I used to be a huge fan of frozen veggie burgers until I understood that most of these meat substitutes are made from highly processed ingredients. I did, however, find large boxes of organic veggie burgers from Costco that are absolutely amazing and don’t contain any of the highly processed soy products or gluten. But getting my hands on those delicious little patties has become quite the challenge. Apparently I’m not alone in my sentiments… Costco has been completely sold out the last two times I’ve tried to get a few boxes to throw in the freezer. Bummer!
The veggie burgers from Costco are a simple mix of sweet potatoes, vegetables, sunflower seeds, eggs, rice flour, and oil. While I love the convenience of being able to pull pre-made food from the freezer or refrigerator, the ingredient list seemed simple enough to recreate in my own kitchen. The patties I created aren’t quite like a burger; they’re not as firm and they can fall apart if not handled gently (probably because I used less flour and more vegetables than the store bought version), but they’re so stinkin’ delicious and I love all of the healthy ingredients in there! The prep time was more than I would’ve liked, but I made a massive quantity that is frozen and ready to be cooked at a later date. And you know me. I’m all about bulk meal prep to make things easier and more convenient in the long run.
Serving Suggestion and Variations
I served the sweet potato and vegetable patties topped with a purple kraut that I made a few months ago (don’t forget to prepare your kraut in bulk, too; I do a gallon at a time). Avocado, guacamole, or salsa (or all of the above) would have been other excellent choices for toppings. Mexican flavored black beans or ground beef served with a gorgeous salad sounds like an especially appealing accompaniment to these nutritious little patties.
It’s important that you chop your vegetables extremely fine. If they’re too large, the patties won’t hold together properly.
I didn’t add herbs or spices to the mix, so they can be easily paired with a variety of flavor profiles – Indian, Thai, Mexican, or just served plain Jane. You could even add your own spices such as curry powder for a more flavorful result.
I tried the recipe with varying amounts of vegetables and found that I prefer the version listed below that’s heavy on the vegetables. However, a version that omitted the spinach and riced cauliflower came in close second. The latter held up much better, but I preferred the varied texture, color, and flavor of the version below.
The recipe recommends creating patties that are approximately 4 inches in diameter but these would make excellent horderves if prepared much smaller. They’d also be less delicate and therefore less likely to break apart when handled.
Bulk Prepping and Freezing
The recipe yields an extremely large quantity of food due the the fact that it lends itself well to freezing. I cooked a number of patties once the mix was finished, but I then portioned the remaining mix into freezer bags that can be thawed and cooked later. Each bag holds enough to prepare about 8-10 patties – enough for a meal for a family of four.
You can also cook the patties all in one go and freeze the cooked patties on sheets of parchment paper. I would plan to use two pans if doing it this way since it could take almost an hour to fry all of the patties in one prep session. Reheat the frozen patties in a small amount of oil on the stovetop or on the grill. They could be baked as well, but they’ll likely loose their crunch.
I’m implementing both freezing methods so that I have cooked patties and uncooked mix for later. I took as much time as I could spare to cook the patties, but then called it a day and froze whatever amount remained.
I’ll likely double the recipe next time I prepare the mix so that I can have even more leftovers for freezing. The minimal time investment it takes to prepare a larger batch of sweet potato and vegetable patties is certainly worth the effort. This is a recipe that will quickly be added to my repertoire of frozen foods that are prepared weeks before they’re actually eaten. I suggest adding this recipe to your repertoire as well!
- 3.5 - 4 pounds sweet potatoes (about 4 medium)
- 1/2 red onion, finely diced
- 6 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 12 ounce bag frozen riced cauliflower
- 1 pound frozen chopped spinach
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup cassava flour
- 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
- olive oil, for frying
- Cook the whole sweet potatoes on the rack in a pressure cooker along with one cup of water for 20 minutes under high pressure. Release the pressure when done and allow the potatoes to cool. If no pressure cooker is available, bake the sweet potatoes at 400* for about 1 hour or until the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, remove the skins, place the potatoes in a large bowl (or the rinsed pressure cooker insert) and mash the sweet potatoes using a potato masher. Set aside.
- Prepare the vegetables while the sweet potatoes cook by sautéing the red onion, celery, green onions, and garlic until the vegetables are cooked through and soft, about 10 minutes. Add in the frozen spinach and cauliflower rice and heat until both ingredients are no longer frozen, about 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs and cassava flour to the mashed sweet potatoes and mix until everything is well combined. Mix in the sunflower seeds, cooked vegetables, and salt.
- Preheat a large frying pan over medium heat, add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan, and use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop the patty mixture into the pan. Use the back of the measuring cup to press the mixture into a patty that is approximately 4 inches wide and 1 inch thick. Cook for about 7 minutes, flip, and cook for 7 minutes more or until both sides are golden.
- Repeat this process, being sure to add more oil to the pan each time until you've cooked as many patties as desired. Refer to the blog text for freezing and leftover suggestions.
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