These sweet potato quinoa cakes are made with wild rice and studded with dried cranberries. They are great for meal prep and taste delicious served hot or cold.
If you’ve only ever served quinoa as a fluffy side dish, get ready to have your mind blown because quinoa can do so much more! I’ve experimented with it so many different ways… from quinoa salads to quinoa flour bread and quinoa breakfast bowls. But today’s recipe is one of my faves because we’re turning quinoa into a tasty little cake/patty.
I’ll be the first to admit that these quinoa cakes do take a little bit of time to prepare, but the good news is that you can prep certain parts of the recipe in advance to save on time the day of. And they are absolutely delicious and worth the effort!
The first time I made these cakes was back in 2010 (when I originally posted the recipe). I remembered them being good, but after making them again recently I realized just how much I love them. They’ll now be making a regular appearance on our weekly menu.
Sweet Potato Quinoa Cake Ingredients
The nice thing about this recipe is that you only need 8 simple ingredients and like I mentioned before many of them can be prepped in advance.
sweet potatoes – the sweet potatoes in this recipe are steamed and mashed and act as a binder to hold the patties together
quinoa – you’ll cook the quinoa before making the patties so this step can be done a few days in advance to save on time
wild rice – I really like using Lundberg wild rice and this is another ingredient that can be prepped in advance
green onions
dried cranberries
dried sage – sage pairs with sweet potato beautifully, but you could also use dried thyme
sea salt and pepper
How to Make Quinoa Patties
Cook your grains: Leftover quinoa and rice work perfectly in this recipe, but if you don’t have any on hand the first step is to cooking both the rice and quinoa according to package instructions. Set aside to cool when done cooking.
Steam sweet potatoes: While your rice and quinoa cook, you’ll steam the sweet potato chunks until soft and then puree in a stand mixer, food processor or blender.
Mix and form into patties: When your grains and sweet potatoes are cool enough to touch, combine the sweet potatoes, cooked quinoa, cooked rice, green onions, cranberries, sage, salt and pepper. Form and flatten portions of the “dough” into patties.
Bake: Lay the patties onto parchment paper and bake for 15-20 minutes until they’re lightly brown and crisp on the outside.
How to Serve Quinoa Cakes
These sweet potato quinoa cakes are delicious at any temperature. I love them fresh out of the oven, at room temperature and even cold right out of the refrigerator.
For serving, they make a great veggie-based side to just about any main dish… I personally like pairing them with my apple cider vinegar chicken. But you can also serve them as a plant-based main entree with a green side like roasted broccoli, green beans or a kale salad.
If you’ll be eating the quinoa cakes within the week I recommend storing in an airtight container in the fridge. They should stay good for up to five days. If you don’t eat them fast enough (has never happened to me, ha!) you can pop them in the freezer in an airtight container for up to three months. The consistency may change slightly after freezing, but they will still be delicious. I recommend reheating in a toaster oven or conventional oven to make sure you can enjoy the crispy edges.
If you make these sweet potato quinoa cakes please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how they turned out for you. Your feedback is super helpful for the EBF team and other EBF readers!
These sweet potato quinoa cakes are made with wild rice and studded with dried cranberries. They are great for meal prep and taste delicious served hot or cold.
Ingredients
1 lb. sweet potatoes (2 medium sized), peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and cooked according to package directions
1 cup Lundburg wild rice blend, cooked according to package directions
½ cup green onions, sliced
½ cup dried cranberries, chopped
1 Tablespoon dried sage
½ Tablespoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cook your rice and quinoa according to package instructions. Set aside to cool when done cooking.
Steam sweet potato chunks for 20-25 minutes. Then mash/puree sweet potatoes in stand mixer. You could also use a food processor or blender. You want the sweet potato mixture to be thick and a tad chunky, not completely smooth like sweet potato soup.
Combine mashed sweet potatoes, cooked quinoa, cooked rice, green onions, cranberries, sage, salt and pepper.
Form and flatten portions of the “dough” into patties. You should get about 8 small cakes or 6 large cakes.
Lay the patties onto parchment paper that has been sprayed with cooking spray (or stoneware) and bake for 15-20 minutes until they’re lightly brown and crisp on the outside. Serve warm.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat leftovers in the oven to serve warm or enjoy cold straight from the fridge.
I’d like to make these from my 18 mos old. But wanted to add some component of fat (for her brain development- I try to incorporate fat, fiber and protein to all of her meals). Could I add some coconut oil to the sweet potato after they’ve cooked? I thought about using some full fat canned coconut milk too. But I also don’t want to ruin this recipe! I’m excited to make it!
So I just finished making this recipe and lets just call it what it is… great.
Easy to make but even better to eat. Plus I had no trouble including it with my diet.
Thanks,
I tried it. It is good & tasty. Quinoa seeds are very healthy for a body
It has a rich amount of fiber, antioxidants, and iron
we provide the Organic Quinoa Seeds.so let’s start to buy Quinoa seeds at Nourish you https://nourishyou.in/superfoods/quinoa-seeds/
These sound amazing! I have been wanting to try a homemade veggie patty for a while and this looks like the perfect recipe. My family would devour these!!! Pinned!
Can’t wait to try these!! Question – has anyone tried freezing these?
I’d love to make a batch and have them on hand…but can’t say I’ve ever froze potatoes!! Any tips are welcomed! Thanks
Thank you for posting this recipe! These cakes are my absolute favorite food!! Due to some gall bladder issues, I can’t eat oil or fats, and I also eat a plant-based diet so it is very hard to find something prepared that fits my needs!
I have just found your website and it’s wonderful! I am wondering about the sweet potato in the recipe. Is it what is considered yams?? or is it sweet potato. Either way I am anxious to try. Keep it up and thanks for the help.
Just tried the recipe!! Simply delicious. I put just a small tab of roasted red pepper humus on top. My oh my I will certainly be making these again. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for posting this. I’ve been looking for it everywhere! My hubby and I are new to veganism and I love these but the nearest WF is over an hour away, so I only get there at most once a month. I look forward to trying some of your other recipes.
Have you tried their kale and avacado salad? Another great one to get the recipe for!!
Tried this recipe and although I was out of dried cranberries and Sage, I used Thyme and chopped Raisins instead and I used Tri colored Quinoa but they were still SO good.
Next time i’ll use cranberries and sage though but i found these a very good substitute anyway.
Awesome recipe! I made them for my family and they loved them!! even my 60 year old carnivore father liked them! healthy and fun! could be a nice alternative flavor with dried cherries!
Awesome recipe! Can’t wait to try it! Just 1 question, Is the amount of rice and quinoa dry and then cooked which expands and turns into more or 1 cup already cooked quinoa and rice? Thanks
I love sweet potato & quinoa however, I am allergic to black pepper. Is their a substitute I can use?
I live in San Diego and when I go to the asian markets I get confused with what they called sweet potatoes. Is it the ones when you dig into the skin it’s yellow inside or white?
I’m on a veggie-burger round up mission… I intend to consume delicious things all summer. This one looks great, looking forward to trying it (or a variation, I’m not so good at perfectly following directions.)
omg, THANK YOU for this! I just went to whole foods for lunch and decided to try one of these, they are amazing!! they didn’t have the recipe on their website and i was so disappointed until I found your site! sending you healthy love 🙂
I recently had the WF ones and fell in love! I found your site when I was searching – this recipe is incredibly delicious! Thank you so much for sharing! I have a batch in the oven right now! 🙂
These cakes look amazing! I’ve been making similar quinoa cakes with pumpkin instead of sweet potato, but being a sweet-potato-lover I will give these a try soon 😉
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The recipe calls for 1 cup each of rice & quinoa; which is it, dried or cooked?
Both should be cooked prior to making the cakes!
Menu planning: please offer ideas & suggestions
Hey Judy – I have a lot of meal prep ideas here and I also have a 6-week meal plan if you’re interested.
I’d love to see the 6 week menu plan.
Thanks!
I’d like to make these from my 18 mos old. But wanted to add some component of fat (for her brain development- I try to incorporate fat, fiber and protein to all of her meals). Could I add some coconut oil to the sweet potato after they’ve cooked? I thought about using some full fat canned coconut milk too. But I also don’t want to ruin this recipe! I’m excited to make it!
Hey Lauren – I think that’d be fine to add some coconut oil in. You could also cook the quinoa in full fat coconut milk if you wanted. 🙂
Love the recipe! Do you think some beans could be added to make it into a bean burger?
★★★★★
I do have this sweet potato black bean burger I would make instead!
So I just finished making this recipe and lets just call it what it is… great.
Easy to make but even better to eat. Plus I had no trouble including it with my diet.
This gets two thumbs up from me!
Has anyone else tried the Custom Keto Diet?
https://bit.ly/3hEwXOj
★★★★★
Thanks,
I tried it. It is good & tasty. Quinoa seeds are very healthy for a body
It has a rich amount of fiber, antioxidants, and iron
we provide the Organic Quinoa Seeds.so let’s start to buy Quinoa seeds at Nourish you
https://nourishyou.in/superfoods/quinoa-seeds/
These sound amazing! I have been wanting to try a homemade veggie patty for a while and this looks like the perfect recipe. My family would devour these!!! Pinned!
Love this recipe. I just saw it on Ahalogy. Love the blend of grains and seeds.
Can’t wait to try these!! Question – has anyone tried freezing these?
I’d love to make a batch and have them on hand…but can’t say I’ve ever froze potatoes!! Any tips are welcomed! Thanks
Thank you for posting this recipe! These cakes are my absolute favorite food!! Due to some gall bladder issues, I can’t eat oil or fats, and I also eat a plant-based diet so it is very hard to find something prepared that fits my needs!
Hi Diane, Thanks for commenting! I think they would freeze well. Just make them per the recipe, let them cool and then freeze. Here’s a good guide for freezing your own veggie burgers that might be helpful: http://ohsheglows.com/2012/08/09/how-to-prep-and-freeze-veggie-burgers-a-tutorial/.
Has anyone tried this with brown rice instead of wild rice, would it make a difference?
Yes Josiah, I did use brown rice when making this. It was great. I substituted for the same amount.
I have just found your website and it’s wonderful! I am wondering about the sweet potato in the recipe. Is it what is considered yams?? or is it sweet potato. Either way I am anxious to try. Keep it up and thanks for the help.
Sweet potatoes. I hope you like the recipe. 🙂
Just tried the recipe!! Simply delicious. I put just a small tab of roasted red pepper humus on top. My oh my I will certainly be making these again. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
Thank you so much for posting this. I’ve been looking for it everywhere! My hubby and I are new to veganism and I love these but the nearest WF is over an hour away, so I only get there at most once a month. I look forward to trying some of your other recipes.
Have you tried their kale and avacado salad? Another great one to get the recipe for!!
Tried this recipe and although I was out of dried cranberries and Sage, I used Thyme and chopped Raisins instead and I used Tri colored Quinoa but they were still SO good.
Next time i’ll use cranberries and sage though but i found these a very good substitute anyway.
Thanks very much for this recipe loved them!
[img src=” http://distilleryimage5.s3.amazonaws.com/9833f64cc42511e2a73b22000aa80571_7.jpg“]
★★★★★
Great recipe! Look easy and nice to eat..I will show this to my auntie and ask her to made for me..:) Thanks
Awesome recipe! I made them for my family and they loved them!! even my 60 year old carnivore father liked them! healthy and fun! could be a nice alternative flavor with dried cherries!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed the recipe Emily! I agree, dried cherries would be nice as well. 🙂
★★★★★
Awesome recipe! Can’t wait to try it! Just 1 question, Is the amount of rice and quinoa dry and then cooked which expands and turns into more or 1 cup already cooked quinoa and rice? Thanks
Both the rice and quinoa are 1 cup dry. They will expand after cooking, as you mentioned.
★★★★★
Ok great. Thanks. Looking forward to making these but mostly to eating them!
These look AMAZING!! Any idea how many calories per cake??
I love sweet potato & quinoa however, I am allergic to black pepper. Is their a substitute I can use?
I live in San Diego and when I go to the asian markets I get confused with what they called sweet potatoes. Is it the ones when you dig into the skin it’s yellow inside or white?
I’m on a veggie-burger round up mission… I intend to consume delicious things all summer. This one looks great, looking forward to trying it (or a variation, I’m not so good at perfectly following directions.)
Thanks for sharing it!
omg, THANK YOU for this! I just went to whole foods for lunch and decided to try one of these, they are amazing!! they didn’t have the recipe on their website and i was so disappointed until I found your site! sending you healthy love 🙂
I recently had the WF ones and fell in love! I found your site when I was searching – this recipe is incredibly delicious! Thank you so much for sharing! I have a batch in the oven right now! 🙂
Thanks for the comment Kelly. I’m so glad you like the recipe, it’s one of my favorites. 🙂
The cakes look gorgeous. Using sweet potato was a ingenious move. Sweet potatos are rich in ketones which are super good for you.
These cakes look amazing! I’ve been making similar quinoa cakes with pumpkin instead of sweet potato, but being a sweet-potato-lover I will give these a try soon 😉
Just made these, happen to have potato Leek soup on hand so I floated one of these in a bowl. So Good! Feels like Thanksgiving. Great flavor combo.