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These broccoli cheese stuffed sweet potatoes are an easy, healthy-ish weeknight dinner your whole family will love. Double this recipe to feed a crowd!
On the way back from the airport today (from a family vacation to Las Vegas), we heard renowned cookbook author Nigella Lawson on the radio talking about her new cooking show where she is a judge along with three male celebrity chefs. She strongly identified herself as a “home cook,” something altogether different from her celebrity chef cohorts. This made me think about our recent trip, where we dined at restaurants of our favorite celebrity chefs. It was certainly a thrill, but no matter how delicious the food is at a restaurant, Alex and I are passionate about home cooking. Keep reading for this brocolli cheese stuffed sweet potatoes recipe, and more on being a home cook.
On being a home cook
Alex and I have the utmost respect for restaurant chefs and love eating out to be inspired, but some of the best food we’ve ever tasted have been in people’s homes—friends, family, or our own (if we’re lucky!). But as a couple who cooks, we identify with Nigella. At our core, we are, you guessed it: home cooks.
There is a heart to home-cookery that brings joy to our lives. (And the restaurants we love the most attempt to recreate that heart as much as possible in a public setting.) So no matter how delicious the tuna ceviche and truffle pizza were, we’re excited to get back in our kitchen for meals like these—cheesy broccoli stuffed sweet potatoes. We’ll take that over fancy food any day.
How to make stuffed sweet potatoes
We created this brocolli cheese stuffed sweet potatoes recipe because, well, we’re obsessed with sweet potatoes! And luckily they’re one of the worlds healthiest foods, being full of nutrients, potassium and fiber. We thought we’d combine the coziness of a baked sweet potato with the even cozier ethos of brocolli cheese sauce.
Since we’re all about healthier spins, this cheese sauce is made creamy by a little bit of cheese and a bit of white beans that are whizzed in the food processor. Using white beans brings a lot of creaminess using a plant based protein, making for a healthy broccoli cheese sauce. We love how the cheese sauce turned out and might use it for things other than these stuffed sweet potatoes in the future.
So, broccoli cheese sauce + stuffed sweet potatoes: what do you think? Let us know in the comments below! And if you’re looking for more with broccoli, check out our Top Tasty Broccoli Recipes.
Looking for more easy dinner recipes?
Outside of these stuffed sweet potatoes, here are a few more easy dinner recipes we love:
- Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai
- Red Lentil Curry with Rice
- Artichoke and Quinoa Vegetarian Enchiladas
- Tomato Sage Chickpea Soup
This stuffed sweet potatoes recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten-free.
Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
These broccoli cheese stuffed sweet potatoes are an easy, healthy-ish weeknight dinner your whole family will love. Double this recipe to feed a crowd!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 4 large sweet potatoes
- 1 head broccoli
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 15-ounce can white beans (1 ½ cups cooked)
- ¾ cup water
- 1 cup Monterrey Jack and cheddar blend shredded cheese (Mexican blend)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork. Place them in the oven and roast for 45 to 50 minutes, until tender, or slightly longer depending on the size of the potatoes.
- Meanwhile, cut the broccoli into florets. Mince the garlic. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil, then add the garlic. Wait until the garlic sizzles, after about 30 seconds add the red pepper flakes, the broccoli, and a few pinches of kosher salt. Sauté the broccoli until bright green and tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Drain and rinse the beans. In the bowl of a food processor, blend the beans, ¾ cup water, ½ cup shredded cheese, and the kosher salt. Taste, and add additional seasonings if necessary, or additional water to make the sauce more creamy. Add the broccoli to the cheese mixture.
- After the sweet potatoes are baked, cut out the centers and remove some sweet potato (which can be saved and eaten later). Place the cheese and broccoli mixture into the hole in each potato, then top with additional shredded cheese. Place the potatoes back in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese is melted. Serve warm.
Found your blog through my husband’s dietician. These came out great! Kids couldn’t tell the creaminess was from the beans instead of cream and butter.
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed the recipe :)
You have another recipe for making sweet potatoes in the instant pot. Would you recommend using that method to prep for this recipe? I’m not sure if the potatoes will be too soft/mushy for this and, instead, need to have that firmer roasted exterior.
Double the cooking time for baking the sweet potatoes, they will never cook in 45 minutes! I’ve just massively over cooked my chicken waiting for the potatoes to cook.
Thanks for the comment! The timing depends on the size of the sweet potatoes, so perhaps you have very large sweet potatoes? Typically we’re able to roast large sweet potatoes in about 45 to 50 minutes, at the most 1 hour. However, it is good to note that very large potatoes might take even longer!
I guess so yeah, I didn’t really consider you were talking medium sized ones. Mine were big ones – but I didn’t see the point in going to all that effort for a little sweet potato :)
Sorry – it took a good 1.5 hours for mine to cook
Haha yes, well it’s good to know that it varies. I updated the verbiage in the recipe to indicate that it could take longer depending on the size of the potatoes. THANKS so much for your feedback!
Can you post the prep time and cook time with the recipe?
Do you think I could substitute chickpeas for white beans? Thanks!
Hi! Yes, that should work fine. Enjoy!
Can I use pinto or kidney beans if I don’t have white beans in my pantry?
I think pinto beans would work fine!
I’m in a bind about what to make for dinner, and I’m all out of sweet potatoes! Do you think I could substitute sweet potatoes for russet (practically a kitchen felony by many people’s standards, but I digress)?? Excited to try the recipe either way!!
Haha! I’m sure it’d still be delicious :)
I love sweet potatoes….and broccoli…and cheese! I always have all three ingredients on hand. Great thinking using sweet potatoes for the added health benefit of this tasty dish! Definitely a must make!