Stuffed Sweet Potatoes {Southwestern}

These Southwestern-inspired Stuffed Sweet Potatoes are delicious, simple to make, and healthy all at the same time (something that’s hard to achieve!). Baked sweet potatoes are topped with a delicious Southwestern mix of black beans, corn, radish, red onion, and cilantro. 

These stuffed sweet potatoes come together in about 30 minutes – and the best part is, they’re easy to make, healthy, and packed with tons of flavor. This recipe is vegetarian, but you can always add a side of grilled chicken (using this chicken marinade) or grilled steak (using this steak marinade).

One of the questions I frequently get in my inbox is how to create healthy meals that are both filling and inexpensive. Eating healthy carries the stereotype of being more expensive and less filling. Honestly, it often can be, but it doesn’t have to be.

My response is that it’s easy to make them taste good. Plus, you can make a TON of recipes with just vegetables and beans. 

And when we’re talking about how to eat healthy, inexpensive foods, the answer is usually to eat more vegetables and beans. And when it comes to veggies, sweet potatoes are one of my favorites. They’re very filling and taste so good! Over the next couple of months I’ll be sharing three different versions of stuffed sweet potatoes starting, of course, with these Southwestern-inspired sweet potatoes. 

So with that, let’s jump into these southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes!

How to make Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

• Bake the potatoes: Wrapping potatoes in foil and cooking in the oven can take over an hour. Ain’t nobody got time for that! Today we’re slashing that baking time in half. We do that by cutting the potatoes in half and placing them directly in the oven (on a pan with no foil). The exposed flesh of the sweet potato becomes deliciously caramelized as it bakes face down on the tray. You’ll be amazed how much better the potatoes taste– and they’re easier and quicker. 
• Assemble the topping: While the potatoes are baking, assemble the topping mix make the sauce. This comes together quickly, making this meal a true 30-minute prep and cook time (yay!).
• Make the sauce: The delicious chipotle mayo is simple to make and can be prepped right after the topping is assembled. It’s also very easy to make this sauce as hot or mild as you’d like!
• Eat: Break up the baked sweet potatoes a bit with a fork, spoon on some topping, and finish with ridiculous amounts of the chipotle mayo. Add any of your favorites: fresh lime, a spoonful of guacamole, or some fresh pico de gallo.

Variation Ideas

It’s very easy to add some variation to these stuffed sweet potatoes. Here are a few suggestions:

• Beans: Swap out the black beans for pinto beans or even white beans.
• Corn: Fresh is always best, but canned or frozen works great too. If you have fresh corn I’d recommend grilling it! For canned/frozen, try pan-roasting it. In the winter, I buy frozen corn on the cob (pictured above) and grill those on a gas grill or in a grill pan.
• Additions: It’s easy to add (or replace other ingredients) with some chopped Roma or cherry tomatoes, a chopped roasted red pepper, and/or a diced poblano, green, or sweet bell pepper. (See how to cut a bell pepper here).

Dietary Modifications

• Dairy-free: To make this a dairy-free recipe omit the cheese or replace it with a non-dairy version.
• Vegan: To convert this to a vegan recipe, omit the cheese and use vegan mayo in place of the regular mayo.
• Whole 30: Make this without the chipotle sauce, beans, and corn. Instead, top with a good spoonful of guac and maybe some salsa!

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 baked potatoes longer than 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 topping and sauce. Store the topping and sauce in separate containers. If using the cheese, store it separately from the topping and sauce. If using guacamole, I’d recommend buying individual pre-made guacamole tubs (like Wholly Avocado®) and adding one container into your packed lunch each day.
• Assemble the Stuffed Sweet Potato: Warm the sweet potato at lunchtime, add the topping, cheese, sauce, and enjoy!

Serve Stuffed Sweet Potatoes alongside

• Quinoa Salad (easy, healthy, delicious)
• Italian Salad (incredible dressing)
• Chickpea Salad (Mediterranean inspired)
• Or, if you’re looking for a meat-stuffed sweet potato, try adding a few spoonfuls of this crockpot chili (a reader FAVORITE) to the potatoes!

Note on serving sizes: The actual serving size of this recipe greatly depends on a few factors: the size of your sweet potatoes, how much topping you’re adding to each potato, and of course, individual appetites. (I find these extremely filling, so one heavily loaded half is enough for me!)

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5 from 3 votes

Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

By Chelsea Lords

These Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes are nutritious, delicious, and easy! Baked sweet potatoes are topped with a tasty mix of black beans, corn, radish, red onion, and cilantro. While the potatoes bake, prep everything else, making it a quick 30-minute meal.

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 filled sweet potato halves

Equipment

• large sheet pan,

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 3 medium sweet potatoes 10 to 11 ounces each
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1/4 cup diced red onion see note 1
• ▢ 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• ▢ 1 (15-ounce) can fire-roasted corn drained, see note 2
• ▢ 1 (15-ounce) can black beans drained and rinsed
• ▢ 1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno optional
• ▢ 1/2 cup thinly sliced radish
• ▢ 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• ▢ Toppings as desired see note 3

Sauce

• ▢ 1/2 cup mayo full-fat regular style
• ▢ 1 lime
• ▢ 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ▢ 1 to 2 teaspoons adobo sauce from a can of chipotles

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 400°F. While oven is preheating, scrub potatoes, cut them in half (lengthwise), and place on a large sheet pan. Drizzle olive oil over them and rub oil on both sides of the potatoes. Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon salt evenly over the flesh side of potatoes and arrange them on the pan, flesh side down. Sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon salt evenly over the skin of the potatoes. Bake 30–37 minutes, depending on size of potatoes and personal preference for tenderness or until the skin looks shriveled and potatoes are tender: A 5–6 ounce potato will cook in around 25–27 minutes, 6–8 ounce potatoes around 30 minutes, and 9–11 ounce potatoes around 33–37 minutes.
• In a large bowl, combine diced red onion (see note 1), minced garlic, corn (see note 2), black beans, jalapeño, radish, 1 tablespoon lime juice, cilantro, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust salt/pepper to personal preference; set aside.
• In a small bowl, whisk together all sauce ingredients. Start by adding 1 teaspoon of adobo sauce (the liquid surrounding the chipotles) from can of chipotles. Add more sauce until reaching your desired heat preference. Add a half or full chipotle pepper from the can if you like a lot of heat. Just chop it up and blend with the other ingredients. Season sauce to taste with salt (I add 1/8 teaspoon).
• Once sweet potatoes are fork-tender, remove from oven. Flip the potatoes flesh side up and smash the insides a bit with a fork. Spoon the filling, plenty of sauce, and any other optional additions (guacamole, additional fresh lime, a small sprinkle of queso cotija) over the potatoes. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

Note 1: To take away the bite of red onions, soak them in a cup of cold water for about 10 minutes. Drain well and add to the mix.

Note 2: If you have fresh corn, you can use it here! Grill 2 ears of corn (grill pan or grill), cut off the cob, and add to the recipe. You can also roast well-drained canned or frozen corn in a skillet. Let cool completely before adding to the other ingredients.

Note 3: Optional toppings: guacamole, additional fresh lime juice, and/or a sprinkle of queso cotija cheese.

Storage: Store the baked sweet potatoes and toppings separately. Keep the sweet potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. When ready to serve, reheat the potatoes and add the fresh toppings.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 157kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 263mg | Potassium: 44mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 339IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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