Loaded Chili Cheese Sweet Potatoes
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 mins
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Ingredients
Scale
For the sweet potatoes:
- 4 – 6 medium white sweet potatoes
- Avocado oil
- Sea salt, to taste
For the nightshade free chili (see notes on batch size):
- 1 tbsp / 15 ml avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups / 210 g diced yellow onion (about 1 medium)
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 lb / 225 g carrots, grated coarsely
- 1/4 lb / 110 g beets, grated coarsely OR 4 oz / 110 g drained, canned sliced beets (see notes)
- 1/4 lb / 110 g mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tsp / 5 g fine sea salt, divided
- 1/2 cup / 120 ml red wine
- 2 cups / 480 ml beef broth
- 1 lbs / 454 g lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup / 120 g butternut squash puree
- 2 tbsp / 30 ml red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp / 30 ml lemon juice
- 2 tbsp / 4 g dried oregano
- 2 tsp / 1 g dried cilantro leaves (don’t confuse with coriander, which isn’t AIP!)
- 1 1/2 tsp / 4 g roasted carob powder
- 1 tsp / 3 g ground ginger
- 1 tsp / 4 g granulated garlic
For the cheese sauce:
- 1/2 cup / 120 g white sweet potato (from the baked sweet potatoes)
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml coconut milk (see notes to make coconut free)
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml chicken broth
- 2 tbsp / 8 g nutritional yeast (this brand is non fortified)
- 1 tbsp / 15 ml avocado oil or other neutral oil
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp granulated garlic
To garnish:
- Thinly sliced radishes, sliced green onions, sliced avocado, chopped cilantro
Instructions
- BAKE: Preheat the oven to 425 F / 220 C. Line a baking tray with foil, if you like. Piece each sweet potato with a knife a few times on each side, then drizzle with a little oil. Use your hands to make sure each sweet potato is evenly coated in oil on the skin, then season with salt to taste. Bake the sweet potatoes until they are tender, about 45 minutes, depending on the thickness of your sweet potatoes. Set the cooked sweet potatoes aside on a trivet to cool a little.
- SOFTEN: While the sweet potatoes are baking, make the chili. Pour the oil into a dutch oven on the stove top over low-medium heat. Add the diced onion & garlic, cooking until the onion is translucent but not browned, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Add the grated carrots, grated beets (if using), sliced mushrooms, 1/2 tsp of the fine sea salt, the wine and broth, making sure the vegetables are completely covered with liquid. Bring the liquid to a gentle simmer, and cover the dutch oven with the lid, while leaving some space for steam to escape. Cook until the carrots are softened, about 15 minutes.
- BROWN: While the vegetables are simmering, brown the ground beef. Season the meat with the remaining 1/2 tsp of fine sea salt and, working in batches as needed in a large skillet, cook the meat through until the fat has rendered and the meat is just beginning to brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the browned meat to a bowl lined with a few layers of paper towel to drain. Reserve for later.
- BLEND: Once the carrots are softened, remove the dutch oven from the heat and transfer it to a trivet. Add the canned beets (if you didn’t use fresh beets earlier), butternut squash puree, red wine vinegar and lemon juice to the dutch oven. Use an immersion blender to blend until everything is combined into a sauce. This will take a good 3 – 4 minutes, so be patient and keep blending until it’s really smooth!
- SIMMER: Return the dutch oven to the stove top over low heat. Add the browned drained beef, dried oregano, cilantro, carob, ground ginger and garlic powder. Stir through and bring the chili to a very gentle simmer, not enough for the sauce to spit or splatter. Simmer the chili until the meat breaks down and combines with the sauce and the liquid reduces and thickens, about 20 minutes. If you like, you can add a little extra broth to thin the chili to your preference. Cover and keep the chili warm.
- BLEND: Cut each of the sweet potatoes in half and scoop out a little of each until you have a 1/2 cup / 120 g of baked sweet potato in total. Add the baked sweet potato to a high sided container or wide mouthed mason jar, along with the coconut milk, broth, nutritional yeast, oil, salt and garlic. Use an immersion blender and blend until you have a thick, smooth and pourable cheese sauce.
- ASSEMBLE: Divide the sweet potatoes between plates or bowls. Fill each split sweet potato with the nightshade free chili. Drizzle each chili stuffed sweet potato with the cheese sauce and then finish each with the sliced radishes, green onions, avocado and chopped cilantro.
Notes
I’ve given you the recipe here for enough AIP chili to top these taters. But I usually make a larger batch of my Nightshade Free Chili at the weekend, using half for another meal or two during the week and then use the leftovers to make these Loaded Chili Cheese Sweet Potatoes. That way, you don’t have to cook up everything all at once AND you can enjoy these on a weeknight!
If you’re using fresh grated beets, add them to the pot at the same time as the carrots so that they cook and soften before blending. If you’re using the pre-cooked canned sliced beets, you can add them later, along with the butternut squash puree, as they don’t need to soften any further.
For a coconut free version of the cheese sauce, omit the coconut milk and add an extra 1 tbsp / 15 ml of oil and an extra 2 tbsp / 30 ml of broth.
Find it online: https://meatified.com/loaded-chili-cheese-sweet-potatoes/