Spiced sweet potatoes, crunchy veggies, homemade cheese sauce, these Spicy Sweet Potato Nachos have it all! Load them up, grab your favorite beverage and call it a night!
BUT…my favorite new nacho recipe is THIS ONE! Spicy Sweet Potato Nachos.
I’m pretty sure that I love every single form of nachos. You know the kind you made when you got home from school as a kid? AKA throw some white tortilla chips on a paper plate, add some cheddar cheese and nuke it until the cheese melted?
Or what about the kind you get at a sports event? You know, the pre-packaged chips and then you get to fill up the tray with cheese sauce that came out in big globs from a large canister? Yup, I even love those.
As I have grown older, spoiler alert: I still love nachos – I love these Spicy Shredded Beef Nachos or Loaded Baked Chicken Nachos….but, if you’re in the mood for some extra good vegetable nachos – these Spicy Sweet Potato Nachos are for you!
Why You’ll Love these Nachos:
Okay, so first off, hear me out. There are no tortilla chips in this recipe. I know, shocking right?! Instead, I used one of the world’s most versatile and underrated ingredients – the sweet potato!
I sliced them up into thick slices that are able to withhold lots of toppings and wowza, y’all. They’re SO SO good.
I love how the natural sweetness of the potato helps balance out the smoky chipotle spice blend used.
You can eat them with a fork or hi if you’re like me and Ben just bring the sheet pan out into the living room and eat it with your hands alongside your favorite beer. THE BEST.
And you wanna know what else is the best?! THE TOPPINGS.
You can seriously go with whatever you might have in the fridge but y’all, I have the perfect toppings for these nachos.
First you have of course, delicious black beans. They add a heartiness that’s needed to the dish. You also have crunchy red onion, easy homemade salsa, diced jalapeno for extra spiciness, cilantro for freshness and HI HOMEMADE NACHO CHEESE SAUCE.
Yup, homemade queso. It’s so creamy and is the perfect textural addition to this dish. I literally could eat it with a spoon just by itself and I’m sure you could too but be sure to save just a little bit for the actual nachos. It’s for sure the MVP ingredient. And it’s so simple to make!
Actually, the entire dish is easy to make! So let’s get into it!
Ingredients You Need:
- Sweet potatoes
- Avocado oil
- Spices like: chili powder, cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, salt, pepper etc.
- Toppings: fresh jalapenos, salsa red onions, black beans, cilantro etc
- All purpose flour
- Mexican blend cheese
- Milk
- Butter
Best Nacho Making Tips:
First, begin by preheating the oven.
Next, you’re going to cut the sweet potatoes. You’re going to want to cut them down the middle LONG WAYS ways. After that, you cut them into chunks that look like semi-circles. Basically, make them look like a sort-of substitute for tortilla chips.
You’re gonna want these guys short, wide and a little chunky (aka don’t cut them too thin!) Next, add them to a bowl and add your oil and spices. Mix them with your hands until they are evenly coated. Don’t forget to wash your hands after or you’ll get cayenne pepper in your contacts! Ha. Oh, painful memories.
Here’s a photo for reference of what these babes should look like spread out evenly upon a baking sheet:
YES PLEASE!
Next step: place those beautiful golden orange semi-circles into the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
As you’re waiting around in your kitchen for the next 15 minutes, inevitably browsing Instagram….I encourage you to go ahead and get your nacho toppings prepped! I chopped up a couple of jalapeños, 1/4 of a large red onion, and opened a can of organic black beans!
Once the 15 minutes are up, remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and flip them! I used tongs because it’s really important to flip EACH sweet potato individually. I’m usually all about just using a spatula and flipping them that way – but by using the tongs, it ensures each one is actually flipped. This makes sure they won’t be burnt.
After you flip them, place them back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so. – time for the homemade queso!
You basically melt butter in a sauce pan. Add in the all purpose flour and whisk to make a roux. Let it cook for 1 minute or so and then begin adding in the milk slowly whisking it in, making sure there are no lumps of flour.
Keep whisking for several minutes until it begins to thicken. Once it starts to thicken, add in the cheese and stir in with a wooden spoon. It should look something like this:
Add a little bit of cayenne in there for a spice!
And the result is absolutely delicious! It’s creamy, with a little bit of zing that will keep you coming back for more.
Look at that puddle of cheese on that top right potato. Like, can I live in that puddle please? Kthx.
Garnishes:
The best way I found to top these nachos would be to layer them! Sweet potatoes on the bottom, black beans next, then the delicious cheese sauce, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro and finally some salsa if your heart desires!
These nachos have it all! Spice, creaminess, crunch, protein, veggies. Make them tonight! Promise you won’t regret it. XO – Haylie
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others you might like:
Breakfast Tacos with Homemade Salsa
Loaded Southwestern Sweet Potato Fries
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
Spicy Sweet Potato Nachos
A new take on nachos! Spicy sweet potatoes, creamy cheese sauce and crunchy veggies! These nachos have it all.
Ingredients
For the Nachos
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 tsp pepper
For the Cheese Sauce
- 4 tbsp butter
- 4 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 cup milk (more if needed!)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 dash cayenne (optional)
- 1 cup mexican blend cheese
For the Nacho Toppings
- 1 can organic black beans
- 1/4 red onion
- 2 whole jalapenos
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1/3 cup medium red salsa (optional)
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400. Cut sweet potatoes in half long ways and then cut them so you get a semi circle shape. (Refer to photo above for more definition)
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Place sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Add in the oil and spices. Mix them around with your hands until they're evenly coated. Place them side by side, careful not to place them on top of one another, on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
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While you're waiting on your sweet potatoes to bake, chop your onion, jalapeno and open your can of beans.
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Once the 15 minutes is up, flip the sweet potatoes. Make sure to flip each one! Place them back in the oven for an additional 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them though!
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Begin making your cheese sauce! Place butter in a small pan over medium heat. Once melted, stir in the flour and continue stirring until there are no lumps!
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Next, add the milk gradually. Make sure you are continually stirring this mixture to get out the flour lumps. Once there are no lumps, turn down to simmer and let it thicken, continually whisking!
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Once it's thick, remove it from the heat. Add in your cheese and stir together with a wooden spoon. You may need to add a splash of more milk if you need you prefer your sauce thinner.
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Once the final 15 minutes are up on the sweet potatoes, turn off the oven and take them out. Evenly distribute your can of beans on top and place them back in the oven for 5 minutes.
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Once you remove them from the oven, begin nacho assembly! Top with cheese sauce, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro and salsa.
Recipe Notes
This recipe makes enough for large servings for 2 people with some leftovers 🙂
I have always wanted to make a cheese sauce. Thanks for the recipe
I imagine you cut the potatoes really thinly, is that right? Do I bake them until they are crisp?
Hey Mary! So, I didn’t actually cut them super thinly. If they are cut too thin, they will burn. Mine were more like wedges. Personally, I preferred them that way PLUS it was able to help hold up the nacho toppings better 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
sweet potatoes have also become the love of my life, and these nachos sounds truly incredible, so much better than those white corn chips with cheese sauce!!! seriously though, this is an incredible recipe
Thank you for commenting, Albert! Sweet potatoes are the love of my life too! 🙂 These are especially delicious! Hope you try them.
I’m with you – I don’t flinch at any kind of nachos (any Mexican food really), but these are somethin’ special. Love the combination of the sweet potatoes with the spicy sauce. Yum!
Thank you for commenting, Melissa! I’m the exact same way – I can never say no to Mexican food! Hope you enjoy these if you try them 🙂
I made these last night and they are amazing! My husband and I have been trying to eat less meat for sustainability purposes…and these are going to become a staple for us! Thank you!!
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear that, Elizabeth! 🙂