Sweet Potato Pecan Burgers Recipe
Alright. It’s me versus them – the CookingLight.com recipe reviewers.
I made these absolutely delicious sweet potato pecan burgers and was totally impressed by their flavor and character. I could not wait to blog them. In fact, I began the blog entry as I was eating these for lunch. They were that good.
And that’s when I stumbled upon tons of negative reviews. Slander, I tell you, slander. I’ve got to set the record straight.
Let’s see what others had to say about this recipe:
This is the worst recipe I have ever tried from Cooking Light–I usually love most of the recipes. The burger had absolutely no flavor and was quite a bit of work. Very disappointing. 11/20/09
Really? The worst recipe? And work? Well, cooking does require effort.
It was an expensive and time-consuming mess that went down the disposal! DO NOT waste your time or money! 02/21/09
The charge that it was expensive is a bit unsettling to me. Maybe that’s because I am a super-duper shopper and picked up my 3 lbs of sweet potatoes for $0.75.
Now, I don’t know what these recipe testers were looking for. Is this a backyard-grill worthy patty? No. Will it quench your thirst for blood, meat, and gore? No. I think these people must have just had the wrong expectations for this recipe. Because it is truly delicious. Complex and flavorful.
Maybe I struck dumb luck because I used ground pecans rather than the chopped variety this recipe called for…
In any case, I have posted the recipe below as I made it. The patties were delicious on a bed of kale, as well as on a toasted bun for a more traditional burger feel. The balsamic caramelized onions were wonderful so don’t omit that step.
- Sweet Potato Pecan Burgers (6, adapted from Cooking Light)
- Onions
- nonstick spray
- 3 cups sliced onion
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- Burgers
- 2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled sweet potato
- Cooking spray
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup regular oats
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup ground pecans, toasted
- (if serving as hamburgers)
- 6 Boston lettuce leaves
- 6 (1 1/2-ounce) 100% whole wheat or whole-grain buns
- 6 T chili sauce
To prepare onions, heat a large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion to pan; sauté 12 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Stir in vinegar, sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt; cook 30 seconds or until vinegar is absorbed. Remove onion mixture from pan; keep warm. Wipe pan dry with a paper towel.
Remove peel from potatoes and cook as desired (or use equivalent amount leftover baked sweet potato, removed from the skin) – bake, steam, or microwave.
Place potato, chopped onion mixture, oats, cumin, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a food processor; process until smooth. Place potato mixture in a large bowl; stir in nuts. Divide potato mixture into 6 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.
Heat pan over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. Add 3 patties to pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned. Carefully turn patties over; cook 3 minutes or until browned. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat with remaining patties.
Per patty:
Calories 198.8
Total Fat 8.2 g
Total Carbohydrate 37.0 g
Dietary Fiber 6.9 g
Sugars 6.0 g
Protein 4.5 g