Enjoy a nutritious and filling dinner the whole family will love with these Turkey Taco Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.
Table of contents
- These turkey taco stuffed sweet potatoes are...
- The best four adjectives to describe these turkey stuffed sweet potatoes:
- Taco stuffed sweet potato ingredients:
- Recipe Substitutions:
- Do sweet potatoes need to be washed before baking?
- How do you scrub or clean a sweet potato?
- How do you bake sweet potatoes?
- Are these stuffed sweet potatoes gluten-free?
- How do you make this recipe?
- How to make taco stuffed sweet potatoes:
- Step 1:
- Step 2
- Step 3
- Step 4
- Step 5
- How do you store these sweet potatoes?
- How long do stuffed sweet potatoes last?
- How do you reheat these stuffed sweet potatoes?
- What do these sweet potatoes pair well with?
- Other healthy main dish recipes you might like:
I can't even remember when I started making these Taco Stuffed Sweet Potatoes. So, I thought it was about time I shared them on here.
After all, friends don't keep delicious and healthy recipes a secret from each other, right?
Baked caramelized sweet potatoes are topped with a turkey taco meat that is juicy, flavorful, and not overly salty, thanks to a super easy homemade taco meat seasoning.
They're good clean energy, gluten-free, and an amazing carb-loading meal option that's full of slow-digesting carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. These stuffed sweet potatoes fuel you up with good clean nutrition, rather than weighing you down or making you feel tired.
So, if you're looking for a healthy and tasty way to switch up your taco game, this recipe is for you.
Not only that, but they're a dream to reheat. Bring for lunch the next day or a quick dinner the next night. 'Cause, I promise you, just one meal of these won't be enough.
These turkey taco stuffed sweet potatoes are...
- Full of healthy, slow-digesting carbohydrates
- Gluten-free
- Flavorful
- A complete meal
- A great use for ground turkey
- High in fiber, protein, and magnesium
- Make delicious leftovers
- Lower in sodium than classic taco meat
- A new way to enjoy taco Tuesday!
Weekday evenings are easier when we have recipes on hand that make complete and easy healthy meals. Add this to your repertoire for convenient, nutritious, and, tastier evenings to come.
The best four adjectives to describe these turkey stuffed sweet potatoes:
- Hearty
- Healthy
- Energizing
- Comfort food
The flavors are sweet, complex, spicy, and cheesy, but the result is a good-for-you food that will fill you up and fuel you with energy for the long-haul.
Taco stuffed sweet potato ingredients:
These ingredients are made with many easy-to-find ingredients and pantry staples:
Sweet potatoes -- a surprisingly good base for taco meat! The savory spices of the meat complement the sweet and hearty sweet potato in a way you won't be soon to forget.
Olive oil -- we'll need just a little bit for sauteing the meat and veggies in.
Onion -- yellow or white onion does the trick!
Red pepper -- the earthy sweetness of the pepper is a perfect vegetable for the savory spice blend.
Ground turkey -- go for a mix of breast and thigh meat if you can. Having the thigh, or dark meat, blended in will provide more flavor and B vitamins!
Garlic -- adds depth and umami to the taco seasoning blend.
Corn -- fresh or frozen corn work just fine in this dish. They add another dimension of flavor.
Seasonings -- we'll be using some Mexican themes spices in this dish -- chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Also, don't forget the salt! Using just a bit of sea salt brings out all the flavors.
Lemon juice -- adds a bit of brightness to the taco meat, bringing out all the flavors so they shine. You can use fresh or bottled lemon juice.
Baby spinach -- these greens add extra nutrition to the potatoes without having an overpowering flavor.
Recipe Substitutions:
Adapt this recipe to your liking with the following recipe substitutions!
- Turkey -- if you don't have or want to use ground turkey, you can easily substitute in ground beef or a can of rinsed and drained pinto or black beans.
- Sweet potatoes -- you can substitute in baked russet potatoes.
- Red pepper -- green or yellow pepper will do just fine in place of red pepper.
- Lemon juice -- lime juice should work just as good in this recipe!
- Baby spinach -- baby kale or a baby spinach blend work just fine in place of the baby spinach
Do sweet potatoes need to be washed before baking?
Yes! I recommend washing sweet potatoes before baking them. Otherwise, they may have dirt and other debris on them.
How do you scrub or clean a sweet potato?
You can scrub or clean a sweet potato by lightly rubbing it down with a dishcloth or dish sponge under running cool water until all the flecks of dirt are off the potato.
How do you bake sweet potatoes?
To bake a sweet potato, first preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If you want a softer potato skin, wrap the sweet potato in aluminum foil and place it directly on the oven rack.
If you'd like a sweet potato with a dryer or more crunchy skin, place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet (lined with aluminum foil to prevent difficult clean-up) and then place on the baking rack.
For both ways, bake your sweet potatoes for 55-70 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender and cooked throughout.
Are these stuffed sweet potatoes gluten-free?
Yes, thanks to not using a pre-made taco seasoning mix, these taco are naturally gluten-free!
How to make taco stuffed sweet potatoes:
First, we'll be roasting the sweet potatoes. Place clean sweet potatoes each in the center of a 12-inch square (or so) sheet of aluminum foil and wrap the potatoes up tightly. Then bake at 400 for 55-70 minutes, depending on how thick your potatoes are, or until the potatoes are cooked through and pierce easily with a knife.
Towards the final 15 minutes of baking, make the turkey taco meat filling. Heat up olive oil in a large non-stick pan over medium heat until it sizzles when sprinkled with water.
Add the peppers and onions and cook for 4 minutes or so, stirring frequently until the onions are starting to turn translucent.
Add the turkey to the onion mixture and saute, crumbling the turkey as it cooks, for about 4.5-5.5 minutes, or until it's no longer pink.
Add in the corn, garlic, and other spices and saute for 1-2 minutes, or until the corn is warmed through and the garlic is fragrant, but not burning.
Turn the heat to medium-low. Add the spinach and lemon juice and cook for 1-2 more minutes, continuing to stir frequently until the juice is evaporated and the greens are half-way wilted (they will wilt the rest of the way after you turn off the heat).
Slice the sweet potatoes down the middle, pinch them open, scoop in a generous serving of the turkey taco meat, top with cheese, avocado, cilantro, and any other favorite toppings. Enjoy your healthy stuffed sweet potatoes!
How do you store leftover stuffed sweet potatoes?
I recommend storing these sweet potatoes separately in the refrigerator -- with both the filling and the potatoes in their own airtight container. If your sweet potatoes are still wrapped in foil you can store them still warpped on a plate.
If you have leftover toppings, you will want to store them in their own container as well.
How long do stuffed sweet potatoes last?
Stuffed sweet potatoes should last covered in the fridge for 4-5 days.
How do you reheat these stuffed sweet potatoes?
To reheat these potatoes, remove the sweet potatoes from the aluminum foil (if they are still wrapped) and place a sweet potato on a microwave safe plate. Slice a slit down the center of the potatoe and lightly pinch and pull the sides of the sweet potato out.
Scoop the taco filling into the sweet potato. Drape a paper towel over the plate and heat the sweet potato up on 80%-90% power (depending on the strength of your microwave) for 1.5-2.5 minutes, or until the sweet potato is heated through. Top your sweet potato with avocado, cheese, and your other favorite toppings and you're ready to enjoy!
What do these sweet potatoes pair well with?
These sweet potatoes are pretty hearty, but they can pair with the following sides to make them extra filling!
- Smashed Beans
- A green side salad
- Sauteed zucchini
- A nice, cold beer
Other healthy main dish recipes you might like:
- Mexican Chicken Marinade
- Healthier Taco Mac and Cheese
- Dutch Oven Sweet Potatoes
- BBQ Crockpot Chicken Sandwiches
- Taco Tater Tot Casserole
- Turkey Sloppy Joes
- Slow Cooker Turkey Carnitas
- Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet
- One-Pot Orecchiette with Sausage
- Teriyaki Meatloaf
- Cuban Sheet Pan Chicken
- Instant Pot Turkey Chili
- Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry
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Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Get the best of both worlds with these Taco Stuffed Sweet Potatoes. Savory spiced meat perfectly complements the naturally sweet potatoes. Shredded Mexican cheese blend, cilantro, and avocado finish the dish off. Make this recipe for dinner tonight!
For the best flavor use a ground turkey mixture of breast and thigh meat.
Ingredients
Sweet potatoes
- 4 medium sized sweet potatoes, washed
Turkey Taco Meat Filling
- 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil (preferably light)
- ½ medium white or yellow onion, diced
- 1 red pepper, seeded and cut into about a ½ inch dice
- 1 lb ground turkey meat (preferably a mix of white and dark meat)
- 3 cloves of garlic, diced
- ½ cup frozen or fresh corn (cut off the cob if fresh)
- 1 ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 2 cups lightly packed baby spinach
Baked Sweet Potato Toppings
- ¾ cup shredded mexican cheese blend
- 1 avocado, pitted and cut into 1 inch cubes
- ⅓ cup cilantro, diced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut four approximately 12 inch squares of aluminum foil. Place the sweet potatoes on the foil and wrap them up tightly. Bake for 55-70 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through and pierce easily with a knife.
- Towards the last 10-15 minutes or so of the sweet potatoes baking, heat up 1 ½ tablespoons light olive oil in a large non-stick saute pan over medium heat.
- Once the oil sizzles when flicked with water, add the peppers and onions and saute, stirring frequently, for about 4 minutes or until the onions start to turn translucent.
- Add the turkey breast and cook, crumbling the meat as you stir, for 4.5-5.5 minutes, or until the turkey is no longer pink.
- Add the corn, garlic, chili powder, oregano, cayenne, cumin, and salt and saute for 1-2 more minutes, continuing to stir, or until the corn is heated through and the garlic is fragrant, but not burning.
- Turn the heat to medium low. Stir in the lemon juice and baby spinach and cook for 1-2 more minutes, or until the juice is mainly evaporated and the greens are half-way wilted (they will wilt the rest of the way as the mixture cools).
- Remove the turkey mixture from the heat. Slice open the sweet potatoes vertically, squeeze them open, scoop in turkey meat and then top with the cheese, cilantro, avocado, and any of your other favorite taco toppings. Serve hot!
Notes
1. You can usually find the turkey breast and thigh meat mixture in the grocery stores.
2. Leftovers of this store well in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 518Total Fat 26gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 17gCholesterol 120mgSodium 581mgCarbohydrates 41gFiber 7gSugar 13gProtein 33g
This nutrition breakdown is just an estimate of the nutritional value of this recipe and cannot be taken as facts. The owners of Mae's Menu are not nutritionists or dieticians and therefore cannot be held accountable for this nutrition estimate. Please contact your nutritionist or medical professional for a nutritional breakdown of this food. Furthermore, this food is not intended to prevent, diagnose, cure, or treat any disease.
Marie says
What a creative way to serve tacos. These were were equally as delicious as nutritious. We'll definitely be making them again.
Mary says
OMG, these were so good! My husband and son were skeptical, but we all loved them. They're definitely going on the "go to" list.
Mae's Menu says
Hi, Mary!
Yey, I am so glad to hear that! The flavor combination is a bit unexpected, but one of my favorites!
Best,
Chelsea