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This showstopping dish is over the top delicious, starring sweet potato, goat cheese, and black lentils, mixed with fresh herbs and twice baked in the oven.
Each year Alex and I have a little Thanksgiving tradition: we create and share a vegan and vegetarian Thanksgiving menu to show that the holiday can be about colorful, healthy eating instead of stuffing ourselves with rich foods. Usually it’s a vegetarian main dish. It’s a fun challenge to come up with something other than turkey and pumpkin pie, and each year the dishes get even tastier. This year, this sweet potato, goat cheese and lentil main dish was the star of the show. It’s gooey, creamy, crispy, fresh, and earthy all at once. Keep reading for the recipe.
Related: 15 Best Lentil Recipes | How to Cook Lentils
How to make this sweet potato goat cheese recipe
Our pick for a vegetarian fall meal is this lentil stuffed sweet potatoes with goat cheese. With no exaggeration, it’s one of my favorite recipes we’ve made this year. I modeled it off of these potato skins with pinto beans, but used lentils and goat cheese for a more refined wintery vibe. The goat cheese is not only crumbled over the top with black lentils, fresh thyme, and crunchy celery leaves, but it’s mixed into the inside of the sweet potato for a creamy, savory filling.
Here we’ve used a twice baked sweet potato concept. You bake the sweet potato until tender, then remove most of the flesh and leave the skins on the baking sheet. You mash the insides of the sweet potato, add goat cheese and seasonings, and stir until a creamy filling forms. Then you put it back into the potato skin and bake it again (twice!) for a shorter bake until everything is nice and warmed through. Top with those herbed lentils and a few more goat cheese crumbles, and you’ve got an irresistibly delicious meal. It works as a vegetarian main dish, a Thanksgiving side dish, or even for Christmas dinner.
This sweet potato goat cheese recipe takes about 1 ½ hours to prepare, making it fit for special occasions. However, it is well worth it for the flavorful dish that results. And, leftovers save well refrigerated; you can bake them to reheat! Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Related: Best Goat Cheese Recipes
More sweet potato recipes
Outside of this sweet potato goat cheese recipe, here are a few of our favorite sweet potato recipes:
- Instant Pot Thai Style Sweet Potatoes
- Sweet Potato Wedges
- How to Cook Sweet Potatoes in an Instant Pot
- Moroccan Sweet Potatoes with Tahini Dressing
- Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Moroccan Stew with Chickpeas & Sweet Potatoes
- Mexican Loaded Sweet Potato Fries
- All-Star Vegetarian Sweet Potato Chili
- Vegan Sweet Potato Soup with Harissa
This sweet potato goat cheese recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten free.
Print
Sweet Potatoes with Goat Cheese
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 1x
Description
This showstopping dish is over the top delicious, starring sweet potato, goat cheese, and black lentils, mixed with fresh herbs and twice baked in the oven.
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes (2 ½ pounds)
- ¾ cup black lentils (or French lentils)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 2 stalks celery, including leaves
- 1 large green onion
- 4 ounces goat cheese, divided
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
- Fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Wash the sweet potatoes, and prick them all over with a fork. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of the sweet potatoes, until tender.
- In a medium pot, combine ¾ cups black lentils with 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes, until tender but not soft. Drain in a colander, removing as much liquid as possible, then transfer to a bowl. Mix lentils with 1 tablespoon olive oil and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Thinly slice celery stalks and green onion and chop 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, then mix in with the lentils. Reserve the celery leaves.
- When the potatoes have finished baking, remove them from the oven. Transfer to a cutting board and let cool slightly until able to handle. Cut each potato in half with a serrated knife, then scoop out the insides into a bowl, making sure to keep a layer of sweet potato within the skin so that it can stand on its own. In the bowl, mash the potato with a masher, then stir in half of the goat cheese, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper.
- Fill each potato skin with the potato filling and top with the lentils. Bake until heated through, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the oven and garnish with celery leaves and the crumbles of the remaining goat cheese. Serve hot.
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Potato Recipe, Sweet Potato Dinner, Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Healthy
These look absolutely gorgeous! My husband and I are hosting Thanksgiving for the first time ever this year- we’re beyond excited and way nervous. I love the menu you’ve pulled together, and might steal your idea for the green beans with hazelnuts.
These look perfect – festive enough for Thanksgiving, but also healthy and quick enough for everyday making. I just love the look of those dark lentils with the orange of the yams!
This is a perfect reminder to eat more lentils! These potatoes look lovely!
Wow, this is a show stopper! I love the more refined French style you’re going for here. And can’t wait to see the roasted cauliflower dish in the line-up too!
Such a beautiful dish – perfect for Fall. And what a beauty to put on the Thanksgiving table!
Oh em gee those black lentils are stunners. You’re my hero.
This is an absolutely gorgeous side dish that my family would LOVE!
Mmmm this sounds so good! We have a bunch of sweet potatoes right now so this would be a perfect weeknight meal around here.
I’m so into sweet potatoes lately, and Andrew and I have been searching for a solid stuffed sweet potato recipe to test out. These look like the winner! Also you really can’t go wrong with goat cheese, all the more reason to try these. And beautiful photos, those colors are incredible.
Please do show your Thanksgiving menus if you have the chance! It’s so hard to eat healthy during the holidays even though I completely know they can be done!! :)
These look lovely! Can’t wait to try them out. Last year’s stuffed squash recipe was divine, and I’m sure we’ll love this one too.
I actually made two recipes of your’s this past week – your work is always very much appreciated around our house!