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Imagine: crispy sweet potato skins topped with a cheesy, gooey filling, chili-spiced pinto beans, and crunchy green onions. The perfect party appetizer!
Any recipe that starts with “loaded sweet potato” is a favorite in our house. We make these loaded sweet potato rounds as an appetizer for friends and they always disappear quickly. So we couldn’t resist creating another loaded sweet potato something, especially with football playoffs in swing and the Super Bowl approaching. (How many sports fans do we have out there?)
Related: Healthy Super Bowl Recipes to Wow Your Friends
How to make loaded sweet potato skins
These potatoes take about 1 ½ to 2 hours to prepare, depending on the size of your potatoes, but it’s time well spent when you taste them! The outer skins are a bit crispy, with the insides creamy and bursting with flavor. Keep in mind that nearly 1 hour of the preparation time is hands off while the potatoes are baking, so you can use this time to prepare the other meal components and clean up after yourself. *Update: We also found they reheat perfectly, so making them in advance works well too (see below).
We like to make this recipe as a dinner main dish instead of a party appetizer, though it works well either way. Tonight we served the potatoes with cilantro lime quinoa and a salad for a delicious dinner with friends. It’s also a great option for a vegetarian and gluten-free meal, which was exactly what we needed tonight since one friend is gluten intolerant.
We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. Remember to tag us if you make them and post a pic on Instagram; we love hearing your feedback! (We’re at acouplecooks.)
More sweet potato recipes
As you can see, we’re kinda sweet potato obsessed! Outside of this loaded sweet potato skins recipe, here are some of our favorite sweet potato recipes:
- Baked Sweet Potato with Moroccan Lentils
- Healthy Loaded Sweet Potato Rounds
- Poached Eggs and Potatoes
- Sweet Potato Pizza with Brie
- Moroccan Stew with Chickpeas & Sweet Potatoes
- Sweet Potatoes with Thai Peanut Butter Sauce
- Baked Sweet Potatoes with Goat Cheese & Lentils
- Broccoli Cheese Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Sweet Potato Hash Browns
- Best Instant Pot Sweet Potato Recipe
- The Trick for Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
- All-Star Sweet Potato Chili
- Thai-Style Easy Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Vegan Sweet Potato Soup with Harissa
This recipe is…
This loaded sweet potato skins recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free.
Loaded Sweet Potato Skins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 as a main, 8 as an appetizer 1x
Description
Imagine: crispy sweet potato skins topped with a cheesy, gooey filling, chili-spiced pinto beans, and crunchy green onions. The perfect party appetizer!
Ingredients
- 1 cup pinto beans (from a 15-ounce can)
- 2 ½ pounds small to medium sweet potatoes
- Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 1 tablespoon chili powder, divided
- 1 ⅓ cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided
- ⅔ cup fresh or frozen corn
- 1 green onion
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- Fresh ground pepper
- Sour cream (optional, for garnish)
Instructions
- Cook the beans using this method or this method (in advance for easy prep).
- 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.
- Drain and rinse the beans. Mix 1 cup beans with a drizzle of olive oil, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and ½ tablespoon chili powder.
- 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. Return the skins to the baking sheet face up and drizzle with olive oil. Reduce the heat to 400°F and bake while you mix up the stuffing (about 5 minutes).
- In the bowl, mash the sweet potato insides with a masher, then stir in the shredded cheese, ½ tablespoon chili powder, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper.
- Fill each potato skin with the filling. Top with beans, a sprinkle of corn, and a sprinkle of extra cheese. Bake until heated through and the cheese melts, about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, thinly slice the green onion and chop the cilantro. Remove the potatoes from the oven and garnish with green onions and cilantro. Serve hot, garnished with sour cream if desired.
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
These were so simple and sooo delicious!! I was blown away by the flavor. Served it along side some Mexican millet and broccoli. Yum!
One of my fave recipes of yours… absolutely love it! Must have made it 10 times by now… I make it with canned chili beans :)
So glad you enjoy it! Thanks for letting us know :)
This is absolutely delicious! As a college student, I couldn’t be more grateful for a simple, quick recipe to go along with some rice and beans.
can i substitute canned beans for the dried, rinsed and drained
Yes, this would work fine.
I so love cheesy potato skins. Thanks for the recipe.
I have a question about the pinto beans. Are there any other beans that would be good with the recipes or does it only work with pinto?
I’d probably go with black beans if you’re going to substitute. Hope you enjoy!
Made these the other day and they were delicious! Might add some corn to the mix next time, we’ll see… :)
Wow! You guys also made a recipe with Stuffed Sweet potato looks delicious, we got to try this :D Ours is not filled with beans but with Chickpeas and Chevré! http://happyhealthyhunters.com/2015/01/08/healthy-sweet-potato-recipe/
Even though the Superbowl is on at a ridiculous time of day for us, we’ll no doubt be watching and indulging in some suitable game-day snacks. These totally fit the bill and sound super delicious.
Yes!!! Would love to hear what else is on your menu :)
I love sweet potatoes and beans together. I want to make these using jumbo sweet potatoes and have it for dinner.
Oh my goodness do these sound amaze-balls. Just might need to make these for my hubs and I’s next hockey game night (sans cheese… cause… vegan!). Thanks for the awesome idea of stuffing them with pinto beans! And that quinoa will have to be a must too. Happy Tuesday!
Haha, so glad you like the idea! Let us know if you try them without cheese – and whether you substitute something else? Unfortunately the cheese brings an amazing flavor to the stuffing, so I’d love to hear ideas on how to make it vegan!
This is definitely my definition of comfort food. Love!
I love sweet potatoes> Can’t wait to try them this way!
This dish looks amazing! Although I am vegetarian, this could easily be made with regular pinto or black beans. Plus the balance of beans and sweet potato is a hum run nutritionally! Can’t wait to try these for dinner this week!
Nina – this recipe is vegetarian! The “Hambeens” is the brand name of the beans, but they contain no meat.
While I’m no stranger to various types of loaded potato skins, I can’t say that I’ve ever tried this with sweet potatoes. I’ll have to put this on deck and give it a shot!
Great! Let us know what you think if you do try it out!
Loaded sweet potatoes are a loved recipe in our house too, and the cilantro-lime quinoa sounds amazing with – I’ll have to remember that next time. I like the corn in this recipe especially, it gives the perfect sweet crunch to balance things.
Yes, let me know if you’d like the quinoa recipe! It didn’t end up making the cut for the blog though — maybe with some tweaks!
I’ve been craving sweet potatoes but their so hard to find here in Thailand (most are white Japanese sweet potatoes), but this is enough to keep me looking for some. I’m not a huge sports fan, but I do always love the snacks!
Yes, I’ve had the same problem in Southeast Asia finding sweet potatoes! I do love white sweet potatoes; I’m not sure if the ones you can find are the same we have in the States — but there is something about the beautiful orange flesh that makes it not quite the same!
What a lovely, simple recipe! Though I am not a sports fan myself, and therefore will NOT be eating these in front of the screen, I can see myself making them for a quick weekday meal when nothing in the fridge looks inviting and the frozen pizza seems to be calling my name. Baked yams are such a great fix for hangriness! Thanks for sharing.
Haha, a good thing is you do not have to be a sports fan to enjoy this recipe! (I’m not usually, unless my team is in the playoffs :) ) Hope you enjoy it!