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Short-Order Kitchen

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chili

By Wes Ellis2 min read
A split baked sweet potato topped with shredded cheese and scallions in a foil tray.
Recipe card
Servings
4
Prep
15 minutes
Cook
45 to 60 minutes
Method
Oven
Heat
400°F
Difficulty
Easy
Jump to ingredients & directions ↓

Part 4 of the thread Soups, chili and the slow cooker

THE SHORT VERSION4 points
  • Bake the sweet potatoes at 400°F for 45 to 60 minutes.
  • The chili is a 10-minute simmer in one skillet while they bake.
  • Lentils are the easiest vegetarian swap.
  • Store potatoes and chili separately.
THE RECIPE · STUFFED SWEET POTATOES WITH CHILI

Ingredients

Potatoes

Chili

Toppings (optional)

You'll need

  • Sheet pan
  • Fork
  • Large skillet
  • Knife and cutting board

Directions

Potatoes

  1. Heat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Scrub the sweet potatoes, poke them all over with a fork and bake on a sheet pan until completely tender, 45 to 60 minutes.

Chili

  1. While they bake, soften the onion in a little oil, then add the garlic.
  2. Add the ground meat (or lentils or tofu) and cook until done.
  3. Stir in the beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Simmer about 10 minutes.

Stuff

  1. Split the potatoes open carefully and fluff the insides with a fork.
  2. Spoon the chili in and add whatever toppings you like.
Notes Store the potatoes and the chili separately for 3 to 4 days in the fridge, warm them separately, then assemble. Roughly 380 calories and 30 g protein per serving, give or take.

wesellis.com/blog/stuffed-sweet-potatoes-with-chili/

Chili over a sweet potato is one of those combinations that makes more sense than it should. The sweet, soft potato cools down the cumin and chili powder, and the whole thing is dinner with no bread, rice or chips required.

The potato sets the schedule

Sweet potatoes are unpredictable. Two that look the same size can finish a long way apart. Start checking the smaller ones early and go by feel: a fork should slide in with no resistance at all, right through the thickest part. Underdone sweet potato is dense and a little starchy, and no amount of chili hides it.

Tip

Put a sheet of foil or parchment under them. They leak sticky, caramelized juice as they bake, and it welds itself to a bare pan.

A quick chili, not a long one

This isn't an all-afternoon chili. It's a ten-minute skillet version you make while the potatoes finish. It's thick on purpose, so it sits on the potato instead of running off it.

For more sweet potato, the Sweet Potato Hash is a breakfast take. The Loaded Baked Potato is the russetsThe big brown baking potato. Starchy and fluffy inside, which is what you want for hash browns and fries. cousin. And if you'd rather have your chili in a bowl, the White Chicken Chili is a hands-off slow cooker pot.

Try this

Fluffing the inside with a fork before adding the chili makes little pockets for it to settle into, so every bite gets some of both.

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