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This loaded sweet potato recipe features a zesty slaw and creamy Thai peanut butter sauce. This colorful, plant-based dinner comes together in just 35 minutes for a nutritious weeknight meal the whole family will love!
I was once a major skeptic when it came to sweet potatoes. Growing up, they only appeared at Thanksgiving, drowning in marshmallows and brown sugar. But everything changed when I discovered how they can be! This loaded sweet potato recipe combines the potatoes natural sweetness with a tangy slaw and rich peanut sauce that creates magic on your plate.
I still have people who come up to me and say, “I love that loaded sweet potato recipe with the peanut butter sauce!” You’ll fall in love with one for so many reasons: it’s pretty simple to put together and the combination of flavors is incredible, with the fresh zingy slaw and a creamy peanut sauce that brings everything together. Our neighbors couldn’t believe how flavorful it was when I first served it at a dinner party! It’s also gluten-free and vegan, making it perfect for feeding a crowd with different dietary needs.
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“Fed this to my meat-eating family. There were no leftovers!” -Katherine
How to cook the sweet potatoes
There are several methods for cooking sweet potatoes for this recipe:
- Quick baked method: Cut the sweet potatoes in half to reduce cooking time! Bake them at 400°F for just 25-30 minutes. Go to Quick Baked Sweet Potato.
- Instant Pot method: Place sweet potatoes in the pot, cook on high pressure for 16 minutes, and natural release for 10 minutes. Total time: about 35 minutes including preheat. Go to Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes.
- Steamed method: For a similar moisture level to the Instant Pot result, use this Steamed Sweet Potatoes recipe.
- Microwave method: We recommend this only for a single sweet potato. Go to Microwave Sweet Potato.
PS My favorite sweet potatoes recipe for a side dish is these roasted sweet potatoes!
Quick prep tip
You can make both the slaw and Thai peanut butter sauce in the time it takes to cook the sweet potatoes, making this an efficient weeknight meal option.
Options for adding protein
- Chickpeas: For a complete plant-based protein option, add canned chickpeas seasoned with the same spices used in the recipe.
- Lentils: Another option is seasoned brown lentils.
- Chicken: If you’re not vegan, pan seared chicken or grilled chicken makes an excellent addition to these loaded sweet potatoes.
- Tofu: Make baked tofu or crispy tofu another plant-based protein alternative.
Dietary notes
This loaded sweet potato recipe is vegan, plant based, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free and Mediterranean diet-friendly.
Loaded Sweet Potatoes (Easy Meal!)
This loaded sweet potato recipe features a zesty slaw and creamy Thai peanut butter sauce. This colorful, plant-based dinner comes together in just 35 minutes for a nutritious weeknight meal the whole family will love!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients
For the sweet potatoes and slaw
- 4 medium to large sweet potatoes (10 to 12 ounces each)
- 1/4 red cabbage (3 cups shredded)
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper
- 1 green onion
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (1 lime)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Crushed peanuts, for the garnish
For the Thai peanut butter sauce
- ⅓ cup peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (1 lime)
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons water
Protein adders: Serve with canned chickpeas, crispy tofu, brown lentils, pan seared chicken, or sauteed shrimp
Instructions
- Cook the sweet potatoes: Go to Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes, Steamed Sweet Potatoes, or Quick Baked Sweet Potatoes.
- Make the slaw: Thinly slice the red cabbage, enough for 3 cups. Thinly slice the peppers. Thinly slice the green onion. Chop the cilantro. In a large bowl, mix together the cabbage, peppers, green onion and cilantro with the lime juice and kosher salt.
- Make the Thai peanut butter sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, maple syrup, and water. Taste and add a bit of kosher salt if desired (this depends on the salt content of the peanut butter).
- Serve: Slice the sweet potatoes in half and top them with the slaw. Drizzle with the Thai peanut butter sauce and sprinkle with chopped peanuts. (If desired, serve with one of the protein adders listed above!)
More sweet potato recipes you might enjoy
Here are a few other healthy sweet potato recipes from A Couple Cooks:
I microwave my sweet potatoes for 5 minutes. They turn out perfect – soft, moist, and hot. It’s fast and doesn’t require yet another appliance.
This was delicious…I added garlic and some lime zest to the peanut sauce and it really expanded the flavor profile in the sauce! will definitely make again!
This sounds good but I didn’t think we could have maple syrup or any kind of sweetener like honey, sugar , sub sugar nothing like that. This calls for maple syrup?
Hi! A teaspoon of sugar would work fine.
Fed this to my meat-eating family. There were no leftovers. I served it with grilled pineapple. The peanut sauce recipe is no good turning out thick & not sweet enough. Use your favorite peanut sauce. Also, I used 3X the ammount of cilantro.
This was very good. I was serving 2, so I only used 2 sweet potatoes, but I made the full dressing and slaw quantities because of all the replies saying they were so good. We agree. I did make one small modification. Using the recipe for the sauce, it said to “drizzle” it over the slaw, but mine was too thick for that. I added 1 more tablespoon of water and that worked great and didn’t adversely affect the flavor. This recipe is definitely a keeper, and the slaw/sauce combo could easily have other applications. Thanks.
I made this today and it was DELICIOUS. I did without the bell peppers because I don’t like them, and it was still amazing. YUM
Oh we are so glad to hear this! And the slaw would be great without peppers too. Thanks for making it!
This was great! I had some lentils in the fridge that I dressed with lime and cilantro to add more protein. I think next time we may actually skip the sweet potato and serve the slaw and sauce over lentils!
Loved the recipe! I would have never thought to use sweet potato. I added a clove of garlic, knob of ginger and a bit of red curry paste to the peanut sauce and it was amazing.
Thanks for a great recipe! Made this meal for dinner tonight and it was super filling, satisfying and delicious! We had a spinach salad topped with some pineapple slices that I roasted alongside the sweet potatoes. This will definitely be added to the “go-to” meal list!
This is a super easy recipe and surprisingly packed with flavor! It also took barely any time to prepare and was so healthy, I think this is going to become a staple recipe for my boyfriend and I. I couldn’t get enough of that slaw, I was just sitting there eating the slaw on it’s own afterwards and might just make the slaw without the potatoes in the future ? Thanks for sharing this!
I can’t wait to try that peanut drizzle sauce! I love sweet potatoes with peanut butter for a sweet version…can’t wait to try this savory version! :)
Looks great but warning: soy sauce is NOT gluten free!!!
There are some soy sauces which are gluten free. It will say it on the bottle
I would never have thought to cook sweet potatoes in an Instant Pot, what a great idea! I haven’t got an Instant Pot but I’ve seen so many recipes that use them, I’m definitely tempted.
I love Thai flavours as well, so this looks great!