Loaded Sweet Potatoes with Spiced Ground Beef & Garlic Yogurt Sauce
You might notice a different background in my photos—that’s because I moved to San Francisco! Cooking has been my way of making this new space feel like home, and this recipe was one of the first things I made here.
I tested this recipe wondering if it would taste as good as I imagined, and it turned out even better. It hits every note—sweet, savory, salty, creamy—all singing. The perfectly sugary sweet potatoes, spiced crispy beef, tangy garlic yogurt sauce, and creamy avocado come together in the most satisfying way. It’s colorful, comforting, and super easy to make. This one’s definitely going in my regular rotation.
~ Camilla
Harlan’s Food For Thought
The following are the macros for this week's recipe, Loaded Sweet Potatoes. Macros are calculated per serving, with four servings per meal:
Protein: 33g
Carbohydrate: 46g
Fat: 22g
Calories: 494
Today I want to delineate the differences between prebiotics and probiotics, as this meal contains good sources of both. The sweet potatoes are a great source of prebiotic materials, and the Greek yogurt provides beneficial probiotics. Let's define them.
A prebiotic is a nondigestible food ingredient that promotes the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the intestines.
The most frequently discussed prebiotic is fiber, which is plentiful in the sweet potatoes. Fiber provides gut bacteria (often referred to as the gut microbiome) with energy to multiply and proliferate, as well as the foundation to produce useful end products like short-chain fatty acids. These end products help maintain healthy gut function and reduce inflammation.
A probiotic consists of live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.
Most yogurts (like the Greek yogurt in this meal) contain living microorganisms. When ingested, probiotics help rebalance the gut microbiome. They don't usually colonize the intestines and tend to stay only for a short period of time. Their main functions are to aid in the restructuring of beneficial bacteria by promoting a positive environment for growth and to support proper metabolism within the gut.
So, as a condensed recap: prebiotics are not organisms themselves but support the health and function of beneficial gut bacteria. Probiotics are organisms (bacteria or yeasts) that produce their own beneficial metabolites and also support the health and function of other bacteria in the gut.
If you ever have any questions about health or nutrition, please reach out and schedule an educational consultation!
If you ever have any questions about health or nutrition, please reach out and schedule an educational consultation. Appointments with me are included in the cost of your monthly membership, we will never charge you for an appointment at Hale!
~ Harlan Wolff, Registered Nurse and Clinical Educator
Loaded Sweet Potatoes with Spiced Ground Beef & Garlic Yogurt Sauce
Prep Time: 15 minuntes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
For the Sweet Potatoes & Ground Beef:
4 medium sweet potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp cracked black pepper
1 lb ground beef
For the Garlic Yogurt Sauce:
⅔ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
2 cloves garlic, grated
½ tsp kosher salt
Zest and juice of 1 lime
For Topping:
1 avocado, sliced
Hot sauce, optional
Instructions
Bake the Sweet Potatoes: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until fork-tender. I don’t think it’s necessary to pierce them before baking, but I do cut off the funky bits.
Cook the Spiced Ground Beef: While the sweet potatoes bake, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion, smoked paprika, cumin, salt, and black pepper. Sauté for about 5 minutes, until the onion softens. Add the ground beef, breaking it apart with a spatula, and cook until browned and slightly crispy, about 15 minutes.
Make the Garlic Yogurt Sauce & Prep Toppings: In a small bowl, mix Greek yogurt, grated garlic, lime zest, lime juice, and salt. Set aside. Slice the avocado.
Assemble & Serve: Slice open the baked sweet potatoes and fluff the insides slightly with a fork. Spoon the spiced ground beef mixture over each potato. Drizzle with garlic yogurt sauce, then top with avocado slices and hot sauce.
Serve!
