Baked sweet potato loaded with zesty black beans, melted cheese, salsa with a dollop of cream. What can be better than a 20 minute meal!
Today's recipe is a guest post from The Picky Eater. I met Anjali in San Francisco last year; she's a sweet blogger who I instantly connected with, she is also a vegetarian and shared this delicious (yes, I tested this myself and loved it!) recipe with us, perfect for meatless Monday!
Hi Everyone! My name is Anjali Shah and I blog over at The Picky Eater, where I write about healthy recipes and easy-to-make family meals. I test all of my recipes on my “fast food loving husband,” who, prior to meeting me, ate a diet of frozen pizzas and Taco Bell, so any recipe that makes it on to my blog is “husband approved”!
I’m so excited to be a guest blogger today on Gina’s site! Ever since I met her at the Foodbuzz Conference last year and saw the amazing photographs and wonderful recipes on her blog, I’ve been a fan – and I’m so honored to be a part of this blog and meet all of you.
One of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is to makeover comfort foods into healthy versions that taste amazing, are full of flavor and feel just like the original.
Today I’d like to share one of my favorite recipes – my Loaded Baked Potato Makeover. My healthy swaps include: sweet potatoes instead of russet, “loaded” toppings like black beans and veggies sautéed with spices, and a dollop of cream (which is my favorite swap – 0% Greek Yogurt for sour cream!) The husband usually can’t tell the difference, especially when I spice up the yogurt with some taco seasoning.
This meal is delicious and takes only 20 minutes to make, which is why I love making it after a long day at work – I know I’ll have something yummy in my stomach in the same amount of time it would take to pick up takeout. The husband loved it too, and it has since become a staple weeknight meal in our house. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Loaded Baked Sweet Potato “Healthified”
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 4 • Size: 1 potato • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 8 pt
Calories: 307 • Fat: 5 g • Carb: 53 g • Fiber: 10.5 g • Protein: 15 g • Sugar: 1 g
Sodium: 312 mg (without salt)
Ingredients:
- 4 medium sized sweet potatoes
- 1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt (or light sour cream)
- 1 tsp taco seasoning
- 1 tsp olive or canola oil
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika or smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- a pinch of salt
- 1-1/3 cups canned black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup mild or spicy salsa
- 1/2 cup reduced fat Mexican cheese blend
- 1/4 cup chopped scallions or cilantro
Directions:
Poke holes in the potato with a fork, cook on your microwave’s potato setting until potatoes are soft and cooked through (about 8-10 minutes on high for 4 potatoes). If you don't have a microwave, bake about 45 minutes at 400°F.
Combine yogurt and taco seasoning in a small bowl, mix well.
Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add peppers, onions, chili powder, paprika, cumin and salt; cook until the onions have caramelized slightly, about 5 minutes. Add black beans, stir to combine and heat through (about another 5 minutes).
Slice the potato lengthwise down the middle or as I did in the photo, use a fork to pierce the top in an oval shape, then remove the top of each potato. Top with 2 tbsp shredded cheese, 1/3 cup of black bean mixture, 2 tbsp Greek yogurt mixture and 2 tbsp salsa of salsa. Enjoy!
Anjali Shah is a food writer and owner of The Picky Eater, a healthy food and lifestyle blog. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Google+.


























Looks awesome! We LOVE sweet potatoes.... definitely going to give this one a try.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... Being from the south, I've always ONLY eaten my sweet potatoes loaded with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and/or marshmallows. Last week, I tried mine sliced and cooked in olive oil and sea salt for the first time ever and LOVED it. This looks amazing! I am trying to consider sweet potato and salsa together, though. It's a mental thing. LOL Looks so good!
ReplyDeleteRight there with ya, girl! This southern girl likes her sweet potatoes cooked in biscuits or covered in chopped pecans and brown sugar. I know that butternut squash and black beans are awesome together as well as pumpkin in chili, so maybe these will be just as delicious? I'm going with yes!
DeleteLol I am right there with both of you ladies! This southern chick likes her tea iced and sweet and her sweet potatoes loaded with the traditional southern staples. I'm not as adventurous as you two seem to be so I'm taking baby steps lol. I think I'll start with sweet potato fries first and just branch off from there.
DeleteYummy!!! =)
ReplyDeleteErgo - Blog
I know it might not be as healthy, but would this be just as good for a regular russet potato?
ReplyDeleteOf course!
DeleteHow does this reheat? I'd love to make a couple for the week ahead and wanted to check. Great sounding recipe - thanks!
ReplyDeleteGreat, just refrigerate the beans, then reheat and assemble before serving. This makes a great lunch.
DeleteThanks!!
DeleteI love sweet potatoes and often have them for lunch or dinner! Thanks for the idea of adding the taco seasoning to the Greek yogurt...I'm sure that really jazzes up the flavor.
ReplyDeleteOk. This looks GOOD and easy - I'm always looking for easy weeknight meals.
ReplyDeleteMonica
http://www.pear-shaped-gal.com/
I, like your husband, am addicted to Taco Bell, but I also love healty food. This recipe looks great and I will definitely try it!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds and looks SO good! I love sweet potatoes and although I am the only one in the family who does I am STILL going to try this. :) If the rest of the family doesn’t like it...then they can have a PBJ for dinner! haha Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou could do russet for the rest of the family. Easy to do both at the same time.
DeleteI love this southwestern twist on baked potatoes! This totally sounds like something I'd make for myself for dinner on a weeknight.
ReplyDeleteFYI, Gina, your site loads impressively fast. With all the cool stuff like a stellar index and search function and all the photographs, I was surprised by how well-constructed the site is, for ease of use and speed as well as the best content. I hope the spam post a bit ago by anonymous gets lost.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Deleted the spam, thanks for looking out!
DeleteThis would be perfect with the crockpot potato recipe. Could. Make the toppings the night before and have dinner ready quickly.
ReplyDeleteYes! Baked potatoes in the crock pot are perfect for this!
DeleteFixed this recipe tonight and it was a big hit. My wife is not a sweet potato fan, but the bean mix 'hid' the potatoes. The yogurt + taco seasoning is delicious and very low cal.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I was so happy when I saw this in my RSS reader today. I had just gotten in from lots of yard work and was dreading making dinner tonight b/c I was so tired. I had everything on hand and this was delicious! I have been getting tired of sweet potatoes and this had such great flavors. The husband wasn't too happy when I told him I didn't make a meal with meat in it but then he did admit it was very good.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to eat sweet potato. It is fully loaded. I will have to try this for dinner tomorrow since I have most of the ingredients.
ReplyDeleteI'm sending the recipe to my boyfriend now to let him know this is what we're making for dinner tomorrow night ;)
ReplyDeleteI like that I can make this just for myself. With the left over bean mixture it will be a great lunch the next day!
ReplyDeleteI like that I can make this just for myself. With the left over bean mixture it will be a great lunch the next day!
ReplyDeletedelicious!!!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to see this recipe. Since coming to Skinny Taste, I have become vegetarian. Unfortuantely for me many of the delicious looking recipes are designed for meat eaters. I had been wanting Gina's potato skin's that had meat, but now I have a great alternative in this one. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteI made this yesterday for dinner and it was delicious. I even brought the leftovers for lunch today!
ReplyDeleteI have 4 crock pots and never thought to crock pot potatos. This will be lunch tomorrow got every needed at the house. Yay no grocery store run.
ReplyDeleteDebtoo
I love it! I have had a sweet poato like this and it is one of my favorite go to meals!!
ReplyDeleteGina - if I have the time, do you think that baking the potato is tastier than microwaving it, or do you think it makes no difference in this recipe? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI can't eat black beans. I think I will try this with chili beans. Should be just as good.
ReplyDeleteHow long should you bake a sweet potato for? I don't have a microwave (no room in my tiny NYC kitchen) so I tried baking my potato for an hour and it wasn't long enough. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAbout 45 minutes at 400°F.
DeleteI don't have a microwave either...Gina can you please give oven instructions??? How long??? This sounds amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteThis looks amazing!! I know what I'm having for dinner tonight!
ReplyDeleteAMAZING!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWas a hit with the husband, the 5 year old and enen the 3 year old. I forgot to buy more salsa this week, so I just chopped some tomatoes for the top. We had some leftover guacamole, so I added that too on the side. So so so so so good. One potato is just the right amount.
I tried this out tonight and I'm in LOVE! One of my New Year's goals is to start an online journal chronicling my neverending struggle to control my budget and the size of my butt. This one is a winner for both B's. I will caution all to weigh your potato. You can blow up that calorie count if your potato is too big. I had to freeze some because the 3 huge potatoes I baked ended out yielding 9 servings! The only substitution I made was using cooking spray instead of olive oil...this dish weighed in at under 300 calories using the ingredients I acutally used (according to my fitness pal, using 4 oz. of sweet potato). You can't get much more budget friendly and delicious than this dish. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteJust finished this for dinner, and it was awesome!!!! DH really liked it and he is not a stuft potato fan, nor nacho, but he really really liked this. I think I might have used more of the yogurt sauce than called for but oh well... =P Thanks so much!!!
ReplyDeleteI made this tonight and it was delicious! The whole family loved it! I just made regular potatoes for the ones who don't like sweet. We baked large potatoes in the oven at 400 degrees for over 1 1/4 hours. I had a side of Guacamole too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for another great recipe!
Anyone know how many points this is with regular russet potatoes?
ReplyDeleteI just made this recipe with a russet potato and it was awesome and way more filling than it looks! As for how many points -- well like another commenter said, it depends on the size of russet potato. I calculated it to 5 points plus.
Delete3 points for 1 quarter-pound Russet Potato
1 point for shredded low-fat cheddar cheese
0 points for 2 tbsp fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1 point for the black bean mixture
0 points for 2 tbsps of salsa
I tried this one tonight: I added sweet corn and beef to the mix.
ReplyDeleteI have to say: it was good but I will use normal potatoes next time as this was a bit too sweet for me!
Good recipe to have though!
I made this recipe last night and added shredded zucchini to the bean/veg mixture just to add some more veggies. This rececipe is AMAZING! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely much different than I was expecting, but it still looks awesome! Can't wait to try it out!
ReplyDeletelove this Gina!
ReplyDeleteI am ALWAYS swapping Greek Yogurt for Sour Cream and as long as I don't let my boyfriend in on the trick, he can never tell :)
Such interesting flavors! Love the black beans. This could be a meal in itself. Definitely going to try this.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a meal for sure.
DeleteThe true test...my kids LOVED this! =)
ReplyDeleteThe true test...my kids LOVED this! =)
ReplyDeleteMade this tonight and it was better than any restaurant. SOOOO yummy and filling. Will definitely make it a regular.
ReplyDeleteJust made this as well. Delicious!
ReplyDeleteThis was such a nice meal! I also added some of your sauteed sprouts - really tasty and now a favorite of mine! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis was really good. I was a little worried about how the flavors would go with the sweet potato, but my fears were unfounded. Also, I baked my sweet potato instead of using the microwave and I ate the entire thing. I will definitely make this again!
ReplyDeleteAnother excellent recipe, Gina!!! I absolutely loved it. Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteI made these for lunch and they were delicious! Kept us full from lunch until dinner too!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great recipe! My picky husband even liked it. Had to use yellow pepper because that is what I had on hand but next time I will try red. Yummy!
ReplyDeleteI like this - real yummy food! I usually use mincemeat but I'll now use your variation.
ReplyDeleteThis was really, really good! Even my hubs, who isn't much of a sweet potato fan, liked it (til he got to the very bottom)! My teenager loved it, even w/o any meat!! I don't like the preservatives, sodium and chemicals that's in seasoning mixes, so I made something similar that was mixed w/the beans and put it into the sour cream. All good~
ReplyDeleteIs this a yam or sweet potato... the sweet potatos I get here are white. Am i missing something? thanks!
ReplyDeleteI am NOT a sweet potato fan, but I love texmex so thought I'd give this a try. It was WONDERFUL! The flavors blended beautifully and the sweet potato fit right in. I had to keep checking the calorie count to make sure I wasn't missing something. I left out the cheese to keep it a bit lighter, but I didn't miss it. Already pinned this one into my favorite recipe board on Pinterest!
ReplyDeleteMade this for dinner last night and it was delicious! Even my husband liked it and he never eats sweet potatoes unless there loaded with butter and brown sugar. This will definitely be a regular in our house from now on. Can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch! Thanks Gina!
ReplyDelete