Nachos. What is there not to love about them? well outside of the calories of course. An average portion of nachos (113 grams or 6-8 nachos) with cheese are 346 calories! Now think about adding sour cream and how many we actually consume when we sit down to dig in.
I have attempted a variety of recipes to find that sweet spot between the nachos being packed with nutrition, while still meeting that gooey nacho craving. This recipe is it for me, thanks to using sweet potatoes which provide that carb and starchy taste we want from a plate of nachos.
A bag of store bought tortillas is most often a nutrient-deficient food-like product that delivers no nutrition to the bottom, we get a ton of chemicals, and it is hard on our digestive system. Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, offer 214% Vitamin A, 54% Vitamin C, and minerals such as manganese at 50% per 1 cup serving.
Storage proteins in sweet potato also have important antioxidant properties. These storage proteins are called sporamins that are produced by sweet potato plant itself when the plants are subjected to physical damage. Their ability to help the plants heal from this damage is related to their high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. When sweet potato is being digested inside of our gastrointestinal tract, we may get some of these same antioxidant benefits. Which is so cool! Nachos that do the body good… sounds perfect to me.
Sweet Potato Nachos
Ingredients
- 4-5 medium sweet potatoes
- 2 tbsp. avocado oil
- pinch celtic sea salt
- 1 tsp chipotle chilli pepper (optional)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 jalapeno peppers
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
- 1 14 oz can of black beans
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese or soy based "cheese" (optional)
- 1 cup guacamole (recipe in notes section below)
- 1/4 cup fresh, chopped cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- Peel, rinse and slice your sweet potatoes into rounds. The thickness will impact the cooking time! If you cut them too thick (i.e 1" thick) the potatoes can become soggy and take longer. Too thin, i.e. 1/8" they can burn easily. I like "1/4-1/2", and if you have a mandolin it makes this easy to control and very fast to cut.
- preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment and place potato rounds onto the sweet, with a little breathing room in between.
- Brush oil over the potatos and sprinkle seasoning. Bake for 20 minutes, then turn over and back for an addtional 10-20 based on thickeness.
- Meanwhile, chop your bell pepper, green onions & jalapeno's. Drain and rinse the black beans.
- Remove the pan from the oven and I put the potatos together in the pan with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle on beans, peppers, onions, jalapeno, cheese and any other toppings you want.
- Put it back in the oven for 5 minutes for the cheese to melt. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro and serve with guacamole. You can grab my guacamole recipe in the recipe notes below.
