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Super Healthy & Delicious Appetizer: Sweet Potato Skins

If you need a healthy appetizer to serve instead of the usual chips and salsa, chicken wings or fried mozzarella sticks, I’ve got a recipe for you that will knock your socks off! These babies are so good I’ve already eaten them a couple of times for lunch this week. These sweet potato skins are packed with nutrients, are crispy and look beautiful served on a platter for a big party or game night. This appetizer has this sweet and salty thing going on that makes them just irresistible, they really hit the spot! Enjoy!!! 

SweetPotatoSkins_2

Food Babe's Sweet Potato Skins
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
  • 8 small sweet potatoes
  • coconut oil
  • 3 avocados, peeled and pitted
  • 1 large tomato, diced
  • ½ cup diced red onion
  • ½ jalapeño, diced
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  • sea salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup cooked black beans
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Rub each sweet potato with coconut oil and place in the oven for 35-45 minutes or until fork tender.
  3. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, in a bowl, make the guacamole. Start by mashing the avocado and then add the tomato, onion, jalapeño, lime juice, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
  4. When the sweet potatoes are done, take them out of the oven. Cut each one in half and scoop out half of the filling. Set the filling aside.
  5. Sprinkle some of the black beans and cheese on each sweet potato half and place back in the oven to melt the cheese, 3-4 minutes.
  6. When melted, take out of the oven and top with a scoop of guacamole. Enjoy!
Notes
**Please use all organic ingredients if possible** Use leftover sweet potato filling as a side dish or freeze for later.

 

If you know someone who would love a recipe like this – please share! Who knows maybe they will make you some!

Xo,

Vani 

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57 responses to “Super Healthy & Delicious Appetizer: Sweet Potato Skins

  1. Unrefined coconut oil has a low smoke point (around 350F for everything I’ve seen). Would another oil be better at 400F?

      1. I recently found avacado oil at Costco and tried it. It can be safely heated to 500 deg and is Non GMO project certified. Having used it for a few weeks I think it will be my oil of choice along with coconut oil. The

    1. Why has coconut oil all but replaced olive oil these days? Can I use olive oil in place of the coconut oil?

      1. CUZ too many olive oils are adulterated so U don’t know if U R actually getting olive oil or a blend! Tropical Traditions has the best Coconut oil!

      2. Also because olive oil becomes unstable when heated. The health benefits are lost. EVOO is best consumed when added to uncooked foods or added after the cooking process. Coconut oil is a lot more stable.

      3. As for me Coconut Oil also just tastes sooooo much better than any olive oil I’ve had. Plus Coconut Oil is so good for you.

        Of course, even the expensive (to me) olive oil might also have not been ‘real’ olive oil.

        I recently saw a chef on TV talking about olive oil & the only way to get the real thing – cost over $100. – he may have said $200 – but whatever he said I knew I wouldn’t be buying it – too expensive.

    2. Unlike other companies that use chemicals, Nutiva Refined Coconut Oil is made though a steam refining process. Absolutely no chemicals are used! Smoking point up to 400 Degrees. I’m not a spokesperson for them I just use there products. Check out their 24 hour sale on Tuesdays thru have it right now.

  2. At the risk of sounding completely ignorant–do you actually eat the sweet potato skins? I thought that they were poisonous?

    1. I have been eating sweet potato’s and the skin for forever. Never heard of the
      poisonous thing. The skin is the best part!

  3. Love food babe. Love the recipes. It would be great if you had a Pinterest button so these could easily be tagged. Thanks for considering.

      1. My Pinterest button doesn’t show up until I hover my cursor over the top left corner of the picture. Then voila! There it is…

  4. I am well aware of the nutritional benefits of sweet potatoes, and am very happy to hear that the skins are also edible. Thanks!

    1. Anyone who wants to know the scoop on all veggies and fruits should read “Eating on the Wild Side” by Jo Robinson. It’s a terribly named book that gives you the cultivation history, nutritional variations, buying, storing and eating guide by category of plant. Essential for getting the
      Oat nutritional value out of the produce you consume. And the sweet potato recipes was the hit of our Super Bowl party! Had to bake the. For 40 mins however. Highly recommend.

    1. For vegans, substitute brewer’s yeast for the cheese. It’s an excellent option, with no compromise on taste.

      1. Daiya has titanium dioxide; another gut wrecker. I know it is yummy, but not worth it.

    1. You can get a lot of nutritional info & food facts at whfoods.org: World’s Healthiest Foods. Pretty fun site. Thanks for the much needed inspiration to cook nutritious meals for my husband from scratch Food Babe.

  5. Anyone else have problems with the printed recipe coming out so light that you can not read it?

    Will print something else just to make sure it’s not the printer….

    1. It’s not your printer. What I end up doing for many recipes on websites is cutting and pasting the text into a text doc, formatting it how I like, making sure the text is 100% black, then print it.
      The text in this original is a lighter grayscale, not 100% black.

  6. Where is the crispy in this recipe? You said “They are crispy, packed with nutrients, and look beautiful served on a big platter. “. Where’s the crispy?

    1. My thoughts exactly. Can we broil a bit after cutting & scooping, or place back in a 425 oven for a few?

  7. What is the difference between coconut hair oil like Asian parachute Coconut oil and evco and plain organic coconut oil

    1. U would probably get extensive information on all if you researched online. At least that is how I find out ‘stuff’

      And how I found this absolutely wonderful website……

  8. I am a little confused by this recipe. What do you do with the sweet potato that you scooped out? Do you put it back in the sweet potato? Do you mix it with the black beans and then put it back into the sweet potato skin? Please clarify. Thanks

    1. You leave it out and use it for a side dish if you want. It says that at the bottom. Do not put back in. You could add butter to the extra you took out for yummy mashed potatoes!

    2. Look at the bottom of the recipe where it says Notes. It says to use for a side dish or freeze for later.

  9. You sure know how to get it right! Appetizer looks good and is sure good enough to eat without wondering about the benefits as you have taken care of that! One can always reduce the quantity of grated cheese if health does not permit. Great going for good health Food Babe!

  10. That IMHO is an impossibility to do accurately. The exact nutrition in say just the sweet potato in this recipe depends upon the variety grown. the weather that it was subject to when grown, the nutrients in the soil, how it was handled after harvesting, exactly and how it was cook (for starters)

    In addition even the very best “nutritional information” does does include complete info on the 60 minerals . 16 vitamins, nor the 12 amino acid content. So at best the inaccurate info is not even complete. Nor does it include what toxins are in the product.

      1. There is a great deal of research that says that is not the case. Whole foods, like actual coconut give you the true benefits of the fruit without the negative effects of the calories (which is high ounce for ounce in oils). Plus the research I’ve read has found that oils actually thins out the arterial lining to your heart.

        Removing oil from my diet was the best thing I ever did. Food tastes so much better now and all my blood work has been perfection.

  11. Personally, I’ve never thought the idea of pairing savory or spicy with a sweet potato would go together but I’m willing to try it.

    I will be avoiding the oil, I do not consume oils and the skin gets crispy enough for me in the oven and the cheese. Hoping I don’t regret my previous “rule” for combining things with sweet potatoes.

    Thanks for the recipe.

    1. Jessica:
      What research? You are full of crap. And this is my favorite line: “thins out arterial lining to your heart”. Where did you read that! ? That is complete bs. You should not spread lies over Food Babe’s website.

      The oils that are bad for you are vegetable oils as (i.e. canola, corn, etc).

      Your body, all of your cells, and your brain need healthy fats. Coconut oil is medium-chain triglycerides which is very beneficial to our bodies. See Dr. Mercola’s site. Here is a quote:

      “An important and beneficial saturated fat is coconut oil, which has scientifically demonstrated health benefits, including healthy support for your heart and brain, skin, immune system, and thyroid”

      Also, the latest research has shown that sugar, not fat nor salt, causes high blood pressure. Again, I refer you to Mercola.com.

  12. This recipe looks so good! Sweet potato is so good for us. I’m always looking for new ways to prepare it. I started juicing sweet potatoes a while back and I’ve found some delicious juicing recipes to my astonishment. It really is good juiced.

  13. Your website looks interesting. I had a heart attack about a year ago. I’ve been looking at ways to improve my health by eating better. I like some of your ideas and recipes, but I am curious what you think about plant based diets as proposed by former surgeon, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.
    I’ve given up meat and oils of any kind, but I sure do miss these choices. No more cheese or any dairy as well. As someone who has done many studies, what do you think of the following plant based diet.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8yikz5bOEQ
    Thank you,
    Mark
    Las Vegas

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