These sweet potato kale bites are like mini muffins of sweet potato, kale and black beans. They’re a great make ahead side dish to have on hand.
Currently, my fridge is like that closet you never use in your house and shove every random item that needs to be stored in and then fear for your life when opening it not knowing what random thing is going to fall on your head. Except, it’s my fridge and I open it approximately 136 times a day not twice a year.
There were no less than 3 fallen tupperware containers yesterday alone. Prepping large amounts of food ahead of time is kind of a blessing and a curse like that. I love having healthy stuff on hand but not so much the container of black bean quinoa hitting my foot and bouncing across the kitchen floor.
These are the newest added danger to the fridge assortment. Sweet potato “bites” stuffed with kale and black beans.
I have two categories of bookmarked stuff. Stuff that is a great idea, file it for later or when I’m in the mood for it (that list is incredibly long) and stuff that absolutely must be made now. These fell into the latter category after seeing Ashley’s salt & vinegar potatoes. While I love the salt & vinegar combo, I didn’t think it would work as well with sweet potatoes and that’s all I had on hand. So, I switched it up a bit because I knew they would be a great healthy starch to have for the entire week and leave one less thing to decide upon when putting a quick midday meal together. I’ve definitely noticed my creativity with meals decreasing now that I’m eating 5-6 a day. I just don’t have the energy or time to think of fun new ideas each and every time. Cooking and baking in bulk has become my saving grace.
These have literally been on my plate 5 out of the last 8 meals.
Perfectly sized, sweet with a crunchy top and stuffed with greens. Doesn’t get much better than that for a quick and easy side dish.
Sweet Potato Kale Bites
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & cubed
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 4 cups kale, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 yellow onion, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup black beans, drained & rinsed
- salt & pepper
- ground flax seed for topping
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil cubed potatoes for about 15 minutes until fork tender.
- Drain potatoes and mash them in a large bowl with milk.
- Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add olive oil, garlic, onion and red pepper and saute for about 1 minute.
- Add kale and saute until wilted.
- Once kale is wilted, add to the bowl with sweet potatoes.
- Season liberally with salt & pepper to taste.
- Fold in black beans until incorporated.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Grease a mini muffin pan.
- Scoop potato mixture into a mini muffin tray until filled to the top.
- Sprinkle tops with ground flax seed.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, turn oven to hi-broil and broil for an additional 5 minutes until tops are golden and crunchy.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Carefully remove from muffin tin with the help of a spoon or knife. Bites will be soft but should retain enough structure to stay in mini muffin form.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Inspired and adapted from Edible Perspective
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
I think I am going to make these to take on a roadtrip. Last year a friend and I packed a cooler with semi-healthy food for a 4 day trip to the Black Hills and we only ate out once a day. Saved money and didn’t gain any weight on our trip. Planning the same trip this year and have been checking out different recipes and this looks perfect.
Any tips on how to make them paleo (i.e. bean-free)?
I’d just omit the beans and replace it with something that’s paleo. Maybe raisins? Haven’t tried it, but I’m sure it’s flexible enough for substitutions.
Yum, they were great!
These look really good. I love that there’s black beans in there. Seriously 3 of my favorite foods: black beans, kale, and sweet potatoes. YUM!
These are delicious! I made a half batch just to try them, and I ate all of them by the end of the day. Sweet and savory, nice texture, hold together well after cooked. I will be making them regularly.
Oooh, I am definitely going to have to give these a go – they combine 2 of my favourite ingredients :)
i made these last night – did you use a smaller than usual muffin pan? mine look bigger (i used a standard muffin pan) than yours in the pic. they taste good – i just wish they were a little more set. they hold their shape by like 25%. maybe the size of mine causes a prob?
Hi Kim- I did use a mini-muffin pan like it says in the recipe. It definitely helps them keep their shape more when they’re smaller. If you look at the previous comment from Iris, she asked the same thing about using a normal pan and my suggestion was to cook them a little longer to try and help them shape up more but I think the mini-muffin pan is your best bet if you have one!
I want these immeeeeeediately! If you had to sub out the black beans for something else, what would you do? Thanks!
You could probably sub out any other bean you like. If you’re not into beans, someone said they made them without and they turned out fine too :) Just increase the kale a bit maybe?
ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS! Can’t wait to give them a try! Tupperware is the adult version of Jenga.
Another healthy winner out of your kitchen! I too have the tupperware-falling-down-everywhere issues, but my stuff isn’t as healthy as yours is. I have to work on that. These look fantastic Gina, I’m always a fan of anything with sweet potato. :)