Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Barbecue Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes


I've fallen in love with baked sweet potatoes. It's been a long time since I've had a regular baked potato because I really prefer these. There is a sweetness and flavor that you can't get with regular potatoes. They are equally great with savory or sweet toppings! Can't imagine trying to put brown sugar and marshmallows on a baked white potato. Gross. But sweet potatoes can handle it.

This time of year can be a little annoying because the produce selection starts to look sparse/sad, but sweet potatoes really help. Can you tell I'm a fan? Ok, I'll move on.

I guess this would be a good time to tell you about the 'interesting' food I made a few years ago. You know just before you move and you're trying to eat most of your food and don't want to buy more because you'll just have to move it? Well, all I had for a few days were tortillas, onions, and some olive oil. Broil that for a few minutes and voila! Believe it or not, it wasn't the worst thing I've made. It did get old, though. And I was still single. I doubt I'd be able to get away with that nowadays.

I made a homemade barbecue sauce for these and will get that recipe up for you soon. Meanwhile, use what you already love.

You could easily use a rotisserie chicken here which will make this meal much quicker to toss together. But my directions will give you leftovers. Pick your poison I guess.

I'm not the type that gets really into Halloween, so I guess this is my contribution. At least they're a beautiful orange color...and the barbecue sauce looks annoyingly like blood. 

Barbecue Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Serves 4-6

3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cups chicken broth or water
1 cup barbecue sauce (homemade or store bought), plus more for serving
1 bulb of garlic
Olive oil
4 large sweet potatoes
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Place chicken and broth in slow cooker for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. Shred chicken with two forks and return to cooker. Add 1 cup barbecue sauce, stir, and let cook on low for another 30 minutes.

About 2 hours before serving, preheat oven to 375 F.

Cut the cone shaped top off the garlic bulb so the top of the cloves are exposed. You can leave the outer papery skin on. Place on a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, and wrap tightly into a packet. Place on a baking sheet large enough to hold the garlic and sweet potatoes.

Scrub sweet potatoes under running water and pierce each potato with fork in multiple places. Place on the baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Check the garlic and sweet potatoes to see if tender with a fork after 1 hour.

Remove from oven and set aside until cool enough to handle. Unwrap garlic to cool as well.

Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, you can hold the garlic from the bottom and squeeze out the roasted garlic from the exposed top into a large food processor bowl. (If you've never worked with roasted garlic, it should look like a creamy puree and squeeze out easily.)

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out flesh from inside, leaving a small amount around the edges so the remaining shell holds its shape. Add the cooked flesh to a large food processor bowl with the roasted garlic, syrup, and vinegar. Process until smooth. Stir the cranberries in by hand.

Fill the shells with the sweet potato puree and top with shredded chicken (there will be plenty left over) and additional barbecue sauce. Serve hot.

These make a great lunch the next day!

Pinit

20 comments:

  1. sally @ sallys baking addictionNov 1, 2012, 8:35:00 PM

    Hi Loretta! What a creative recipe - i sincerely LOVE sweet potatoes! And BBQ chicken is my preferred way to eat it. I have to try this out - stuffing sweet potatoes is the best!

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  2. I'm so with you on this one, Sally!

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  3. YUM!! This looks amazing - BBQ is one of our favorites, I'll bet this is a fabulous combo :)

    Becca @ Crumbs and Chaos

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  4. Thanks Becca! I agree. There's nothing like BBQ:-)

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  5. This looks fantastic! I can't believe I have never made anything with sweet potatoes before!

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    1. Well, I think it's about time you changed that! Thanks Cathleen!

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  • I have an addiction to sweet potatoes, but I don't think I've ever had a stuffed on like this! It sounds amazing!

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    1. I'm totally with you Deborah! Another way I like to have them is shredded and pan-fried like hash browns with eggs. They don't crisp up as much as regular potatoes, but they're better, in my opinion.

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