These Vegan Mexican Inspired Stuffed Sweet Potatoes are the perfect quick, easy, and healthy meal! It’s less than 10 ingredients, making it the perfect weeknight dinner! AND It’s packed with LOTS of flavor, without skipping out on the nourishment!
I looooove me some Mexican food and these Mexican inspired stuffed sweet potatoes definitely satisfy that craving.
They’re so filling, hearty, and packed with flavor that I seriously cannot get enough of them! And they’re plant-based and packed with protein, so that’s also a win J
My favorite part is that it’s SO easy to make (there’s only 9 ingredients!) and relatively quick too. If you already have some roasted sweet potatoes on hand, this probably will take you 10-15 minutes to make. If not, it might take a little longer because the sweet potatoes need to cook, but it’s so easy to make!
I use this filling not only in sweet potatoes, but as a topping for my avocado toast and as a filling for burrito bowls! Honestly, this stuffed is good just on its own too. It kinda reminds me of Taco Bell? Try these out and let me know if I’m crazy haha.
Ingredients in the Mexican Inspired Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Quinoa: The quinoa, along with the beans, are giving us lots of yummy protein in this filling! Cook the quinoa according to the package instructions.
Beans or Lentils: This is what provides the heartiness to the filling, and it also helps everything stick together. If you have time to soak and cook some lentils, great! If not, canned pinto beans or black beans would super well! I’ve tried this with both brown lentils and pinto beans, and I preferred the pinto beans more just because it felt more like Mexican food to me. But either taste great!
Nutritional Yeast: This is what adds the cheesy flavor to the filling! It’s a powerhouse of B-vitamins and protein! Its available pretty much in all stores and on Amazon too! Here’s the one I use. If you haven’t used it before, I promise it doesn’t taste as weird as it sounds, it actually tastes really good!
Onion, Garlic, Spices: Of course, we need our spices to add alllll the flavor! I love me some garlic and onions, and I also used chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, tajin, and S&P. Simple, easy, yummy!
How to Make Mexican Inspired Lentil Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
I’ll walk you through how to make it from the beginning, but if you’ve already baked your sweet potato, obviously skip over that!
Bake: Preheat the oven to 400 and wash your sweet potato. Poke lots of slits on all sides of the sweet potato with a knife. Place it on a silicone baking sheet, foil, or parchment paper, and make for 45-60 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when you can poke a hole it in with a fork easily. I usually let mine go a few minutes after that just to make sure they’re nice and soft inside
Cook: Cook the quinoa according to package instructions.
Mash: In a large mixing bowl, mash 1 can of pinto beans (or 1 ½ cups of lentils). Make sure there are still some of the pieces of whole beans, you don’t want complete mush.
Mix: Add in the chopped onion, garlic, nutritional yeast, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, tajin, salt, pepper, and warm quinoa.
Cut & Enjoy: Cut the sweet potatoes in half, but don’t cut all the way to the bottom, you still want the 2 halves connected. Top with 3-4 large spoons on the filling and enjoy 🙂
Why are These Stuffed Sweet Potatoes Balanced?
These stuffed sweet potatoes are sure to keep you satiated for a good bit! They’re packed with protein, fiber, carbs and yumminess! I feel full and satisfied, but not sluggish after eating these!
Protein: We’re getting lots of protein here from the beans, quinoa, and nutritional yeast to keep this meal nice and hearty.
Carbs: The sweet potato and quinoa give us lots of nourishing carbs that are packed with fiber for more long lasting energy!
Fat: There’s not too much fat in this meal, so I top my stuffed sweet potatoes with lots of avocado or I drizzle tahini on top! Either one taste so yummy and will help make the meal a lot more hearty and satiating!
How to Store and Eat this Mexican Inspired Filling
As I said before, this filling doesn’t just have to be for potatoes, you can use it in pretty much anything! Put it in your salads, burritos bowls, on top of toasts or in sandwiches, you can even top it with some avocado and have it as a dip with some chips!
Store this in an airtight container in the fridge, and it should be good for 3-4 days!
Vegan Mexican Inspired Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
Sweet Potatoes
- 4 medium sweet potatoes
Filling
- ½ cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 ½ cup pinto beans
- ½ medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp minced)
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ¼-½ tsp tajin optional
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F and wash your sweet potatoes.
- Make slits on all sides of your sweet potato with a knife and place on a silicone baking tray, parchment paper, or foil.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes until you can easily poke a fork deep in the sweet potato
- While the potato is cooking, make your quinoa according to the package instructions.
- In a large mixing bowl, mash the beans or lentils, but still leave some pieces whole because we don’t want complete mush.
- Add in the chopped onion, garlic, nutritional yeast, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and cooked quinoa. Combine well.
- Once the sweet potatoes are done, cut them in half, but not all the way to the bottom because we still want the 2 halves connected.
- Fill with the stuffing, top with some avocado or tahini (or both) and enjoy!
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