!
This fried sweet potato patties recipe comes from my dad, who is eating a largely plant-based diet and is a great resource for me for delicious plant-based, healthy meals! He's always cooking amazing veggies and healthy whole grains, so when one day I called him while he was making dinner, he just happened to be improvising this amazing sweet potato patties recipe! Served with a creamy, tangy avocado sauce, it's a full meal with your favorite side dishes! I enjoyed it with sautéed kale tomatoes and some fluffy quinoa and it was perfect!
Chickpea Sweet Potato Patties Nutrition
These delicious, satisfying sweet potato patties are fully vegan and gluten-free with no added sugar. They're also full of amazing nutrients!
What are the qualities of sweet potato?
The sweet potato in these vegan sweet potato cakes provides an amazing source of vitamins and minerals like B-vitamins, vitamin C, iron, calcium and selenium. They're also full of beta carotene, an antioxidant that can lower the risk of cancer or heart disease. Plus the fiber in sweet potatoes makes them great for digestion and regulating blood sugar with type 2 diabetes.
Chickpeas
The protein and fiber in chickpeas can help fill you up, regulate appetite, manage blood sugar, and aid in digestion. Chickpeas are also a great source of magnesium and potassium, which boosts heart health. They may also help you prevent and manage type 2 diabetes and reduce the risk of certain cancers.
Extra-Virgin Olive oil
The fatty acids in extra-virgin olive oil like oleic acid can reduce inflammation and may reduce cancer risk. Plus, the antioxidants in olive oil can reduce your risk of heart disease and other chronic diseases.
Avocado
Avocados have more potassium than bananas! And a higher potassium intake supports healthy blood pressure levels, which is great for heart health. Like extra-virgin olive oil, they also contain oleic acids, which can reduce inflammation and cancer risk. As part of a vegetarian diet, they've also been shown to reduce cholesterol and triglycerides levels. Also, they're full of antioxidants that can protect your eye health!
Note that this information is not a substitute for the advice of a diet/nutrition expert or medical professional — please see my nutrition disclaimer.
Ingredients
Now that you know how wholesome this sweet potato patty recipe is, here's what you'll need to make them!
- sweet potatoes - our star ingredient! We'll roast them first, and then blend them for the perfect texture. You can use fresh sweet potatoes, or 12 ounces of frozen sweet potatoes works well too.
- canned chickpeas - they'll need to be drained and rinsed, but otherwise no need to prep them. Easy peasy!
- red onions - You can sub in white onion or even scallions if you like! The idea is to bring in some bold flavors to complement the sweet potato and chickpeas.
- cilantro - I love the way the flavor of cilantro pairs with the sweet potato and red onion. It's so good!
- fresh garlic - a must! I definitely recommend this garlic press to make your fresh garlic life way easier.
- cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, and chili flakes - you can substitute the seasonings of your choice, but I love this blend of seasonings to give these sweet potato patties a satisfying, spicy flavor!
Then, to make your creamy avocado sauce, here's what you'll need:
- avocado
- lime
- fresh garlic
- fresh jalapeño
- salt and pepper
- water
Equipment
This recipe is pretty simple, but you will need a tool to mash up the potatoes and chickpeas. I recommend a food processor or an immersion blender, which will allow you to puree the two ingredients together while still maintaining a slightly chunky texture. You can also use a potato masher, but it'll take a bit more elbow grease!
How to Make Sweet Potato Patties, Step by Step
- Bake your sweet potatoes. You'll need to peel your sweet potatoes and chop them into chunks, and then bake them for about 40 minutes. The reason you're peeling and chopping them first is because this process is meant to dry them out, to ensure that they form cohesive patties once they're mashed up with the chickpeas.
- Mash your chickpeas and sweet potatoes. The base for these vegan sweet potato cakes is this chickpea-sweet potato mixture. I used an immersion blender, but you can use a food processor, or a potato masher for this step.
- Mix in the rest of your ingredients. This step just adds lots of flavor! You'll have to resist the temptation to eat this mixture with a spoon! You can feel free to sub in your favorite spices or fresh herbs to make this sweet potato patties recipe your own. Just be careful with adding any extra veggies, since we don't want the sweet potato patties to be too wet when we're cooking them!
- Form your patties and pan-fry them in olive oil. Cook them over medium heat, checking occasionally to see how they're browning. Once the patties are nice and brown on one side and are starting to be more solid, flip them and continue cooking. This process requires the mixture to dry out further, so it takes about 20 minutes, depending on how moist your patties are to begin with.
- Blend up your creamy avocado sauce, and serve! These vegan sweet potato cakes are made even better with this avocado sauce! The tang from the lime and the heat from the jalapeño are a perfect complement to all the flavors in the sweet potato patties.
Tips and F.A.Q.
Yes! These sweet potato patties stores well in the fridge for up to three days, or they can be frozen for up to two months.
Definitely -- if you prefer not to add the spicy element, these sweet potato cakes will still be delicious if you leave them out!
More Yummy Sweet Potato Recipes
- Brown Butter Sweet Potato Pie
- Paleo Chicken Thigh Recipe with Roasted Vegetables
- Sweet Potato Pop Tarts Recipe + Black History Month Virtual Potluck 2021
Equipment you may need
- potato masher
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes - peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes; you can also use 12 ounces of frozen, cubed sweet potatoes
- 1 15-oz. can chickpeas - rinsed and drained
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 3 tablespoon (1 g) cilantro - chopped
- ½ medium red onion - chopped
- 1 teaspoon (2 g) cumin
- 1 tablespoon (8 g) red pepper flakes - or to taste
- salt and pepper - to taste
- 2 tablespoon (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil
Creamy Avocado Sauce
- 1 medium avocado - ripe
- juice of ½ lime
- 1 clove garlic - chopped
- 1 tsp (5 g) jalapeño - chopped; seeds removed (optional; may also reduce or increase amount depending on how spicy you want it)
- salt and pepper - to taste
- ⅓ cup (79 ml) water - as needed to thin out consistency
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Place sweet potatoes on baking sheet and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until tender and somewhat dried out.2 large sweet potatoes
- Combine cooked sweet potato chunks with chickpeas in the bowl of a food processor or in a large bowl. Purée with hand blender, potato masher, or food processor, leaving some parts a little chunky.1 15-oz. can chickpeas
- Add in remaining patty ingredients (excluding olive oil) and mix well.2 cloves garlic, 3 tablespoon cilantro, ½ medium red onion, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes, salt and pepper
- Heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a large sauté pan. Form sweet potato mixture into 8 patties.2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Fry patties in olive oil for about 8-10 minutes, checking regularly to see how they're browning. Carefully flip over and continue cooking another 5-10 minutes, or until patties are browned on each side and have solidified a bit.
- To make avocado sauce, combine all avocado sauce ingredients and blend using a hand blender or food processor until smooth. You can also mash avocados with a fork and whisk ingredients together. If needed, add more water to thin out sauce, and serve over warm patties.1 medium avocado, juice of ½ lime, 1 teaspoon jalapeño, salt and pepper, ⅓ cup water, 1 clove garlic
Notes
Nutrition
PIN this sweet potato patty recipe for later!
Collette
I really enjoyed these sweet potato chickpea patties. I cooked my sweet potatoes almost 50 minutes but they were hard to mash up. So the patties definitely had chunks of sweet potatoes, which was still good. I just wanted them to be mixed in more. Maybe I should have cooked them longer or at a higher temperature because they were definitely dried out (I live in Utah) But delicious and easy!
Chenée Lewis
Thanks Collette! Glad you liked them! Maybe next time you can cut the potato chunks a little smaller before baking them? In any case I'm glad the recipe worked out for you!
Jennifer
Hey! Can you by chance bake these instead of frying them? If so what do you recommend the oven temperature be at and for how long on each side?
Chenée Lewis
I haven't tried these in the oven but I think it would work! You could try a temp of 350, and bake them 15-20 minutes per side, adding time if needed 🙂
Chrissy
Very tasty recipe! I took the time to take the shells/skins off the chickpeas before blending - a chef who makes the most delicious and creamy falafel told me this secret! I think it makes for a smoother texture. Was expecting a crispier outcome after pan frying but still super tasty especially with the avocado crema!
Chenée Lewis
I'm so glad you enjoyed! And that's a great tip to remove the skins from the chickpeas!! 🙂
Donna
Is there a way to make the potatoes more dense? I followed the recipe to the T, but they were still kind of smooshy.
Chenée Lewis
I like to try to get them to dry out as much as possible, so one option would be to add 10 minutes or so to the oven time to get the moisture out while they're in the oven. You can also cook them a little longer in the pan, again just to get some of the moisture to evaporate and help them solidify further. I hope this helps and that you have a chance to try them again! 🙂
Jazz
We made this for meatless Monday dinner and it was so flavorful and filling. Will be making again!
Chenée Lewis
Thanks! These are great for a Meatless Monday!
Britney
I really needed something to do with my sweet potatoes so I am so happy that I found this recipe! The fritters were super easy to make and so flavorful. I had it with some veggies and roast beef and it was such an amazing meal!
Chenée Lewis
Awesome! Sounds like a delicious, hearty meal!
Tamara
I had sweet potatoes I had to use up- and these were PERFECT. They were absolutely delicious.
Chenée Lewis
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Capri Lilly
The sweet potatoes and chickpeas together is such a great combination! I love these patties! I've eaten them for breakfast with warm quinoa and for lunch on a salad!
Chenée Lewis
Awesome! Yeah I love how versatile they are! 🙂
Barry J.
I've been looking for more plant based recipes and I'm so glad I came across this one. The patties were so easy to make and they also didn't fall apart which is really important for me. Can't wait to make this again soon!
Chenée Lewis
I'm so glad you liked them!!
Mila
This was a wonderful plant-based option. I really enjoyed using my sweet potatoes a little differently!
Chenée Lewis
Sweet potatoes are so versatile -- it's great to find even more ways to enjoy them 🙂
Marta
This was the perfect meatless Monday dinner for us this week. That creamy avocado was bomb. I had some leftover and used it for the next day's salad at lunch.
Chenée Lewis
Such a great idea! I'm glad you enjoyed this!
Jessica
The perfect Meatless Monday recipe. So hearty and filling!
Chenée Lewis
SO filling! You definitely don't miss the meat!
Keri Beard
This is excellent! Absolutely delicious and easy to make.
Chenée Lewis
I'm so glad you liked them!! 🙂
Natasha
These look absolutely wonderful. My husband LOVES sweet potatoes and I'm always looking for a new way to incorporate them into dinners. Thanks for sharing this beautiful recipe.
Chenée Lewis
Thank you so much! I hope you both love it!