I have some very important information to share with you.
I’m on a no pie diet. The importance of that statement can’t be questioned.
Does this mean you won’t see sweet recipes? Nope, it just means I’m going to bake and eat brownies, cookies, and homemade pop-tarts instead. Pie baking is saved for special occasions only (otherwise my thighs would hate me). Wait, my half-birthday is coming up! That’s a special occasion… right? More pie please!
Focus Monique. Obviously we’re not talking about anything sweet here. What we are talking about is a Sweet Potato & Chicken Mexican Stir-Fry that you’ll want every day for the rest of your life. Facts only.
Alright I’m a bit dramatic, but regular chicken stir-frys just don’t do it for me. How about the stir-frys at chinese restaurants? NO WAY! I think of those as science experiments. Think about it, they sit under heat lamps for hours! Who knows what’s lurking in that bright red sweet and sour sauce. (Seriously, how is it so red)? Another thing that’s upsetting? Searching for chicken between thick inches of fried batter in your stir-fry. I feel like my arteries are screaming at me to stop.
I’ll admit all that talk about chinese buffets is a bit hypocritical of me, but only because I just confessed to eating this lemon pie last week. My arteries probably hated that too. Whatever, pie is good and fun! Trashing up your stir fry is fun too. Yep I said trashing. We’re putting whatever we can find in it. We’re making it our own! Don’t you know that sexy, spicy, dirty, trashy stir-fry is the only way to go?!
Too many adjectives? Too many ingredients? You’ll just have to deal with it because that’s how I make recipes around here. Mexican stir-fry? Sounds good to me. Putting it in tacos? Complete meal. Important: do not run out of tequila. Drinking wine with tacos isn’t the same.
Usually I get recipe ideas two ways 1) spending hours in the grocery store (heaven), or 2) looking through my refrigerator to see what needs to be used. I threw this recipe together from with a bunch of spices and sweet potatoes.
So, what’s in that fridge of yours? Take a look!
It’s time to be an equal opportunity stir-fry lover.
Did that even make sense? Probably not. It’s not a membership, it just means we put the unusual in… you know to make it incredible and such. Stir-frys go with anything. I enjoy making them mexican. To me, everything is good when it’s made mexican. I’ve got an obsessed with spices and cilantro that can’t be tamed. Of course either can my need to consume margaritas with all mexican meals. Shocker.
There’s so many ways to eat this! You could serve it on top of quinoa (healthy), or spicy spanish potatoes (mexican twice… obvious yes), add in black beans and corn (easy), or stuff it in enchiladas (I think we’re soul mates)! Or you just can pack it inside of a warm tortilla.
Do whatever! This is your stir-fry and you can trash it up just how you like.
Sweet Potato & Chicken Mexican Stir-Fry
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
- 1 white onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 orange pepper, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
- 1 can of diced tomatoes (fire-roasted is good), drained
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus additional for serving
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Put sweet potato in small pot with enough cold water to just cover them. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat and cook about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.
- Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and place chicken in a bowl.
- Return pan to heat and add remaining teaspoon of oil. Stir in onion, jalapeno pepper, bell peppers, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and oregano. Cook to soften, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes.
- Stir in chicken and cook for an additional minute.
- Add sweet potato and can of drained tomatoes and cook again, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro, salt, and black pepper.
I made this last night – excellent. I did not have a jalepeno so I used more red pepper flakes. I did not have cilantro so I used the juice and rind of a lime. Very, very good. My only question is – how much sweet potato is “two potatoes”. They come in differnt sizes, as we know. I happened to have two on hand – we are getting heavy rains here for the last two days – 4.5 inches as of this morning – and didn’t feel like going out. That is how I came upon this recipe. Anyway, they were pretty large. I was going to do a gound beef stuffng recipe but didn’t have the ingredients. So these potatoes were a bit more than I think what your “two” potatoes were. Maybe the potatoes can be in ounces/pounds. It was pretty “potatoey” but really really good. Thanks for a great recipe.
Hi, Karen! So happy to hear you loved this one 🙂 Great question about the sweet potatoes. 2 medium sweet potatoes should amount to roughly 3 cups of chopped sweet potatoes. Hope that helps!
We both like stir-fry anything. I was surprised to see this recipe so we tried it. My wife is terminally on a diet so we modified a little to make it with ingredients that her diet allows. It was delicious! Will definitely make again.
I’m glad it worked out well! Such a great dinner 🙂
Hi, I posted a similar recipe which I had found in Prevention magazine. I used the picture of your recipe and have mentioned it on my blog. Thanks.
http://www.slimnhappy.com/chicken-and-sweet-potato-stir-fry-recipe/
Just made this for dinner, it is great!! Thanks for the great recipe!
Love it! Very tasty and filling. Great idea to add all the peppers. I used russet potato instead of the sweet, just cause my family wouldn’t eat it with the sweet potato. Thanks!
This looks so good!
Tried this last night and it was delicious! Only because it’s impossible for me not to tinker with recipes, I added black beans, sliced avocado, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice and put everything on top of a toasted corn tortilla. Great dinner and now I’m eating it for leftovers! I also linked this page back to my blog (http://mydietrules.wordpress.com). I’m new at blogging and not sure of the etiquette, so I hope this is okay!
I WANNA TRY THIS.
Just used this mix + quinoa to make stuffed peppers. SO good!
Monique –
I am SO impressed with your blog! I completely found it by accident, but I’m so glad that I did. I made this recipe two nights ago and loved it. I have some issues with cubing, but other than my oddly-shaped sweet potatoes it turned out fantastic! Planning to make one of your cupcake recipes tonight. Thank you for the inspiration!
Jenna, so happy to have you! Glad you loved the sweet potatoes stir fry too. Cubing them can be a bit of a hassle, I agree.
Which cupcakes are you planning to make?!
The strawberry white chocolate coconut ones. They look way too good! But really, I had no idea you were such a chef – this is awesome! I’ve been telling my coworkers to check out your blog too. They “ooh”ed in amazement when I whipped out the mexican stir fry left overs (I never ever cook so on top of gawking over the smell, they were seriously impressed that I was in the kitchen long enough to make it). Remember to give Rockford a shout out some day when you’re on Top Chef! 😉 And please keep the posts coming! Love it. Good luck in your competition!
I am definitely going to make this tonight, I was thinking something along these lines, then saw your recipe! I pretty much always have those ingredients on hand 🙂
Oh this looks DIVINE! Thanks for inspiring what looks to be a beautiful, amazing dinner tomorrow night! I wouldn’t have thought of sweet potato, can’t wait!
Hope you enjoyed Meg!