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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Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

5 from 4 votes

- Review this recipe

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. Note on prep time: While the total time indicates 50 minutes, you can prepare everything else while the potatoes bake for about 30 minutes, so it really is closer to a 30-minute meal. 

SAVE TO RECIPE BOX

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Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

5 from 4 votes

- Review this recipe

SAVE TO RECIPE BOX

Print Recipe

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. Note on prep time: While the total time indicates 50 minutes, you can prepare everything else while the potatoes bake for about 30 minutes, so it really is closer to a 30-minute meal. 

Course Dinner, lunch

Cuisine American

Keyword stuffed sweet potatoes

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 6 filled sweet potato HALVES

Chelsea Lords

Calories 157kcal

Author Chelsea Lords

Ingredients

• ▢ 3 medium (10-11 ounces EACH) sweet potatoes, washed and cut in half lengthwise
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1/4 cup diced red onion (Note 1)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• ▢ 1 can (15 ounces) fire-roasted corn, drained (Note 2)
• ▢ 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
• ▢ 1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno, optional
• ▢ 1/2 cup thinly sliced radish
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lime juice
• ▢ 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon EACH: ground cumin, fine sea salt, freshly cracked pepper
• ▢ Optional: guacamole, additional fresh lime juice, sprinkle of queso cotija cheese

Sauce

• ▢ 1/2 cup mayo full-fat regular style
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lime juice freshly squeezed
• ▢ 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ▢ 1-2 teaspoons adobo sauce (from a can of chipotles)

US - Metric

USMetric

Instructions

• SWEET POTATOES: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. While the oven is preheating, scrub the potatoes, cut them in half (lengthwise), and place them on a large sheet pan. Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes and 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 arrange the potatoes on the pan, flesh side down. Sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon salt evenly over the skin of the potatoes. Bake for 30-37 minutes (depending on the 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.
• TOPPING: In a large bowl, combine the diced red onion (see note 1), minced garlic, corn (see note 2), black beans, jalapeño, radish, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust salt/pepper to personal preference; set aside.
• SAUCE: In a small bowl, whisk together all of the sauce ingredients. Start by adding 1 teaspoon of the adobo sauce (the liquid surrounding the actual chipotles) from the can of chipotles. Add more of the sauce until you've reached your desired heat preference. You can even add a half or full chipotle pepper from the can if you like a lot of heat. Just chop it up and then blend with the other ingredients. Season sauce to taste with salt (I add 1/8 teaspoon salt).
• 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. 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) and cut off the cob and then 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.

Nutrition Facts

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

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

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