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Keeping things comforting, but healthy with my Healthy Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Skins. Kind of like cheesy nachos, but instead of chips, we’re substituting crisp sweet potatoes skins…so better! Made simply with sweet potatoes, chicken, chipotle chilies, spices, a touch of lime, spinach, and a generous amount of sharp cheddar cheese. Each homemade, oven-baked, sweet potato skin is delicious…and pretty healthy too. Think crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. Stuffed with sweet and spicy chicken that’s full of protein and perfectly balanced. Each sweet potato skin makes for the perfect weeknight dinner that easily doubles as lunch the next day.
What I love so much about fall food is that it’s comforting, cozy, warming, and typically on the heartier side. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a good salad (though I do prefer warm, roasted salads over cold salads). But I think it’s obvious that I really shine when it comes to cozy, comfort food. In fact, I want one of my upcoming cookbook titles to be Half Baked Harvest Cozy. What do you think…cookbook #3…before cookbook #2 even rolls out? Yeah, I have issues.
Point is, I love cozy recipes. I even love the word cozy. And I really just love fall food.
BUT, sometimes fall recipes can get to be a bit on the heavy side. I prefer to lighten them up a little and get back to a more balanced, healthy dinner. To me, that still includes cheese, but also includes plenty of vegetables, lean chicken, and flavorful spices to keep us warm and our metabolism running quickly.
Enter in my go-to, healthy yet comforting, fall dinner – Healthy Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Skins
These are SO GOOD.
I’ve been making a version of these for years and years, but this year I added a few things. Things like crunchy chickpeas (because I’m obsessed with them), a touch of onion, and I also kicked up the spices.
I could not love these skins more. And? They are so simple and easy to make. They do take some time, because baking sweet potatoes just takes patience. But all the prep and hands-on time is under 20 minutes. Easy.
To make these sweet potato skins
Start with the sweet potatoes themselves. I like to bake the sweet potato whole, directly on the oven grates. Cooking the potatoes this way allows them to soften in the center, but also keeps the skins from getting soggy.
While the skins are baking, also bake the chicken and the chickpeas together in the same baking dish. As the chicken cooks, the chickpeas crisp. I do want to note two things here…
First, if you don’t like chickpeas, you can very easily omit these from the recipe entirely. Most of my family really dislikes any kind of bean, so I never even add the chickpeas when they’re around.
Second, if you are vegetarian, you can leave out the chicken and use double the amount of chickpeas. The cooking times will be the same. Also? Black beans would be equally delicious, but they will not crisp like chickpeas.
Now, and this is key, the chicken is where all the flavor is at. It’s seasoned with chipotle chiles, garlic, and spices like oregano, cumin, and chili powder. I also threw in some lime zest for a little citrus zing.
It’s that sweet and spicy combo that I love so much.
During the last few minutes of cooking, toss some baby spinach in with the chicken. I love the added greens and the spinach pairs well with the flavors happening in these sweet potato skins.
Next, scoop some of the sweet potato flesh out of the skin. Bake another 10 minutes until the skins become crisp, and then stuff the chicken into the sweet potatoes. Then add as little or as much sharp cheddar cheese as you’d like and bake. About 10 or so minutes later your kitchen will smell heavenly and your skins will be ready for eating. The smell of sweet potatoes baking is truly the most comforting smell and so very “fall”.
These are best enjoyed warm. Preferably with cilantro and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt. Super simple, but so delicious. Between the sweet potatoes and the cheese, this is one of the coziest fall dinners. And it just so happens to be healthy, score!
Kind of like cheesy nachos, but instead of chips, we’re substituting crisp sweet potatoes skins…so better!
These skins are great any night of the week. But they feel especially great for Thursday, Sunday…or Monday night football.
And the biggest bonus…the leftovers. They make for such a delicious lunch the following day.
Love a two for one recipe!
If you make these healthy chipotle chicken sweet potatoes skins be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Healthy Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Skins
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 709 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 can (14 ounce) chickpeas, drained (optional)
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2-3 chipotle chilies in adobo, chopped (more or less, to your taste)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- zest of 1 lime
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Bake directly on the rack until tender, 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool.2. At the same time, cook the chicken. Place the chicken, and chickpeas – if using, in a baking dish. Add the olive oil, garlic, chipotle chiles, chili powder, onion powder, oregano, cumin, lime zest, and a pinch each of salt and pepper, gently toss to coat. Transfer to the oven and bake 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, scatter the spinach over the chicken and cook 5 minutes, until wilted.3. Shred the chicken using 2 forks, then toss with the chickpeas, spinach and any oil left in the baking dish. 4. Scrape the sweet potato flesh out of the peel, leaving 1/2 inch thick layer of sweet potatoes. Brush the skins with a little olive oil and bake for 5 minutes, until crisping. Remove skins from the oven and stuff with the chicken. Top with shredded cheese. Return to the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Serve with fresh cilantro and greek yogurt, if desired.
This post was originally published on September 19, 2019
This recipe is the BOMB. top 10 favorites ever. I recommend using canned chipotle peppers. They come in this amazing sauce that really brings the recipe together. GOOD FREAKING JOB!!!
Haha! Yes! Thank so much, Beth! I actually always use the canned chipotle chiles and the adobo sauce too!! So good!
Nevermind..found the recipe on another blog which is easier to find the recipes. Nobody’s got time to search for hours for 1 recipe! 🙁
Hi Diane, I am not sure what you are talking about. I am seeing the recipe just fine? Are you saying you cannot see it within the post?
Hello! I’ve been clicking around your site for 20 minutes and I can’t figure out where the written recipe is for these sweet potatoes! I’ve clicked on every picture and link and can’t find it! Please help!
These. Are. Amazing. Its a bit involved – baking the potatoes, baking the chicken, shredding the chicken, shredded the cheese, cooking the spinach, etc etc – but it was so worth it! They were DIVINE.
Also – I only used two chicken breast but they were pretty large and I ended up with so much extra chicken mixture at the end. So I just combined it with the filling I carved out of the sweet potatoes, threw it into a pie plate, and topped with more cheese and baked for a few minutes. Its delicious and I am bringing it to lunch tomorrow!
PS, I like it spicy so I added more chipotle peppers – if you do this, add a little honey, it really compliments the spicy.
YUM! I love extra spice and totally agree with the honey. Sounds awesome!
So happy you loved these!! Thanks for giving them a try!
I have very high hopes for these for a family dinner, given the rave reviews! Does anyone have suggestions as to what to serve with it? Something other than a standard salad, as my kids still refuse to eat lettuce…
Hi Erin!
Everyone in my family loves a side of rice, but I actually just served these as a main with no sides. It worked great, but rice, bread or roasted veffies would be another yummy option! Hope you guys love these!
I never comment on recipes. But this one I had to. These. Are. Amazing!! So healthy, filling, comforting, easy, just perfect. The flavors are spot on. They blend together so well. I’m struggling to find words that will tell people how good these are–please just make them!!
One more comment…..my husband took one bite and said “I had the worst day at work today. Thank you for making this….it’s making my night a whole lot better!”. Then as soon as he finished he went to his computer and added these to his spreadsheet of dinners that he likes (yes, he’s an engineer and keeps things very organized LOL). He even gives recipes a rating and he gave these a 10. FYI…a 10 means that he loves them so much that he will eat them every day.
Holy moly!! This is awesome!! I love this! Thanks so much, Kim!! I am so glad both of you guys love these!
Oh yeah!! Thanks so much for the nice comment Kim!! I am so happy you love them! Thanks Again!
1. I never post on people’s recipes.
2. My husband is a pretty good cook, but VERY picky.
3. Said picky husband did NOT want to like this!
Now, for the main idea, WOW, the WHOLE family loved this!!! The one year old and the adults got seconds (and thirds)! The bird-like three-year-old ate her portion and agreed that sweet potatoes were AWESOME. My husband said, “This is the most flavorful thing you’ve ever cooked!” People looking at the comments should realize, THERE IS A REASON THERE ARE NO BAD REVIEWS. This is tasty, and it’s going to go into our regular rotation — or at least into our entertaining foods rotation! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
YA!!! So happy I got your picky eaters to eat and your picky husband to love this!!
So happy you guys loved these!
This healthy recipe looks like a winner! Great for any occasion and so easy to make. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!
Thank you, Elena!
Are u sure these are healthy? I just literally made these and healthy has never tasted this good! I am utterly surprised and will def try it again…ps I improvised a bit I used kale for the filling and served over a bed of spinach!!! Superb!
Yup, I am sure!! So happy you love them and I love kale! That sounds awesome!
These look delicious and will be making them this week!! Are you using dried chipotle peppers??
Can’t wait to taste them-Thanks!
Thank you, Ashley! I used chipotle peppers in adobo.
Hope you love these!
Just made these and they are so delicious. Turned the left over sweet potato into a puree with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Thanks for the recipe!
YES!! I am so happy to hear this Lizzy! Thank you for letting me know and that puree sound incredible! YUM!
Thanks for sharing this sweet potato recipe on my FB page ~ it looks great!
Hmm?? I do not think I did share this on your FB page, but I am glad you like it! LOL
Suns shinning bright here in Frisco, hope you are having the same weather in Telluride!
I just loved these! They were so delicious and healthy. I used chipotle powder in place of the peppers because that’s what I had on hand. I used about 1/2 tsp. Thanks for the great recipe!
I am so glad you love these! What a smart swap using the chipotle powder! Thanks so much for giving these a try and letting me no you loved them!
I made these tonight for dinner and they were amazing! Great recipe.
I don’t normally take the time to post comments, but these were so good I had to! 🙂
Well thank you!! I loving hearing from readers and I am so glad you loved these!!
I can’t even explain in words how delicious I thought this was. I totally overstuffed myself because I simply could not stop eating these! They were HOT, but adding some plain greek yogurt and guacamole helped cool things down. The added flavor of the sweet potato was out of this world. YUM!
YES! i am so happy you loved these. Thank you so much for letting me know! I need to make these again!