Mediterranean Sweet Potatoes are bursting with flavor and simple to make. These oven-baked sweet potatoes are loaded with a delicious mix of roasted chickpeas, a quick roasted bell pepper salad, and a creamy lemon dressing.
This recipe is vegetarian, but you can always add a side of grilled chicken or grilled steak.
The Best Mediterranean Sweet Potatoes
Over the past few months, I’ve shared two versions of sweet potato-stuffed meals: these Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes and a “Mexican Street Corn” inspired Loaded Sweet Potato.
And today I’m sharing a third: Mediterranean Sweet Potatoes. These easy baked sweet potatoes are filled with Mediterranean flavors from the salad, to the chickpeas, to the creamy lemon dressing on top.
How To Make Mediterranean Sweet Potatoes
- Bake the potatoes and chickpeas: Wrapping potatoes in foil and baking can take over an hour. To save time, cut the potatoes in half and place them face down on a tray, directly in the oven (no foil). This method caramelizes the exposed flesh of the sweet potato. Bake the chickpeas alongside the potatoes.
- Assemble the topping: While the potatoes bake, prepare the creamy lemon dressing and a simple Mediterranean salad.
- Serve: Fluff the baked sweet potatoes with a fork, add the topping, crispy chickpeas, and finish with spoonfuls of the sauce.
How To Meal Prep
- Bake enough sweet potatoes for the week: This, of course, is based on how many you’d like to eat that week. I wouldn’t recommend keeping the cooked potatoes past a week. Let the potatoes completely cool and package in separate containers.
- Prepare the topping and sauce: Depending on how many servings you’ll be prepping, you might want to double both the salad topping and sauce. Store the salad topping mixture, feta cheese, chickpeas, and sauce in separate containers.
- Assemble the loaded sweet potato: At lunch time, warm the sweet potato alongside the chickpeas, add the salad topping, feta cheese, sauce, and enjoy!
Quick Tip
Note on serving sizes: The actual serving sizes of this recipe can vary depending on a few factors: the size of your sweet potatoes, how much topping you add to each potato, and individual appetites. I find these extremely filling, so one heavily loaded half is enough for me!
Serve These Alongside
- Garbanzo Bean Salad with an Italian dressing
- Strawberry Salad with a citrus vinaigrette
- Cowboy Caviar delicious black bean salad
- Quinoa Black Bean Salad with a creamy cilantro dressing
- Panzanella Salad with a balsamic vinaigrette
Mediterranean Sweet Potatoes
Mediterranean Sweet Potatoes are bursting with flavor and simple to make. These oven-baked sweet potatoes are loaded with a delicious mix of roasted chickpeas, a quick roasted bell pepper salad, and a creamy lemon dressing.
Ingredients
Sweet Potatoes and Topping
- 3 medium (10-11 ounces EACH) sweet potatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- 1 cup chopped English cucumber
- 1 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
- 1/2 cup chopped roasted red pepper (about 1 roasted bell pepper; I buy already roasted bell peppers)
- 1/4 cup kalamata olives thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1/4 cup feta cheese optional
Chickpeas
- 1 can chickpeas
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon EACH: ground cumin, chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Dressing
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh oregano finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons plain (whole milk) Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons full-fat regular mayonnaise
Instructions
- SWEET POTATOES: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. While the oven is preheating, prep the sweet potatoes. Scrub the potatoes, cut them in half (lengthwise), and place on a large sheet pan. Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes and then rub the oil onto both sides of the potatoes. Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon of salt evenly over the flesh side of the potatoes and then place the potatoes flesh side down on the pan. Sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon salt evenly over the skin of the potatoes. Bake for 30-37 minutes (depending on the size of potatoes/personal preference for tenderness) or until the skin looks shriveled and potatoes are tender. A 5-6 ounce potatoes will cook in around 25-27 minutes, 6-8 ounce potatoes around 30 minutes, and 9-11 ounce potatoes around 33-37 minutes.
- CHICKPEAS: Toss rinsed and drained chickpeas with olive oil, spices, (salt and pepper to taste) and place on a separate sheet pan. Cook at the same time as the sweet potatoes (bottom shelf). They will be done in around 20-25 minutes.
- TOPPING: While the sweet potatoes bake, prepare the topping. In a large bowl, combine the chopped cucumber, tomatoes, parsley, red pepper and olives. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add the lemon juice. Toss to combine.
- SAUCE: In a small bowl, add together all of the dressing/sauce ingredients: the minced garlic, chopped oregano, lemon juice, olive oil, Greek yogurt, and mayo. Whisk to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper). Whisk and set aside.
- ASSEMBLE: Once the sweet potatoes are fork-tender, remove from the oven. Flip the potatoes flesh side up and smash down the insides a little bit with a fork. Divide roasted chickpeas, salad topping, sauce, and feta cheese equally among the potatoes. Enjoy immediately.
Recipe Notes
*The salad filling mixture is enough to overfill 3 full (11-ounce) sweet potatoes (6 halves) or lightly fill 4 full (11-ounce) sweet potatoes (8 halves). The actual serving sizes of this recipe greatly depends/varies on a few factors: the size of your sweet potatoes, how much topping you're adding to each potato, and of course individual appetites.
Nutrition
Calories: 350kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 705mg | Potassium: 217mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 704IU | Vitamin C: 31mg | Calcium: 100mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Is there a way to send this to MyFitnessPal for the nutrition? So good!
Thanks so much Annette! I’m not sure how to send this to MyFitnessPal! I’m so sorry!
this was wonderful! my notes:
-didn’t use mayo, just really good yogurt. -cubed and roasted the sweet potato, as it gives it pitato a bit more body (i like roasties more than mashies). -i added pepitas (roasted salted pumpkin seeds) to the topping and oh.my.gosh.
Delish! So thrilled to hear you enjoyed this!
What a wonderful thing you’ve done. This was the first recipe of yours that I made. I try to use only from the healthy section just because it makes me feel better. Every supper in my home is now one of your recipe’s. My family loves all of your dishes. I appreciate everything you do, it’s made my life easier and I feel like we are better for it. Many Thanks
This seriously means the world to me! Thank you so much for your comment! 🙂
I have frozen chopped sweet potatoes that I would love to use instead of whole ones. About how many cups would you say I need to use?
Probably about 2 cups per potato you’re replacing! Just a guess!
This was deLICIOUS!!! Thank you so much for sharing. Yum 🙂
Thanks Sarah!
This is absolutely delicious! My 20 year old son requests this for dinner every time he comes home. He wants the recipe double so he can take it back with him to school
So thrilled this was a hit; thanks Shelley!
Absolutely love this recipe. Made it many times. I usually double the amount of chickpeas (and their seasoning) so we have left overs.
Yum! I’m so happy to hear you loved this! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
what a creative use of my favorite ingredient, sweet potatoes, wouldn’t have put this one together on my own, so thank you
You’re welcome! 🙂
Absolutely delicious…will make this again and again…the dressing is amazing
So glad you loved these Mediterranean Sweet Potatoes! Thanks so much for your comment Vanessa!:)
I made this last night and all I can say is WOW! So many amazing flavors going on at once! The dressing really pulls it altogether and makes each bite more savory than the last. I have leftovers for lunch today and I can’t wait!
I am sooo happy you loved this! Thanks for your comment! 🙂