Healthier Smothered Sweet Potato Fries are a healthier, homemade version of a restaurant's loaded french fry nachos.
To kick the week off I want to share an awesome recipe + kitchen trick with you: Healthier Smothered Sweet Potato Fries + How to Make Ground Beef Go Farther!
First let’s address the Healthier Smothered Sweet Potato Fries.
These loaded french fry nachos are a riff on a dish from one of my favorite local restaurants — waffle-cut fries smothered with cheese, bacon, tomatoes, and green onions. Delicious, they are — but healthy, they are not!
That’s why I decided to make a “healthier” version using sweet potato fries which are topped with a modest amount of cheddar cheese, homemade guacamole, chopped tomatoes and green onions, plus seasoned, healthier “ground beef”.
The way that I not only make ground beef go farther while also making it healthier AND slashing the fat, is to cut the ground beef with finely chopped mushrooms!
This is one of my most favorite kitchen swaps to date. You cannot taste the mushrooms at all, there is NO funky taste nor texture to the final mixture, and while ground beef sells for $7.99/lb at the grocery store, mushrooms are usually $2-3/lb.
I’ve been making tacos, spaghetti sauce, and taco salads with this mix for the past 2-3 weeks and honestly, not a single person in my person has noticed. HA!
Start the Healthier Smothered Sweet Potato Fries with the sweet potato fries. You could absolutely go the homemade route but I love these Alexia Seasoned Waffle Cut Sweet Potato Fries.
Bake however many servings you’d like on a foil-lined baking sheet according to package directions.
While the fries are baking, get the mushrooms and ground beef cooking.
First process 1/2lb (8oz) mushrooms. White button, baby bella, or otherwise — it’s up to you!
Scrub the mushrooms clean, trim off any unruly stems, then place the mushrooms in a food processor and pulse until they’re the texture of cooked ground beef. Alternatively you can finely chop them by hand.
Now add the processed mushrooms to 1/2lb lean ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season with salt and pepper then cook until the ground beef is no longer pink.
Mushrooms have a high water content so don’t be alarmed if you have a lot of liquid in the skillet at the end. Just drain the whole thing as you normally would then return the mixture to the skillet.
I mean look – can YOU spot the difference?!
While the beef’s cooking combine the taco seasoning — I use my homemade taco seasoning mix which seasons 1lb of “meat”.
Add the seasoning into the mushroom and beef mixture along with 1/4 cup water then stir to combine and turn the heat down to low to keep warm.
Seriously – looks and taste wise – no difference!
Spoon the beef and mushroom mixture on top of the baked fries then add cheddar cheese and broil until melted. Serve topped with chopped tomatoes and green onion, and lots of homemade guacamole. That’s just ripe avocado mashed with garlic salt and lime juice.
Dig in and devour!
If you’ve got a picky eater, or someone who doesn’t like the taste or texture of mushrooms, this is a great way to sneak some veggies in.
Plus, as I mentioned, it’s a great way to make ground beef go farther and save a buck or 2 (or 3 or 4!)
Stick to using this ground beef swap in dishes that call for cooked ground beef, vs burgers or meatloaf since the mushrooms release a lot of moisture that will need to be drained off. Other than that, I hope you enjoy these fries and kitchen swap as much as we do!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1-1/4 lb frozen sweet potato fries, Alexia brand recommended
- 1/2 lb lean ground beef
- 8 oz mushrooms, processed or finely chopped
- salt and pepper
- 1 recipe homemade taco seasoning, see notes
- 1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Toppings: tomatoes, green onions, guacamole, black olives
Directions
- Prepare sweet potato fries on a foil-lined baking sheet according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat then add beef and chopped mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper then saute until ground beef is cooked through. Drain well then return to the skillet. Add taco seasoning and water then stir to combine. Turn heat to low and keep warm.
- When fries are done baking, turn the oven to broil then top fries with beef and mushroom mixture. Top with cheddar cheese then broil until melted. Top with desired toppings then serve.
Notes
- Feel free to use a store-bought taco seasoning packet instead of making your own taco seasoning.
- For Lazy Girls' Guacamole: mash ripe avocado with garlic salt and a drizzle of fresh lime juice. Smash with a fork until smooth.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
An even cheaper sub is lentils. I also add carrots, onion, and celery and make the ground beef stretch twice as far.
Okay. If you hate mushrooms too, I’ll give this a try. I’ve heard that mushrooms could be a good, healthier substitute for meat, but I hate mushrooms so I’ve never tried. But chopping them small and mixing them with ground beef. Genius.
And I always get sad about the price of ground beef too. Too expensive for what it is!
Seriously this post made my day.
I mean you just made ground beef cheaper and healthier.
I think you’re a wizard.
We are big mushroom eaters at our house, so this would be a fantastic swap! Thanks for the suggestion.
I recently read about giving ground been an oomph with ground/grated carrots too. If you don’t cook them long enough, you get a crunch, but I tried it and it works! So many great ways to sneak in extra veggies and save!
You pay $7.99/pound for ground beef? Wow! It’s around $3 to $4 at my local Fareway store. The Fareway meat counter is the best!
Not sure why I’m still thinking about this, but budget-wise, don’t mushrooms cost more per pound than ground beef? Maybe grated carrots or beans would be a lower-cost substitution. Not that I have don’t love mushroom, because I do. My hubby and I add them to everything!
Sorry about typos. I meant to say we love mushrooms in everything. My thoughts are faster than my typing ability :)
This is so great. I have to tell you I’ve recently gone vegan , but I love your blog so much I’m still following and finding swaps on my own. Super excited to see this swap in the recipe. I could go full mushrooms and swap or skip the cheese. In fact, I’m going to try out the mushroom swap tonight in an Italian dish and spice it up with fennel seed for a faux Italian sausage.
I <3 mushrooms and do this all the time for my lasagna and enchiladas. You can also freeze a block of tofu and then defrost it and squeeze out the water. Then crumble it like ground beef and use it alone or mix with ground beef to make it go farther too! It absorbs flavor just like a sponge.
This is epic.
yum! I never thought about using the food processor to do this. I always bulk up my ground beef with chopped mushrooms, diced onions and shredded carrots. I’ll certainly be trying this out soon!
Great idea for the beef/mushroom mixture. I have been doing this for years in my turkey burgers as it adds some nice moisture to otherwise dry ground turkey. . But, I hadn’t thought of if as a ground beef extender. I’m trying it.
I don’t like mushrooms for the same reason, but really like the flavor they impart in sauces and other recipes. I will have to try this and see how it goes over. I also use a lot of ground turkey (or a mix of beef/turkey) as some others have mentioned. I am not too sure of the health savings on that, but it makes us feel a little healthier :)
IGE=smarty.pants!
I’m totally trying the mushroom thing and the sweet potatoes look amazing!
Love it love it! Genius I tell ya :)
Do you have an Aldi near you? $1.69 for 1 lb ground turkey.
I plan to try this with veggie “crumbles”. I, too, hate the texture of mushrooms (but strangely like the flavor so have used the puree in the past. Looks like a hit!