Chipotle Sweet Potato and Chickpea Burgers

WHEW this weekend was crazy! We had family here from Friday until today, and we constantly had stuff going on. (This was for Seth and I’s baby shower this past weekend in case you didn’t read my last post.) It was a good crazy, though! Lots of family was here, so we got to catch up with a bunch of people and spend some good quality time with everyone.

The shower was fun, too! It was super chill and BBQ themed. Guys were invited, too, so there were lots of yard games and TONS of yummy food (including pulled pork that my brothers started smoking at 3 am…). There was also a puppy there…which made me go on an “I literally NEED a new puppy RIGHT NOW or I’m going to die” binge that didn’t end until late that night. Seth was not super on board since we have our baby coming next month (PRAISE THE LAWD), so we decided we would sign up to foster doggies at the local humane society instead.

Because…dogs. Dogs are one of my passions in life. I lava them.

Another one of my passions in life? These sweet potato and chickpea burgers…oh my goodness they are pure heaven. Who would have known that a non-beef burger could be so delicious? They are so loaded with flavor coming from the chipotle, cumin, paprika, and garlic powder – they make your mouth waaatttaaaa.

And, surprisingly, they are super easy to make! Everyone will think you are super fancy for making these when really it took very little effort for you to throw together…shhh, your secret is safe with me 😏. Here’s what it takes:

1. Cook your sweet potato in the microwave. Yasssss best cheat step ever. It takes 10 minutes (just 10 minutes whhhaaaatt…I was shocked), and you don’t even have to turn on your oven or wait an hour for them to bake up.
2. Scoop your sweet potato meat out of the skin, spread it out on a plate, and pop it in the freezer so it cools down super fast.
3. In a food processor, add your sweet potato, drained chickpeas, egg, chipotle, and seasonings. Blend until smooth.
4. Transfer this to a bowl, stir in your breadcrumbs, and divide into four patties.
5. Cook patties in pan until they are a deep golden brown on both sides.

Done! Top with your goodies (including a DE-licious sauce made from sour cream, mayo, chipotle, and lime), and eat up. You can easily ditch the bun in this recipe if you want to be even healthier and just load your toppings right on top of the sweet potato patty. Yum…drool fest 2017.

Y’all. I have to tell you about what happened to me on Friday. It…was…insane. So for a while I have been planning to have balayage done on my hair…that was probably the wrong way to word it, but I know nothing about these things. My basic knowledge of balayage = your roots and the top several inches of your hair stay your natural color, which for me is brown, and then they lighten the ends and kind of feather that lightened color up towards the middle of your hair. Just google “balayage” and you’ll see what I mean, because I’m sure I’m not doing a winning job of giving you a crystal clear mental picture here.

Aaaanyway, I’ve been waiting for my hair to grow out a bit before doing it. I scheduled an appointment for this past Friday (a THREE HOUR appointment, by the way…), I went in and showed the lady a picture that was similar to what I wanted, and I was very clear that I DIDN’T want to leave the salon with blonde hair. I just wanted the ends lightened, and in the picture I showed her, the lightening didn’t even start until pretty low down…maybe like where my ears are.

Well, three hours later, and I am leaving the salon as a bleach blonde human. I WAS STRAIGHT UP BLONDE, PEOPLE. And not just the bottom of my hair…basically my whole head. My bangs? Super blonde. And not a pretty blonde…a yellow blonde. Oh my gosh, I was dying. I. Was. Dying. And I had a baby shower the next day with 25 people!

So then my mother-in-law and I went on a mission: call every hair salon in the city and say “I have a hair emergency – do you have ANYONE that can fix this like right now? Today??” And we found a brave soul who was willing to take me on…

She essentially re-dyed most of my hair brown, and then she toned the rest of the blonde down to more of an ashy color rather than YELLOW. It looks much better…but for a solid few hours I was walking around with super yellow-y blonde hair. It was awful.

P.S. I cannot pull off blonde hair…fail.

I hope you are all having a fantastic Monday!

Chipotle Sweet Potato and Chickpea Burgers

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

These vegetarian burgers are so loaded with flavor, you won’t miss the ground beef for a second! Especially when you load them up with chipotle lime sauce, arugula, and red onion – so tasty!

• Author: Annie Chesson
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the burgers:

• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• 1/2 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce + 1 teaspoon of sauce, chipotle pepper finely minced (see note)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
• Olive oil for pan

For the extras:

• 4 whole wheat hamburger buns
• Arugula
• Red onion (you definitely won’t need more than 1/2), thinly sliced
• Chipotle Lime Sauce (see recipe below)

For the Chipotle Lime Sauce:

• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 1 teaspoon adobo sauce from canned chipotles (see note)
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Poke holes all over the sweet potato and bake in the microwave for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, drain and rinse your chickpeas and add them to your food processor.
3. When the sweet potato is done, slice it in half and carefully spoon out the “meat,” leaving just the skin behind. Spread the “meat” out on a plate and place in the freezer so it will cool quickly.
4. When cool, add to the food processor with your chickpeas. Also add your 1/2 chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, cumin, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and egg.
5. Pulse your food processor until everything is well combined and smooth.
6. Transfer this mixture to a bowl and stir in your panko
7. Form into 4 equal-ish sized patties.
8. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with some olive oil.
9. When hot, add your patties and cook until both sides are a deep golden brown (should be several minutes per side). When done, remove to several paper towels and let cool for a few minutes.
10. Meanwhile, make your sauce. Combine all ingredients (sour cream, mayo, lime, adobo sauce, and salt) in a medium bowl and stir to combine.
11. To assemble, start with your toasted bun, spread a dollop of sauce onto each bun half, then top with your burger, arugula, and red onion. Enjoy!

Notes

If you have never used chipotles in adobo sauce before, you can find them in a small can located in the Mexican section of your grocery store. There are several chipotles that sit in a thick sauce (adobo sauce). For this recipe, remove one chipotle pepper, cut in half, and only use that half along with the amount of adobo sauce required in the recipe.

To make this recipe even healthier, ditch the bun and just pile the sauce and toppings on top of the burger patty.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 burger (including toppings and bun)
• Calories: 347
• Sugar: 6 g
• Sodium: 1441 mg
• Fat: 11 g
• Carbohydrates: 51 g
• Fiber: 9 g
• Protein: 14 g
• Cholesterol: 56 mg

If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!

In the mood for more yummy burger recipes? Check these out:

Salmon Burgers with Dill Caper Yogurt sauce

Southwest Burgerdilla

Jalapeno Popper Cheeseburger