BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes – Easy Weeknight Meal
Sweet and savory, this barbecue chicken stuffed inside a baked sweet potato is a delicious combination. Chicken stuffed sweet potatoes are the perfect meal to prep in advance so you have an easy meal ready when you need it!
Almost every Monday, we cook a whole chicken (or 2). Enough for a meal that day, with plenty left over chicken for using for meals throughout the week. We throw it in soups, add it to casseroles, or use it in easy meals like these chicken stuffed sweet potatoes. And the sweet potatoes can also be prepped in advance, making this a very easy meal to throw together and serve in under 30 minutes.
The sweet and savory combination of this recipe knocks it out of the park to make it a meal that our family keeps requesting over and over again. And since we grow and store sweet potatoes in abundance on our homestead, we always have them around to make this recipe.
Ingredients in Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes – I prefer larger sweet potatoes to give you enough area to work with.
Shredded Chicken – A great way to use the extra meat from a whole or rotisserie chicken, or you can shred the meat from chicken breasts or thighs.
Maple Syrup – You could also omit this and just enjoy the natural sweetness from the sweet potato flesh, but a little maple syrup does help the overall flavor.
Cinnamon – We like to buy this (and all our spices) in bulk from Azure Standard and fill our smaller spice jars.
Garlic Powder
Chili Power
Sea Salt – Redmond real salt is our go-to for this. We also like to buy it in bulk 25 lb bags.
BBQ Sauce – Make your own, or we like to find barbeque sauce with quality ingredients and avoid sauces with tons of sugar and corn syrup.
Shredded Cheese (optional) – We like to use a shredded cheddar or mozzarella on these stuffed sweet potatoes.
How to Make BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Begin by baking your sweet potatoes if you haven’t done this already. To do this, wash sweet potatoes and poke holes with a fork. Bake at 400°F (200° C) for around 45 – 60 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes.
After the potatoes are baked and cooled to handle, cut them in half.
Using a spoon, scoop out the inside flesh of the sweet potato. Don’t worry about scraping all the way to the edge of the skin, you want the skin to stay intact for stuffing. Just get out what you can from the middle of the sweet potato.
Place the sweet potato flesh in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the maple syrup and spices (cinnamon, garlic powder, chili powder, and sea salt). Mash together using a fork until mixture is smooth.
Then add in the diced or shredded chicken and barbecue sauce and mix together.
Spoon the BBQ chicken sweet potato mixture back into the reserved sweet potato skins.
Bake at 400°F (200° C) for 10-15 minutes. While sweet potatoes are cooking, shred cheese if you are using it.
Sprinkle cheese over sweet potatoes and return to oven for another 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.
We like to serve with additional barbecue sauce.
How to Prep Stuffed Sweet Potatoes in Advance
The sweet potatoes can be baked in advance. I like to just leave them whole and then when I’m ready to make them, scoop the inside and make the stuffing.
This recipe also warms up beautifully. Store any leftovers in an airtight container and warm for 10-15 minutes in the oven.
To freeze, prepare the baked sweet potatoes and stuff them. Then flash freeze the individual stuffed sweet potatoes on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. After individually frozen, store in freezer bags. Use within 4 months.
To warm directly from frozen, cook in a 350°F (177° C) oven for 25-30 minutes until warmed through.
BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes Recipe
Yield: 4-8 servings
Ingredients:
– 4 large sweet potatoes
– 2-3 cups chicken, shredded
– 2 tbsp maple syrup
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– ½ tsp garlic powder
– 1 tsp chili powder
– 1 tsp sea salt
– ½ cup bbq sauce
– ½ cup shredded cheese (optional)
Directions:
1. Bake sweet potatoes by poking several holes in them with a fork, then cook at 400°F (200° C) for 45 – 60 minutes, depending on size of sweet potatoes.
2. Once sweet potatoes are cooked and cooled, cut in half.
3. Scoop sweet potato flesh out with a spoon (don’t worry about getting too close to the edges by the skin as you will need the skin to stay intact for stuffing).
4. Place flesh from the sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl and add maple syrup and spices (cinnamon, garlic powder, chili powder, and sea salt).
5. Using a fork, mash together until smooth.
6. Add chicken and bbq sauce to the sweet potato mixture and mix together.
7. Spoon the chicken/sweet potato filling back into the reserved sweet potato skins.
8. Bake at 400°F (200° C) for 10-15 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and sprinkle cheese over the top. Return to oven and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes.
10. Serve with additional barbecue sauce if desired. Enjoy!
For more favorite easy weeknight meals:
Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Sweet and savory, this barbecue chicken stuffed inside a baked sweet potato is a delicious combination. Chicken stuffed sweet potatoes are the perfect meal to prep in advance so you have an easy meal ready when you need it!
Ingredients
- 4 large sweet potatoes
- 2-3 cups chicken, shredded
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½ cup bbq sauce
- ½ cup shredded cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Bake sweet potatoes by poking several holes in them with a fork, then cook at 400°F (200° C) for 45 – 60 minutes, depending on size of sweet potatoes.
- Once sweet potatoes are cooked and cooled, cut in half.
- Scoop sweet potato flesh out with a spoon (don’t worry about getting too close to the edges by the skin as you will need the skin to stay intact for stuffing).
- Place flesh from the sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl and add maple syrup and spices (cinnamon, garlic powder, chili powder, and sea salt).
- Using a fork, mash together until smooth.
- Add chicken and bbq sauce to the sweet potato mixture and mix together.
- Spoon the chicken/sweet potato filling back into the reserved sweet potato skins.
- Bake at 400°F (200° C) for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle cheese over the top. Return to oven and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes.
- Serve with additional barbecue sauce if desired. Enjoy!
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