Sweet Potato Patties – mildly spiced and slightly sweet patties with crispy outer and soft melt-in-mouth texture inside is an oh-so-delicious and kid-friendly healthy dish made with mashed sweet potato, peanuts and few spices. Vegan patties make a great dish to pack in a kid's lunch box or as a burger patty.
Jump to:
Sweet potato is one such simple and easy recipe to make with kids. It is an easy recipe that requires a handful of simple ingredients and makes a perfect side dish a whole family can enjoy. Kids would enjoy mashing, shaping patties and of course eating them too!
Involving kids in the cooking process and considering their suggestions would encourage them to explore and try a new dish that they otherwise wouldn't even show any interest in.
Although cooking with kids is fun and a good bonding time, their safety must be the utmost priority. Refer to my Safety Disclaimer for more details.
Vegan patties recipe variations
A dash of lime juice could be added to enhance the flavour of patties.
You could add boiled and slightly mashed vegetables such as broccoli, peas, cauliflower, spring onions, any root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes or any blanched leafy vegetables such as spinach and fenugreek for added nutrition.
This is the best way to sneak in as many extra veggies as you can to make picky kids eat their healthy meals without any fuss. It is also a great way to clean up any leftover vegetables in your fridge.
For gluten-free options, swap chickpea flour/rice flour for plain flour. Use almond flour/almond meal if you find it difficult to get vegan bread crumbs to coat the patties.
Use curry powder or garam masala in this sweet potato patties recipe for an Indian flavour.
How to serve patties?
Serve it as an appetiser with yogurt mint sauce, honey mustard sauce, tomato sauce, or yogurt herb dipping sauce.
Use it as a burger patty. Place each patty between burger buns along with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cheese slice and a spoonful of mayonnaise/ketchup. Serve the burger with sweet potato wedges instead of fries. It is a good substitute for store-bought burger patties.
It makes a healthy and tasty snack to pack in a kid’s lunchbox.
Make a tortilla veggie wraps with it. Slightly smash patties and place them on top of the lettuce in the middle of the tortilla leaving little space at the edges. Layer them with green salad, cucumber and tomato slices followed by yogurt dipping sauce or mayonnaise or just plain Greek yogurt and wrap the tortilla up. First, fold the sides over the filling, then fold the bottom up tightly.
Serve it with drinks such as watermelon juice or pumpkin banana smoothie and desserts such as coconut custard or a strawberry fool to make it a complete meal.
It makes a great side dish to serve with a bowl of mildly flavoured rice such as saffron rice, jeera rice, vegetable pulao or carrot rice.
How to store patties?
Freezer: These vegan patties are freezable and a great recipe to include in the meal prep menu. Allow them to cool completely in a tray, then place them in the freezer for 3-4 hours until fully frozen. Take them out of the freezer, wrap each patty in a clingwrap/ plastic wrap and then store in a freezer-safe bag in a freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheat: Thaw the frozen patties in the fridge overnight, reheat in the oven until piping hot and use as required.
Fridge: Sweet potato patties stay good for 3-4 days in the fridge when stored in an airtight container. Store them in the fridge if you plan to use them in 2-3 days.
Tips and Tricks
Once sweet potatoes are cooked, drain water, shake the strainer well and let sweet potato cubes sit in a strainer for 5 minutes to remove any excess water.
Boil sweet potato just until soft but not mushy. Mushy potatoes retain more moisture making it difficult to shape patties. Perhaps such patties tend to fall apart while frying.
Use roasted peanuts or masala peanuts rather than raw ones as it imparts a lovely nutty flavour.
Keep patties in the fridge for an hour before frying. It helps to hold patties well and prevent them from falling apart while frying.
Do not pan-fry at a higher temperature as the outer layer gets burnt easily.
Use an ice cream scoop for small-size patties.
The number of patties you get depends on the size of your patties.
The amount of flour you would need depends on the consistency of the mixture.
Make sure to make reasonable size patties as the too-big patties disintegrate while frying.
More Kid-Friendly Recipes
Nutella Crepes with Strawberries
Ingredients
Sweet Potato: peeled, cubed and boiled until soft.
Flour: I've used plain flour (all purpose flour). Use chickpea or rice flour for gluten-free version.
Spices, Nuts and Herbs: Black pepper, cumin, garlic, salt, oregano, crushed peanuts and coriander have been used here.
Bread Crumbs: I've used vegan bread crumbs but feel free to use almond flour/meal if you can't get vegan crumbs.
Oil: I have used olive oil to fry the patties. Feel free to use whatever cooking oil you use regularly.
How to make sweet potato patties?
1. In a deep-bottomed large bowl, put boiled sweet potato cubes and mash with potato masher.
2. Add flour, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, coriander, crushed peanuts, ground cumin.
3. Combine until all the ingredients comes together and forms a dough.
4. Take the sweet potato mixture in ¼ cup and shape it into round patties and keep them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Dip and coat each patty in a flour slurry followed by bread crumbs.
6. Heat oil in a frying pan and shallow fry patties in batches over medium heat until golden brown on both sides.
7. Remove them from the pan and place them on a tray or plate with a paper towel to remove excess oil.
Serve piping hot patties with any dip of your choice.
Notes
Skip pepper and cumin if you are making it for toddlers.
For nut free option, skip peanuts.
For a gluten-free option, use almond flour/meal instead of breadcrumbs and chickpea flour instead of plain flour.
Adjust seasoning to your taste.
Feel free to tweak the recipe to suit your child's taste buds rather than following the exact measurements.
This is one of the best sweet potato recipes to turn leftover mashed sweet potatoes into a healthy and delicious treat.
FAQ
Grease the air fryer basket with oil.
Place the patties in the basket with enough spacing between them.
Brush the patties with little oil or spray oil and put the basket into the air fryer.
Set the temperature to 180 C for 15 minutes.
Take the basket out and flip the patties halfway through, put it back and continue cooking for even browning.
Once the timer goes off, switch the air fryer off and take the basket out.
Tasty and delicious patties are ready to enjoy!
KEEP IN TOUCH
Do let me know if you make these kid-friendly sweet potato cakes. If you like this recipe kindly consider rating it using stars in the comment section or on the recipe card to help more people find this recipe online. You can stay up to date by following me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram or subscribing to my Youtube channel. Or why not subscribe to my blog and get simple recipes straight to your inbox?
📖 Recipe Card
Sweet Potato Patties
Ingredients
1 Cup = 250ml ; 1 Tablespoon =15ml ; 1 Teaspoon =5ml
- 591 gms (or) 5 medium (or) 3.5 cups Sweet Potato peeled, cubed and boiled
- 2-3 cloves Garlic chopped
- 1 Teaspoon Oregano
- ½ Teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 42 gms (or0 ½ cup Crushed Peanuts roasted and crushed
- Handful Coriander chopped
- Salt as required
- Black Pepper Powder as required
- ¼ Cup + 3 Tablespoon Plain Flour/All Purpose Flour
- ⅓ Cup Bread Crumbs
- Oil to shallow fry
- ¼ Cup Water adjust to get desired consistency
- 1 Tablespoon Plain flour/All purpose flour
Instructions
- Before you get started, scroll up a little and watch a quick recipe video.
- Check the tips and tricks, notes for extra info and help.
- In a deep bottomed bowl, add boiled sweet potato cubes, garlic, oregano and mash with a potato masher until sweet potato turns soft. Do not worry if there are a few bits left.591 gms (or) 5 medium (or) 3.5 cups Sweet Potato, 2-3 cloves Garlic, 1 Teaspoon Oregano
- Now add plain/all-purpose flour, salt, pepper, crushed peanuts, cumin, coriander and combine until all the ingredients come together to form a dough.½ Teaspoon Ground Cumin, 42 gms (or0 ½ cup Crushed Peanuts, Handful Coriander, Salt, ¼ Cup + 3 Tablespoon Plain Flour/All Purpose Flour, Black Pepper Powder
- Grease your hands with oil and scoop out the dough from a ¼ cup. Shape it into round patties and place on a tray. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough.
- Keep the tray of patties in the fridge for an hour to help hold them the shape and to prevent them from falling apart while frying.
- After one hour take out the tray and keep it aside to fry.
- Heat oil in a shallow pan over medium-low flame to fry patties.Oil
- In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon flour with water to make a slurry. Ensure the slurry is lumpfree.¼ Cup Water, 1 Tablespoon Plain flour/All purpose flour
- Now dip and coat both sides of each patty in flour slurry and then roll in breadcrumbs until well coated. Ensure to roll both sides and on edges⅓ Cup Bread Crumbs
- Once the oil is hot, drop patties in batches and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Flip and fry another side for a further 3-4 minutes and then take out patties from the pan and drain over a kitchen towel to remove excess oil.
- Repeat the process for the rest of the patties.
- Serve hot and delicious patties with any dip of your choice and watch how your kid would devour them!
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe is a part of the Veganuary event. Check out what my blogger friends made for this occasion.
Vegan BLT’s with Tempeh Bacon by The Baking Fairy
7 Spice Shiitake Mushroom Soup by PlantCrush
Breakfast Cookies by Cook with 5 Kids
Cranberry Coffee Cake by This Wife Cooks
Easy Vegan Mac & Cheese with Broccoli by Simple And Savory
Favorite Pumpkin Quinoa Waffles with Pecans by Melissa Traub
Hara Bara Kebab by FoodTrails25
Instant Pot Dal Soup by Palatable Pastime
Raspberry Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal Muffins by Return to the Kitchen
Roasted Banana Almond Butter Breakfast Cookies by Shockingly Delicious
Tofu Benedict with Hemp Hollandaise by Upbeet Kitchen
Vegan Chickpea Shawarma in the Air Fryer by Kate’s Recipe Box
Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches by My Kitchen Stories
Vegan Cinnamon Rolls (Tangzhong Method) by The Urben Life
Vegan Lemon Poppyseed Muffins by Messy Vegan Baker
White Bean Dip with Homemade Pita Chips by Blogghetti
Welcome to Flavours Treat. I share vegetarian recipes made with wholesome, mostly fresh ingredients. Every recipe has easy-to-follow instructions with process shots (detailed step-wise pictures), a short video and lots of tips to help your cooking journey. Read more
Val says
But how much sweet potato?
Geetha Priyanka says
Around 5 medium-size sweet potatoes. Do check the recipe card for detailed measurements. Hope you like it 🙂
Ann Mai | plantcrush.co says
Omg these are adorable!! Seems like a fun kid-friendly lunch idea! Thanks for sharing!
Anne Lawton says
These look so good! I would make a big batch of these and freeze them!
Holly | This Wife Cooks says
Yum! I love the versatility of these patties!
Valentina | The Baking Fairy says
These sweet potato patties look simple and delicious. I can't wait to give them a try! Thank you for sharing!!
Lisa Kerhin says
I love that these are kid friendly even though my kids are adults, they will still love these as I will too. Great recipe
tania|mykitchenstories says
These look so good. Simple but perfect. I love that pepper in them
Messy Vegan Baker | Christina says
These sound scrumptious! These would be a great side dish for breakfast!
Dorothy Reinhold says
This is such a creative dish! My kiddos love sweet potatoes. I think this will be a HIT!
Sue Lau says
These look like they'd be great with tamarind chutney too (which is a fav of mine) so I will def be trying that soon.
Lauren says
Yum! Do you think I could air fry as well?
Jenna says
Ohhh yes! I’m totally going to try these 🙂 perfect for lunch or dinner!