Smoky-Sweet Chickpea Burger with Adobo
I’ve been really into the smokey adobo flavor lately, so a few weekends ago when I set out to make a batch of my spicy chickpea burgers I decided to change things up a bit. I kept the chickpeas because they really do make the best veggie burgers, in my humble opinion, but I added sweet potato along with a couple chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (and a few teaspoons of the the sauce for good measure). I also threw in some leftover quinoa I had in the fridge.
The result? A spectaculatory burger, if I do say so myself. The heat and smokiness from the adobo chipotles is a totally different type of “spicy” than you get with other peppers or seasonings. It’s almost rich. The sweetness of the potatoes offsets it in a way that ensures it’s not too hot. This burger is perfect for people (like me) who want to get their spicy on, but still be able to enjoy the flavor. This burger is not for those people who put ghost peppers on their oatmeal, if you catch my drift. That said, my husband is the King of Hot (in more ways than one 😉 ) and he was totally digging these. He started snacking on them in bits n’ pieces while I was still baking them and said “Hey, these have a little bite!”. He was happy to have them for dinner too- a sure sign of approval.
The sweet potatoes made the mixture a bit more moist than I’m used to, but that was quickly offset with a few extra shakes of bread crumbs. Easy peasy. They’re still on the soft side (I guess that’s just what happens with sweet taters!), but super delicious. I actually made a double batch and froze the extras- I like to break them up into bits throughout the week on my lunch salads. If you haven’t tried that, I highly recommend you do- with whatever veggie burger is your favorite. It adds a different texture and whole new flavor profile to salads, really perks them up. And makes it feel less like you’re just eating a salad, you know? Plus it’s healthier than croutons or some of those other salad add-ons you can buy at the store.
- 1 small-medium sweet potato, diced
- 1/2 a large onion, roughly chopped (I used red, sweet would also be good)
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (red or white is fine, but red is prettiest)
- 2-3 chiptles in adobo sauce, or more if you want more heat
- 2 teaspoons of the adobo sauce from the can
- 3/4 cup bread crumbs (plus more to achieve perfect consistency)
- Bake or microwave sweet potato until soft-ish.
- Place potatoes and onions in food processor and give a couple of whirls- leave a few small chunks, but not many.
- Add the chickpeas and give it another whirl. DON'T OVERDO IT! You want to leave lots of bean chunks, otherwise your burgers will come out too soft.
- Transfer to a large bowl and mix in quinoa,chopped chilies and the sauce and the bread crumbs and mix it all up.
- Let the entire mixture hang out in the fridge for 30 minute (or longer, that's fine too), then check the consistency. If' it's too soft, don't be afraid to add more bread crumbs!
- Form your patties and bake at 375 on a foil-lined pan for about 30 minutes, 15 on each side. Check to see if they're done- they might need a few more minutes depending on how moist your mixture was. You can finish them under the broiler to get a little more char if you like.
- Makes 5-6 patties, depending on size.
- These make a pretty soft burger, so if you want yours firmed up a little you could add more breadcrumbs and/or bake it a little longer (I think they're wonderful as-is!).
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These burgers look amazing & I know that veggies with sweet potato in a burger tastes heavenly! Heavenly!
Agreed!!!
Okay, so I NOW want to have this for dinner tonight–I just bought a whole bag of sweet potatoes (I love them!). Yum! And, LOL–ghost peppers on oatmeal. Belly laughing here. Seriously funny.
You laugh! My husband puts cinnamon on his oatmeal every morning, and one day he (somehow) put chili powder on it- and he still ate it! This was before I alphabetized my spice drawer, and he does get up at 3:00 am so I guess we can put all the blame on him… 🙂
All I can say is YUM!
and when is dinner, I’ll be over at 6 🙂
You have a long drive ahead of you! 😉
Are those sweet potato tater tots with the burger?
They ARE! Alexia brand, very yummy!
Mmmm…veggie burgers. I too enjoy a bit of spice in my food, and it’s somtimes hard having another person in the house who can tolerate more. I’m trying to find a veg burger Robert likes; maybe this will be it since it involves heat!
He liked the adobo flavor of the chowder, so he’d probably like these. My Spicy Chickpea burgers are pretty hot too (you can obv adjust the spice to make them as hot as you like), and you can divide the batch in half and add extra chili to his 🙂