Sweet Potato Taco Bowls (Easy Healthy Dinner Idea)
Sweet Potato Tacos Bowls are a protein-loaded (over 40 grams per serving!) bowl recipe filled with flavor. These taco bowls are super easy to whip up and meal prep for a healthy week of lunches or taco night.
Quick Look: Sweet Potato Taco Bowls
Ready In: 1 hour
Serves: 4
Calories: 900 calories
Main Ingredients: sweet potatoes, ground beef, avocado, cottage cheese
Why You'll Love It: this Sweet Potato Beef Taco Bowls recipe is perfect for meal prep, packed with protein, full of flavor, customizable, and family friendly.
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If you need an easy, healthy dinner for busy weeknights, these sweet potato taco bowls are one of my go-to meals. They're packed with flavor, made with simple ingredients, and come together quickly - perfect for those nights when you don't have time to overthink dinner.
My kids favorite bowls are my BBQ Chicken Rice Bowl and Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowls, and I'm a big fan of the Korean Beef Burrito Bowls, but this Sweet Potato Beef Taco Bowl has been my lunch every day for the last week!
This taco bowl recipe is full of flavor, easy to make, and each serving has over 40 grams of protein! And if your evenings are anything like ours, running between practices, games, and activities, meals like this that are quick, filling, and easy to pack are a total lifesaver.
Be sure to check out my Hot Honey Sweet Potatoes too!
Why You'll Love These Taco Bowls
- Easy - the majority of the cooking is just making some taco meat and roasting sweet potatoes. The rest is assembly!
- Great for Busy Weeknights - not only are these perfect for a quick meal before rushing out to soccer practice, they are also easy to pack up to go!
- Nourishing - this bowl is FULL of so many nutrients!
- Protein Packed - each serving has over 40 grams of protein. Check out my Greek Chicken Meatball Bowls for another nourishing and high protein bowl!
Key Ingredients
Lean Ground Beef - I use 90/10 organic ground beef when I make these protein taco bowls.
Taco Seasoning - my favorite is Siete Taco Seasoning, as it's mild enough for my kids. I've also used 365 brand from Whole Foods. You could also make my homemade beef taco seasoning.
Sweet Potatoes - these are tossed in spices and roasted for the bulk of the bowls. I also love making sweet potatoes in the air fryer.
Spices - chili powder, cumin, garlic, and paprika
Cottage Cheese - each bowl gets ~½ cup of cottage cheese which adds 13 grams of protein. Check out my Strawberry Cottage Cheese Smoothie and Cottage Cheese Egg Bites for more ways to use cottage cheese.
Pickled Onions - These add so much flavor! I make a batch of pickled onions almost every week. See the notes section on how I make my pickled onions.
Please refer to the recipe card for the complete list of ingredients.
Substitutions and Variations
Add Different Vegetables - diced tomatoes, corn, and sautéed bell peppers are popular ingredients in taco bowls and would be a great addition to these protein bowls.
Add a Whole Grain - you could add a grain to this taco bowl like quiona, brown rice, or barley. My Baked Cilantro Lime Rice would be a delicious option, and cauliflower rice would also work well to keep these lower carb.
Different Meat - instead of ground beef you could use ground turkey, ground chicken, or diced chicken breasts.
Add Cheese - shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese would be delicious sprinkled on top.
Put an Egg On It - make it a breakfast bowl or just add even more protein with a fried or poached egg on top!
How to Make Sweet Potato Beef Taco Bowls
Photo 1. In a large skillet, add the ground beef over medium-high heat, cooking until browned, breaking the meat into smaller pieces as it cooks. Add the taco seasoning and the amount of water directed on the package. Cook until reduced.
Photo 2. Peel and dice the sweet potatoes and then toss with olive oil and spices. Spread out on a greased baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Photo 3. Assemble the bowls! Once the beef is cooked and the sweet potatoes are roasted, you can assemble the rest the bowls. Place ¼ of the sweet potatoes, ¼ of the beef mixture, ½ cup cottage cheese, ½ cup black beans, and ½ of an avocado in each bowl. Top with pickled onions, pickled jalapeños, and chopped cilantro, along with a dollop of salsa.
Expert Tips
Prep Ahead - this is a great recipe to meal prep for lunches! I like to store the sweet potatoes and taco meat together in individual glass Tupperware, and then the cottage cheese, salsa, avocado, pickled onion and jalapeños in another Tupperware.
Serving Suggestions - if I am having this for dinner or want just a little more substance, I serve it with tortilla chips, either crushed on top, or to scoop stuff up with. It's the perfect pairing!
Add a Sauce - if you're a sauce guy or gal and want more than the dollop of cottage cheese, try my Cottage Cheese Taco Dip as a start. Just add a little milk, 2-4 tablespoons, to thin it out! This dip has cottage cheese and Greek yogurt blended together, which means it's packed with protein.
Storage - store leftover taco bowl ingredients in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
How to Make Taco Bowls for Busy Nights
If your evenings are busy (sports, activities, everything happening at once), this taco bowl recipe is a great option because you can prep most of it ahead of time.
One of the easiest ways to save time is to cook the ground beef and roast the sweet potatoes earlier in the day or even the night before. Then when dinner rolls around, all you have to do is reheat everything and assemble your bowls.
You can also set up a simple "taco bowl bar" with toppings like shredded lettuce, cheese, salsa, and avocado so everyone can build their own. This makes dinner faster and keeps everyone happy - especially if you have picky eaters.
If you know you'll be eating on the go, these taco bowls are easy to pack into containers and take with you. Just keep cold toppings separate until you're ready to eat.
Meals like this are exactly what I rely on during busy weeks - quick, flexible, and something the whole family will actually eat.
Sweet Potato Taco Bowl Recipe FAQs
The typical equation for a taco bowl is a base + protein + veggies + toppings. In this recipe, the base is sweet potatoes and cottage cheese, the protein is ground beef, and the toppings are avocado, pickled onions, pickled jalapeños, and black beans.
Yes. This taco bowl recipe is a balanced meal filled with fiber, protein, and healthy fats.
Definitely. This is how I prefer to make them! Store the ground beef and sweet potatoes together, as they can be reheated together. Then add the cottage cheese and other cold toppings after the sweet potato and beef have been warmed.
You can really use any type of protein with taco seasoning. Ground turkey, ground turkey, diced chicken breast or chicken thighs, or steak would all work.
Other Bowl Recipes to Consider
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #greensnchocolate
Sweet Potato Beef Taco Bowls
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 packet taco seasoning I like Siete
- 14 ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 avocados sliced
- 2 cups cottage cheese
- pickled onions for topping (my go-to recipe is in the Notes section)
- pickled jalapeños for topping, I buy these at the store
- chopped cilantro chopped, for topping
- salsa optional, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, add the diced sweet potatoes, olive oil, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, and salt. Toss well to combine.
- Spread the sweet potatoes out on a greased baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, stirring the sweet potatoes halfway through.
- Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the ground beef and cook until browned, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks.
- Once browned, add the taco seasoning and follow directions on taco seasoning packet. If using homemade, just add ~2 tablespoon of water and cook until combined.
- Once sweet potatoes and beef are cooked, assemble the bowls.
- To each bowl, add ¼ of the beef, ¼ of the sweet potatoes, ½ cup black beans, ½ of an avocado, and ½ cup of cottage cheese.
- Top with pickled onions, pickled jalapeños, a dollop of salsa (if desired), and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro. Serve and enjoy!
Are you supposed to put the cottage cheese in warm? How do you go about eating this the next day? Do you warm up the cottage cheese with the bowl of everything else?
Hi Lainey, I put it in cold and have never tried warming it up. When I eat leftovers, I warm everything up the meat, potatoes, and beans and then add the cottage cheese, avocado, jalapeños, and pickled onions.