LOADED SWEET POTATO LUNCH BOWL 

There’s a lot to love about this Loaded Sweet Potato bowl. Not only is it scrumptious, it checks all the right boxes! It’s a well-balanced, highly nutritious, time-saving, clean ingredient dish you’ll be sure to love! 

This loaded sweet potato bowl is perfect for weekly lunch prep or to have as a dinner meal. I prepped this tasty dish up for my weekly lunch prep recently and let me just tell you, it did not get old! It was inspired by my need to use up the sweet potatoes that were starting to look a little sketchy in my pantry. You know, that produce you buy without having a solid plan for it but buy it anyway?! That was these, I think I was going to make sweet potato fries out of them but we ended up not going that route for some reason. Either way, they were in need to be used up ASAP or I’d have to toss them. I try really hard not to waste food anymore…I’ve done that alot in the past and it’s just not good all around. So now if I buy something I try to use it up before it goes bad or at least freeze it to use later. I decided to go with one of my favorite dishes and use them up in this Loaded Sweet Potato Bowl 

What’s a loaded Sweet Potato Bowl? 

If you haven’t had a loaded sweet potato before, it’s simply a sweet potato that is roasted in the oven until soft and creamy in the center. Then you simply load it up with all sorts of other tasty ingredients. This is one of my staple dishes along with my Taco Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, Breakfast Loaded Sweet Potatoes and the classic BBQ Chicken Loaded Sweet  Potatoes.

If you love sweet potatoes or potatoes in general, you will absolutely love this dish! It’s like comfort food but better because of the squeaky clean and healthy ingredients! 

What makes this dish nutritious?

Like I mentioned, this meal checks all the right boxes and for me those boxes are; 

>>Clean Ingredient Meals.  Whole, real food dishes, made without fillers, additives, chemicals or anything that doesn’t provide nourishment. Since this bowl is veggies and beans it’s a clean real food box checker! 

>>Balanced Meal. Contains a combination of carbs, fats and protein ingredients to make a well rounded nutrient dense meal that will fill you up and keep you fuller longer. This meal has protein from beans, spinach and a tad from the other veggies, is made up wholesome carbs and has a great amount of fiber to help keep your energy levels and fullness up!

>>Nutrient Dense. Meals contain healthy, essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals your body needs to look and feel your best! This dish is loaded with veggies, greens and nutrient rich beans, lots of healthy goodness in one dish!

>>Time Saving. Meals that are somewhat easy to prepare and can be ready to eat in minutes. Meals that are prepped ahead to help save so much time in the long run plus keep you on track of your health goals. Since the potatoes are baked in the oven it doesn’t require a lot of hands on time so it’s very time efficient!

MAKE THIS DISH

This dish is really simple to make and put together, there is very little prep work and little dishes involved, (yes please!) This lunch bowl is a simple combination of just a few ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need; 

INGREDIENTS / KEY NUTRIENTS

  • Sweet potatoes
  • Blackbeans
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Spinach
  • Seasonings 
  • Olive oil

That’s it, just those few real food ingredients combined makes up this healthy nutritious dish. Even though this dish is vegetarian it provides a decent amount of protein. Black beans are the main protein source with 7grams per serving and the sweet potatoes and spinach add the rest. 

Not only are black beans a great source of protein,  they’re an excellent source of fiber too. 

When you’re looking to eat more nutritious meals, focusing on fiber content can help you select meals that are more nutritionally dense than others. Fiber rich meals can help with weight management because it fills you up, keeps you fuller longer and can keep your portion sizes in check. This lunch contains an excellent amount of fiber, with 6 grams coming from black beans and 4 grams from sweet potatoes plus small amounts found in the other veggies, this lunch definitely stacks up with fiber content and makes it an all around healthy option!

BUDGET FRIENDLY 

 If you’re looking for a frugal lunch option, this is it! Beans help keep this dish budget friendly as they are an inexpensive way to add protein to your meals. I try to make at least one or two vegetarian dishes a week for a couple reasons but one of them being to save on groceries.  If you’re looking to save on groceries this summer too be sure to check back for more budget friendly lunch recipes coming to the blog soon! You can subscribe to my email list to get notifications when new recipes post as well as other meal prep tips and program info.  

STEP BY STEP

Wash the sweet potatoes to get rid of any dirt and strings on them, I like to place the potatoes in the colander over the sink and let the water run on them while I clean them. 

Pierce each potato a few times on all sides with a knife or fork, I find a knife works better 

Add olive oil to a baking dish and spread over the bottom of the pan.

Then add about a half cup of water to the bottom of the pan.

Place the sweet potatoes in the dish

Then sprinkle them with sea salt, pepper and any seasonings you like. I prefer garlic powder and parsley for this dish

Cover the dish with tinfoil. 

Bake the potatoes in the oven on 400* F for about 40 minutes until soft in center

Once cooked through, allow the potatoes to cool a bit before removing skins. 

You can skip this step to remove skins but if you don’t want to deal with the peel in your lunch bowl like me, then you’ll be happy you removed it. 

Meanwhile, as the potatoes roast, add 1 cup of chopped spinach in the bottom of your microwave safe lunch container 

Once the potatoes are cooked through and peeled if desired, add about 1 cup or 1 medium sized potato to each dish

Add half a cup of black beans rinsed and drained. I use no salt added beans so I can control  the amount of sodium in my meals. 

Then top each potato with about 5 cherry tomatoes sliced in half or diced however you like. 

Sprinkle the entire dish with sea salt, pepper and parsley. 

Allow the bowl to cool completely. 

Once cooled, place the lid on the container or cover the dish with saran wrap. 

HOW TO STORE 

After the food is cooled, simply place lids on each container and store in the fridge. Bowls will stay good stored in the refrigerator for about 6 days after cooking.

If you’re not using meal prep containers any dish will work. Just make sure to reheat in a microwave safe container. 

. PREPPING TIPS

Buy prewashed, ready to eat spinach to make meal time faster 

Prepare the other ingredients needed while potato roast 

  • Drain and rinse blackbeans
  • chop tomatoes 
  • chop spinach 

ESSENTIAL TOOLS

Meal Prep containers are very convenient for meal prep. They make portioning out meals easier and help you stick to proper serving sizes. They also help save on dishes since you’ll use the same dish to store the meal and serve from. 

When I first started prepping I would use any container I had which was usually tupperware or plastic reusable containers. I never liked the idea of reheating my food in plastic bowls nor did I like going through so many disposable containers. I eventually decided to invest in a good set of glass dishes.

> I’d highly recommend these bowls if you’re looking to invest in some dishware. 

SERVING INSTRUCTIONS

When ready to eat, remove the lid or any saran wrap and warm the dish for about two minutes in the microwave until warm throughout. 

Top with any additional ingredients you like,  I add salsa after I warm mine up, believe me it’s good! You could add feta cheese, avocado or fresh herbs if you like. 

 I hope you enjoy this scrumptious, good-for-you lunch prep bowl. 

If you love this dish, leave a comment below and a 5 star rating! 

 

RECIPE

LOADED SWEET POTATO BOWl

Makes 5 Bowls

STEP BY STEP

  1. Preheat oven to 400* F
  2. Wash the sweet potatoes to get rid of any dirt and strings. Then Pierce each potato a few times on all sides with a knife or fork, I find a knife works better 
  3. Add 1 TBL olive oil to a baking dish and spread over the bottom of the pan, then add about a half cup of water to the bottom of the pan. Place the sweet potatoes in the dish
  4. Sprinkle them with sea salt, pepper and any seasonings you like. I prefer garlic powder and parsley for this dish
  5. Cover the dish with tinfoil. 
  6. Bake for about 40 minutes until soft in center.
  7. Allow to cool, remove skins 
  8. Meanwhile, as the potatoes roast, add 1 cup of chopped spinach in the bottom of your microwave safe lunch container 
  9. Add half a cup of black beans rinsed and drained. I use no salt added beans so I can control  the amount of sodium in my meals.
  10. Then top each potato with about cherry tomatoes sliced in half or diced however you like and any remaining veggies you like; onion, mushrooms etc

PORTIONING 

1.Place about 1 cup or 1 medium sized potato into each dish on top of spinach

2.Add half a cup of black beans rinsed and drained

3.Top each potato with about 5 cherry tomatoes sliced in half or diced however you like.

4.Sprinkle the entire dish with sea salt, pepper and parsley. 

STORING 

1.Allow the bowl to cool completely before placing the lid on. 

2.Once cooled, place the lid on the container or cover the dish with saran wrap.

Enjoy! 

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