These Roasted Sweet Potato Black Bean Bowls with Cream Chipotle Sauce are a delicious plant based meal, also great for vegetarian meal prep.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Bowls
I love sweet potatoes and bowl recipes so I love this plant based meal in one dish. These bowls are very satisfying due to their long list of nutritious ingredients. You get protein and fiber from a combination of brown rice, beans, Greek yogurt, and sweet potatoes, plus plenty of vitamins and minerals from the kale and avocado.
This recipe is slightly adapted from Meat to the Side: A Plant-Foward Guide to Bringing Balance to Your Plate by Liren Baker. Her cookbook is a beginner’s guide for people who want a delicious way to add more vegetables to their diets!
Sweet Potato Black Bean Bowls Ingredients:
- Vegetables: Kale, avocado, pickled red onions, roasted sweet potatoes seasoned with salt, chili powder, cumin, coriander, and garlic powder
- Starches: Canned black beans, brown rice
- Chipotle Sauce: Plain fat-free Greek yogurt, chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, lime juice, garlic, salt
- Flavor: Cilantro, lime wedges
How To Make Quick Pickled Red Onions
- 3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
Sweet Potato Bowl Meal Prep
Burrito bowls make a healthy lunch throughout the week and are great for meal prep. You can make all the components ahead of time and then portion them out in glass containers. I’d put the sauce and pickled red onions in individual containers and wait to cut the avocado until right before eating.
These sweet potato bowls last about 4 days in the refrigerator.
Variations:
- Grains: Swap brown rice for quinoa or white rice or cauliflower rice for a low-carb option.
- Protein: Add grilled chicken or an egg for extra protein.
- Beans: Sub pinto beans for black beans.
- Vegetables: Add bell peppers or corn.
- Onions: If you don’t want to make the pickled red onions, use fresh red or green onions.
- Cilantro: If you don’t like cilantro, skip it.
- Heat: Add fresh jalapeños or hot sauce to make it spicy.
- Salad: Turn your sweet potato bowl into a salad by omitting the rice and adding more kale.
More Bowl Recipes You’ll Love:
- Chicken Taco Poblano Rice Bowls
- Spicy Pork Brussels Bowls
- Quinoa Huevos Rancheros Bowls
- Greek Chicken Meal Prep Rice Bowls
- Spicy Sriracha Tofu Rice Bowls
Sweet Potato Black Bean Bowls

Ingredients
FOR THE KALE:
- 2 cups de-stemmed and chopped kale
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
FOR THE ROASTED SWEET POTATOES:
- 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered lengthwise (28 oz peeled)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
FOR THE CREAMY CHIPOTLE SAUCE:
- 1 cup plain 0% Greek yogurt, or dairy-free yogurt for vegan or DF
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- Kosher salt
FOR THE BOWLS:
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- 4 ounces avocado, from 1 small pitted, peeled, and diced
- 1 cup Quick-Pickled Red Onions
- 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 lime, sliced into wedges
Instructions
Prepare the kale:
- Place the kale, olive oil, and salt in a bowl. Massage the kale for 1 minute. It will shrink in volume.
- Let sit at room temperature while making the rest.
Prepare the sweet potatoes:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack placed in the center of the oven.
- While the oven preheats, place the peeled and quartered sweet potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water.
- Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil the sweet potatoes just until the edges give a bit to pressure from a fork, about 8 minutes. You don’t want to overcook them, or they could turn mushy.
- Drain the sweet potatoes and pat dry with a paper towel then cut them into bite-sized pieces.
- In a large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.
- In a small bowl, mix together the salt, chili powder, chipotle powder, cumin, coriander, and garlic powder.
- Sprinkle the spice blend onto the sweet potatoes and toss to evenly coat.
- Scatter the sweet potatoes on a sheet pan and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until browned and fork-tender.
Make the creamy chipotle sauce:
- Place the yogurt, chipotle pepper, lime juice, garlic cloves, and a pinch of salt in a blender or small food processor. Blend or process until smooth.
- Season to taste with salt. Set aside until ready to assemble the bowls, or store in the refrigerator.
Assemble the bowls:
- Fill serving bowls with the kale, roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, brown rice, and avocado.
- Garnish with the pickled red onions, creamy chipotle sauce, and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.








The flavors are incredible! This dish blew me away, I’m going to make it again and again.
Do folks usually reheat these or eat them cold?
I’ve made this recipe for my family dozens of times. The beans have wonderful flavor, even if you skip the bacon or the poblano peppers. Instead of the bacon, I often just cook the peppers and onions in some bacon grease. Lots of rave reviews for this one from friends and family.
The sweet potatoes in this recipe have become a favorite in our house.
Can you tell me why you boil AND roast the sweet potato for this recipe? I’m tempted to just roast to save time, but will try the OG method if there’s something new to learn.
I’m making this recipe for the first time this week, so excited. Thank you!
The recipe called for peeling the potatoes and quatering lengthwise. I hard a difficult doing either, so I decided to put the potatoes in a bag and microwave them for 7 minutes. After removing from the microwave, I was able to remove the skins easily.I didn’t feel the need to roasts I just count into bite pieces. I doubled the kale to 4 cups, and followed the rest of the recipe as written. This was amazing, and I’ll definitely make again
This was amazing. So much flavor and extremely filling. This is going in my regular rotation.
Loved! The sauce with Adobe peppers, was way too hot! So I’ll just cut way back on the peppers. Will definitely make again! Thank you!! 🥰
Delicious! My family and friends have made this recipe numerous times. We usually add grilled chile. As another topping. I also don’t use much seasoning job my sweet potatoes because they can get very spicey with all that on them. I also double the yogurt and lime juice and salt. The first time I made it by the recipe it was just too hot for us. We love this. We have also added other roasted or grilled veggies as well.
For making this as my meal prep for the week without trying it beforehand, it’s pretty good. I added some grilled chicken breast for added protein but overall a really well-rounded meal. The kale holds up really well in the microwave but I keep the sauce, cilantro and lime separate during reheating. I feel like the bowl is missing something but I can’t say what.
Will make it again though!
I just finished eating these for lunch. I made two substitutions, broccoli for the kale and Farro for the brown rice. It was really good and my husband even ate it and had a second bowl.
We love this. Added some corn, tomato, and exchanged farro instead of rice. Turned the grain into lime cilantro flavor. We will make this again!
Way better than take out bowls! I made this tonight and I agree with an another review… chef’s kiss!
Delicious! My whole family loves it! We grill chicken to add as well. We use quinoa instead of rice. Thank you for this flavorful and healthy recipe!
PS Dianne- I never put sugar in the pickled onions and they are still yummy.
Dianne- What sugar? This was a very filling, delicious recipe that ie made several times. My husband loves it too. So good and so healthy,
This bowl is perfect for meal prepping lunches and so delicious. It’s full of all my favorite things. I do add a little chicken for extra protein.
This recipe has a fantastic taste. I followed the recipe as printed, but didn’t have brown rice or cilantro. I did have a white rice mix Cilantro Lime Rice which I used. It was an excellent dinner. Thank you.
I have questions:
1. The recipe calls for one chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. My can of peppers in adobo sauce was 7 oz. and it says the serving size is 2 peppers. I dug out one pepper and some sauce, but wasn’t clear on how much to use.
2. If meat were to be added, what would you recommend.
P.S. Sugar is poison. Again, I do not understand why you and / or your company promotes the consumption of white or brown sugar in foods. Honey is the exception.
Dianne – chill out.
This was so tasty! The sauce was fabulous and easy to put together, and the seasoning for the sweet potatoes was spot on. So grateful for a recipe that reminds us to massage the kale!
Yogurt dressing is terrible! A lot of prep for a simple dish.
I have been trying to cook more vegetarian meals and was excited to try this recipe. Although I was unsure how good it was going to taste as I was making it. I have been cooking skinny taste meals for many years and this is my new favorite! So much flavor! I followed the recipe exactly, and was thrilled with the results. I do not normally like uncooked kale but somehow the olive oil and massaging worked their magic and it tasted delicious. Thank you for this recipe!
I really wanted to like this recipe, but I’ll be honest, I’m being pretty generous with the 3 stars. One of the few Skinnytaste recipes I haven’t liked.
Delicious!!
Unbelievably delicious!!
Fantastic for meal prep. Very versatile as one can make substitutions for ingredients they don’t like or have on hand.
I roasted the sweet potatoes a bit longer and sprayed a little more EVOO + salt about halfway thru in order to get a crisp texture.
Mason jars are also a great way to meal prep these and I swear those jars have some magical properties for keeping food fresh!! Here is my layering order: dressing in the bottom, black beans, sweet potatoes, rice (or cauliflower rice), pickled onions, kale, (sometimes I top with avocado and just “deal” with slightly brown but they actually hold up amazingly well). Tighten the lid and place in the fridge. They will keep in the fridge for at 3-4 days
I’m addicted to this bowl, it’s so good and easy to prep ahead. I changed a few seasonings to taste, but my only real advice is don’t bother boiling the potatoes. I just buy pre-cubed and stick them in the oven with oil and seasonings as directed for 15-20 minutes. Done!
Delicious. Will back off of the chipotle pepper a bit next time. Not clear if this was supposed to be a chipotle powder spice mix like a chili powder is – or just the ground chipotle pepper. The “chipotle powder” I found at the store was just the pepper. Loved the pickled onion on there. Thanks.
Very good and flavorful! I baked some boneless chicken breasts while baking the sweet potatoes and added them to our bowls. Didn’t get the quick-pickled onions made so just diced some red onions – which was good too. It was a bit salty for us, so next time, I won’t salt the kale.
Made this today – delicious!
*** made 10/2023 ***
my mods
2 sweet potatoes & 1 butternut squash. dice, fit on 1 large sheet, parchment, Drizzle 6-8 T olive oil, salt&pepper only. 400 20 min.
basmati rice
added 2 huge chicken breasts. dice, cook in skillet with a little butter&olive oil, kinders buttery poultry, and pepper only.
this was SO flavorful and fresh tasting. will be making again for sure!!
THOSE QUICK PICKLED ONIONS = AMAZING!!
Loved it! The pickled onions really add something special. Thanks for the recipe!
Yum! Parents & teens loved it! Added some chopped grilled chicken for the kids too. Will definitely work this recipe into our dinner rotation
Can the step of boiling the sweet potatoes be skipped? Seems like you could cook them through by just roasting them in the oven.
Loved it! Forgot to buy Chipotle peppers so I subbed 2 T. Sriracha sauce. For the onions I used apple cider vinegar.
We loved it!! Very delicious!! A little spicy for kids but still amazing!!
Ive made this several times. It’s a big hit in the house. We don’t like kale so I used Gina’s sauteed spinach recipe instead. It was absolutely delicious.
So good! I’ve made it two weeks in a row for meal prep. The chipotle sauce is on point.
I’m making this every other week, it’s so good and versatile! I’ve been making chicken and switching up the greens. I never boiled sweet potatoes before cooking and that plus the spices in the oven are the best! I don’t care for cilantro or avocado but it comes out great without it.
I am obsessed with this one for meal prep! I love it hot or cold
Loved this recipe! It was really easy to prep in advance and everyone in our family liked it! I’m the only one who’d eat kale so just left that out. Will definitely make it again.
I was visiting my friends in Vegas and decided to make this for us. I never got a picture because we loved the presentation and were so intrigued how it would taste. Once we started eating there were moans of mmm,yummy, etc. And no one stopped till it was gone! Lol so amazing! I used both purple and red sweet potatoes and golden beets. We had Jasmine rice instead also. I have already made this again after returning home. I used Buckwheat this time for my grain.
So glad you all enjoyed it!
This is a recipe that is on repeat at my house. It is amazingly flavorful and everyone asks for seconds.
Loved all the flavors and textures. Definitely add to the rotation. Thank you!
So good!! Loved all the flavors and the creamy chipotle sauce is amazing!
I made this tonight and I can tell, it is going to be one of those recipes that I’m going to crave! SO GOOD!! I ended up making a huge pot of InstaPot black beans and a huge batch of brown rice to freeze so I’m ready!
This is probably my favorite recipe on here! It’s quite a bit of elements to prep, but it’s worth it in the end. Lots of textures in the dish, great flavor on the sweet potatoes and the chipotle yogurt sauce adds a nice spice to the dish. I like to add chicken in for additional protein and it works perfectly with the existing flavors. Would absolutely recommend this to others!
Awesome. I could seriously eat this every week!
I have made this recipe for my family countless times and we always LOVE it. We change up the protein and it is always delicious. It is also the perfect meal to make some extra and have left overs for lunch!
Oh my this is tasty. I substituted tahini for yogurt. So delicious.
Looks great
Delicious and filling. Loved the sauce and the way the sweet potatoes turned out!
wow! This is FANTASTIC! Most delicious and satisfying thing I’ve ever made that is also extremely healthy. It’s fine without the avocado even because I used full fat yogurt.
YUM! So flavorful and healthy! I accidentally used garam masala instead of coriander, but it was still delicious! Trying it with shrimp next time
This recipe goes on my all time favorite recipe list!! So flavorful! I can’t wait to make it again.
I’m excited to try this! My only issue is I cant STAND kale! Can I use spinach instead?
have you tried massaged kale? It’s so much better than raw. You may find you like it this way! If not, you could just sub in raw spinach, probably chopped up a bit.
I haven’t tried it massaged! Thanks for taking the time to reply. I will give it a try, and if I still can’t stand it, I’ll try your suggestion with spinach.
One of my favorite meal prep recipes! Pickled onions are a game changer. I use a coconut yogurt to make the sauce. Thank you for including the kale massage as a step. Too often that’s left out of recipes, and it’s absolutely the only way I can eat raw kale. Love this bowl!
I’m not a fan of raw kale either. I found that when stemmed & roasted in oven with a little olive oil for 5 minutes my family loved the addition.
This was SO good. I love the chipotle sauce. I also used it for the air fryer steak! I froze 2 of the bowls. We will see how those turn out later but I loved it!!
So many great flavours! Had it for dinner and leftovers made a delicious lunch for work.
This bowl is fantastic. I was amazed at the amount of flavor.
A+
Can you make ahead and reheat?
Wow! Great recipe.
I subbed avocado (and some water) for the yogurt.
I honestly didn’t think I would really like this recipe but it is DELICIOUS!! We added chicken and shrimp to ours and it’s incredibly filling. My kids even ate it deconstructed. Will be making again.
Made this last night; it was delicious. Everything about it was so good. I took another comments suggestion and used paprika instead of Chipotle seasoning. I doubled the Chipotle sauce.
Easy to make and delicious! I will be making this again.
I wasn’t sure about this one because I don’t usually do meatless meals but it was amazing! My husband loved it too. The flavors in here are outstanding and I wouldn’t change a thing!
Delicious! My family loves this meal! Taste amazing and is a super healthy meatless meal.
Great!
OMG! Soooo good. The only changes I made were: 1) Family (except me) hates kale so I sauteed 4 c spinach in 1 Tbs EVOO. & Seasoned with salt. 2) I cut up a shallot & minced 2 cloves of garlic in a little EVOO & sauteed it until soft. Then I added beans, salt and a handful of cilantro. SOOOO good! Mr. Meat husband loved it.
Delicious! The sauce was so good. I wouldn’t have thought to add kale myself, this was a good combo.
Delicious! I didn’t have coriander or chipotle powder for the sweet potatoes but it still tasted amazing. Even my husband liked it and he isn’t a fan of kale or onions, but he loved it in this dish. Will definitely keep this on the weekly rotation.
If you can’t have dairy, soak 3/4 cup raw cashews in warm/hot water for 30 minutes. Drain and put into high speed blender with 3/4 cup water. Blend for a minute or so until creamy and proceed with recipe.
This was excellent!
Yum Yum Yum!!!! Made this so I could have batch lunches, but ended up having an early dinner with my husband and his mom…..and not nearly enough leftovers. I love how customizable this recipe is. The spice mix is great – I used Kashmiri chili powder instead of regular, so the sweet potatoes were wonderfully spicy (a little too much for my husband, and probably for kids, but perfect for me — I may have to cut the amount in half next time). I also cooked the sweet potatoes in my air fryer – about 12 or 13 minutes at 400, as suggested by someone else. I love quinoa, so I made that instead of rice. AND…..I already know I don’t like all-yogurt sauces, so I used half reduced fat mayo and half yogurt (a trick I also learned from Gina a long time ago). Delicious! Thank you! I don’t know that I’ve ever tried one of Gina’s recipes that turned out badly. I often fatten them up a bit or make other small modifications, but I can always trust the base recipe has been well tested and will taste good.
Loved the seasoning on the sweet potatoes! All the components of this recipe come together so well!
So good!! I have made many Skinny Taste recipes, but this is my first time reviewing. Like another reviewer, I didn’t have chipotle powder so I used paprika. Worked great!
Such a delicious and filling recipe. We substituted butternut squash for the sweet potato and cauliflower rice for the brown rice to make it more point friendly for my plan. I am looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Fantastic flavors! Whole family loved it!
For me, this was not worth the WW points or the time it took to make it. Tasty but there are easier, lower point recipes I prefer.
Delicious! Saved in my favorites 🙂
Unbelievably good!! Sweet, spicy, tangy, so many different textures. Chef’s kiss! 💋Made this for dinner last night & was so excited I got to eat it for lunch today. And the pickled red onions were so easy & delicious.
This instantly became one of my absolute favorite Skinnytaste recipes. I’m obsessed with the thought of having leftovers today. Cumin is one of my least favorite spices, so I skipped it. But that was my only modification. That spicy cream sauce is fabulous! Thank you for enriching our lives and helping make us healthier, eating few processed foods and enjoying new things through your recipes, Gina.
So glad you enjoyed it Christine!
This was delicious. The spices on the sweet potatoes was so good, and the chipotle sauce was perfect way to top it off. It is definitely on my meal rotation.
This was a delicious recipe. My husband cannot have raw onions, so I pickled shredded carrots. A bit spicy for us, so will cut back on the spices next time but so full of flavor.
this was excellent – very satisfying – will be making again
This looks delicious. Might have to cut back on the pepper as I am good with mild heat. Bet it would be good for breakfast as well topped with a sunny side up egg. Can’t wait to try it.
I love this recipe!!! I followed the recipe but cooked the sweet potatoes in the air fryer. Also, my Husband wanted a meat protein so I added ground chicken seasoned with taco seasoning. Start to finish, this all took me two hours to make. But, it was beyond worth the time. I like it better than the rice bowl at Chipotle! It is full of flavor and we have plenty of leftovers for a couple days.
Great!!
Gina,
How long does this recipe last in the refrigerator? Want to make and take to a friend. Not sure if I should add all the ingredients and assemble the bowl in advance of taking it to her. Thanks!
Outstanding recipe. I didn’t have chipotle pepper so substituted smoked paprika, otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I also mixed a little Ranch Dressing with the Chipotle Dressing to cut the spice for one family member – it worked great!
Excellent instructions made it easy to pull the recipe together. Thanks!
Delicious! Added yellow peppers and roasted corn. Thank you for the healthy, delicious and interesting meals Gina!
So delicious! Didn’t have any coriander, so subbed in some curry spices. Will definitely add this to the rotation!
We eat a lot of Buddha Bowls so I wasn’t expecting anything special but somehow this really was! The spices, the yogurt, beans and avo and sweet potato all being really creamy – so good! My only suggestion is to add a bit of crunch with some seeds sprinkled on top. Yummo!
WINNER!! I made this tonight and we devoured it. The sauce brings everything together. and gives it a lift I did what a reviewer said below and didn’t boil the sweet potatoes. I cooked them in the oven and they turned out perfectly. I used swiss chard because that’s what I had and it was delish. Thanks for a great recipe! This will be on repeat in our house.
Made this for dinner last night, my hubby LOVED it!!! He’s going a little vegan for awhile to lose weight. I know I will be able to find more recipes he likes.
thank you, thank you!!
Gina made this last night for my lunches this week and can’t say enough about how good it is!! Love all
Your recipes
So delicious! It definitely took many steps, but it was worth it. We put in half of the adobo as we are sensitive to the spice.
Looks delicious! Are these to be served warm or cold?
This was incredible! So flavorful and filling. I put the sweet potatoes in the oven without preboiling and they were perfect. It definitely took a bit of time but I enjoyed using new techniques and ingredients. I made it last night and still can’t stop thinking about how good it was!
This is ssooo yummy and I can’t wait to eat it all week for lunch! I made a few substitutions due to what I had on hand. I used half butternut squash and half sweet potatoes, which I just roasted and skipped the boiling step. I swapped spinach for Kale (and skipped the massaging section). I used wild rice instead of brown rice.
I just bought 3 pounds of sweet potatoes! Definitely making this meal soon!
” 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce ”
I’m reading this as one pepper from the can, is that correct?
Thank you
That’s what I ended up doing but it could have used a little more heat. Next time I’ll do two peppers from the can. The Greek Yogurt was over powering. Maybe she did mean the whole can… but that seems like it would be way too hot.
That’s how I read it too.
I will try this recipe for sure but will not boil the sweet potatoes ahead of time, that seems really unecessary. Sweet potatoes cut that small will cook in the oven for 30 minutes no problem, at 375. So, 8 minutes of boil time plus 20 minutes roast time is essentially the same time. I do this all the time with sweet potatoes (and regular potatoes as well). No need to mess with another pot and you’re likely losing some nutrients into the boiling water.
Sounds delicious. Thank you! I don’t tolerate chipotle peppers well so might sub your yummy cilantro buttermilk sauce. I’m curious why you boil the sweet potatoes before putting them in the oven, instead of roasting the whole way?
Can you do this recipe in either an instant pot or air fryer? If yes to either please give directions. Thank you
I did my sweet potatoes in my air fryer. I diced them (didn’t preboil) and cooked at 400 degrees for 12 minutes, shaking the basket at 6 minutes.
My daughter would love this Gina. I can’t find the WW points per serving. Can you please post the WW points on your recipes. I don’t know why they changed the plan when the one they had was working fine. Thank you!
Its the orange button in the recipe card. Takes you to WW.
I don’t particularly care for kale. Is there another leafy green option that could be substituted in this bowl?
I am with you. I think I am going to try it with Spinach
I agree with you. Wish Gina would consider other options than kale
If you read the post, I am sharing this recipe from a cookbook. Feel free to use any veggie you wish!
I made this last night and my partner is not a fan of kale either so his bowl had spring mix instead and he really liked it! I could see it working with spinach too as it’s a dense green. Highly recommend trying out this recipe, it’s a new favourite for us.
I went with arugala!
Great recipe! We are plant based these days and this was a winner.
I don’t care for kale either so I’m going to substitute fresh spinach.
This looks delicious, can you tell me where the high calorie count comes from? I am presuming the olive oil and avocado?
Wondering the same thing.
Yum! I love this bowl. I also made it with a tahini sauce instead of the chipotle…my family doesn’t love chipotle.