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Baked Chipotle Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa Cakes with Creamy Avocado Sauce

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Chipotle Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa Cakes with Creamy Avocado Sauce
Healthy and tasty sweet potato, black bean and quinoa cakes with the smoky hint of chipotle chilies.

Ever since I discovered quinoa cakes I have been dreaming up different flavour combinations for them! A quinoa cake or fritter is pretty much what it sounds like, a mixture of quinoa with a binder such as an egg and breadcrumbs that is formed into cakes or patties and then fried until crispy. One of the great things about cakes like this is that in addition to the main ingredient you can add pretty much whatever you want for flavour! I am a big fan of the spicy and smoky chipotle, sweet potato and creamy black bean combo and I am more than a little surprised that it took me this long to throw them into some quinoa cakes!
This quinoa cake recipe is pretty simple and in addition to the sweet potato, black beans, quinoa and chipotle chili powder I added some cumin, garlic, green onions and cilantro for flavour and freshness. I decided to go with raw, grated sweet potatoes, though am sure that a recipe with mashed would work as well. One problem that I did have with the recipe was that with a full can of black beans it ended up making more than the 4 servings that I normally like to target, but extra leftover quinoa cakes are certainly a lot better than leftover black beans! In keeping with the eating healthier mantra I decided to bake the quinoa cakes rather than frying them and it worked out well! The baked quinoa cakes did not have as crispy of an outside but this insides were so light, moist and fluffy and good! I will definitely be baking quinoa fritters again tin the future!
While I was contemplating the recipe I remembered that cool and creamy avocado goes amazingly well with the chipotle, sweet potato and black bean combo and I immediately knew that me favourite creamy avocado sauce would be the perfect topping for the cakes! I served the chipotle sweet potato and black bean quinoa cakes with creamy avocado sauce on a bed of sauteed swiss chard and it made for a fabulous light, healthy and tasty meal! I do have one confession, I could not stop there and I just had to top everything off with…

Chipotle Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa Cakes with Creamy Avocado Sauce
…a fried egg! Pretty much everything tastes better when topped with an egg!

Chipotle Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa Cakes with Creamy Avocado Sauce
Of course it has to have a nice runny yolk!

Chipotle Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa Cakes with Creamy Avocado Sauce
Finally a bite! mmm… It’s so good! Don’y you just love a messy, runny egg yolk meal like this?

Chipotle Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa Cakes with Creamy Avocado Sauce

Chipotle Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa Cakes with Creamy Avocado Sauce

Chipotle Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa Cakes with Creamy Avocado Sauce

Prep Time:10 minutes Cook Time:20 minutes Total Time:30 minutes Servings: 6

Healthy and tasty sweet potato, black bean and quinoa cakes with the smoky hint of chipotle chilies.

ingredients
  • 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained (or 1 1/2 cups cooked beans, from 1/2 cup dry)
  • 2 cups sweet potato, grated
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa (1/2 cup uncooked)
  • 1 tablespoon chipotle chill powder, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon cumin, toasted and ground
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • 1 handful cilantro, chopped
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • creamy avocado sauce to taste (optional)
directions
  1. Mash half of the beans in a large bowl, mix in the rest of the beans, sweet potato, quinoa, cumin, chill powder, salt, pepper, garlic, green onions, cilantro, egg and bread crumbs.
  2. Form the mixture into patties about 3/4 inch thick and place on a lightly oils baking sheet.
  3. Bake in a preheated 400F/200C oven until lightly golden brown on both sides, about 8-12 minutes per side.
Tip: To help get the cakes to hold together grab a handful of the mixture and squeeze it a little as you pass it back and forth between hands until you feel the mixture holding better. When it is ready form it into a ball and squeeze it between the palms of your hands, to flatten it, until the sides start to break apart too much. Hold the patty in the palm of one hand and cup the side of it with with your other hand pushing any loose bits back in rotating as you go until the sides are nice and smooth and holding together. If the patty is still too thick, squeeze it together more and repeat.
Tip: These quinoa cakes could easily be used as patties for burgers!
Similar Recipes:
Chipotle Roast Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing
Quinoa Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Pesto, Goat Cheese and a Poached Egg
Smoked Salmon Asparagus Quinoa Cake Eggs Benedict
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas with Swiss Chard Pesto
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos with Swiss Chard Pesto
Pumpkin Chorizo and Black Bean Soup
Chipotle Sweet Potato and Black Bean Hash with Guacamole
Chipotle Sweet Potato Noodle Bowl
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  8. monocot says

    January 16, 2013 at 2:56 am

    I make these all the time except i use Grated Carrot and small diced Red pepper instead of Sweet potato.
    They make a excellent Vegetarian Burger as well.

    Reply

  15. Anonymous says

    January 16, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    Hi Kevin! I love all of your recipes, they are so original and always tasty! I have a question: a lot of your recipes are calling for spices that are toasted and ground. Are you taking whole spices, toasting them, then grinding in a pestel and mortar or taking ground spices and toasting them?
    Thanks, Lyndsay.

    Reply

  21. Kevin says

    January 16, 2013 at 4:37 pm

    Lyndsay: Yes, for some spices like cumin and corriander I like to use whole and toast and grind to get some extra flavour from them. You can replace it with an equal amount of the pre-ground spice and I do this when I am in a hurry.

    Reply

  23. Trillian says

    January 17, 2013 at 2:14 am

    Made these for dinner tonight ~ Sooooooooooo good! The only sub I made was kale for cilantro. Only b/c I used up all the cilantro last night and couldn't convince myself to go to the store after work. Doubled the recipe so I have plenty to take for lunch. Thanks for the awesome recipe!

    Reply

  24. Karen says

    January 17, 2013 at 6:18 pm

    i just made these and I have two tips about making easy to form patties. First, I mashed all the black beans. Second, I used just a 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, instead of the full cup. Cannot wait to eat these tonight.

    Reply

  25. Trillian says

    January 19, 2013 at 7:09 am

    Ok ~ these are even tastier the second day! I highly recommend doubling the recipe so there are plenty for lunches. I think this is my new favorite veggi burger recipe.

    Reply

  26. Cara says

    January 20, 2013 at 9:02 pm

    You're killing me with all that runny egg talk. It's one of the things I miss most while being pregnant! Good thing quinoa cakes are completely safe 🙂

    Reply

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