Healthy Sweet Potato Skins Recipe - Pinch of Yum
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Healthy Sweet Potato Skins

67 reviews / 4.7 average

These healthy sweet potato skins! They’re baaaaack!

These little guys were my first “viral” recipe originally published in October of 2011 – and today, April 25th, 2015, I’m bringing them back to life and dying with food happiness all over again. It’s the circle of food life.

These healthy sweet potato skins are one of my all-time blog favorites – and they’re a reader favorite, too!

They’re stuffed with a creamy sweet potato shallot filling with spinach and chickpeas to bump up the yummy health factor and then they are topped with a tiny bit of melty cheese and baked to sweet potato skin perfection.

Yeah – theeeeese are goooood.

HOW TO MAKE OUR SWEET POTATO SKINS (1 MIN):

In case you love throwbacks, this is how they looked originally:

Sweet potato skins.

Do you know that I’ve actually never done this until now? Today is the first time I’m going back to an older post and re-shooting the pictures and re-sharing it fresh on the blog.

I am doing this because a) it’s nice to update the images for a recipe with something that’s more “now”, and b) it’s also really awesome to get some of my all-time favorite and most popular posts back to the front of the blog, and c) it gives me an excuse to make an old favorite again. I mean, come on. If nothing else, there’s that.

Spinach in a pan.
Sweet potato skins on a pan.

I updated the pictures, but I decided not doing anything with my old writing from the original post — I’ll just put a line in so you know when Young Me takes over the writing. You might actually just be able to tell.

Haha / yikes.

Old stuff starts now.


Well, it happened.

I bought my first pair of jeggings.

(jeans+leggings= superstretchy skinny jeans that are questionable for people older than 19)

As a… 25 year old, I was skeptical.  But unlike my sophisticated-looking pencil skirt that I never get around to wearing, I have a feeling that these $12.99 jeggings are going to be my new BFF.  My boots fit over them like a dream, and I have an excuse to buy more long sweaters that feel like pajamas.

I even got a compliment from one of my fourth graders.

Although maybe that isn’t such a good thing.

Sweet potato skins.

But whether you think jeggings are good or evil, there is no debating that these healthy sweet potato skins are a veryveryvery good thing.

It’s like combining the best of all superfoods – sweet potatoes and spinach, obvs. – and making it into something that’s warm and cozy and filling and not a salad.  Salads are hibernating right now.

PS.  Did I mention that your future jeggings will fit perfectly after eating these toasty cheese boats?  Yes.  Sometimes it happens, and this is one of those times.  We must celebrate with a delicious dinner and a new pair of jeggings.

Sweet potato skins stuffed with mashed sweet potato, chickpeas, spinach, and Mozzarella cheese.
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Healthy sweet potato skins with melted cheese.

Healthy Sweet Potato Skins


  • Author: Pinch of Yum
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 mins
  • Yield: 2-3 1x

Description

These healthy sweet potato skins are stuffed with mashed sweet potato, chickpeas, spinach, and Mozzarella cheese. So delicious!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 medium or large sweet potatoes
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 bag fresh baby spinach
  • 1/4 cup light sour cream or Greek yogurt
  • 2 ounces light cream cheese
  • 1 cup chickpeas
  • 1/4 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Bake sweet potatoes at 350 for 45-60 minutes, or until fork tender.
  2. Cut sweet potatoes in half and let cool for 5-10 minutes. While sweet potatoes are cooling, saute the shallots with the butter over medium heat until translucent. Add fresh spinach and heat for 2-3 minutes, until spinach has cooked down. Set aside.
  3. Scrape the sweet potato out of the peel, leaving a thin layer inside with the skin so that it can stand up on its own. Mash the sweet potato with the cream cheese and sour cream. Stir in chickpeas, spinach, and plenty of salt and pepper.
  4. Coat potato skins with a drizzle of oil and bake for about 5 minutes to get a crispier outside. Remove from oven and fill each skin with the sweet potato mixture and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake again for 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and filling is heated through.

Notes

I’ve also topped these with bacon!

For less stringy, more melty cheese, try Gouda!

  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 60 mins
  • Category: Dinner
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: sweet potato skins, sweet potato recipe, healthy sweet potato skins

Healthy Sweet Potato Skins - a vegetarian recipe featuring sweet potatoes, spinach, and chickpeas! a MUST TRY for sweet potato lovers. | pinchofyum.com

 

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258 Comments

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      I don’t know how you could not love sweet potatoes! I’m addicted! 🙂 Maybe you’ll change your mind after you try these!

  1. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I bought some jeggings the other week. Although I felt a bit of shame, you’re so right. They are just perfect with boots and long sweaters. Even worse though, my mom bought a pair too…

    Potato skins are one of my favourite treats and I love the idea of being able to healthy them up (and therefore eat them more often!)

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      It makes me happy to know that you are a fellow jeggings wearer 🙂 And your mom! Too cute!

  2. Pinch of Yum Logo

    We need a photo of the jeggings? Maybe you will start a new trend 🙂 Otherwise, I look forward to making these. Anything new I can do with a sweet poatato is A-OK by me! Thanks for sharing this great recipe!

  3. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I adore potato skins! I’ve never made them with sweet potatoes though, that’s a great idea. Scallions would be great with the cheese too!

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      I actually added some as an afterthought, so they didn’t make it into the picture! They were tasty.

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      I thought you were going to say you were on the same page with the jeggings. Darn. 😉

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      Me, too! And my jeggings are WAY more comfy than my skinny jeans. You should give them a try!

      1. Pinch of Yum Logo

        Do you cook the chick peas beforehand? I have a can of chick peas waiting to be used… do I just open, rinse, and use, or do I need to do something with them beforehand?

  4. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Wow, Lindsay! Perfect fall dinner. 🙂

    Definitely a compliment from your fourth grader…they know what’s in for sure! 🙂 And I bet you’re so darn cute in your first pair of jeggings…now I need to get a pair!

  5. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I’m an immediate convert to anything with the words sweet potato and healthy. I love the addition of chickpeas! (ps- I’m 30 and adore jeggings!)

          1. Pinch of Yum Logo

            I didn’t love these. I think it was the chickpeas. Just not the right mix…I’d add chicken maybe instead. Less spinach for sure and maybe Gorgonzola on the top? Jusy needed a little more flavor. I wasn’t in love but I am hopeful. 🙂 my kids (who eat everything!) gave it a thumb sideways. 🙂

          2. Pinch of Yum Logo

            Try doing it without the chickpeas. I made them with vegan cream cheese/sour cream and 1/2 bag of spinach, no shallot, no butter, no chickpeas. Added a little nutritional yeast, dried basil and chives for flavor. Topped with daiya vegan mozzarella. It was so good!

          3. Pinch of Yum Logo

            Nice! Great vegan modifications. I have yet to try nutritional yeast… maybe this will get me to do it. 🙂

  6. Pinch of Yum Logo

    i love skinny jeans but can’t do jeggings. maybe that’s because i’m a grad student and see all these freshmen wearing them….but they look cute on them! and i’m sure on you. 🙂 regardless, these sweet potato skins look great.

    p.s. sweet potato fries make an excellent dinner in my book! 🙂

  7. Pinch of Yum Logo

    These look incredible! I’m kicking myself for not buying sweet potatoes this week. I know I will love these. The chickpeas and spinach sound especially delicious, but topped with cheese? Perfection 😀 Plus they look so pretty… I don’t know what it is about your first picture, but it’s sooo nice to look at(I had to go back to it a couple times, haha). I think it’s the colors 🙂

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      Aw, thanks. I love it when food is easy to photograph, and this was one of those times!

  8. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I basically love anything that makes me feel like I’m wearing socially acceptable pajamas–leggings with jersey dresses might be the best combo ever! These look really great! I love sweet potatoes and am always looking for new ways to eat them.

  9. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Good for you and your jeggings. Wear them and enjoy them while you can. You are at the perfect age for anything fashion wise! Those potatoes look fantastic. Thanks for sharing. Come visit and check out our three way lasagna.

  10. Pinch of Yum Logo

    These look delicious! I will definitely have to try them! Also, random question, but what nutrition analyzer do you use?

    Thanks!

  11. Pinch of Yum Logo

    This sounds great! But you simply must try some Himalayan pink salt. I get mine from Sustainable Sourcing https://www.himalasalt.com/. The flavor is so much better than regular salt! Thanks for sharing this recipe—I can’t wait to try it!

  12. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Totally making these and SOON, great idea and healthy! Thanks for the inspiration!
    Where did you get your jeggings?…I’m usually not a skinny jeans type of girl but I’d love to test the waters…esp if they are super comfy! I’m all about the comfort 🙂

  13. Pinch of Yum Logo

    These look delicious! I do have a question, though. How can you call something with 20g of fat (10g of which is saturated) healthy? Especially if you top with bacon after the fact? These just seem like more of an indulgent food to me… just wondering! Thanks. Great photos, by the way!

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      True, they’re not necessarily light. 🙂 But with spinach and chickpeas and sweet potatoes… they seem a lot healthier than regular potato skins to me!

  14. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I love that you included the nutritional info with the carb count! My husband is Diabetic (type 1) therefore he needs to know the carb count of foods he eats so he knows how much insulin to take. A lot of recipes I find online don’t have the carb count posted so sometimes I pass on those recipes unless they are low carb.