The classic Sloppy Joe is served in tender baked sweet potatoes for the ultimate comfort dish to leave you feeling nourished and satisfied. We baked our sweet potatoes in the oven, but you can also prepare them in an Instant Pot or digital pressure cooker. Just poke with a fork as usual (do not wrap in aluminum foil), set on the Instant Pot’s metal trivet, and add 1 cup of water to the pot. Cook on high pressure for 1 hour, then let the steam naturally release for 10 minutes before removing the lid. We love to bake our sweet potatoes this way when we need to free up oven space or on a hot day when we do not want to heat up the house!
This recipe tastes as if it has been cooking all day long, but using pre-cooked ground beef speeds it up tremendously while not skimping on quality or flavor. We like to cook a pound of ground beef the night before so that we only need about 10 minutes to create a mouth-watering Whole30 Sloppy Joe mixture to fill our baked sweet potatoes.
Helpful swaps and delicious additions:
- 1 teaspoon of dried garlic powder can be used in place of fresh minced garlic without compromising flavor.
- Increase the “sloppiness” of the mixture by adding 1 cup of plain tomato sauce. Just be sure to check ingredient labels and avoid added sweeteners.
- To jazz up your gluten-free sloppy joes, saute chopped mushrooms or zucchini along with the onion and garlic. You also can add a big handful of baby spinach or kale to the mixture for added nutrients — or even a cup of shredded carrots! Just saute the mixture a few minutes longer to wilt the veggies, allowing any excess water to evaporate.
- For a creamy and cool addition to your sloppy joe stuffed sweet potatoes, top with freshly diced avocado.
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes rinced & dried
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1 yellow onion peeled & diced
- 3 garlic cloves peeled & minced
- 1 red bell pepper seeds removed & diced
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 lb cooked ground beef
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
Garnishes
- 1 medium scallion minced
Instructions
- PREHEAT oven to 400°F (205°C).
- Poke each sweet potato with a fork several times and wrap in aluminum foil. Place on a baking tray in the oven until very tender, about 45 minutes and up to 1 hour. When done, remove from the oven, unwrap and slit down the middle, creating a pocket to fill with the Sloppy Joe mixture.
- ADD ghee to a skillet on the stove set to medium heat. Add onion, garlic and red bell pepper. Season with sea salt and black pepper.
- SAUTE veggies until soft, about 5-7 minutes.
- ADD cooked ground beef to the skillet and season with smoked paprika. Stir well with the veggies until the beef is warmed through.
- ADD tomato paste and coconut aminos to the skillet and stir well until mixture is heated through, about 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- FILL cut sweet potatoes with Sloppy Joe mixture and garnish with minced scallion.
- STORE any leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
