Do you remember these mexican sweet potato skins? Yeah – they are still one of my favorite meals to date. I kept planning to use the leftover filling from them to make quesadillas, but somehow we always ate all of it a little too quickly. You know, for snacking or lunches. Or more snacking. Oops. So I figured why not just start from scratch and use those potato skins as inspiration?
I’m happy to say that I finally got my quesadillas. While these aren’t quite the same as those potato skins, they are still so very good … and very different from your standard quesadilla. I think my husband was a little surprised when he took his first bite. I sometimes don’t tell him what I put in things – it’s a game I play called can you guess what’s in this?? Lame, I know.
But anyway… the mashed sweet potatoes make the base for the filling, with bites of black beans and kale, along with plenty of spices. Freshly grated cheese rounds these out, making a great vegetarian option for lunch or dinner. My husband liked these best with a good dose of hot sauce, while I preferred them with a touch of greek yogurt for dipping. As good as they were for dinner, we both thought that the filling got even better the next day, making for a quick and easy weekend lunch.
Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet potatoes, sliced ½ inch thick*
- ¾ teaspoon salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- 1 to 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cups chopped kale
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 8 to 10 large flour tortillas
- 2 to 2 ½ cups freshly grated cheddar cheese
- hot sauce, optional
- greek yogurt or sour cream, optional
- salsa, optional
Instructions
- Add the sliced potatoes to a large saucepan and add enough water to cover the potatoes. Add ½ teaspoon of the salt to the pot. With the heat on high, bring the water to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Drain the potatoes and then add to a large bowl. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes. Add the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, cumin, chili powder, oregano and chipotle peppers. Mix until well combined.
- In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When hot, add in the kale and green onions. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes, until the kale is bright green and tender. Add the mixture to the bowl with the mashed sweet potatoes. Next add in the black beans and mix until well combined.
- Place the tortillas on a work surface. Use a spatula to smear about ⅓ to ½ cup of the filling on half of the tortilla. Top with about ¼ cup of the cheese (or to taste). Fold the empty half of the tortilla over the filling to form a semicircle. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
- Wipe out the skillet you used for the kale and set over medium high heat. When hot, spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Place an assembled quesadilla in the pan and cook, flipping once halfway through, until both sides are browned and the cheese is melted. Cut into triangles and serve with hot sauce, greek yogurt and/or salsa.
Notes
*You can peel your sweet potatoes if desired. We like the skins, so I left them on.
Source:
Cookie Monster Cooking. Inspired by these mexican sweet potato skins, originally from Pinch of Yum.
I’m going to try these! I want to use some purple sweet potatoes. Love them!
Enjoy! Hope that you like them!
has anyone tried boneless skinless chicken with this recipe? I was wondering how it would be with chicken. Please let me know.
Thank You
Hi Abigail! I’ve never tried it myself but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! I bet it would be great shredded inside the quesadillas
I added feta instead and it was amazing. Thanks for sharing!
Oooh I bet the feta was great in these! I’ll have to try that next time!
These were amazing! I think I ate too much and I’m okay with that. For funzies I did a calorie count for them. http://caloriecount.about.com/sweet-potato-black-bean-kale-recipe-r1333639
Thanks for sharing this phenomenal recipe.
My family just snapped these up, they were incredible! I substituted spinach because we didn’t have any kale and I feel like we didn’t even need the cheese. Definitely a keeper!
So glad your family liked them!! I bet the spinach was delicious in the filing too : )
These are delicious! We dipped ours in mole sauce. Yum!
Oooo great idea! So glad you liked them!
I am making these right now. I added a little minced garlic to the pan when I sautéed the kale and green onion. The sweet potatoes and black beans got puréed together in the food processor, and the kale mixture got pulsed in as well. The flavor is amazing. I’m in love. Can’t wait to see how they turn out in the quesadilla form!
So happy to hear this! Adding the garlic is a great idea – hope they turned out great!
The flavor combination sounds wonderful! My vegetarian daughter is going to love this! Thanks.
We tried these last night and loved them! Another brilliant use of kale that I can sneak past my picky husband. Thanks Ashley!
So happy to hear this! Glad you guys liked them (and I do love that you’ve been sneaking kale past your husband!)
Oh my gosh, I have a recipe just like this too! Although I skipped the cheese in mine.
Sweet potatoes and kale make such a great combination–they just make everything seem so much healthier. These look awesome!
Agreed! I love sweet potatoes and kale together : )
Love this combination for quesadillas! Quesadillas are a favorite around here, we’ll be trying them soon!
Same here – we love our quesadillas : )
Sweet potato, kale, and black beans is one of my favorite combos! I love the idea of putting it into a quesadilla! Thanks for sharing!
Your quesadillas look just perfect, mine never look that good! Love it!
Thank you! It took me a long time to get down how to flip any quesadilla without losing all the filling!
Love quick quesadillas for weeknight dinner, and the combo in these is fantastic!
Just saw these on FoodGawker and then realized it was you!
These look so good, I am pinning them!
Thanks Julia!
Wow, these look so good! I’ve made a sweet potato black bean chili before and loved it, so I know I’ll love these. I’m crazy for kale, too!
Oooo black bean sweet potato chili sounds fantastic!
DUDE these are filled with everything that I love!! How did you know?!? And kale makes them healthy, right?
Def. saving this one for a Friday night dinner!
haha we’re clearly on the same wavelength : )
ok, I am OBSESSED with the fillings of these quesadillas Ashley! Everything I love. I just made a sweet potato and black bean chili and am yearning for those flavors all over again. These are a must try. we love making quesadillas!
We love making quesadillas too – they are such an easy meal!
Wow – these sound amazing. Non-traditional quesadillas have been popping up all over the blogosphere, but I think these are up in my favorite! Definitely need to try them. Pinned!
Thanks Rachel! I know – there are so many I want to try!