Chickpea Spinach Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
on Oct 08, 2018, Updated Feb 29, 2024
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With chickpeas and sautéed spinach, these stuffed sweet potatoes are a filling and tasty vegan recipe. Taking advantage of the heat of the oven, the roasted chickpeas turn out crispy and the potatoes are light and fluffy. Once they are assembled, all you have to do is drizzle them with tahini and sprinkle them with red pepper flakes.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
There’s so much to get excited about with roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas. They roast in the oven and then come together to make a dish that delivers on flavor and texture with fluffy, soft potato and crispy chickpeas.
This recipe eats like healthy comfort food. I am always a fan of roasted potatoes no matter the variety. Sweet potatoes are great source of nutrition including fiber. They are also gluten free.
You can serve this recipe as a vegan main dish or side dish for lunch or dinner. I like turning baked potatoes into a meal, but they need to be more than just a baked potato with butter. Because they have chickpeas and spinach, these stuffed sweet potatoes tick all the boxes to qualify as a meal.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Sweet potatoes: Look for 4 medium sweet potatoes that are all about the same diameter at their widest point. We all know that potatoes, especially sweet potatoes, come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. They will bake in the same amount of time if they are closer in size to each other.
- Chickpeas: The recipe calls for one 15-ounce can of chickpeas. Drain the can into a colander and rinse them with cold water. Then pat them with a towel to remove excess moisture. Pull off any loose skins.
- Baby spinach sautés very quickly in a skillet on the stove. You can substitute with chopped kale leaves. They will take a few minutes longer to cook because kale is more substantial than delicate spinach.
- Tahini: Once the stuffed sweet potatoes are assembled, I drizzle on tahini. There are so many things you can do with this sesame seed paste, and it makes a wonderful sauce straight out of the jar. It’s vegan and adds something creamy and rich.
- Garlic: I mince a garlic clove and sauté that with the spinach to add flavor.
- Spices: Before they roast, I toss the chickpeas with cumin, black pepper and kosher salt. I also stir salt and pepper into the sautéed spinach.
- Olive oil: Since this is a recipe with simple with a limited ingredient list, use a high quality extra virgin olive oil for the best taste.
Optional Additions
I think these baked sweet potatoes are fantastic as the recipe is written, but the following are suggestions for extras:
- Diced avocado
- Shredded roasted or rotisserie chicken (for the non-vegans/vegetarians)
- Chopped fresh herbs such as cilantro, parsley or chives
- Cheese: crumbled feta or shredded mozzarella (You can put the assembled potatoes back in the oven to melt it.)
- Greek yogurt or sour cream: just a dollop or two
How To Make Chickpea Spinach Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
1. Bake the sweet potatoes. First prick them all over with a fork. This allows steam to release as they bake. You can put all the potatoes on the same sheet pan. Give them 45-55 minutes to become tender in the middle. Let the potatoes cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing them in half.
2. Prep the chickpeas. Toss the them with cumin, salt, pepper and oil in a medium bowl. Then spread them in a single layer across a baking sheet.
3. Roast the chickpeas. They will take 30-35 minutes to brown and crisp up. Gently shake the pan to move them around about halfway through roasting.
4. Sauté the spinach. You should do this in a skillet on the stove over medium heat. The spinach wilts in a couple minutes. Don’t forget to stir in the minced garlic, salt and pepper.
5. Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise. Use a fork to fluff their insides
6. Assemble the stuffed sweet potatoes. Spoon on the spinach and chickpeas. Drizzle with tahini and sprinkle with red pepper flakes and flaky sea salt.
Serving
As mentioned, you can make this recipe for a main dish or a side. Of course, it depends on how hungry you are and if you want to have something else to go with it. Try this arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette, kale quinoa salad or brussels sprout caesar salad for greens.
Leftovers & Storage
You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days. It’s best to think ahead and only assemble the potatoes you are planning to eat at a single meal. You can reheat both the sweet potatoes and the chickpeas in a 350-degree F oven. I prefer the oven over the microwave because the chickpeas reheat better this way and get back some of their crispness.
For the spinach, my recommendation is to sauté a fresh batch of greens. Or let your cooked spinach leftovers sit out at room temperature, so they aren’t as cold and then put them together with the reheated potatoes and chickpeas. Then their warmth will rub off onto the spinach.
If you are storing unassembled leftovers, keep the potatoes, chickpeas and spinach in separate containers.
Recipe Tips
Try to choose sweet potatoes that are about the same size. Specifically, you want them to have a similar diameter at their largest point. When I’m at the grocery or the farmers market, I always see gigantic sweet potatoes. You want ones that are small to medium.
You can sauté more spinach than the recipe calls for. If you’re a big fan of greens, go for it. I am always amazed at how much spinach shrinks when you sauté it.
The seasonings on the chickpeas and spinach are important. They are responsible for seasoning the inside of the baked potato. Essentially they will meld together as you dig in and eat the potatoes.
You can overlap the steps of this recipe. Give the potatoes a head start before the chickpeas since they take longer. Then you can wait to sauté the spinach since that takes just a couple minutes.
Recipe FAQs
Take a paring knife push it into the potato. It should easily slip in with no resistance at all. That’s the sign that the inside flesh is tender.
Yes. It is completely edible and many of the nutrients are actually in the skin.
There is no risk of the sweet potatoes sticking, but if you line the pan with foil, it will make for easier cleanup because they may ooze a little from the tiny holes where you pricked them with a fork. I prefer keeping the pan for the chickpeas unlined, so they make direct contact with the pan and brown more and crisp up.
More Sweet Potato Recipes
Sweet Potato Skins with Black Beans
Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Roasted Sweet Potato Black Bean Quesadillas
Baked Sweet Potato Fritters
Kale Sweet Potato Salad
More Chickpea Recipes
Chickpea Spinach Pasta
Easy Chickpea Soup
Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas with Herby Tahini
Chickpea Greek Salad
Chickpea Harissa Vegetable Soup
Slow Cooker Moroccan Chickpea Stew
Baked Chickpea Tacos
This recipe is part of my guide to easy chickpea recipes for every meal, including soups, salads, mains and side dishes.
Chickpea Spinach Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes
- 1-15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed, any loose skins removed
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup baby spinach,
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- Flaky sea salt for serving
- Crushed red pepper flakes for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Place them on a sheet pan and roast for 45-55 minutes until they are just tender. You should be able to easily piece them with a knife.
- Let the sweet potatoes cool for 5-10 minutes before halving them lengthwise and fluffing their flesh with a fork.
- Give the sweet potatoes a slight head start baking in the oven. Then prep the chickpeas. In a small bowl, toss the chickpeas with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
- Spread the chickpeas in a single layer across a sheet pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes until they are crisp and browned, gently shaking the pan about halfway through roasting.
- Toward the end of the roasting time for the chickpeas, warm 1 teaspoon olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Sauté the spinach until the leaves start to wilt, about 2 minutes. Add the minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and continue cooking until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Spoon the chickpeas and spinach into the sweet potato halves. Drizzle with tahini and sprinkle with flaky sea salt and red pepper flakes before serving.
Notes
-
- Diced avocado
-
- Shredded roasted or rotisserie chicken (for the non-vegans/vegetarians)
-
- Chopped fresh herbs such as cilantro, parsley or chives
-
- Cheese: crumbled feta or shredded mozzarella (You can put the assembled potatoes back in the oven for a couple minutes to melt it.)
-
- Greek yogurt or sour cream: just a dollop or two
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love this recipe! I am trying to eat healthier and exploring going vegan, and this recipe is so satisfying. I rarely make things twice as I get bored and want to move on, but I will be making this again and again.
That’s great you’re going to have this recipe on repeat!
How much garlic are you supposed to use? I see it in the instructions but not the ingredient list.
Thanks for catching that! It’s 1 garlic clove, minced. I just updated the ingredient list.
I love this recipe I am going to make it today.
Thank you
the temperature did not work for my sweet potatoes, they were still quite hard in the middle after 55 mins (I left them in longer just in case) I’m trying to cook them down more but its frustrating
Sorry to hear that! I know when I buy potatoes at the grocery they vary a lot in size and thickness, which can effect cooking time. You should bake them until you can easily pierce them with a knife.
Followed recipe exactly and was delicious and filling. Will happily make again.
Love trying your recipes
Delicious! But would like to know the nutritional facts and calories on the recipe.
Thank you its good
How long in advance can I prepare this recipe?
You can roast the sweet potatoes in advance and rewarm them in the microwave. I don’t recommend roasting the chickpeas ahead of time because they will not stay crispy.
This will definitely be one that I will remake again. Love all of the flavors. Because I like spinach and garlic I doubled the recipe. Thank you for an easy recipe that is very filling.
I made this, so good! Put on a balsamic drizzle instead of tahini sauce!