BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Ben and I had a stuffed sweet potato-off earlier this week. Yeeeppers. If you would have told me a decade ago that I’d be THIS EXCITED to see which flavor combination would claim victory between a BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potato and the loser (I’ll spare you the details as the combination didn’t work on any planet,) I would have looked at you like you had four heads. But, well, here we are.

Someone should make a show about 30 somethings because, OH WAIT NO THEY SHOULDN’T. Unless shopping on Amazon Prime, trying new face creams, convincing your toddler that learning to write the alphabet is super fun, and making competing baked potatoes sounds like it has mass appeal. Bravo, call me mmkay?

Anyway, it’s true! I am so pumped about the BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes I’m sharing with you today which slayed the competition! I’m not sure what happened but all of the sudden last week stuffed sweet potatoes just needed to be in my life. Like couldn’t get them out of my mind. Around the same time I saw a commercial for cheesy quesadillas from Taco Bell which reminded me of the BBQ Chicken Quesadillas I used to make Ben round the clock when we first got married. Sweet potatoes + BBQ Chicken Quesadillas = BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, made with just 4 main ingredients. Trust me when I say you need these in your life!

Sweet potatoes are roasted until tender on the inside and roasty-toasty on the outside, then cracked open, stuffed with shredded BBQ chicken and smoked cheddar cheese, then sprinkled with the toppings of your choice. I went with diced red onion, tangy pickled peppers, and freshly chopped cilantro. The combination of sweet potato and BBQ sauce, smoky cheese, spicy onion, sour peppers, and savory cilantro is a match made in Heaven and made every single one of my taste buds happy.

I’m filing BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes under the “easy dinner” category because they’re truly simple and, like I said, made with just 4 main ingredients. Toss scrubbed sweet potatoes into the oven to bake when you get home from work or wherever then let them roast for an hour. 20 minutes before they’re done, saute a couple chicken breasts then shred and mix with BBQ sauce. Stuff the sweet potatoes with the chicken then add cheese, broil, and sprinkle with toppings. Presto = stuffed sweet potatoes!

This recipe hits the spot for dinner but it is the PERFECT leftover lunch too. Just combine everything in a dish then reheat for a couple minutes in the microwave before eating. Tastes just as good as fresh, plus it’s hearty yet healthy and a great meal to power you through the afternoon. Still need convincing? Think of BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes are a healthier version of your favorite BBQ Chicken Pizza. Right?! Get after it!

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Start by scrubbing then drying 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes (10-12oz each.) Pierce the potatoes a few times with a fork then place on a cooling rack set atop a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes, depending on how big your potatoes are, or until a knife can be easily inserted into the centers.

Normally it’s recommended you place potatoes directly on an oven rack to bake, but oven racks can be a hot spot for gluten cross contamination. For example, before I got sick we used to bake regular pizzas directly on the racks, so they’re now covered in gluten. This cooling rack/baking sheet setup not only mimics the oven rack baking method but keeps everything gluten-free, too.

When the potatoes have 20 minutes left to bake, get the BBQ chicken going. Season 2 chicken breasts with homemade GF seasoned salt (or regular salt,) and pepper then saute until cooked through. Once the chicken breasts are cool enough to handle, shred with two forks then mix with enough of your favorite BBQ sauce to generously coat. This can be done a day ahead of time, if you like!

Once the potatoes are soft, slice them open lengthwise then use tongs to press both ends together and open the potatoes up. Stuff each potato with 1/4 of the shredded BBQ chicken and 1oz freshly shredded smoked cheddar cheese. I love this Red Apple Cheese brand, which you can find at pretty much every grocery store right in the regular cheese aisle. The smokiness really cuts through the sweetness of the potato and BBQ sauce and is pretty much the best thing ever. LOVE me some smoked cheese!!

Pop the potatoes under the broiler for a couple minutes, just until the cheese melts.

Last step is to top the potatoes with all your favorite fixins’ – I chose lots of diced red onion, chopped cilantro, and about 10x the amount of pickled peppers you see here. Like I said, the combination of sweet, spicy, tangy, and fresh is out.of.this.world.GOOD!! Hope you love these stuffed sweet potatoes as much as we did – enjoy!