These Roasted Black Bean Sweet Potato Cakes melt in your mouth and are crunchy at the same time. They are wonderful either as a side dish or an entrée. This recipe consists of only four ingredients—roasted black beans, sweet potato, red onion, and tapioca (or coconut) flour.
Roasted Black Bean Sweet Potato Cakes
These naturally gluten-free Roasted Black Bean Sweet Potato Cakes are my entry for this month’s Go Ahead Honey It’s Gluten Free event. As I recently announced, I’m hosting this time around and the theme is “When You’re Grain Free and Feeling Like A Nut, But Don’t Eat Tree Nuts or Peanuts!”
As I was trying to think of a recipe for this event, I thought of my Simple Roasted Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans) because they are wonderfully crunchy and full of flavor. I had a vision of some veggie-based egg-free cakes in my head and was trying to decide on what would “bind” best and what would offer the right crunchy flavor without nuts.
Several sweet potatoes were staring at me from the open pantry. While I have paired sweet potatoes and chickpeas before (mostly in soups) and that combo was nice, I also spied a can of black beans. Now black beans and sweet potatoes together are a match made in heaven!
But who roasts black beans? Well, I did a Google search and quite a few folks actually have! So I tested two versions of my creation—one with roasted black beans and one with roasted chickpeas. I have to tell you that roasted black beans are by far my preference in this recipe. And that’s saying a lot coming from this chickpea lover.
The roasted black beans by themselves are not much to look at, but they are delicious, especially combined with these other ingredients in this recipe, which is not only gluten free, grain free, tree nut free, and peanut free, but also free of the rest of the top 8 allergens and vegan as well. Note that if you don’t eat black beans, the Roasted Chickpea Sweet Potato Cakes are still tasty and very attractive with their light golden orange color.
Whether you’re a blogger or reader, please submit your grain-free, tree nut-free, and peanut-free recipe to Go Ahead Honey It’s Gluten Free!
Other Favorite Recipes for Savory Cakes and Fritters
~ Coconut Popcorn Shrimp Cakes
~ Light and Lovely Zucchini Fritters
Roasted Black Bean Sweet Potato Cakes Recipe
Roasted Black Bean Sweet Potato Cakes
These Roasted Black Bean Sweet Potato Cakes melt in your mouth and are crunchy at the same time. They are wonderful either as a side dish or an entrée and they're made from only four ingredients---roasted black beans, sweet potato, red onion, and tapioca (or coconut) flour.
Ingredients
- 1 batch roasted black beans or chickpeas (use these easy instructions)
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato (about 1 ½ large baked sweet potatoes)
- ¼ cup red onion, finely chopped
- About ¼ to 1/3 cup tapioca flour or coconut flour (sifted), for coating (optional, but preferred)
Instructions
- Add coconut oil to about ½-inch depth in large skillet. Heat oil to medium or medium high.
- In a large bowl, mix roasted beans, sweet potato, and red onion by hand. Form into patties.
- Gently coat cakes with tapioca flour (or coconut flour) by placing flour in a small bowl and dredging cakes in flour until coated. (This step is optional, but it makes for a crunchy crust, holds the cakes together better, and makes a very nice presentation.)
- Add cakes to hot oil. Fry about 5 minutes on each side until cakes are golden brown and heated through.
- Makes about five 3-inch cakes.
Notes
These cakes are best the first day, although I made mine last for three days. After the first day, they are not as crunchy, but they are still delicious!
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Originally published May 23, 2013; updated July 8, 2024.
Vicky says
I LOVE this recipe Shirley! I haven’t tried roasted black beans before and the combination with sweet potato and red onion is perfect! SO simple, just how I like recipes!
Last night I tried to make burgers using butternut squash and black beans and onion and chilli seasonings and this was delicious but I ended up having to bake it in a dish because the mix was too wet! I need to buy coconut flour – this will absorb the extra moisture.
Have a great weekend xo
Shirley says
Hey Vicky–Thanks! I wish I’d made a double batch with the roasted black beans instead of trying out the roasted chickpea version. Like you said, the combo was great.:-) I love super simple recipes and most of the time we can make them right from our pantry. 🙂
Oooh, the butternut squash black bean burgers sound good, too! But yes, coconut flour can be a magical thing when a recipe comes out too wet. It doesn’t take much at all to work wonders either. 😉
Having a quiet and relaxing weekend! Hope you are, too! 🙂 xo,
Shirley
Linda says
These look really delicious, Shirley! I would never have thought of using roasted beans to get that nutty crunch. Great idea! I did come up with a recipe for GAHIGF which I’ll be posting on Monday.
Shirley says
Hi Linda–Thanks! I was searching my brain to come up with non-nut, non-peanut crunchy food and finally remembered the roasted chickpeas. One thing led to another. 😉 Can’t wait to see your GAHIGF recipe! I’m so glad you are able to participate this time! 🙂
Have a great weekend!
Shirley
Madonna/aka/Ms. Lemon says
I stopped by from Rattlebridge because I made sweet potatoes too. These look delish.
Shirley says
Hi Madonna–Welcome to gfe! 🙂 Love your sweet potato hash, especially with the cumin added, as that’s one of my fave spices. 😉
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Shirley
Shannon says
I love this combination. I have a question on the directions. It starts on the stove in a skillet but then you say to bake so does it move to the oven or stay on top of the stove? Thanks!
Shirley says
Hi Shannon–It is a great one! 🙂 And I’m sorry about my error; I appreciate the heads up and just fixed it. I had originally planned to bake these, but then I decided that they would not crisp up as nicely or brown much when baked, so I went with frying them instead. I think the results would be very hard to match if oven baked. Hope you enjoy them!
Shirley
Deborah says
Dear Shirley,
This looks so good. Q about getting a can of blk beans to be roasted.
Would I drain the beans and then spread on a sheet and bake/roast at 350 degrees until hard and crunchy? About how long does this process take?
Thanks Deborah
Shirley says
Hey Deborah–The link to the instructions for roasting black beans (or chickpeas, etc.) is in the recipe right after the ingredient, where it says “use this recipe, subbing black beans for chickpeas and roasting beans until hard and crunchy).” Following that link will give you all the info you need! 🙂
Shirley
InTolerantChef says
I like the sound of the nice crunchy crust, yummo!
Shirley says
InTolerant Chef–The crust is one of the nicest features of these cakes! 🙂
Shirley
jamie @afamilieslove says
this sounds amazing, we love sweet potato cakes, cannot wait to try the combo with the beans!! may make both options, just to test it out:-)
Shirley says
Hi Jamie–Welcome to gfe! 🙂 Well, please let me know what you think of both options if you do give them a try.
Thanks,
Shirley
amber says
Oh Shirley, these look amazing!!! I look forward to trying these soon. I love your simple ingredient list. Can’t wait.
xo,
–Amber
Shirley says
Amber–My recipes do seem to be getting simpler and simpler. 😉 Simplification makes me happy. Hope you enjoy these when you make them! I got some more black beans today so I can make more of these babies. 🙂
xo,
Shirley
Molly (Sprue Story) says
Roasted black beans! What an idea! Have you roasted any other kinds of beans? The sweet potato cakes look great, too. Nice crispy outsides.
Shirley says
Hi Molly–It’s good to see you again. 🙂 I’ve roasted chickpeas and green beans. 😉 Love both of those beans roasted! Thanks so much for the lovely words on the recipe. I hope you enjoy them if you give them a try!
Shirley
Molly (Sprue Story) says
My mom bought me a pack of baked green bean chips at some point last summer, which are probably something like roasted green beans (although a bit less healthful, I bet!). I had them in my tote bag when I visited a museum, and the security guard who checked my bag noticed them and actually called over the other guard on duty to come look…not because it was a security hazard, of course, but because she thought it was such a funny idea to make chips out of green beans. I’m sure the people behind me in line thought it was funny, too. 😛 They were pretty good, though. Now I have to add roasted green beans to my to-make list also!
Molly (Sprue Story) says
Oh, and good to be here, of course! 🙂
Shirley says
🙂
Shirley says
Oooh, intrigued by the baked green chips! This recipe from Kalyn’s Kitchen is my favorite way to roast green beans. My family loves it, too. 🙂
Shirley
Megan @ Allergy Free Alaska says
Shirley,
I’m running behind! I meant to leave you a comment on this recipe last week, but … obviously I never did! I’m really looking forward to making these. I purposely picked up sweet potatoes from the store so I could make them for dinner or lunch sometime this weekend. 😉 I’m trying to find more staple recipes that are meat free – I think this will easily be a family favorite! I’ll make sure I report back. 😉
Hugs,
Megan
Shirley says
Hey Megan–“Running Behind” is my middle name. 😉 Yay on getting some sweet potatoes so you can make these. I hope yours turn out as wonderfully as mine. Since folks had mixed results with my sweet potato biscuits and some had to add additional flour, I think that there can be some differences in mashed sweet potatoes depending upon how fresh they are, natural water content, etc. So fingers crossed that they will work out for you and all! I find that I almost always need meat or seafood for my protein, but I do enjoy these by themselves from time to time or as a great side. 🙂
Happy weekend, dear! xo,
Shirley
Angehla says
Love all your new recipes! This one is my now formidable stack of print outs, nicely positioned on top for now – after I am healed up enough I’ll claim the kitchen for myself for a few days….watch out world! Meanwhile, I am feasting my eyes on your delectable new creations!
Have a most wonderful weekend!
Angela
Kim-Cook It Allergy Free says
Such a simple and healthy summer-time recipe! I love this, Shirley!! Will definitely have to give this one a try. I really like the super short ingredient list too! My kind of recipe these days!! LOL
XO
Shirley says
Hey Kim–I hope you love these as much as I do! 🙂 The boys could even help make them. 😉 Yep, I’m finding my ingredient lists are getting much shorter, too. That’s in general, but that phenomena is pretty common during the summer for me!
xo,
Shirley
Libbie says
Wonderful recipe! I have made this several times for my mom and I (she also loves them). Flavor is great. The only thing is that it is a little labor intensive, but it’s well worth it.
Shirley says
Hi Libbie–First, thanks so much for being a gfe reader and also a gfe friend on Facebook, too. 🙂 I really appreciate you taking the time to leave the first review of this recipe, and such a positive one at that! It makes me so happy that you and your mom enjoy these sweet and crunchy cakes so much. I agree that roasting the black beans and baking the sweet potatoes can take some extra time, but love the final results, too. 😉
Shirley
April J Harris says
Isn’t it amazing what happens when you roast beans – they really are amazing things! Love your Roasted Black Bean Sweet Potato Cakes, Shirley. They are full of lovely flavours and so healthy too. Thank you for sharing them with us at Hearth and Soul.