Sweet Potato Bowl with Carne Asada

Brimming with lots of southwest flavor, my sweet potato bowl with carne asada makes for a filling, healthy and deliciously zesty meal. Prepared with smoky-spiced, roasted sweet potatoes, juicy marinated skirt steak, blistered shishito peppers, black beans, charred tomatoes and chipotle garlic sauce, this sweet potato bowl is a little flavor party in every bite!

A Zesty Sweet Potato Bowl with Lots of Southwest Flavor

Mildly spicy, warming, bold and zesty bowls are always a delicious and fun option when it comes to meal time.

I just love piling all sorts of colorful morsels into a bowl and enjoying forkfuls of various textures and flavors, each bite containing a little flavor surprise!

While we’ve thoroughly been enjoying my chicken burrito bowl recipe when we crave something zesty, our latest favorite bowl recipe to enjoy is this sweet potato bowl with carne asada, a terrific little combination of seasoned roasted sweet potatoes with a bit of smokiness to them, plus tender and juicy carne asada marinated in a bit of citrus and warming spices.

We also really enjoy the flavor of shishito peppers that are quickly blistered in a hot pan, as well as charred tomatoes, avocado, and a spoonful of black beans.

Drizzled with chipotle garlic sauce, this zesty sweet potato bowl recipe has all the southwest flavor we just can’t get enough of in a meal like this, with each bite a party for the tastebuds and a colorful feast for the eyes!

My Recipe for Sweet Potato Bowls with Carne Asada

There are just a few components to this zippy sweet potato bowl, and each is pretty quick and easy to prep.

Marinating the skirt steak allows for good flavor and juiciness once the meat is grilled, so I like to marinate the steak in a combination of lime juice, spices, and garlic before a trip to my grill pan.

And since sweet potatoes are such terrific canvases, I sprinkle on some warming, mildly smokey spices, then simply roast those off in the oven.

Shishito peppers are the small, mild little peppers that you often see in a cello bag, and they're terrific when blistered in a small amount of oil in a hot skillet for about 2 to 3 minutes.

To keep with that smoky theme, I even add a handful of halved cherry tomatoes into the same hot skillet after the peppers come out to give those a char and make them juicy and sweet. I even mix up a mildly spicy chipotle garlic sauce as a topper!

Here's a glance at my sweet potato bowl with carne asada recipe: (or just jump to the full recipe...)

1. To get started, I marinate my skirt steak and set that aside for a while.
2. Next, I season my sliced sweet potatoes and place them into the oven to roast.
3. While the potatoes roast, I mix up my chipotle garlic sauce, blister my shishito peppers and char my tomatoes, then set those aside.
4. Then, I grill my skirt steak until caramelized, and dice it into bite-size pieces.
5. To assemble my sweet potato bowl, I spoon a generous amount of sweet potatoes into a bowl, then add some skirt steak, some shishito peppers and tomatoes, some avocado, and a spoonful of black beans, top with chipotle garlic sauce, Cotija cheese and cilantro, and enjoy!

Recipe

Sweet Potato Bowl with Carne Asada

by Ingrid Beer

Print Recipe

This sweet potato bowl with carne asada is brimming with blistered shishito peppers, charred tomatoes, chipotle garlic sauce and black beans!

Category: Entree
Cuisine: Southwest

Yield: Serves 4

Nutrition Info: 1024 calories per bowl (with 2 tablespoons of chipotle garlic sauce)

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Sweet Potato Bowl Ingredients:

• 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon granulated onion
• ½ teaspoon coriander
• ¼ – ½ teaspoon chipotle powder (depending on desired level of spiciness)
• 1 ½ pounds skirt steak
• Avocado or olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Zest and juice of 1 lime
• 8 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
• 2 ½ pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into semi-circles or large dice
• 12 shishito peppers, washed and dried
• 8 ounces grape tomatoes, halves
• 1 cup black beans
• 1 avocado, sliced
• Cotija cheese, cilantro, lime wedges, as garnish

Chipotle Garlic Sauce Ingredients:

• ½ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
• 1 to 2 chipotle peppers (depending on desired level of spiciness)
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce from chipotle peppers (more or less depending on desired level of spiciness)
• Lime juice from ½ lime
• Zest from ½ lime
• Salt

Preparation:

1. Begin by gathering and prepping all of your sweet potato bowl ingredients according to the ingredient list above to have ready and organized for use.
2. To a ramekin or small dish, add the smoked paprika, cumin, granulated garlic and onion, coriander and chipotle powder, and mix with a fork to combine. Reserve 1 teaspoon of this spice mix and set it aside to season the sweet potatoes with.
3. Add the skirt steak to a large bowl or glass dish, and sprinkle the remaining spice mixture over the meat, and drizzle in about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the avocado oil, a generous couple of sprinkles of salt and pepper, the zest and juice of 1 lime, plus the pressed garlic, and rub this seasoning into the meat to coat it well. Set the steal aside to marinate while you prep the other ingredients.
4. Preheat your oven to 400°, and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
5. Next, add your sliced or diced sweet potatoes to a large bowl, and drizzle in about 1 to 2 tablespoons of the avocado oil, and sprinkle in the reserved 1 teaspoon of seasoning mix. Add in a couple of good pinches of salt and pepper as well, as toss the sweet potatoes in the seasoning to coat.
6. Turn the seasoned sweet potatoes out onto your prepared baking sheet in a single layer, and roast for 25 to 35 minutes, until easily pierced with a paring knife or fork.
7. While the sweet potatoes roast, gather and prep your chipotle garlic sauce ingredients according to the ingredient list above to have ready and organized for use.
8. To prep the sauce, add all ingredients to a bowl, and mix together with a whisk or spoon until completely combined and blended. Keep the sauce cold in the fridge (you can place it into a squeeze bottle, if you'd like).
9. Next, place a grill pan or cast iron skillet over high heat, and drizzle in about 1 to 2 teaspoons of the oil. Once very hot, add in the shishito peppers in a single layer (work in batches, if necessary), and allow them to char/blister on that first side for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the peppers to allow them to blister on the second side for another couple of minutes, then remove from skillet and sprinkle with salt. Set aside.
10. Into the same skillet or grill pan, add the halved grape tomatoes, and allow those to char and soften slightly for roughly 1 to 1 /2 minutes, then sprinkle with salt and spoon into a dish to hold.
11. To grill the skirt steak, add the skirt steak to the grill pan or cast iron skillet and sear for about 3 minutes per side, or until cooked through to your liking. Set the carne asada aside and allow it to rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then slice or cut into small cubes.
12. To assemble the sweet potato bowls, add some of the roasted sweet potatoes to a shallow bowl, and top with some of the carne asada. Add three blistered shishito peppers, a spoonful of the charred tomatoes, a couple of spoonfuls of the black beans and some avocado slices, and drizzle over some of the chipotle garlic sauce.
13. Garnish with Cotija cheese, cilantro and lime wedges, and enjoy.

Tips & Tidbits for my Sweet Potato Bowl with Carne Asada recipe:

• Skirt steak or flank steak for carne asada: Typically, either skirt steak or flank steak are used to make carne asada, and I'm opting for skirt steak here. Skirt steak is a thin, lean cut of beef which grills up quickly, and absorbs the flavors in a marinade really well. It's also easy to slice into strips or on the bias. But you can use any steak you prefer, even ribeye, New York strip, or your favorite!
• Shishito peppers, or sweet, mini peppers: Shishito peppers are just a fun and tasty little pepper, blistering up quickly in a hot skillet with a small amount of oil added. They're typically very mild, but as with any pepper, can occasionally have a mildly spicy one in the batch. If you prefer, you can use the mini red, yellow or orange sweet peppers as a substitute.
• Roast your sweet potatoes for more flavor: Sweet potatoes do really well when roasted in the oven, so I simply season them with spices and place them in a single layer onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet to roast. Just be aware of the fact that they can be a bit quicker to roast than traditional potatoes, about 25 to 30 minutes. The result is tender, sweet-savory, and delectable!

Craving more zesty recipes like this? Check out this Chicken Burrito Bowl, this Mexican Lasagna, these Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Chili Cheese, this Sweet Potato Chili, this Southwest Stuffed Chicken, or this Southwest Sweet Potato Casserole with Chorizo!