Chipotle Black Bean Sweet Potato Skins

These Chipotle Black Bean Sweet Potato Skins with spinach and cheddar cheese make a healthy and delicious meatless meal.

I'm always on the lookout for a meatless meal that my family will eat without asking "Where's the meat?" This is one of those recipes. Not only did Mr. Dreamboat not complain about the lack of meat, but he actually commented how good these chipotle sweet potato skins were! That means it's a winner in my house. 

Eating more meatless meals - at least one per week - can have many benefits for you, not to mention environmental benefits:

• Reduced food costs
• Higher fiber intake (when meat is replaced by legumes and/or vegetables)
• Lower saturated fat intake
• Lower risk of some cancers

How to make Chipotle Black Bean Sweet Potato Skins

Making these flavorful stuffed sweet potato skins starts with roasting some sweet potatoes. Just poke some holes in the skin, and put them in the oven.

While you're waiting for the sweet potatoes to cook, you can go ahead and prepare the filling. This involves mixing up the chipotle seasoning, and mixing up the black bean and spinach filling.

You can use either fresh or frozen spinach for this recipe. If you use fresh, you'll need about 3 cups. If you use frozen, measure out 3 ounces. Thaw it in the microwave and drain any extra moisture.

After the sweet potatoes have cooled for a bit, cut them in half lengthwise, then scoop out some of the flesh. You want there still to be some sweet potato left in the skins. I like leaving about 1cm (½") of flesh in the skin.

Make sure you save the sweet potato flesh you scoop out to use for something else, perhaps Sweet Potato Biscuits. Then you brush on some of the chipotle seasoning mixture and bake them again.

Stuff the double-baked sweet potato skins with the black bean mixture, cover the whole thing with shredded cheddar, and bake again.

I love these healthy potato skins garnished with chopped avocado and cilantro, but they would also be great with sour cream or guacamole. Serve with a simple side salad to make a complete meal.

Make-Ahead Tips

These sweet potato skins do take a considerable time to make, which can be difficult to fit in after a long day at work. The sweet potatoes can be pre-baked and then held in the fridge to finish later.

Chipotle Black Bean Sweet Potato Skins Ingredients

• Medium sweet potatoes - for the most success with this recipe, look for sweet potatoes that are all similarly sized to ensure that they cook evenly. You also want sweet potatoes that are kind of tubular-shaped - long and skinny. The sweet potatoes that are shown in the photos (supplied by my grocery delivery) were round, and that wasn't ideal for this recipe.
• Olive oil - or use a neutral-flavored cooking oil.
• Lime juice - either fresh-squeezed or bottled lime juice will work for this recipe.
• Garlic
• Minced or pureed canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce - these typically come in a small can or jar. Find them in the Latin American aisle of a well-stocked grocery store. You can usually find them whole or already minced.
• Dried oregano
• Ground cumin
• Chili powder
• Pepper
• Salt
• Spinach - either fresh or frozen spinach will work for this recipe.
• Canned black beans - use reduced-sodium or no-salt-added black beans if you follow a reduced-sodium diet.
• Sharp cheddar cheese
• Chopped cilantro, avocado, or green onion for garnish

Chipotle Black Bean Sweet Potato Skins Substitution Ideas:

One of the great things about these flavorful sweet potato skins is that you can easily tailor the recipe to suit your tastes and what you happen to have in your kitchen.

• Swap the black beans for another type of beans. Pinto beans, kidney beans, or chickpeas are all good options. You can also cook the beans from dried if you don't happen to have canned beans on hand.
• Swap the cheddar cheese for another cheese of your choice. Any type of smoked cheese (I used smoked cheddar when I made the recipe for these photos) is a great option that will enhance the smokiness of the chipotle peppers. Monterey jack or pepper jack work well too.
• If you don't like sweet potatoes, you can also make the recipe but replace the sweet potatoes with russet potatoes.
• You can replace the spinach with chopped kale or another sturdy green like Swiss chard, beet leaves, or collard greens.

Want more sweet potato recipes?

Chipotle Black Bean Sweet Potato Skins Nutrition Notes

Chipotle Black Bean Sweet Potato Skins

Carissa Serink

These Chipotle Black Bean Sweet Potato Skins with spinach and cheddar cheese make a healthy and delicious meatless meal.

No ratings yet

SaveSaved! Pin Print

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Entree

Cuisine Universal

Servings 4

Calories 413 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 4 medium sweet potatoes
• ▢ ¼ cup olive oil
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 3 Tablespoons minced or pureed canned chipotle peppers
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ▢ 2 teaspoons chili powder
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 3 cups spinach or 3 ounces frozen spinach
• ▢ 15 ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
• ▢ 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese grated
• ▢ chopped cilantro, avocado, or green onion for garnish

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Scrub 4 medium sweet potatoes and poke evenly with a fork. Place the whole sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 60 minutes, or until soft.
• Meanwhile, mix ¼ cup olive oil, 2 Tablespoons lime juice, the minced garlic, 3 Tablespoons minced or pureed canned chipotle peppers, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 2 teaspoons chili powder, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.
• When the sweet potatoes are done baking, allow them to cool enough to handle. Cut them in half, lengthwise, and scoop out some of the flesh, leaving about a 1cm (½") layer of flesh in the skin. Brush the sweet potato with some of the chipotle mixture, reserving the rest for later.
• Raise oven temperature to 400°F and bake the skins for 5-10 more minutes.
• Wilt 3 cups spinach in a non-stick skillet over medium heat (if using frozen spinach, simply thaw it in the microwave and pour off any excess moisture). Add the spinach and rinsed black beans to the remaining chipotle mixture and mix.
• Stuff the sweet potato skins with the bean-spinach mixture. Top each skin with shredded cheddar. Place skins back in the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted. Garnish with chopped cilantro, diced avocado, or sliced green onions as desired.

Notes

Serve with a salad to make a complete meal.

Make ahead: Complete the recipe through step 3. Then put the skins in the fridge until ready to use and complete the remainder of the steps.

Nutrition

Calories: 413kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 803mg | Potassium: 1020mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 33817IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 310mg | Iron: 3mg

Keyword beans, black beans, Cheddar, cheese, gluten free, legumes, meatless, meatless eats, potato skins, spinach, sweet potato, sweet potatoes, vegetarian

Tried this recipe?Please remember to Leave a Review!