Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Some weeknights call for an easy, low-lift meal like stuffed sweet potatoes. Two components—roasted whole sweet potatoes and a lean ground turkey and black bean mixture—come together for a robust, protein-packed dish that you can serve alone or with a crisp green salad or other vegetable. Top the potatoes with melty cheese and serve them with guacamole and salsa for a southwestern-inspired dinner that everyone will love. This stuffed sweet potato recipe is great for busy weeknights when you need something hearty to fill up the family, and the taters store well for easy leftovers later in the week.

Ingredients for Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

• Sweet potatoes: For this stuffed sweet potato recipe, use medium sweet potatoes. Make sure you’ve picked sweet potatoes versus yams, which are easy to confuse. Sweet potatoes are orange-fleshed potatoes with pink or reddish skin.
• Ground turkey: The filling starts with lean ground turkey. You can use any meat, including ground beef, chicken or sausage.
• Canola oil: You’ll sear the ground turkey using a small amount of canola oil, but olive oil also works.
• Onion: Diced onion adds flavor to the meat and bean filling.
• Black beans: For this quick dinner, use a can of black beans. Make sure to rinse them well before using them.
• Seasonings: Chili powder, ground cumin, garlic powder and salt add the perfect flavors.
• Monterey Jack cheese: Top the stuffed sweet potatoes with shredded Monterey Jack cheese or any cheese you choose—sharp or smoked cheddar, pepper jack and Cotija all work.
• Guacamole: Store-bought is fine, but homemade guacamole is always better.
• Salsa: Any type of salsa is an excellent accompaniment to your stuffed sweet potatoes. Jarred salsa is the easiest, but salsa recipes made from scratch allow for more experimentation.
• Fresh cilantro: Finish off the potatoes with some leaves of fresh cilantro.

Directions

Step 1: Bake the potatoes

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork and wrap each one in foil. Place them on a 15x10x1-inch baking sheet, and bake them for 55 to 60 minutes or until fork-tender. Let the potatoes cool for 10 minutes.

Editor’s Tip: It’s good practice to prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork before baking them in the oven. You don’t want a potato explosion. You also don’t necessarily need foil to bake sweet potatoes, but it helps.

Step 2: Cook the turkey and bean mixture

While the potatoes are baking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the turkey and onion, and cook for seven to eight minutes until the turkey browns. Stir in the black beans, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add 3 or 4 tablespoons water, and bring the mixture to a simmer for a minute or two until it thickens.

Step 3: Bake the stuffed potatoes

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut a slit in the top of each potato and spread it open to make a pocket. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt into the sweet potato pockets. Stuff the sweet potatoes with the turkey black bean mixture, then sprinkle them with shredded cheese. Bake for another two to three minutes or until the cheese melts. Serve topped with guacamole, salsa and cilantro.

ELLIE CROWLEY FOR TASTE OF HOME

Stuffed Sweet Potato Variations

• Try a different protein: These stuffed sweet potatoes go great with turkey, but you can easily substitute ground chicken, pork or beef. You can even keep it vegetarian by using crumbled tofu or tempeh.
• Add other vegetables: This filling goes great with lots of different veggies. Try shredded carrots, zucchini, corn, kale, chopped mushrooms or broccoli. To prevent excess moisture in the filling, saute your vegetables before starting the meat, then add them back in with the black beans.
• Change the toppings: The sky’s the limit when it comes to topping a stuffed sweet potato! Add sour cream, crumbled bacon, extra cheese or a different cheese altogether. You can also try it with really thinly shredded cabbage and toasted pepitas.

How to Store Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Store your stuffed sweet potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge. Store the toppings separately so nothing gets soggy. The stuffed sweet potatoes will last up to four days.

How do you reheat stuffed sweet potatoes?

You can reheat the stuffed sweet potatoes in the oven or microwave, but you might want to remove any cool toppings (like guacamole) beforehand. To reheat the stuffed potatoes in the oven, wrap them in foil for the first 10 minutes, then remove the foil and let the cheese remelt for a few minutes. Add the toppings and serve.

Stuffed Sweet Potato Tips

ELLIE CROWLEY FOR TASTE OF HOME

Do you need to soak sweet potatoes before baking them?

You don’t need to soak sweet potatoes before baking them, but you should scrub them beforehand to remove dirt or debris on the skin. Soaking peeled and diced sweet potatoes in water if you’re not cooking them right away helps prevent discolorization, but soaking is unnecessary when cooking sweet potatoes whole.

What can you serve with stuffed sweet potatoes?

Serve this stuffed sweet potato recipe with something fresh, like a crisp green salad, steamed green beans or broccoli, a kale salad or sauteed kale.