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These stuffed sweet potatoes are loaded with flavor and make for a nutritious meal everyone will devour (even the sweet potato-haters like this one). Stuffed with black beans and corn then drizzled with a creamy cilantro sauce, you’ll be coming back for seconds.
save this recipe!It’s probably against some cardinal plant-based rule to not like sweet potatoes, but in their plain form, I find them too sweet and mushy.
This recipe changes that, balancing the sweet mush with savory, spicy flavors and a variety of textures that even sweet potato critics can get on board with.
It’s one our our recent favorite sweet potato recipes (so good, in fact, that I put it in my vegetarian cookbook!). Let’s cook.
Reader rating
“so so so flavorful! one of my absolute favorite ways to use sweet potatoes. have made these a couple times now, and just can’t get enough!” —Livi
Here’s What You’ll Need
This is just an overview; jump to the recipe card for full measurements and instructions!
- Sweet Potatoes: Start off with 4 medium potatoes. We’ll be cutting them in half, with 2 halves equaling one serving.
- Black Beans: Black beans add a boost of protein. Pinto or kidney beans also work wlel here.
- Veggies: Bell pepper (any color), and a can of corn (but you could use fresh if you have it!).
- Sour Cream: Add some creaminess to the filling. For a lower calorie option you could use plain Greek yogurt here. Or make it vegan with a non-dairy yogurt.
- Adobo Peppers: Use the kind that are jarred in chipotle sauce, and mince up 2 to 4 before adding to the dish. These add a little heat!
Cilantro Sauce
To balance the sweet flavors of the sweet potato, I love topping this with a zingy cilantro sauce made from a handful of ingredients like cilantro, yogurt, and red wine vinegar. Not a fan of cilantro? Feel free to leave this out and top the sweet potatoes with salsa or slices of avocado!
Ways to use leftover filling
You’re likely to wind up with leftover filling. Rather than overloading your skins and winding up with towers of beans and corn likely to tumble, you can use the filling for other things! I love turning the filling into fritters (instructions are in the recipe card below).
Serving
These stuffed sweet potatoes have so many flavors and textures going on that they can really be a meal by themselves! But I’ll often serve them with something light, like a cold avocado soup. For the sweet potato lovers, try my Mediterranean baked sweet potatoes with crispy chickpeas next!
Stuffed Sweet Potatoes With Black Beans
Ingredients
Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- 4 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 Tbsp olive oil, 15 mL
- 1 cup diced red onion, about 1 medium onion
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 15-oz can corn, drained, 425 g
- 1 15-oz can black beans, drained, 425 g
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 2 to 4 adobo peppers in chipotle sauce, minced
- ½ tsp salt
Cilantro Sauce
- 1 cup cilantro, thick stems removed
- ½ cup plain yogurt, 100 g
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar, 60 mL
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, 60 mL
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tsp each smoked paprika, cumin, black pepper
Instructions
- Potatoes: Preheat oven to 425°F. Cut 4 medium sweet potatoes in half lengthwise, then place cut side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Prick the sweet potatoes in a few places with a fork. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until fork tender. Remove potatoes but leave oven on when finished.
- Filling: Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 cup diced red onion, 1 red bell pepper, and 2 cloves garlic, cooking until onion is a bit soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. When finished, stir in 1 15-oz can corn and 1 15-oz can black beans.
- Scoop: Once sweet potatoes are cooked, pick up each half (using a paper towel to keep your hand from burning) and scoop out the flesh, leaving about ¼ inch on all sides to act as the bowl for your fillings. Transfer scooped out sweet potato flesh to a medium bowl, and combine it with the ¼ cup sour cream, 2 to 4 adobo peppers in chipotle sauce, and ½ tsp salt.
- Assemble: Fold together the veggie mixture with the sour cream mixture. Stuff each hollowed potato skin with the filling (you will have leftover filling*).
- Sauce: Blend all Cilantro Sauce ingredients until smooth (if you have a handheld immersion blender or small blender use it here–sometimes the small ingredient amounts make this recipe tricky for larger blenders).
- Bake: Place stuffed sweet potatoes back onto the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Serve warm, topped cilantro sauce!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
I’m a white potato girl so this recipe took me out of my comfort zone plus I’m not used to cilantro. The recipe was easy and tasted good, and will help me to eat more sweet potatoes.
Excellent- but also not a huge sweet potato person. Loved the stuffing and cilantro sauce and all of that on top of the sweet potato was good. Served with Mexican Street corn salad- yummmm.
Sounds like a great meal! Thanks so much for letting us know how it went, Kari! 😀
Everyone loved this recipe! My only addition to the potato mixture was maybe about a teaspoon (I just added liberally!) of the fajita seasoning that I had made from another one of your recipes. Leftover filling became a dip and some fritters. Delicious!
Oh that’s a great addition! So happy you made the fritters as well 😀 Thanks for letting us know how it went! 🙂
These were really good. I used the lower amount of adobe pepper listed in your recipe and wished I had used more. We used the leftover as a salad topping, and it was great for that. 3 skins left, so we will try them in the air-fryer tomorrow. Another great recipe.
So happy to hear it!! 😀
so so so flavorful! one of my absolute favorite ways to use sweet potatoes. have made these a couple times now, and just can’t get enough!
Yay! So happy to hear it, Livi. Enjoy!
I LOVE sweet potatoes so this was already a win! Adding the flavors just made them better.
This was a really good recipe. I especially liked that it made enough for lunch later in the week. It was kid approved, both the night of, and the next day!
What could you use that is a little milder than the adobo peppers?
You could do smoked paprika for that same smokiness without the heat 🙂
Dying to try this…what protein would you add? Taco meat/ground beef?
We stick to vegetarian protein around here, but you can definitely use anything you prefer! The recipe itself has 12 grams of protein from the beans and yogurt 🙂
Hi!
Fellow Coloradan here.
Can I use my grill to make this dish?
I love all your recipes, especially your Black Bean Burgers.
Love Red Rocks too!!
Thank you,
Ken
1
Hi Ken! I think you could, you might just need to wrap them in foil to ensure they get cooked through the middle. I’d love to hear how it goes! 😀