Ah, Sunday. We meet again. After spending the last week in Cabo, then having Friday off plus the weekend to recover, it’s hard to accept that my long break has finally come to an end. As you all know by now, my Sundays usually consist of grocery shopping, meal planning and meal prepping. This week, however, I did my shopping and planning on Friday because I was oddly motivated on my first day back home, so today I will just be prepping some items for the week and working on a few extras, like baking some goodies for Valentine’s Day, and also planning content for the next month or so!
Enough about me. I wanted to get this recipe out today in the hopes that you too have started using Sunday’s to plan and shop and prep. You have to add this one to your meal plan for the week. You will not regret it!
Ethan and I made sloppy joes a month or so ago using lean ground turkey, and I even snuck some chickpeas and veggies into the mix. I found the recipe for lighter sloppy joes on MyRecipes.com (originally posted on Cooking Light). We served them on 100% whole wheat sandwich thins — which we always use as buns when we eat anything burger or sandwich-like — along with some greens and roasted veggies. I was perfectly satisfied with the taste and nutritional value of this meal. We had our lean protein, legumes, veggies, whole grains — what else could we possibly need?!
Well, while I was in Cabo, Ethan sent me this Delish recipe for Sloppy Joe Sweet Potatoes! He didn’t really think I’d do anything with it, but I immediately wrote it down in my Notes app as a tentative addition to our meal plan for the upcoming week. On my first night back in the kitchen after vacation, I decided to make it happen. It had been far too long since I had eaten sweet potatoes, let alone an entirely healthy meal (without a margarita on the side.) This is the perfect alternative for anyone who can’t have gluten for whatever reason, and I personally found it even more delicious than sloppy joes served on a bun.
This is probably because I absolutely love sweet potatoes in every form, and I think I could eat them with dirt on top and still think they were good. I typically roast my sweet potatoes with cinnamon to keep them on the sweet side, but this is a super tasty, savory way to cook them!
The recipe I’m sharing today is a combination of the lighter sloppy joes recipe that I found on MyRecipes + the Delish recipe for Sloppy Joe Sweet Potatoes (both linked earlier in post). I preferred the ingredients in the MyRecipes version as far as the meat, sauce and seasoning mixture, but as I mentioned, I used ground turkey instead, omitted the salt, and threw in a few additional spices as well.
The other great thing about this recipe is that you can cook most of it in one large skillet, so there’s not a ton of clean up! Always a win.
Sloppy Joe Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
A healthy twist on an old favorite that will satisfy both you and the man in your life. You will love the sweet & savory flavor combination in this delicious dish!
Credit: Wellness For The Win
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes
Spice Mix:
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
Meat/Sauce Mixture:
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 package 93-99% lean ground turkey
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced (or 1 tsp minced garlic)
- 6-8 oz unsalted tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1- 15.5 oz can no-salt-added chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
- Optional toppings: chopped green onions, plain Greek yogurt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Wash sweet potatoes and pat dry with a paper towel, then poke holes using a fork. Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet lined with foil/parchment paper and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place sweet potatoes in oven & set timer for 45-60 minutes. Rotate and/or flip sweet potatoes every 15-20 minutes using tongs so they cook evenly.
- While sweet potatoes are baking, prepare other ingredients. First, combine spice mixture in a small bowl: brown sugar, chili powder, onion powder and black pepper. Set aside.
- Next, wash and chop yellow onion for the meat mixture and green onion for garnish (if using). Purchase the Vidalia Chop Wizard from my Amazon page to make onion-chopping SO quick, easy, and tear-free! #AmazonAffiliate #sponsored
- Drain & rinse canned chickpeas; set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil, then add chopped yellow onion and minced garlic. Saute for 3-4 minutes, until onion is translucent and garlic is fragrant.
- Next, add lean ground turkey, and cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Once cooked, add your spice mix, and stir to evenly distribute throughout. Cook 1 minute.
- Add 1/4 cup water and 6-8 oz of tomato sauce. Reduce heat, and simmer for ~2 minutes until thickened.
- Add chickpeas to the mixture and stir until combined. (Optional: use a fork or potato masher to slightly crush chickpeas before adding. I like them whole, and my husband didn’t mind them that way either.)
- Once sweet potatoes are soft, remove from oven, cut in half and top with the sloppy joe mixture (~1/2-2/3 cup). Garnish with chopped green onions and a small dollop of plain Greek yogurt, if desired.
- Serve alongside roasted vegetables of choice, or a side salad.
Roasted Veggies:
- Chop up vegetables of choice to roast. (Suggestions: cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, Brussels sprouts, squash, etc.) Toss veggies in extra virgin olive oil, fresh cracked black pepper, and garlic powder, and place in oven at 400 F, alongside baking sheet with sweet potatoes.
- Roast for ~30-35 minutes, tossing veggies halfway through to cook evenly.
Notes:
- The meat/sauce mixture only takes about 15-20 minutes to cook on the stovetop. Most of the other prep work (such as chopping the onions, draining/rinsing the chickpeas, mixing up the spices, etc.) can be done while the sweet potatoes are cooking in the oven. I also chopped up some veggies to roast on the side while the sweet potatoes cooked, and they still came out around the same time.
- If you want to save time (and don’t we all?) you can cook your sweet potatoes in the microwave instead! I do this all the time and it’s super quick and doesn’t taste much different. You still wash the sweet potato, poke holes using a fork, and place it on a microwave-safe dish to cook in microwave for 4-5 minutes depending on the size of the potato, until tender. This is a great option for busy weeknights or nights when you are super hungry and need food ASAP!
- If you are cooking for two or three people, you can just make as many sweet potatoes as you need at that time, or you can make extras to serve with the leftover sloppy joe mixture in the next few days. They reheat well in the microwave!
I highly recommend adding these to your meal plan for the upcoming week as a super simple weeknight dinner that can double as a healthy work lunch! As always, tag me in your creations on Instagram @wellnessforthewin! Can’t wait to see them! : )
Have a great week,
Shanna
This looks so yummy! I will have to give it a try. 🙂
Thank you so much!!! Let me know what you think! 🙂
When prepping for lunches- would you store the sloppy joe meat separate from the sweet potato? Or just throw it all together in a container?
I just threw it all together and heated it up at once!! 🙂