Mexican Sweet Potatoes with Chicken

Mexican Sweet Potatoes with Chicken are baked until fork tender, and then filled with spiced and diced chicken, and topped with all of your favorite southwest toppings like salsa, jalapenos, and sour cream. This tasty spuds make a delicious dinner the whole family will love!

You may be familiar with loaded baked potatoes, but using sweet potatoes is even tastier in my opinion! Not only is the color beautiful, sweet potatoes boast a host of great nutritional benefits. They are high in vitamin A and fiber. They aid in digestion, help regulate blood sugar, and can even help treat inflammation. They are truly a powerhouse starch!

So often sweet potatoes are served coated in sugar or cut into fries. Don’t get me wrong, these are both delicious options, but sweet potatoes are much more versatile than we give them credit for! Although they are sweet on their own, they have the ability to go with a variety of different flavors, making them a great canvas for these Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chicken!

For more sweet potato recipes try whipped sweet potatoes or these kale and sweet potato meatballs.

How to Cook Sweet Potatoes (whole)

The base of the recipe is a baked sweet potato. There are a couple ways to get a perfectly cooked sweet potato. Some of my favorites are the oven, air fryer, and instant pot.

• In the oven. To make baked whole sweet potatoes in the oven, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place on a baking sheet and bake for approximately 40-45 minutes, or until a fork pierces them easily. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes, as they will be very hot.
• In the air fryer. Drizzle a bit of olive oil (about a tablespoon) and rub into the sweet potatoes. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper and place into the basket of the air fryer. Set the air fryer temperature to 390 degrees and cook for 45 minutes, or until fork tender.
• In the Instant Pot. Did you know you can make whole sweet potatoes in the instant pot? Well you can! The cook time will vary depending on the size of your potatoes, but for a standard medium sized sweet potato, it takes around 40 minutes total. Place Instant Pot trivet into the pot and add 1 cup of water. Place whole sweet potatoes on to the trivet, after poking a few holes in them with a fork. Cook for 30 minutes at High Pressure and then allow to natural release for 10 minutes before quick releasing the rest of the way.

Ingredients

• medium sweet potatoes
• chicken breasts
• salt
• cayenne (chili powder)
• cumin
• garlic powder
• olive oil

Topping ideas for sweet potatoes

• sour cream
• avocado
• jalapeno (fresh or pickled)
• cooked black beans (canned or you can make black beans from scratch in the instant pot)
• red onion
• salsa
• lime
• cilantro

How to make Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chicken

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place sweet potatoes straight on to a baking sheet and bake until tender, approx. 45 minutes. (See above for additional preparation options).

In a medium bowl, combine spices and olive oil. Place in chicken and stir to coat While sweet potatoes are cooking, bake chicken breasts on a small baking dish alongside them.

The chicken breasts will take about half the time as the sweet potatoes to cook, so pull them out when they reach 165 degrees. Once cool enough to handle, dice seasoned chicken into bite size pieces.

Prep toppings by dicing red onion, rinsing cooked black beans, slicing jalapeno and avocado, and quartering lime.
Slice sweet potatoes lengthwise, and top with listed toppings as desired.

Variations

• Make it vegan. Easily make these stuffed sweet potatoes vegan by omitting the chicken and choosing toppings to accommodate. It would be super tasty to toss some peppers and onions in oil and combine with the mexican seasoning and then saute for more of a fajita stuffed sweet potato.
• Use ground beef or ground turkey. Not wanting chicken tonight? Try ground beef or ground turkey. You can use the same flavoring agents and brown the ground meat up in a pan to top the potatoes. Another option would be ground venison taco meat.
• Slice up the sweet potatoes and turn this into loaded southwest sweet potato fries or sweet potato cubes! Another way to serve this meal is by creating roasted sweet potato cubes (or fries!) and topping them with the same toppings for a fun twist. Slice/dice the sweet potatoes (you can peel them first but you don't have to) and coat with a tablespoon of oil and some salt. Spread in an even layer on a large sheet pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 35 minutes, flipping the fries around halfway through to ensure even browning. Remove roasted sweet potatoes from the oven and top with all of the fixins' like sour cream, cheese, salsa, etc.

Storage

Store baked sweet potatoes in the fridge for up to 3 days. Keep any toppings separate and add to the sweet potato after reheating.