Meet our favorite meal: the baked sweet potato. Alex and I have been eating this meal since the very beginning of our marriage, when we decided we wanted to start cooking more vegetables. At the time, I had myself convinced that I didn’t like sweet potatoes, mainly due to bad connotations with marshmallow goo on holidays. But I gave them another chance with these Mexican sweet potatoes, and our sweet potato obsession was born. These Mexican sweet potatoes are the perfect blend of sweet and savory. The spicy black bean salsa is the perfect complement to the light sweetness of the potato, and topped with creamy cilantro sauce, it’s a little bit of heaven. And 100% whole food plant based (WFPB), too!
How to make Mexican sweet potatoes
This recipe uses our Quick Baked Sweet Potato method, which makes them intensely flavorful. And we’ve used one of our favorite tricks to cut down the cooking time: cut the sweet potatoes in half before roasting! Rub a tiny amount of olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt onto the potatoes before popping into the oven. Depending on the size of the potato, it cuts down the roasting to about 25 to 35 minutes, instead of 45 minutes to 60 minutes. Of course, you can top these Mexican sweet potatoes with any toppings you’d like! But the toppings we’ve chosen here all work together splendidly:
Black bean salsa: chop up some tomatoes, add jalapeno, red onion, and cilantro, and you’ve got a delicious savory spicy salsa that’s fresh in contrast to the roasty potatoes. Creamy Cilantro Sauce for dolloping, which is 100% plant based (see more on the sauce below). Of course if you prefer, you could use good old sour cream and cheese for topping.CornHot sauceCilantro leaves
Top with creamy cilantro sauce!
To top off these Mexican sweet potatoes is Creamy Cilantro Sauce! Using the cilantro sauce makes the entire dish vegan and plant-based, which is helpful for feeding a crowd of various diets. The sauce is made creamy using soaked cashews. The cashews are soaked for 1 hour before blending the sauce, so if you’re able to make it in advance it’s also helpful. As you’ll see in the recipe, you can add water to taste to make it as thick or as drizzle-able as you’d like. The flavor is super tangy and savory, and a perfect contrast for the earthy potatoes!
Alternate sauces
If you’d prefer a quicker sauce, try our Creamy Cilantro Dressing! It uses Greek yogurt and a little mayonnaise. Or, try some of our other Mexican-style sauces:
Creamy Cilantro Dressing favoriteCilantro Lime CremaVegan Nacho CheeseCashew Cream Vegan Sour CreamSpicy Chipotle Sauce (tahini-based) Easy Mexican Crema
Make sure to eat the potato skins!
A quick word about the humble sweet potato: you can eat the whole thing! Most people throw out the skin of the sweet potato, but that’s actually one of the healthiest parts of the meal! Sweet potato skins are packed with fiber, beta carotene, and vitamins C and E, just to name a few of the many reasons you should eat the skin.
These Mexican sweet potatoes work for many occasions: as a healthy family dinner recipe, or as a party appetizer. They’d be especially great for game day! Let us know if you try them out in the comments below.
Looking for more easy weeknight dinners?
Outside of these Mexican sweet potatoes, here are some of our favorite easy weeknight dinners:
This Mexican sweet potatoes recipe is…
Vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free. 5 from 4 reviews
