Who loves baked potatoes? I certainly do – especially filled with baked beans and cheese. My childhood was pretty much built on jackets, from the iconic Bonfire Night extravaganza, to the comforting hot lunch from the ‘potato man’ on the high street, during a rushed lunch break from my sixth form Saturday job.
Whenever I’m unwell, or even just working from home, I get pretty excited about the prospect of baking a potato for lunch. Most people’s first thought for comfort food is soup – or noodle soup – but mine is always potato-bound.
As much as I love a classic, I wanted to create a new version. To find a delicious, fresh way to cook and enjoy one of my favourite hot lunches. Saying that, these Mexican Baked Sweet Potatoes still have:
- beans;
- cheese;
- spices; and
- herbs;
but they’re cooked in a completely different way, with whole-food ingredients, and a fresh injection of flavour.
Still comforting, but far more exciting.
Interested? Good. Here’s why you should be:
- this is a quick, simple, healthy and filling meal;
- sweet potatoes make a tasty – and pretty – change from the traditional option;
- the spicy, zingy, hearty Mexican flavours provide a refreshing hit; and
- this is a great way to enjoy my Vegan Mexican Cheese Sauce!
- Potatoes
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Bean Filling
- 1 tin kidney beans (400g), rinsed and drained
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried onion flakes or ½ tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp dried chilli flakes or chilli powder
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Garnish
- 2 tbsp Vegan Mexican Cheese Sauce
- 4 spring onions
- Handful of fresh coriander
- 1 lime
- Heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6.
- Slice each potato in half lengthways and score the flesh of each half a few times. Oil the base of a roasting tin and place the potatoes, flesh side down, into the tin.
- Cook on the top shelf of the oven for 20-40 minutes (depending on the size of your potatoes), turning half way through.
- At the same time, combine the kidney beans with the other filling ingredients and bake these in the oven for 15 minutes, stirring once.
- While these are cooking, roughly chop the spring onions and the coriander leaves.
- To serve, pile the bean filling onto the potatoes, sprinkle on the spring onions and coriander, drizzle with cheese sauce and serve with fresh lime wedges.
Those look wonderful. I know we would enjoy them at our house. We’d have to share a half, though. Sweet potatoes tend to be too sweet for us in large doses. We do love them with black beans and black bean chili, too. Now I’m off to check out your vegan cheese sauce.
Thank you Kathryn! I always enjoy your comments and feedback 🙂 Yes, you’re right – sweet potatoes can be too much of a good thing! You could try this with ordinary baked potatoes too, although you’d probably need more cheers sauce (like that’s a bad thing!) Hope you enjoy!
I’m a vegetarian Mexican-America in London, and just came across your blog yesterday. Great stuff! I will be making these for my (and my vegan husband’s) dinner tonight, along with the cheese sauce. They look fantastic!
Hi Anne! That’s so exciting to hear – I really hope you enjoy the recipe. And I’m so pleased that you like the blog! Can’t wait to hear what you think 🙂