These turkey stuffed sweet potatoes are a hearty lunch or light dinner, with so much flavour from spices and a creamy tahini dressing. Packed with healthy ingredients, they're a delicious gluten free and dairy free recipe for the holidays!
Looking for a tasty and very healthy way to enjoy turkey for lunch during the holidays? Well of course, it can be year-round, but these turkey stuffed sweet potatoes feel especially cosy during the winter months. They're lightly spiced, with a creamy dairy free dressing and go perfectly with a green salad.
Love turkey dishes? Then perhaps you would like to check out my healthy turkey quinoa soup and my turkey cranberry cream cheese sandwich as tasty lunch options, or my popular spiced turkey stew and air fryer turkey burgers for a tasty evening meal!
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
Cosy lunch recipe (or light dinner!). Fancy a change from sandwiches and salads? These baked potatoes are perfect for a winter lunch.
Healthy ingredients. They have lots of fresh vegetables and spices to get so much goodness.
Easy to make. The oven does the work in baking the sweet potatoes, then the rest is made in your skillet.
🦃 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
A few pointers on some of them:
- Turkey - you want to use plain, fresh turkey breast or mini fillets, if they are available in your local stores.
- Sweet potato - pick fresh unbruised produce, and larger potatoes that are suitable as a lunch or light dinner.
📖 Swaps and variations
Swap sweet potato for white potato. Both work well for this recipe. White potatoes typically take a little longer to cook than sweet potatoes, so adjust your timings slightly.
Swap ground ginger for fresh ginger root. Grate a little fresh ginger root into your skillet instead.
Use ground turkey. If it is suitable for you, likely not for my low histamine readers, then ground turkey can be used in place of shredded turkey.
🔪 Step by step instructions
A simple recipe, these baked turkey stuffed sweet potatoes come together quite easily with just a few steps:
Step 1
Pierce the sweet potatoes several times with a fork or knife, then place on a lined baking tray (image 1). Bake for 45 minutes, or until they are cooked through to the centre.
Step 2
Drizzle a little olive oil into your skillet, then fry the turkey until it reaches an internal temperature of 165F (image 2). Once cooked through set aside on a plate.
Recipe tip: I suggest slicing the turkey into a few smaller pieces for a quicker cook time.
Step 3
Use two forks (or a stand mixer with the appropriate attachment) to shred the turkey (image 3).
Step 4
If your skillet seems dry, add a touch more olive oil. Fry the onion and garlic until softened, then tip in the bell pepper and zucchini, along with the spices. Fry for 7-8 minutes so the vegetables have softened.
Add the shredded turkey back to the skillet, and stir well so it becomes coated in the spices and mixed with the vegetables. Cook for a further few minutes (image 4).
Step 5
Combine the tahini and water and stir or whisk until it becomes a creamy sauce (image 5).
If you like a flavoured tahini then you may like to use my creamy tahini dill dressing!
Step 6
Remove the baked sweet potatoes from the oven and slice lengthways. Then use a fork to 'fluff up' their centres (image 6). Transfer to your serving plates.
Spoon on the turkey mixture and drizzle over the tahini dressing.
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Use a fork or a metal skewer to see if the sweet potatoes are cooked through and nicely soft in their centres.
- If you are using larger pieces of turkey it will reduce cook time to first slice them into smaller fillets.
- Check the internal temperature of the turkey using a meat thermometer. You want a reading of 165F at the deepest point of the turkey pieces.
- Adjust the amount of spice to taste preference.
📋 Frequently asked questions
If using leftovers is suitable for you, then this is a great way to use up your turkey! Simply warm through in the skillet with your vegetables and spices. Only reheat turkey once though. My low histamine readers will likely want to cook fresh, as in the recipe.
You should be able to easily pierce through the centre of the potato with a fork or skewer if it is done.
Yes, you can easily change to your favourite spices, or adjust the quantities of those in the recipe.
🥗 How to serve baked sweet potatoes
I like to keep things fairly simple when serving these turkey stuffed sweet potatoes as the filling already has so much flavor.
- A fresh green salad is always a great choice as a side for baked potatoes, but if you fancy something with some extra vegetables then my pear and fennel salad is quick and easy, as is my kale apple slaw.
- For hot side options, my ginger Brussels sprouts or my pesto Brussels sprouts have all the green goodness!
🍽 More tasty turkey recipes
Whether it is during the holidays or in the middle of summer, turkey is good all year! Find my turmeric turkey fillets, ground turkey sweet potato hash and my easy turkey rissoles, as well as these recent recipes to enjoy:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And please do leave a star rating ⭐ if you have tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Turkey Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Equipment
- Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 1 large turkey breast or equivalent fillets
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ white onion diced
- 1 garlic clove minced or finely diced
- ½ bell pepper diced
- ½ zucchini diced
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper
For the tahini dressing
- 2 tablespoon tahini
- 3 tablespoon warm water adjust to preference
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Pierce the sweet potatoes in several places with a fork, then place on your baking tray. Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through. Cook time will vary depending upon the size of the potatoes.
- Drizzle olive oil in your skillet then fry the turkey (it can be helpful to slice into a couple of pieces first to reduce cook time). Fry for 3-4 minutes each side, or until cooked through with an internal temperature of 165F at the deepest part.
- Use two forks to shred the turkey into small pieces.
- Drizzle a little more oil in the skillet if it seems dry, then fry the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes until softened. Tip in the bell pepper, zucchini, turmeric, ginger and sweet paprika and fry for 7-8 minutes until the vegetables have softened, stirring occasionally. Add the shredded turkey into the skillet and cook for a further 1-2 minutes so it is warm and has taken up the spices. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Make the tahini dressing by combining the tahini and water and stirring until it becomes creamy. Add more water to thin, or more tahini to thicken, to preference.
- Use a fork to 'fluff' up the middles of the sweet potatoes, then plate up. Spoon the turkey mixture into the potatoes and drizzle with the tahini dressing.
Notes
- Cook time for the sweet potatoes will vary depending upon their size. Check after 40 minutes with a fork to see if they are cooked through to the centre and adjust timing from there.
- Always check the internal temperature of the turkey, and for a reading of 165F at its deepest point.
- Either use two forks to shred the turkey or the appropriate attachment on a stand mixer.
- If it is suitable for you (perhaps not for my low histamine readers), pre-shredded, leftover or ground turkey can be used.
- Please note that nutritional information is given as a courtesy. It is auto-generated and should be considered as an estimate.
- garlic and ginger, which score 1.
- tahini, which scores 1. Note that it is a potential allergen.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
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