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).
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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
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!
All I can find at my local grocery store is Cacique Pork Chorizo in a tube. I am wondering if this is the “tube” chorizo you mention? Should I try it anyway or will I be really disappointed?
Thanks!
I’m not sure if that’s the same brand of “tube” chorizo I had or not, but I do know that Johnsonville chorizo is great!
I’ve used that tube before
You’ll be disappointed
Ton of grease and meat pretty much melts away
I’ve made this dish at least a couple dozen times it’s best with chorizo but I’ve used Italian sausage plenty of times and it still delicious
I’d avoid cacique
I second this. I’m making this dish right now using cacique and it doesn’t look right, and is fairly greasy. Will try this again with another brand.
this is SO good! I made it for dinner 3 nights ago, and I’m still thinking about it!
This is a great recipe. I’ve made it many times and it’s always a favorite. I’m vegetarian, so using Trader Joe’s “Soyrizo” is the only change I make. It’s simple and hearty and I’d recommend it to anyone!
Thanks, Megan. I’m a vegetarian as well and have one of TJ’s Soyrizo on hand, so I thought I would try it out. Glad to know that you recommend it!
This turned out delicious! I subbed quinoa for the rice and used red salsa since it’s what I had already. This was my first time using chorizo for anything and it added a lot of good flavour. Will definitely make again!
I’ve made this recipe PLENTY of times now. I like using Pace Peach Mango salsa. Keeps that whole spicy/sweet thing going. Delicious.
This recipe is delicious! I had to make it quickly between getting home from work, and my sons soccer game. I cut down the time by microwaving the cubed sweet potato for five minutes before adding it to the skillet, and cooking the rice in the chicken broth separately while everything else was cooking in the skillet. Then I added the rice to the other ingredients and finished off with the cheese.
This Recipe is absolutely amazing…it is a regular in my kitchen for sure. Have tried it with quinoa as well and it was also delicious!
I love how simple and quick this meal was. Usually even the simplest prep takes me longer than most people (like chopping onions or any other vegetable). I love that the sweet potato prep was really the only thing I had to do and it is always easier to peel and chop than a regular potato. This was my first time making/eating chorizo and it was so very delicious. My grocery store had johnsonville chorizo but luckily for me it was packaged like ground beef so I didn’t have to worry about the hastle of messing with the casing. Such a great combination of flavors. I will definitely be making this again!
This has become one of my husband’s favorite meals. This morning, we each had a half serving with a poached egg, some avocado and little hot sauce on top – so good!
On the stove now!! I love having meals full of protein with left overs for the week!
AMAZING and EASY! What a combo! I am vegetarian and used the veggie chorizo from Trader Joe’s…tasted awesome! Would highly recommend this 1 pot meal! Next time I am going to add some roasted corn. Thanks for another amazing recipe!!!
Just wanted to let you know I made this last night, substituting the chorizo with leftover spicy pulled pork from your other recipe and it absolutely kicks ass. Easy to make, easy to store, super cheap.
10/10 would recommend.
If I wanted to use poblano peppers instead of salsa verde how much do you think I would need?
I don’t think you can do a clean swap with that because you’ll be missing a lot of the liquid from the salsa, as well as some of the other flavors that are in the salsa.
Made this tonight with brown rice. I probably undercooked the rices a bit but everything was excellent.
Made this last night, but substituted Mexican Queso Fresco for the Cheddar cheese (TRY THIS, QUESO FRESCO IS SO GOOD) and added some fresh jalapeno on top because I have an unhealthy heat addiction. I also added some garden tomatoes with the salsa/rice/beans.
For dinner last night…it was good but not my favorite dish–honestly I’d give it a 3.5/5. Maybe its better with da cheddar. But it almost felt like all of the flavors were clashing too much and I couldn’t taste the complexity… BUT–
After letting it sit in the fridge overnight the flavors really mellowed and came together. Definitely a 5/5. I love the sweetness of the potatoes with the spicy, hearty sausage. Gonna try it like a hash with fried egg for breakfast sometime soon.
meant to rate this 5/5…