Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Slow Cooker Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes are an easy and fast weeknight meal packed with flavor, color, and texture!
Shredded chicken tossed with black beans and salsa are layered over a baked sweet potato and topped with a vibrant mix of sauteed cabbage and multi colored sweet peppers, and topped with a quick avocado crema, cotija cheese, and chopped fresh cilantro.
This is a flavorful savory and sweet meal your whole family will quickly fall in love with!
Just because you are short on time doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat something that doesn’t get you all excited by how amazing it looks and tastes. Quick meals don’t need to come from a bag, or be boring!
These Mexican stuffed sweet potatoes are so, so, perfect for quick weeknight dinners.
- Shortcuts make it quick. Rotisserie chicken from the deli? Check. Pre-made salsa and guacamole? You bet. Shredded cabbage in the produce section? Of course!
- Easy to make. Cook the sweet potatoes in the slow cooker during the day. Saute the chicken and salsa just enough to warm it up. Saute the peppers and cabbage for literally 7 minutes. Whisk together the guacamole and sour cream. Eat it. If you prep ahead and use two pans, you can literally have the entire meal ready to go in less than 10 minutes. It would literally take you longer to drive to a fast food drive-thru.
- The colors and textures are on point here! So many great colors – there is almost an entire rainbow, making it a gorgeous meal that is packed with textures and flavors you will love.
Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
How to Make Slow Cooker Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
These stuffed sweet potatoes are really easy to make!
- Cook the sweet potatoes in the slow cooker. You don’t need to pierce them or wrap them in foil. Just give them a good scrub and throw them in! Cook for 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high, or until tender when pierced with a fork.
- Slice the mini sweet peppers into coins and toss with shredded cabbage. Saute over medium heat with olive oil and salt and pepper for 7 minutes. Stir occasionally, until slightly soft and browned in places.
- Mix shredded rotisserie chicken with a can of rinsed, drained black beans and 1 cup of your favorite salsa. Heat in a skillet over medium heat until warm. Or microwave it, the choice is yours.
- Stir together pre-made guacamole, sour cream, and the juice of half a lime.
- Slice the sweet potatoes down the center lengthwise and serve with the chicken mixture, sauteed veggies, avocado crema, fresh cilantro and cotija cheese. Enjoy!
How to prep this Mexican Sweet Potato Recipe Ahead of Time
Need to do some meal prep to cut down on cook time? This is your new “go-to” recipe for quick weeknight meals that don’t suck! Here are some easy shortcuts you can use to make getting dinner on the table quicker and easier:
- Buy pre-made guacamole. Look at the labels and pick one with minimal, real ingredients. Its not quite as good as homemade, but it sure works just fine here.
- Purchase pre-shredded rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. My store sells both regular rotisserie and smoked rotisserie – the smoked version is so good here!
- Use pre-shredded cabbage from the produce section.
- Slice the peppers ahead of time, storing them in the fridge up to 3 days.
- If needed, you can mix the shredded chicken, rinsed black beans and salsa together and store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to eat. If you are in a super hurry, you can microwave it to reheat!
Another recipe that uses shredded rotisserie chicken is this Chicken Parmesan sandwich recipe, which is also ready to eat in no time flat!
How to make Mexican Sweet Potatoes Kid-Friendly
These Mexican sweet potatoes are a fun meal to serve, and they help hesitant eaters expand beyond what they might normally eat. A baked potato might seem like normal food, and a taco might seem like normal food. But twisting the two together AND changing up the potato adds a little bit of boundary pushing change while still being “mostly” familiar.
This meal offers so many fun flavors, textures, and colors, while still being within the “this is safe and ok” realm!
Dinner Conversations with Kids about Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Dinner time should be more than micromanaging each and every bite your kids take. Use this opportunity to talk about:
- Discuss the textures in your potato – how are the different components different and how are they the same? Use words like tender, soft, creamy, firm, etc.
- Point out the smells of your dinner. What smells earthy, sweet, fruity, spicy?
- Talk about the different flavors of your bowl. What is sweet, what is savory?
- Ask questions about what their favorite part of the meal is, what they would change next time or how they would make it better?
*For more information on how to talk to explore the sense of taste with your kids, make sure you check out the Tasting Trek 5 Day Challenge!
How to Serve Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
These baked stuffed sweet potatoes are a perfect easy family meal! I like to serve these “family style” with all the different components on the table and allow everyone to fix their own potato as they want.
Here is how to serve them to different ages:
- For Toddlers – Remove the sweet potato from the skin and small dice the cooked potato. Serve on a plate with individual piles of all the toppings.
- For Preschoolers – Remove the skin from the sweet potato and serve diced on a plate. Allow the preschooler to add whatever toppings they want on top, and choose which toppings they would like to have on the side.
- For Elementary Aged Kids – Ask the child how they would like to prepare their potato – with the toppings on top or beside their potato, and have them serve themselves as they see fit.
- For Adults – Pile it all on! Or don’t. Its your meal!
Kids in the Kitchen: How Your Kids Can Help You Cook
Getting your kids into the kitchen with you is a great way to help them be more interested in trying new foods and confident in their own abilities.
These Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes are great because it helps kids learn to saute and they get to practice their scooping and spooning. This recipe is perfect for beginner cooks because it is so easy!
And it is a great recipe for kids to experiment and become more comfortable with new flavors – which means they are more likely to eat it!
- Kids aged 1-3 can help you pick the cilantro leaves off the stems, mix the guacamole/sour cream/lime juice together, and help scrub the sweet potatoes.
- Kids aged 4-6 can do everything above, plus help you juice the lime, crumble the cheese, chop the cilantro, stir the chicken and salsa together, sautee the peppers and cabbage, and help you prepare the meal.
- Kids aged 7-10+ can help you do everything above, plus help you slice the peppers and cabbage, as well as build the sweet potatoes.
*Please note that these recommendations are generalized, and to please use your personal discretion with your child’s skill level. And always, always supervise! Read more about how to have your children help you in the kitchen.
Other Kid Friendly Latin American Food:
Try these other Kid Friendly Crock Pot Recipes:
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Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 pound rotisserie chicken
- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
- 1 cup sliced mini sweet peppers
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup guacamole
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ lime juiced
- ¼ cup cotija cheese
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Scrub the sweet potatoes and place in the bottom of the slow cooker, in an even layer.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the rotisserie chicken, and rinsed drained black beans, and salsa.
- Place the meat mixture into a large skillet and heat, over medium heat, until warm, stirring occasionally.
- In a second skillet over medium heat, toss the purple cabbage and sweet peppers with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Sautee, stirring occasionally, for about 7 minutes, or until beginning to soften.
- In a small bowl, mix together the guacamole, sour cream and lime juice for the avocado crema.
- Build your sweet potatoes by slicing the sweet potato lengthwise and layering on the chicken mixture, the sauteed vegetables, and the avocado crema. Top with the cotija cheese and the cilantro.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Check out the Mexican stuffed sweet potato recipe story.
These are perfect for dinner and then lunch the next day! I love the vibrant colors and how simple this dinner is to throw together.
I made these for dinner last night and they were incredible! Such a fun twist on one of my favorite dinners!
Genius idea! I don’t know why I never think of using my slow cooker for things like this, I’m so glad you shared this recipe! Plus, I LOVE your tips for starting conversations with the kids about new flavors and textures, it really helped them.
Awesome post! Love all the extra tips about serving, conversations, etc! 🙂