Chicken, Goat Cheese, & Balsamic Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Smgross1947
This is one of my favorite date night recipes for Chicken, Goat Cheese, & Balsamic Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, it’s a Pimento & Prose original creation! Love love the sweet, tangy, savory, and umami notes created from the ingredients we included.
About the Recipe:
The balsamic reduction brings acidity and sweetness along with the sweet potato base. The basil and mushrooms add herbiness and umami to the chicken as they cook and combine. Finally, the goat cheese brings the tangy cheesy bite that the dish needs!
Recipe Notes (asterisks below correspond with relevant places in the recipe):
- *I used a smaller and two larger potatoes, so the small one only took 20 minutes while the bigger ones took 40. If you have a potato that cooks faster than the others, check it and take it out if it’s done. Next, place the cut sides together, roll the potato in tin foil, and set aside. It will stay hot until you finish the recipe!
- **In this recipe, it’s helpful to create everything using the “Mise en place”, or “everything in its place” technique (in French). This makes the process significantly easier to saute all the ingredients since they’re ready to go!
- ***Check out one of our favorite garlic & herb goat cheeses from Target here!
- ****They should last about 5-7 days in the fridge. You may have some extra chicken and veggies left (I did), which would go great over rice, pasta, an Italian-style salad, or in a taco.
- Prep Time: 17m
- Cook Time: 48m
- Total Time: 1h 5m
- Serves: 6 people
- Yield: 1/2 sweet potato per serving
- Category: Italian & Pasta, Meal Prep
Ingredients
For Roasted Sweet Potatoes:
- 1 tsp. Garlic powder
- 1 tsp. Cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp. Sea Salt
- 3 Large sweet potatoes
- 2 tbsp. Olive oil
For Toppings:
- 3 tbsp. Olive oil
- 4 Cloves of garlic
- 1/4 c Basil, finely chopped/ribbon-cut (reserve about 2 tsp. for garnish)
- 2 lb Chicken breasts (about 3-4 breasts)
- 2 tsp. Sea Salt
- 2 tsp. Cracked black pepper
- 8 oz Baby bella or button mushrooms (about two packages)
- 6 oz Spinach or baby spinach (one package)
- 4 oz Garlic and Herb soft goat cheese (one package)
- 1/4 c Balsamic vinegar glaze/reduction
Instructions
- Start by preheating the oven to 350*F. Wash your sweet potatoes, removing any roots or eyes and scrubbing away any dirt.
- Poke sweet potatoes with a fork to create steam holes around the potato (to prevent them from exploding), and par-cook/microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes, or until slightly soft. Repeat for each potato left.
- Line a baking sheet with foil and cut potatoes in half length-wise, coating the cut sides with olive oil, salt & pepper, garlic powder, or other spices (to taste). Place in the oven and roast for 20-40 minutes, depending on size and girth of potato.* They are done roasting when they get slightly golden brown around the top edges and are really soft when a fork is inserted.
- Put potatoes cut sides together and individually wrap and set aside on a kitchen towel (one piece of tin foil per potato). They will stay hot until we need them later!
- Next, wash and chop up mushrooms into small, 1/4" pieces and set aside in a large bowl. Wash and tear/chop the spinach into smaller pieces as well, and place in the bowl with the mushrooms. Finely chop garlic and basil and place into separate small bowls to use later. Cut up chicken breast into chicken nugget sized pieces, working to keep all of them about the same size.**
- Pour 3-4 tbs. of olive oil (enough to coat the bottom) in a large saute pan, adding 3/4 of the basil and all of the garlic over medium heat. Let the basil and garlic saute and simmer for about 5 minutes or until garlic begins to become aromatic and brown slightly.
- Add in the chicken to the garlic-basil infused olive oil mixture, cooking for about 7-10 minutes, or until there is no pink on the chicken left and the thickest piece reads 165*F on a thermometer. Transfer just the chicken to a separate bowl and cover with foil.
- Add in mushrooms and spinach mixture, increasing to medium-high heat, and season with salt and pepper. Add more oil if more moisture is needed. Cook veggies until there is barely any liquid left (approx. 10-15 mins) , transferring and mixing into the chicken we placed in the bowl from the previous step.
Time to assemble the potatoes!
- First, take one out of the foil and use a fork to smash and expand the surface area of the potato (more room for our yummy toppings!)
- Spread about 2 tbs. of goat cheese onto each half, spreading to cover the face of the potato.***
- Add enough of the chicken & veggie filling to cover the top of the potato, adding some extra if you'd like!
- Drizzle with balsamic glaze (think drizzling like you would with chocolate sauce on a sundae), and top with a few ribbons of basil.
- Repeat for remaining potatoes, either serving immediately or putting into Tupperware for the rest of the week! ****
