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Keeping things comforting, but healthy with my Healthy Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Skins. Kind of like cheesy nachos, but instead of chips, we’re substituting crisp sweet potatoes skins…so better! Made simply with sweet potatoes, chicken, chipotle chilies, spices, a touch of lime, spinach, and a generous amount of sharp cheddar cheese. Each homemade, oven-baked, sweet potato skin is delicious…and pretty healthy too. Think crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. Stuffed with sweet and spicy chicken that’s full of protein and perfectly balanced. Each sweet potato skin makes for the perfect weeknight dinner that easily doubles as lunch the next day.
What I love so much about fall food is that it’s comforting, cozy, warming, and typically on the heartier side. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a good salad (though I do prefer warm, roasted salads over cold salads). But I think it’s obvious that I really shine when it comes to cozy, comfort food. In fact, I want one of my upcoming cookbook titles to be Half Baked Harvest Cozy. What do you think…cookbook #3…before cookbook #2 even rolls out? Yeah, I have issues.
Point is, I love cozy recipes. I even love the word cozy. And I really just love fall food.
BUT, sometimes fall recipes can get to be a bit on the heavy side. I prefer to lighten them up a little and get back to a more balanced, healthy dinner. To me, that still includes cheese, but also includes plenty of vegetables, lean chicken, and flavorful spices to keep us warm and our metabolism running quickly.
Enter in my go-to, healthy yet comforting, fall dinner – Healthy Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Skins
These are SO GOOD.
I’ve been making a version of these for years and years, but this year I added a few things. Things like crunchy chickpeas (because I’m obsessed with them), a touch of onion, and I also kicked up the spices.
I could not love these skins more. And? They are so simple and easy to make. They do take some time, because baking sweet potatoes just takes patience. But all the prep and hands-on time is under 20 minutes. Easy.
To make these sweet potato skins
Start with the sweet potatoes themselves. I like to bake the sweet potato whole, directly on the oven grates. Cooking the potatoes this way allows them to soften in the center, but also keeps the skins from getting soggy.
While the skins are baking, also bake the chicken and the chickpeas together in the same baking dish. As the chicken cooks, the chickpeas crisp. I do want to note two things here…
First, if you don’t like chickpeas, you can very easily omit these from the recipe entirely. Most of my family really dislikes any kind of bean, so I never even add the chickpeas when they’re around.
Second, if you are vegetarian, you can leave out the chicken and use double the amount of chickpeas. The cooking times will be the same. Also? Black beans would be equally delicious, but they will not crisp like chickpeas.
Now, and this is key, the chicken is where all the flavor is at. It’s seasoned with chipotle chiles, garlic, and spices like oregano, cumin, and chili powder. I also threw in some lime zest for a little citrus zing.
It’s that sweet and spicy combo that I love so much.
During the last few minutes of cooking, toss some baby spinach in with the chicken. I love the added greens and the spinach pairs well with the flavors happening in these sweet potato skins.
Next, scoop some of the sweet potato flesh out of the skin. Bake another 10 minutes until the skins become crisp, and then stuff the chicken into the sweet potatoes. Then add as little or as much sharp cheddar cheese as you’d like and bake. About 10 or so minutes later your kitchen will smell heavenly and your skins will be ready for eating. The smell of sweet potatoes baking is truly the most comforting smell and so very “fall”.
These are best enjoyed warm. Preferably with cilantro and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt. Super simple, but so delicious. Between the sweet potatoes and the cheese, this is one of the coziest fall dinners. And it just so happens to be healthy, score!
Kind of like cheesy nachos, but instead of chips, we’re substituting crisp sweet potatoes skins…so better!
These skins are great any night of the week. But they feel especially great for Thursday, Sunday…or Monday night football.
And the biggest bonus…the leftovers. They make for such a delicious lunch the following day.
Love a two for one recipe!
If you make these healthy chipotle chicken sweet potatoes skins be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Healthy Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Skins
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 709 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 can (14 ounce) chickpeas, drained (optional)
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2-3 chipotle chilies in adobo, chopped (more or less, to your taste)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- zest of 1 lime
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Bake directly on the rack until tender, 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool.2. At the same time, cook the chicken. Place the chicken, and chickpeas - if using, in a baking dish. Add the olive oil, garlic, chipotle chiles, chili powder, onion powder, oregano, cumin, lime zest, and a pinch each of salt and pepper, gently toss to coat. Transfer to the oven and bake 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, scatter the spinach over the chicken and cook 5 minutes, until wilted.3. Shred the chicken using 2 forks, then toss with the chickpeas, spinach and any oil left in the baking dish. 4. Scrape the sweet potato flesh out of the peel, leaving 1/2 inch thick layer of sweet potatoes. Brush the skins with a little olive oil and bake for 5 minutes, until crisping. Remove skins from the oven and stuff with the chicken. Top with shredded cheese. Return to the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Serve with fresh cilantro and greek yogurt, if desired.
These really intrigued me. I wasn’t sure how the flavors would work, but oh my this was amazing!!! Everything complimented each other so well. Husband was surprised how much he liked these. We have some leftover filling, so I’ll probably make some quesadillas for lunch this weekend. Perfect Fall meal!
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! xTieghan
My husband and I loved this recipe and I’m not even a sweet potato fan! Thanks for sharing!
Hey there,
Awesome!! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! xTieghan
These are great and my husband is obsessed. Any tips on what we can make with the sweet potato that was scooped out?
Hey Jen,
Happy Friday!! I so appreciate you giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! Here’s a recipe for the sweet potato:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/sweet-potato-parmesan-tater-tots/
I hope you love it! xTieghan
Yes! That’s a perfect idea. Can’t wait to try them!
My grocery store didn’t have sweet potatoes so I substituted frozen sweet potato fries and it was amazing – a healthy poutine! The fries cook 25 minutes just like the chicken so it was all finished in about the same time and then we topped the fries with the chopped up chicken and melted the cheese! Heavenly!
Hey Paula,
Thanks a bunch for trying out this recipe, I am delighted to hear that it was enjoyed! Have the best day:) xTieghan
This was SO good! Perfect on a very autumnal summer’s evening (we seem to have gone straight from July to November).
Hey Angela,
Wonderful! Thanks so much for making this dish, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed!! xTieghan
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made this for a 4th of July bbq and they were a huge hit! I crisped up the skins in my air fryer after scooping out the flesh and added a little chorizo to the chicken. I wasn’t sure I would like the spinach and chickpeas, but they went so well with the flavors and made it extra special. This is a new favorite!
Hey Amy,
Wonderful! I am so glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
Hi! When you put the calories in the recipe, have you included everything? Like with the sweet potato and everything?
Hey Nicole,
Yes, that is correct:) I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Am I to return the flesh back into the skins with the chicken? I missed that part.
Hey Cheryl,
I do not add the flesh back, but you totally can! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I love this recipe! It comes out so delicious! I’m a new mom and always trying to prep ahead of time, so I’m wondering how I could do this in the slow cooker? I wonder if I just put everything for the chicken/chickpea combo in the slow cooker and then baked the sweet potato if that would work out?
Hey Keely,
Thanks for making the recipe, I am so delighted that it was enjoyed! Sure, I think the slow cooker would work well here. Have a great week:) xTieghan
Made this tonight and really loved it! Especially loved the chickpeas! It’s hearty and nutritious without skimping on flavor (or cheese!). I will say that I didn’t manage to get my potatoes crispy (or my chickpeas for that matter) despite turning the oven up to broil and leaving them in a bit longer – though I didn’t think to put oil on the outside of the skins which may have helped. I will definitely make this again, but may simplify a bit by just chopping the sweet potatoes and roasting them in chunks and making a “bowl” of sorts – I did love the presentation as-is but am a bit lazy and think the flavors would still be just as good 🙂
Hey Nicole,
I am thrilled that you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
Did you change this recipe recently? I was looking for what I thought was your version but it’s definitely different from this one!
Hey Julia,
Yes, this recipe has been updated. Please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Favorite recipes” board on Pinterest. Then I kind forgot about it. I made it a few times, and my family loved it! They reminded me the other day about it, so I bought the ingredients and prepared to make it again…only to find the recipe has changed. Do you have a link to the original recipe? It was a big favorite! We’re not really into the chick peas idea for this particular thing, as we were already in love with it as it was
Hey Sana,
So sorry I do not have the original recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
We have made these many times and wondering if you think a crock pot would work to cook the chicken with the seasonings? Then shred the chicken and bake with the chickpeas for a few minutes to get the crisp?
Hey Hope,
Sure that would work! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This looks amazing! Could the chicken portion be cooked in an instant pot? And if so, how long? Thank you!
Hi Kerri,
I would do 8 minutes on high pressure. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This looks amazing! Could the chicken part of the recipe be cooked in an instant pot? And if so, how long? Thank you!
Hey Kerri,
Sure I would do 8 minutes on high pressure. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan