I’m loving these one skillet meals not only because they’re so easy to make, but because they’re so easy to eat. Instead of filling my plate with a main dish and a couple of sides, This Chorizo Sweet Potato Skillet has everything I need in one bowl. Carbs, fiber, protein, vegetables, and CHEESE. Ha, just kidding about needing the cheese (not kidding).
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Anyway. Since making my Chorizo & Sweet Potato Enchiladas over three years ago, I’ve been in love with the sweet and spicy combo of chorizo and sweet potatoes. Spicy Mexican Chorizo and the subtle sweetness of sweet potatoes go so incredibly well together and I just can’t get enough of it. So, for this skillet meal I paired up the famous flavor duo and cooked them together with rice, black beans, and salsa (the same method used for the Southwest Chicken Skillet). I don’t know if there’s an easier way to pack in so much flavor with so little effort.
And, BONUS, this one freezes super duper well, so it’s a great candidate for stocking your freezer with ready to reheat meals!
Chorizo Sweet Potato Skillet
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.13)
- 1 sweet potato (1 lb.) ($1.50)
- 1/2 lb. Mexican chorizo ($2.75)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($0.59)
- 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice ($0.33)
- 1 cup salsa (red or green) ($0.46)
- 1.75 cup chicken broth ($0.23)
- 1 cup shredded cheese ($0.90)
- 2-3 green onions, sliced ($0.20)
Instructions
- Peel and dice the sweet potato into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes (size matters, make them small). Sauté the sweet potato cubes in a large skillet with olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes have softened about half way through (they’ll cook more later).
- Add the chorizo to the skillet (squeeze it out of its casing if it came in links) with the sweet potatoes. Sauté the chorizo and sweet potatoes together, breaking the chorizo up into small pieces as it browns.
- Once the chorizo is fully browned, pour off any excess grease if needed. Rinse and drain the black beans. Add the beans, salsa, and uncooked rice to the skillet. Stir them into the sweet potatoes and chorizo until everything is well combined.
- Add the chicken broth, stir briefly, then place a lid on the skillet. Allow the contents of the skillet to come up to a boil, then turn the heat down to low. Let the skillet simmer on low for 30 minutes. Make sure it is simmering the whole time (you should be able to hear it quietly simmer away). If it is not, turn the heat up slightly.
- After 30 minutes the rice should be tender and have absorbed all of the liquid. Turn off the heat, fluff the mixture, sprinkle the cheese on top, then return the lid to trap the residual heat and help the cheese melt. Slice the green onions while the cheese is melting, then sprinkle them on top and serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Chorizo Sweet Potato Skillet – Step by Step Photos
First, peel and cut the sweet potato into 1/2-3/4 inch cubes. The easiest way to do this is to first peel the sweet potato, cut the sweet potato into rounds, then cut the rounds into cubes. If a few of your rounds are about the same size, you can stack them before cutting them crosswise into cubes. Making the cubes too big will prevent them from cooking through completely, so make sure not to go any larger than about 3/4 inch.
Sauté the sweet potato cubes in a large skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat for about five minutes. You want them to cook about half way through at this point. You’ll notice that they turn a little bit darker and slightly translucent as they begin to soften.
This is the type of chorizo I use. I only used 1/2 lb. for the entire recipe! Johnsonville is a large national brand and is available in most major super markets. It’s basically just pork sausage seasoned with Mexican spices. If buying another brand, make sure to check the ingredients and package well because not all chorizo is created equal (I bought some in a “tube” once and it was VERY fatty and not very pleasant). If your chorizo comes in links, simply squeeze the ground meat out of the casing.
Add the chorizo to the skillet and continue to sauté until the chorizo is fully browned. If your chorizo has let off a lot of grease, you may want to drain it from the skillet at this point (mine did not).
Next add one cup of your favorite salsa, one 15-oz. can of black beans (rinsed and drained), and one cup uncooked long grain white rice. You can use either green or red salsa, they both work great! Now stir these all together with the chorizo and sweet potatoes until everything is evenly mixed.
Lastly, add 1.75 cups of chicken broth to the skillet. Give it a quick stir.
Place the lid on the skillet and allow it to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer, with the lid on, for 30 minutes. Make sure you can hear it simmering the whole time. Every range will have its “sweet spot” heat setting where the skillet will be simmering, but not so hot that the bottom scorches. Mine is just slightly above the low setting. Using a thick, heavy skillet will help it to cook thoroughly and evenly, too. (This is what it looks like AFTER simmering.) After 30 minutes, the rice should be tender and all of the liquid absorbed. If it isn’t, cover it back up and let it go for another 5-10 minutes. Like I said, every skillet/range is different. If the heat was set too low, it will take just a bit longer. If it was too high, it may be sticking to the bottom of the skillet.
Once the rice is tender and has absorbed all the liquid, turn off the heat and fluff it up with a fork to mix the ingredients back together.
Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top, then cover it back up with the lid. This will trap the residual heat and melt the cheese.
Slice the green onions while the cheese is melting, then sprinkle them on top.
Boxed skillet meals ain’t got nuthin’ on this Chorizo Sweet Potato Skillet!
Oh man, I already want to make a second batch!
This is a bit of a silly question, but when you say “large skillet,” how large are we talking? Like roughly how many inches wide and deep?
Probably about 14 inches across and a few inches deep. It should be big enough to hold about 6 cups of liquid. If you don’t have a skillet big enough, you can actually make this in a pot, too. :)
OMG!!! I’ve been cubing my sweet potatoes the hard way! Thanks for the tip!
I just made this tonight and I am in love. I was super sick this week and beyond tired. It was super easy, and omg tasty. After not eating for a week, I destroyed three helpings of this over the evening. I want to freeze some for later, but I have a feeling it will be gone by tomorrow. Thank you so much.
I made this last night it was amazing! I will say, reading through the comments made me happy I live in an area where chorizo is plentiful and cheap. My chorizo came in a 12 oz package and I used the whole thing. I used red salsa because that’s what I had on hand. It all came together beautifully and my husband loved it. I will definitely be making this again! Thanks so much!
I’m Mexican American , was raised on chorizo con papas this variation with sweet potatoe is brilliant , totally de-ricouz!
I have tried several variations on this, since Mexican chorizo doesn’t seem to be available up north.
I tried with ground italian sausage, but the flavours were definitely wrong and the consistency was quite slimy. I tried with portuguese chorizo and it was still not great. In my opinion, the best experiment was with Spanish dry chorizo.
This was great, and you’ve given yet another recipe where my husband actually ate beans which he normally avoids like the plague!
What would be a good sub for Chorizo? I went to four markets and couldn’t find any of ANY brand.
Some people have used spicy Italian sausage and said that they liked it, but I think I would just use some plain ground pork and add some southwest spices (like a taco seasoning or something similar).
I’ve been wanting to try this ever since I came across it the other day. Trying to find fresh Chorizo is like looking for a needle in the hay stack! Took 3 grocery stores before I finally found something close enough – Spanish sausage, half-dry cured. I’m doubting it’ll crumble, but will it still work in this recipe? I’m thinking of cubing it very small, like the sweet potato.
Actually, Spanish chorizo is quite different than Mexican chorizo… it’s more like salami and less like fresh sausage. You might be able to cube it small like you said, then fry it up a bit, but it will definitely be different.
Well, I made it last night, and it was amazing! Everyone (dh and 2 dd) raved about it, and I was told to put this recipe on the “keep” list. I wonder if I can substitute ground chicken and Chorizo spices for the actual Chorizo sausage. Any idea of what spices make up the wonderful Chorizo flavor?
A friend sent a Facebook query out last night asking “what’s for dinner?”. I posted the link to this recipe, and it got a lot of attention! :D
Actually, I just did a search, and found a Chorizo spice recipe here: http://honestcooking.com/authentic-homemade-mexican-chorizo/
Gotta try it!
Perfect recipe to satisfy a Mexican/Southwest craving in a pretty healthy way! I made it vegetarian (vegetable broth and Trader Joe’s Soyrizo). I took a chance and used Minute Maid brown rice (only rice I had and didn’t feel like buying more). I didn’t change measurements/times for anything and it actually turned out fine! I made it for myself and will happily eat it for lunch and dinner for the next few days.
I made it last night, and I was stunned by how wonderful it was (but then every single recipe of yours is). My husband isn’t too keen on sweet potatoes, I love them, and we were both blissfully happy tucking in. I had to replace the sausages with hot Spanish sausages because in food desert Germany I couldn’t get hold of chorizo, and I just used red salsa, and it was amazing. I was hoping I could have the leftovers for lunch, but guess who carried them out of the house this morning with a stupid grin on his face >:-(?
This was easy and absolutely delicious. It was super creamy, like Risotto as others mentioned. I’d call it “Southwest Risotto”.
Just made this for dinner and oh…my…god it is amazing! I tried it with a drained can of corn as my 5 year old loves corn in everything and it was fantastic. Thank you so much for your website. It feeds us well!
Just made this as the first recipe I’ve tried from this site, pretty happy with the result even though I made a few mistakes (can’t find Black Beans in Australia for some reason) but it was so easy. Can’t wait to try more!
OMG. soooooooooo good. so so so good! :)