So I'm calling these Middle Eastern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes only because the spices used and the sauce are typical of Middle Eastern or Arabic cuisine. The warm spices and the zingy garlic yogurt sauce mixed with the sweetness of the potato is such a great combination. You'll need to try it to believe me. This is my perfect healthy weeknight dinner that takes no time and keeps me satisfied!
How to make stuffed sweet potatoes
Now when I say these stuffed sweet potatoes are easy to make, I really mean it. Here's how it goes down:
- Bake the sweet potatoes in the oven. This only involves scrubbing them clean, then popping them in the oven for about an hour until they're soft
- Prepare the ground beef mixture. Cook onions with the ground beef and the middle eastern spices until browned and crispy around the edges. The trick is using a slightly coarse ground beef
- Make the sauce. Super easy - just mix together the yogurt mayonnaise garlic lemon juice and salt
- Prep the garnish and assemble. Any fresh vegetables you have will work well as garnish, I love to use lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and/or radish. They had a perfect fresh element. Assemble by cutting the potato lengthwise then adding the beef, sauce, and veggies. Done!
How to make this stuffed sweet potato vegetarian
You can easily make this dish into a vegetarian by replacing the ground meat with a vegetable mixture. I usually do this by using finely chopped onions, mushrooms, carrots and peas. You can cook them together the same way the beef is cooked and use the same spices.
If you try this recipe and enjoy it, I'd absolutely love to hear your feedback! Don't forget to leave me a review and a comment!
For more healthy recipes, check out:
Middle Eastern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- Salt and Pepper per taste
For the Filling:
- 1 lb ground beef I buy coarsely ground beef but regular is fine
- 1 large onion
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons seven spice or allspice if seven spice is unavailable
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1.5 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup chopped lettuce
- 2 chopped radish or substitute with any other vegetable like cucumber, tomato, green onion
For the sauce:
- ½ cup full fat yogurt
- 1.5 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 garlic clove
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- a dash of black pepper
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Start by preheating the oven to 400F
- Scrub the sweet potatoes well and place on a lined baking tray and bake for at least 1 hour until sweet potatoes are soft and can easily be pierced with a fork. This may take 1 hour 15 minutes depending on your oven
- Dice the onions and saute in a skillet with the vegetable oil. Cook for 5 minutes until translucent
- Add the ground beef and break it up using a wooden spoon. Cook for another 5 minutes
- Add all the spices and continue cooking for a further 5-7 minutes until all the juices evaporate and the beef starts to caramelize. Remove from heat
- Mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a bowl using a fork
- Chop the lettuce and the radish (or any other vegetable you are using) into small pieces
- When sweet potatoes are cooked, place on a plate and make one cut lengthwise to open the potato up. Leave the peel in tact and using your spoon push down the cooked potato to make space for the filling. Season it with salt and pepper
- Spoon the ground beef filling on top of the potato, and top with the fresh vegetables. Add the sauce on top and enjoy
Comments
This was very nice and filling, also healthy. I topped it with your tender beef shawarma, tomatoes and cucumbers. For the sauce I used both yogurt with mayo and your tout (highly recommend!). This was fantastic! Thanks so much!
Wow I love the shawarma pairing with this! Great choice. Thanks for the feedback Cristina!
This dish was really delicious! I toped with tomatoes, cucumbers, and cilantro. I also added tahini to the sauce. This will be added to our rotation. Thank you!!