Prep Ahead Sweet Potato Nachos
Prep Ahead Sweet Potato Nachos are piled high with taco meat and are veggie loaded!
A lighter version of a pan of nachos means all that nacho goodness, and so many more nutrients and veggies! Say hello to healthy sweet potato nachos.
That is right, I messed with his nachos. Nachos are easily on my husband’s top 5 favorite foods.
I haven’t messed with his nachos, until now.
When I said we were having nachos this week for dinner, he slowly looked up from his computer and very cautiously said, “that sounds great…. But… what are you putting in them – there is NO way you put regular nachos on the meal plan this week”.
This caution may or may not have stemmed from a recent incident when he caught me putting carrots and zucchini into his beloved spaghetti sauce and then putting the recipe on my blog.
I figured if I could mess with his spaghetti sauce and not end up divorced, nachos would be no big deal.
How are these prep ahead nachos?
For my version, I like to prep all of my veggies on my meal prep day, and then on my cook day, I simply assemble them and bake!
To make this even quicker, I always have my big batch taco meat frozen in my freezer so it is just a quick reheat in the microwave for this one.
| Expert Prep Tip |
store your sliced sweet potatoes in water in your fridge to keep them firm. Dry them as best you can before you bake them!
Are these nachos crunchy like “real nachos”?
No, these are not the same as having nachos with deep fried chips. But, I promise they are delicious in their own veggie-riffic way!
You don’t want to bake these on parchment paper, they will come out soggy. I only made that mistake once.
If you bake right on the pan (or foil), they come out awesome.
But, how did you get that perfect chip shape?!
Well, you can definitely slice your sweet potatoes as thin as you can with a very sharp knife, but in my experience this leads to alot of almost emergency room incidents”
But, what I suggest is a good madnoline slicer! This way you an get them even shapes and thickness, and far less risk of emergency room visits!
Prep Ahead Sweet Potato Nachos
Equipment
Ingredients
- Sweet Potato - 1 or 2 depending on the size of your family.
- Creole seasoning or chili powder, or paprika - approx. 2 teaspoons.
- 1 Pound Ground turkey or chicken or beef
- Chopped veggies you have on hand such as green pepper jalapeno, mushrooms, red onion, jalapeño - 2 (or to preference).
- Small handful of cilantro
- Greek Yougurt or Sour Cream
- Shredded Cheese approx 2 cups.
Instructions
Prep Day Directions:
- Slice the sweet potato with a mandolin. Store the sliced sweet potatos in a sealed container with water. This will keep them crisp.
- Brown your meat of choice (ground beef, turkey or chicken) with 2-3 tablespoons of taco seasoning, and ½ cup of water. Add more liquid if you are using a really lean meat. Store in container in fridge or freezer.
- Chop veggies – use whatever you have. I have used mushrooms, jalapenos, tomatoes, shredded lettuce, every pepper known to man. Use this as an opportunity to clean out your produce drawer.
On cook day:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F
- Spray the pan with cooking spray and lay out the sweet potato. I do 2 layers max. Single layer works best, though.
- Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with creole seasoning (or paprika, or chilli powder).
- Bake for 20 minutes (may vary depending on how thick your slices are).
- Layer the taco meat on top of the sweet potatoes.
- Add your chopped veggies on top of the meat (don't add things like tomato or avocado at this point. Add those after baking to melt the cheese.
- Sprinkle cheese on top.
- Bake under a broiler until cheese is a melty delicious mess. This is usually about 5 minutes. Keep a close eye on it.
- Garnish with cilantro and jalapeño, tomato, avocado and lettuce.
Notes
Nutrition
Friday night dinner, yes!