These easy sweet potato cakes are perfect for lunch, dinner or even an appetizer, with a little coleslaw. They're easily made vegan, and are loaded with protein from quinoa, nutritional yeast and hemp seed hearts.
Best of all, they're ready in under 30 minutes, if you have a microwave oven for cooking the sweet potatoes.
Jump to Recipe
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
Want to make this recipe perfectly the first time? I want to help with that. So, check out this Table of Contents to see which sections of this post will help you the most.
Jump to:
- ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- 🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
- 🤷♀️ What is Nutritional Yeast?
- 🤷♀️ What are Hemp Seed Hearts?
- 🔪 Recommended Equipment
- 📝 Instructions Overview
- 👩🍳 Why This Sweet Potato Cakes Recipe Works
- ⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- 👩🍳 Preparation Tips
- 💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- 🥬 Make it Vegan
- Sweet Potato Cakes
Small patties like these are perfect for lunch, dinner or a party appetizer. Oh, and they make a great side dish. I made these several times to get them just right, and finalized on a vegan version without the egg, and a version with it.
When Carnivorous Maximus (aka my meat-loving husband) tried them, he said "Don't. Change. A. Thing." He has NEVER said this. Woo-hoo!!! As a note, CM preferred the denser vegan version, but the cake-y vegetarian version was my favorite.
And if you like these, you might just love my quinoa potato patties with spinach too. Top them with a dollop of mustard - yogurt sauce, which is included in the Recipe Card.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Fast and Easy: This is an easy recipe, ready in under 30 minutes if you cook the sweet potato in the microwave oven.
- Super Healthy: I added both nutritional yeast and hemp seed hearts to increase the protein, and overall nutritional package in these little cakes.
- Flexible Recipe: Nix some of the ingredients, or add other spices to make them to your own taste preferences.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minutes meal or less.
The meal prep is very easy, and you can swap out some ingredients for others you prefer, especially the spices. For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Sweet potatoes
- White quinoa - here's a post on how to cook white quinoa.
- Hemp seed hearts - see below for more information.
- Nutritional yeast - see below for more information.
- Spices - I use onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and garam masala
- Orange - you'll only need the zest from the orange.
- Breadcrumbs (not used for vegan sweet potato cakes)
- Egg (not used for vegan sweet potato cakes, or use a vegan egg replacer)
- Sesame seeds - I use a combination of white and black because I like the look, but either is fine if that's what you have on hand.
🤷♀️ What is Nutritional Yeast?
- Nutritional yeast is made from the same species of yeast we bake bread with, but the cells are deactivated with heat before being harvested, washed, dried, crumbled and packaged.
- It's super nutritious, fat-free, sugar-free, gluten-free, and a complete protein. A complete protein means it contains all 9 essential amino acids that we need to get from our food.
- Only 1 tablespoon packs a powerful 2 grams of protein, making this an excellent source of protein for vegetarians and (especially) vegans.
- Nutritional yeast comes in either golden flakes or a powder, and the flavor is slightly cheesy. Use it in recipes like these sweet potato cakes, your next batch of broccoli soup, or to make nutritional yeast popcorn, which might be the best popcorn you'll ever have.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🤷♀️ What are Hemp Seed Hearts?
- Hemp seed hearts are protein packed hulled hemp seeds that are high in Omega-3, and a great nutritious addition to your dishes.
- They have a nutty flavor and are easily added to soups, salads and veggie burgers, like these sweet potato cakes.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
- Large bowl - for mixing the ingredients
- Heavy bottomed pot or large saucepan - to cook the quinoa.
- ¼ cup dry ingredient measuring cup - to form the patties.
- Zester
- Frying pan
📝 Instructions Overview
Detailed instructions for making these delicious sweet potato cakes are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!
Step 1
Make the quinoa. If you don't already have cooked quinoa on hand, make it first and set it aside to cool to room temperature.
Step 2
Cook the sweet potato. Scrub the sweet potato and puncture it in a few places using a fork or sharp knife. Cook in the microwave until soft, or cook any other way you prefer. Scoop out the flesh into a large bowl, using a spoon, and mash.
Step 3
Combine. Mix all of the ingredients, except the sesame seeds, in the large bowl with the mashed sweet potato. (For a vegan version, omit the egg and breadcrumbs.)
Step 4
Form the patties. Use a dry ingredients measuring cup to scoop the sweet potato mixture out of the bowl, level it off using a knife or your fingers, and turn the cup upside down on a work surface. A dome of sweet potato patties will be created. Gently flatten, using your fingers, and press the sesame seeds onto both the top and bottom of the patties.
I use a ¼ cup measuring cup as this makes a perfect side dish size, or for a light dinner.
Step 5
Sauté. Heat the olive oil in the frying pan, and sauté the sweet potato cakes over medium heat.
👩🍳 Why This Sweet Potato Cakes Recipe Works
- The density of cooked sweet potatoes plus the moisture from the cooked quinoa help create a patty that holds together even without an egg for a vegan version.
- Sweet potatoes work very well with a wide variety of spices and seasonings from sweet to savory.
- Since both the sweet potato and quinoa are already cooked, the patties don't require a long sauté.
⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- Cook the quinoa ahead of time, or purchase it already cooked and frozen. You may be able to find this in the frozen vegetables section of your grocery. All you need with precooked, frozen quinoa is a few minutes to warm it with a little water.
- Make the sweet potato cakes ahead of time, wrap in plastic wrap, and keep in the refrigerator up to 2 days, if using the egg version, or up to 4 or 5 days without the egg.
- Eliminate the nutritional yeast and hemp hearts if you don't have them. This won't affect the flavor, but as a note, the sweet potato cakes won't be nearly as nutritious.
- Nix the sesame seeds if you don't have them, but if you do this, I recommend you cook the sweet potato cakes over medium-high heat to make them a little crispy.
👩🍳 Preparation Tips
- Use larger sweet potatoes for this recipe. They're much more moist when they cook up than smaller ones.
- For microwaving, this post on 3 ways to microwave sweet potato is excellent.
- If you make the vegan version without the egg, you must eliminate the breadcrumbs as well. Otherwise the patties will completely fall apart.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- As I've mentioned in above sections, eliminate the nutritional yeast, hemp seed hearts and / or sesame seeds.
- Top with a dollop of sour cream.
- Substitute either apple pie or pumpkin spice mixes for the garam masala. If you do this, eliminate the sesame seeds.
🥬 Make it Vegan
- Eliminate both the egg and the breadcrumbs, or use a vegan egg replacer. I've used JUST Egg with great success.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
Sweet Potato Cakes
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- ¼ cup hemp seed hearts
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garam masala spice mix
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoon bread crumbs
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons black and white sesame seeds
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa or use frozen quinoa. If using frozen pre-cooked quinoa, follow the directions on the package. Drain, if necessary, and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Scrub the sweet potatoes and puncture them with a fork or sharp knife. Bake until soft. In the microwave oven, this may take 7 - 10 minutes total, depending on the size of your sweet potatoes and the power strength of your microwave oven. Allow to cool, slice in half lengthwise, and scoop the sweet potato flesh into the mixing bowl with the quinoa.
- Add the hemp hearts, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, garam masala, orange zest, salt, breadcrumbs and egg. Mix together.
- Form 8 - 9 patties. I do this by scooping the sweet potato mixture into a ¼ cup dry measuring cup, as pictured above in the post. Turn the cup upside down onto a work surface, and gently press each dome into a patty using your fingers. Press sesame seeds into the surfaces of each one.
- Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the patties over medium heat, 4 minutes each side. Serve warm with an optional dollop of sour cream.
TerriSue
Hi Susan, I might be overlooking it but I don't see a measurement for the garam masala, which I love by the way. It's great in deviled eggs!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
You weren't overlooking it at all! I completely omitted it when I copied this over from my notes. I'm so glad you caught this. And I love the idea of garam masala in deviled eggs! I've never tried that, and I love deviled eggs!!!
SallyBR
Oh, I adore this. I adore every single aspect of it... must. make. it. soon!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thank you so much Sally!!! If you make them, I'd love to hear how they go for you!!
Tony
I love the flavors of this dish. Have you ever tried baking them?
Susan Pridmore
Thanks so much! I haven't tried baking them but it should be fine. If you try it, let me know how it works! Baking is a dryer way of cooking than sautéing, so I would use 350˚F as a baking temperature. You could also add a little orange juice from the orange you zest to make them a little more moist.