Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Walnuts and Pomegranate
These Baked Stuffed Sweet Potatoes are piled high with toasted walnuts, fresh herbs, and crunchy pomegranate seeds. A drizzle of easy to make tahini sauce takes them over the top. They're a healthy side dish or main course vegan and paleo recipe.
Friends! I've made us a little sweet and delicious something to share today.
What I've done is combine two of my favorite things into one stuffed sweet potato recipe:
1. Baked sweet potatoes. Are you as crazy about them as I am? I love their natural sweetness and versatility. Seriously, there are not many things that can be both spiralized into pasta and baked into a pie.
We eat a lot of sweet potatoes around here. My quick count turned up 25 sweet potato recipes on the blog!
2. Herb and walnut salad. I have no idea why this isn't a stand-alone recipe on the blog. I love the combination of fragrant mint and parsley mingling with nutty toasted walnuts. I've thrown a few handfuls of pomegranate seeds in there, too. They always feel festive this time of year, and I love the little crunch they add.
Even though these stuffed sweet potatoes would dazzle a holiday table, there's no reason to save them just for the Christmas season. We'll be eating them all winter and into the spring. As long I can find pomegranates in the grocery store, these babies are mine.
When I served these at dinner the other night, my handsome man made the best comment. He said they were like little presents that you had to unwrap. I couldn't agree more. Before digging in, you peel back the ‘wrapping paper' to find the sweet and delicious gift inside.
These stuffed sweet potatoes are the perfect recipe to share with friends. Invite over your besties and let them unwrap the pretty ‘presents' on their plates.
I have a confession to make. Are you ready? I haven't always loved sweet potatoes. Gasp!
Growing up, the only way sweet potatoes were served was in a casserole. It was that super sweet casserole that everyone has at Thanksgiving and Christmas. The one loaded with brown sugar and sometimes even marshmallows. Even as a kid, I found it so sickly sweet that I couldn't eat it.
No one ever mentioned that there were other ways to eat sweet potatoes. My first non-casserole experience was having them as fries. I LOVED them that way, and still do.
Then a Thai food restaurant sold me on sweet potatoes in red curry. I was starting to learn that there was a whole world of delicious ways to cook with sweet potatoes out there.
It's a good thing. Sweet potatoes are both convenient and healthy. On an ‘I don't want to cook night' I'll throw a couple of sweet potatoes and some chicken into the oven and call that dinner. Even though it's as simple and easy as it gets, I feel good knowing it's healthy.
On more adventurous nights, I'll pull out my spiralizer and turn sweet potatoes into spaghetti-like noodles. Or I'll slice them thin and bake them into nacho chips. And other times I'll mash them like potatoes. They're amazingly versatile so I never tire of them.
Back to these stuffed sweet potatoes
There's something about these flavors and textures that work so well together. Mint loves a little sweetness, and the creamy sweet potatoes give that naturally. Both the walnuts and pomegranate add a little crunch, but each in its own way.
The tahini lemon sauce brings it all together. This simple sauce is as delicious as it gets. It's creamy without having to use any dairy and bursting with flavor.
I recommend drizzling enough on top to make the stuffed sweet potatoes look pretty, then serving the rest on the side. You're definitely going to want to smother these, but they don't look as nice when they're drowning in sauce.
Learn more about how to bake sweet potatoes!
Favorite sweet potato recipes
- Herb and Garlic Smashed Sweet Potatoes
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Miso Tahini Butter
- Autumn Quinoa Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Pecans
- Sweet Potato Noodles with Sriracha Cilantro Cashew ‘Cream' Sauce
- Loaded Sweet Potato Nachos
- Southwest Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Walnuts, Mint, and Pomegranate
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 4 small sweet potatoes, about 2 lbs.
- ¾ cup chopped toasted walnuts
- ½ cup each: chopped mint and parsley
- Seeds from 1 pomegranate
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Tahini Lemon Sauce
- ¼ cup tahini
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- Sea salt, to taste
- 3 + tablespoons water
Instructions
- Turn your oven to 400 degrees. Prick the sweet potatoes 5-6 times each with a fork then set them on the baking sheet. Place them into your oven (no need for your oven to preheat first) and bake them for 45-60 minutes, or until they are soft. Remove them from the oven and set them aside to cool slightly.4 small sweet potatoes
- While the sweet potatoes are baking, prepare the topping. Place the walnuts, mint, parsley, and pomegranate in a medium-sized bowl, drizzle with the olive oil and toss to combine.¾ cup chopped toasted walnuts, ½ cup each: chopped mint and parsley, Seeds from 1 pomegranate, 1 teaspoon olive oil
- Whisk the Tahini Lemon Sauce ingredients in a small bowl adding enough water so it is the consistency of honey.¼ cup tahini, Juice from 1 lemon, 1 clove garlic, Sea salt, 3 + tablespoons water
- When the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut through the skin in a T shape. Gently mash the insides then pile the walnuts and herbs on top and drizzle with some Tahini Lemon Sauce.
I dont understand what you do with the garlic
I can see why that was confusing. I’ve updated the recipe so I think it is a lot easier to ready now!