With Super Bowl Sunday just days away, it got me thinking: what food are we going to serve? Let's be honest- it's all about the food, right? No matter what team you are cheering for, having good food that is not only delicious but easy to eat, is key. I also like to try to avoid filling up on food that completely weighs you down and has you in a food coma for days. That's when the idea of lightening up the classic cheeseburger popped into my mind. I used roasted sweet potatoes in place of traditional hamburger buns, and used ground turkey to create sweet potato sliders. They turned out to be a huge success, even for the pickiest of football fans in our house!

I started by slicing a Hannah sweet potato into 1/4 inch thick slices and brushed them on both sides with a good olive oil and salt and pepper. You can certainly use any type of sweet potato, this is just what I had on hand. And they do look like little hamburger buns :)

You want to cook the sweet potatoes until they have slightly browned around the edges so that they hold up to the meat of the burger. You can also make these ahead of time and then just warm them back up in the oven for a few minutes when you are ready to serve them.

We chose to use ground turkey and melted cheddar jack cheese on top, but you could use any ground meat and cheese combo that you'd like.

I love to create a condiment station to house all of our favorite burger toppers. I stuck with the classics on this one, but the possibilities are endless. You could caramelize onions and mushrooms, bacon, pickles, and on and on! We used Sir Kensingonton's ketchup and mustard since they are all natural and my husband and I love them.

You could either assemble the sliders and serve them on a platter, or you could create a burger bar for everyone to make their own. Since they are bite sized, I chose to preassemble ours with all the fixin's and they were a big hit!

They are so incredibly fun to eat! My husband was a bit skeptical at first but pleasantly surprised that he didn't miss the traditional hamburger bun at all. And, you have a built-in side of fries :)

I hope you give these sweet potato sliders a try and love them as much as we did. Cheers to a fun Super Bowl Sunday filled with lots of delicious eats!

Sweet Potato & Turkey Burger Sliders

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds of ground turkey (or other lean ground meat)
2 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1/4 in. slices
Sliced cheddar jack cheese, cut into small squares
1 Tbs. olive oil
Sea Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Optional toppings: small thinly sliced tomatoes, lettuce torn into bite sized pieces, avocado slices, ketchup and mustard.

Directions:

Shape ground meat into 8-10 mini patties. Size them according to the size of your sweet potato slices. Season them with salt and pepper and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the sweet potatoes into 1/4 in. thick slices. Brush with olive oil on both sides and season them with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes (flipping halfway through), or until the edges are slightly crispy.
While the potatoes are cooking, heat a skillet with olive oil to medium high heat. Place the turkey patties in the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, until they are cooked all the way through.
Assemble the burgers, placing the mini burger in between the two sweet potato slices and garnish with your favorite toppings!