Do you like carbs? Hell yes you do. If you don’t, you’re either 1.) a liar, or 2.) a liar. Carbs make meals more delicious. The only problem is the spike the sh*t out of our insulin and give us saddle bags. Oh, you don’t know what saddle bags are? I hate you.
Moving on though. Sweet potatoes are definitely my splurge when it comes to carbohydrates, other than when I go all out for a cheat meal and stuff my face with mac and cheese covered with breadcrumbs…but that’s besides the point. Sweet potatoes are freaking delicious and I try to stick them in my diet randomly, especially for a post wod meal. Cutting out everything in a diet, including higher glycemic foods, is just unrealistic. Telling yourself you can’t have something, ever, will ruin your diet. So splurge a little here and there. Live a little.
Want to know how I’m living it up this weekend? Of course you do. I’m having a girls night out on Friday. This night will include alcoholic beverages and dancing like an idiot. It may also include falling. Why? Because I plan on being a girl and wearing heels. Is that scary? Hell yes it is. First of all, I don’t really know how to be a girl anymore so wearing heels makes me feel like an awkward teenager again. And second, because I rolled my ankle during the Tough Mudder and have a kankle. It’s incredibly sexy, if you’re into that sort of thing, weirdo.
Loaded Turkey Stuffed-Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2 large sweet potatoes (I used the yellow kind)*
- 1/4 cup Red Hot hot sauce (or another kind you like)
- 1 tablespoon fat (I used duck fat)
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Cut your sweet potatoes in half, lengthwise and put them face down on a cookie sheet. Put in the oven to cook for about 25-30 minutes depending how thick they are. You will know when they are done if they are easy to push on, on the skin side. If you pull them out early and the inside doesn’t come out easily with a spoon, you’ll need to cook them a bit longer.
- While your sweet potatoes cook, put out a pot or skillet over medium-high heat. Add a bit of fat to the hot pan then add your garlic and onions to start cooking down.
- Once the onions are translucent, add the ground turkey and use a large spoon to break it up to help cook it a bit quicker.
- When the turkey is half way done cooking, add the spices. Let the turkey cook until no longer pink or until completely cooked through, take off heat.
- Now pull your sweet potatoes out of the oven and use a large spoon to scoop out the insides. Be careful to not go totally to the skin or it may tear and be pointless to add meat to.
- Put the insides of the sweet potatoes directly into your pan of turkey and mix thoroughly to combine.
- Now scoop out the new mixture and put into your sweet potato skins. You can go as high as you want. Think of it as a loaded bake potato…load that sh*t on!!
- Now put those loaded sweet potatoes back on the cookie sheet, face up, back into the oven and cook for 3-5 more minutes just to meld the flavors together and harden the top a bit
- Now eat them. They are DAMN GOOD. I mean it. Like seriously. Really good.
Notes
*I don’t know if the yellow kind of sweet potatoes are called something, so I just call them yellow…or with a hick accent, yeller. Anyways, the yellow sweet potatoes are a bit starchier and mix well in this meal, but other kinds would work just fine, i’m sure.
Grocery Store Helper:
- Ground Turkey: on sale at King Soopers for $2.99/lb
- Sweet Potatoes: bought at Sunflower Market
OMG these are so good it.was my first ever Paleo meal and it was delicious!!! I loved the spiciness!!! The only question I have and being new to this site how many can you eat just one half or can you have two half’s? And does it tell you some where what the serving size is on all these recipes? Thanks so much for any help you can give. Off to find my next dinner recipe!!!
that’s up to you but 1/2 a sweet potato is a good amount of food
I just tried this recipe last night and it was AWESOME! A friend of mine recently introduced me to your blog and I have yet to prepare any dish that is less than delicious. Thanks for sharing them, Juli! 🙂
Just made this for lunch OMG it is so freaking good! I put a bit of chopped kale in the mix for color and wow super-tasty! I intended to eat only 1/2 a sweet potato at a time, but ended up eating both halves because it was so yummy.
Definitely on the “keep” list no doubt…thanks Juli for sharing it! 🙂
I’ve made this recipe about 6 times since discovering it. SO. FREAKING.GOOD!!! I lightened up on the chili pepper and hot sauce and added 1 T yellow raisons per potato. The spicy sweet savory combo is out of this world!
As a recent convert to Paleo…Thank you for awesome recipes and playful banter to read while I search for meals to make the hubby and my toddler. I don’t keep my toddler strict paleo just because I don’t think that it is a good idea to limit children on what they eat but let’s be real. Her meals are all paleo and her snacks have extras. Anyway, I need to get back on track. This is so super yummy that it will be in our favorites rotation! Thank you
This. Is. Amazeballs. It’s our go-to recipe at least once every few weeks! We honestly get too excited (read: lazy) and sometimes don’t twice bake and just cut the skins up and eat them as “chips” with the meat/potato mix. My parents have re-named this the “turkey goulash” and love it – which is really saying something. BEST EVER. Thank you!
The yellow sweet potatoes are officially called “white” sweet potatoes, and there are a few kinds.
The recipe looks delicious!!
AWESOME! My husband actually declared it a keeper! I also added some bacon and I do a little dairy here and there so I added some blue cheese crumbles to the mix! Can’t wait to make them again!
Made these last night, and WOW!! Really, really good. Super spicy, and I even forgot to add the hot sauce. Next time I won’t forget to add it and may cut down just a bit on the red pepper. Served mine with cauliflower rice, and had the leftovers for lunch today. Yum, yum, yum!!
I have just discovered your site and can’t wait to try more of your recipes…planning on having the pizza spaghetti pie this weekend.
Cheers!!
love that you tried such an old school recipe! hope you love many more!!
This was really good! I gave up trying to put it back into the potato skin and just ate it out of a bowl. Too lazy and hungry, ha! Easy to make so this is perfect