Air Fryer Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chickpeas & Spinach

 Air fryer stuffed sweet potatoes with chickpeas and spinach, topped with a herby yoghurt dressing. A healthy meal cooked entirely in the air fryer (or in an oven). 

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Air Fryer Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chickpeas & Spinach

My air fryer sits in pride of place on my worktop. 

That may not sound unusual, but if you have a very small kitchen like mine then you have to choose carefully which appliances or gadgets take up that precious space.

I made room for the air fryer and I'm using it a lot.

My latest recipe is these air fryer stuffed sweet potatoes with chickpeas and spinach.

The whole meal is cooked in the air fryer. 

It's healthy, vegan, and tastes really good.

Also, try roast potatoes in the air fryer. No parboiling and flavoured with a little garlic.

Which type of air fryer?

There are two main types of air fryer. 

They are both good and it can be a personal preference, but I've owned and used both, so I will give you my thoughts.

1. Deep drawer air fryer 

These have one pull out deep drawer and were the original air fryer type.

They are great to use, especially if you make a lot of chips, as you can cram a lot in there.

You have to be quite clever to cook more than one item and layer things up with shelves or some other separator, but they don't always come with them.

2. Front-opening air fryer with shelves

This is my personal choice of air fryer as the shelves make it easy to cook various things at once, or you can take them out and use other cake tins or baking trays, like brownie pans. 

Anything that goes in the oven and will fit can be used.

Much more versatile.

Air fryers from Very.co.uk

My latest air fryer comes from Very.co.uk.

You may think of them as an online fashion and beauty store, but they also have a wide range of homeware and kitchen products including air fryers.

They have a huge range of air fyers, health grills and one or two deep fat fryers, if that's your thing. 

Perfect if you want to treat yourself or buy gifts.

Some of the air fryers have one drawer: some have two: some have shelves and some that rotate as they cook. So much choice.

You can check them out here Deep Fat Fryers | Healthy Fryers | Very.co.uk

Recommended air fryer

After a good browse around Very.co.uk and based on my experience so far, I picked the Tower Xpress Pro Vortx 5-in-1 Digital Air Fryer Oven (11 Litres).

Here's why I love it and would recommend it.

1. It has a bright and easy to use digital screen - They kept it simple, the middle button switches it on and off, the arrows to the left move the temperature up and down and the arrows to the right increase or reduce the time. As easy as that.
2. It has clear glass door - So you can keep an eye on what you are cooking.
3. It has moveable shelves - so you can cook a few things at once and they are mesh, so whatever you are cooking will crisp up.
• It comes with 3 shelves and a tray.
• You can use other ovenproof dishes in the base or on one of the shelves.
4. Now bear with me for number 4 - It has a rotisserie fork, which is something I won't use as I cook vegan and you might not either, but do keep it as the attachment also fits an optional chip basket which rotates and I am told it's a very good buy.
5. It is easy to clean - The shelves can be hand washed or popped in the dishwasher to clean and the rest just needs a quick wipe.
6. It's quick too - Quicker than the oven.
7. It looks good on the worktop - It's a good looking piece of kit, so give it pride of place.

The benefits of an air fryer

There are several benefits to cooking in an air fryer from good health to lower costs.

Health benefits of an air fryer

1. You use less or no oil - when cooking, even foods you would normally deep or shallow fry like chips, roast poatotoes, sausages or burgers.
2. Safer than cooking with oil - there are not oil splatters, spills or oil setting light with an air fryer.
3. More nutrients - convection heat, which is used in an air fryer preserves more nutrients in food which can decrease with other cooking methods.

Money saving benefits of an air fryer

1. Cooks quicker - an air fryer cooks quicker than an oven so less power is used.
2. Uses less energy - much less than an oven, so saves money.

Lower energy costs of an air fryer

With enery bills soaring, we are all looking to reduce our energy usage, to try and reduce the spiralling bills and an air fryer can help.

Many websites and newspapers have run tests and they have all come to the conclusion that an oven costs nearly double for the same amount of cook time as an air fryer.

Of course,  an air fryer cooks quicker so the gap in costs is broadened further.

An air fryer is much more economical.

How to calculate the cost of running an air fryer compaired to an oven

Air fryer's vary in wattage, but always use significantly less power than an oven.

Here's how you work out the energy used.

Take the wattage of the air fryer or oven and multiply that by the hours you use it in a day. Divide that number by 1,000 and now you have the daily kilowatt-hour (kWh).

So my air fryer is one with a higher wattage of 2,000 watts (some are lower). If I use if for 30 minutes that is 1 kWh.

My oven is 3,000 watts. If I use it for the same dish it would probably take about 40 minutes which comes out at 1.98 kWh.

Average prices at the moment (June 2022) in the UK are about 28p per kWh, but that could go up in October. 

So cooking a dish for 30 minutes an air fryer (some are lower power and so cheaper) comes in at 28p.

Cooking the same dish in an oven (these also vary) comes in at 55p.

That's quite a difference and could really add up over the week, months and year.

If you fancy an air fryer, check out the range of air fryers at Very.co.uk.

Now let's get back to the dish.

Baking sweet potatoes in an air fryer

Baking potatoes and sweet potatoes both cook easily and quicker in an air fryer.

Large sweet potatoes take between 30-35 minutes and jacket potatoes take between 45 and 50 mintes in the air fryer.

Both shave about 10 minute or more of the time it would take in an oven.

Also, check out my air fryer roasted tomato sauce and 31 Easy Air Fryer Vegetable Recipes.

Preparing & cooking sweet potatoes

Here's how to prepare sweet potatoes for air frying.

1. Wash and dry them.
2. Prick them generously with a fork or knife.
3. Rub in some olive oil.
4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Optionally, you can sprinkle with herbs or spices to flavour the skin further.
6. Air fry on a shelf (or in the drawer) in your air fryer at 200c/400f for 30-35 minutes until soft.

Also try a traditional Scottish potato recipe called Rumbledethumps.

Chickpea & spinach filling

These air fry baked sweet potatoes are filled with a tasty tomato, chickpea and spinach filling.

This is tasty vegan filling is cooked in the air fryer, under the sweet potatoes, in a dish (I used a 20cm x 20 cm/ 8 inch x 8 inch approx) for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

You could of course cook these in the oven instead.

A super easy, healthy and tasty dinner.

Herby yoghurt topping

The stuffed potatoes are finished off with a cooling yoghurt topping.

I used Alpro Greek Style Yoghurt which is vegan, but you can use any plain or Greek Yoghurt.

I mixed it with herbs and garlic powder.

It was the perfect contrast to the rich chickpea sauce and the sweet potatoes.

What you need to make vegan stuffed sweet potatoes

Here are the simple ingredients you need to make these sweet baked tatties.

• Sweet potatoes
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• Chickpeas
• Spinach
• Tomato passata
• Tomato puree
• Chilli flakes
• Paprika
• Garlic powder
• Dried or fresh parsley
• Dried or fresh chives
• Greek yoghurt

More vegan sweet potato recipes

Here are a few more sweet potato recipes you might enjoy.

• Cajun Spiced Black Bean & Sweet Potato Burgers
• Roasted Sweet Potato & Falafel Couscous
• Sausage & Sweet Potato Bake
• Sweet Potato & Spinach Enchiladas
• Sweet Potato & Lentil Soup

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How to Make Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potatoes

Scroll down for step-by-step photos followed by a full printable recipe. If you don't have a printer, hit print then save as a PDF.

Step 1

• Prick the potatoes with a fork or knife, then rub with oil and season with salt and pepper before air frying.
• Add cooked (canned) chickpeas (garbanzo beans) to an ovenproof dish that fits in your air fryer. I used a brownie tin.
• Add washed and chopped spinach and passata.

Step 2

• Add the spices, herbs and seasoning.
• Mix well.

Step 3

• Add tomato puree to the chickpea mixture and mix in.
• Cook the chickpeas with the sweet potatoes for the last 20 minutes.

Step 4

• While that's all cooking, make your cooling yoghurt topping.
• Add the plain (or Greek youghurt) to a bowl and add the herbs and flavourings.
• Mix well and set aside.

Step 5

• Cut your potatoes and half, top with the chickpea mixture, then a generous dollop of the yoghurt topping.
• This recipes serves 4 for lunch or 2 for a hearty dinner.
• Enjoy!

sweet potatoes, vegan air fryer, air fryer recipe, baked sweet potatoes, stuffed sweet potatoes

dinner

British, vegan

Yield: 4

Author: Jacqueline Meldrum

Air Fryer Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chickpeas & Spinach

Air fryer stuffed sweet potatoes with chickpeas and spinach, topped with a herby yoghurt dressing. A healthy meal cooked entirely in the air fryer (or in an oven).

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 45 Min

Ingredients

Sweet Potatoes

• 4 large sweet potatoes
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• a pinch of salt and pepper

Chickpea Filling

• 240g (8 1/2 oz) cooked chickpeas (400g/14 oz tin drained)
• 1 large handful of spinach, rinsed and chopped
• 500g (2 1/4 cups) tomato passata (or chopped tomatoes)
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or granules)
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley (or small handful of fresh)
• pinch of salt and pepper

Topping

• 185g (1 cup) vegan Greek yoghurt
• 2 teaspoons dried chives (or a handful of fresh, chopped)
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley (or a small handful of fresh, chopped)

Instructions

1. Wash and dry the sweet potatoes and prick them with a fork or knife.
2. Rub with oil and season with salt and pepper, then cook in the air fryer (see oven times in notes below) for 35 minutes or until soft.
3. Add the chickpeas to an ovenproof dish that fits in your air fryer (I used a 20 cm x 20 cm (8 inch x 8 inch approx) brownie tin).
4. Add the passata, tomato puree, spinach, herbs, spices, salt and pepper and mix well.
5. Add the chickpea dish to the air fryer 10 minutes before the end of cook time.
6. Make up your yoghurt topping by mixing all the topping ingredients.
7. Serve up one or two sweet potatoes (depending on how hungry you are), topped with the chickpea mixture and finished with a generous dollop of the yoghurt topping.
8. Enjoy!

Notes

• First, figure out which dish will fit well for the chickpea mixture and where your shelf will be.
• You can also cook the potatoes and filling in the oven. It could take up to 10 minutes more for the potatoes and a few minutes more for the chickpea filling.
• Can also be served cold.
• The sweet potatoes can be cooked ahead in the air fryer (25 minutes) and kept in the fridge for a couple of days, then cooked with the filling for just 10 minutes.
• You can also make the yoghurt filling ahead of time and keep it in the fridge.
• If you are making this with large baking potatoes and not sweet potatoes, they could take an extra 10 minutes to cook.

Calories

Each stuffed and topped sweet potatoes = 427 calories

Nutrition Facts

Calories

427

Fat (grams)

2.16

Sat. Fat (grams)

0.3

Carbs (grams)

92.48

Fiber (grams)

17.38

Net carbs

75.13

Sugar (grams)

20.65

Protein (grams)

12.71

Sodium (milligrams)

230.32

Cholesterol (grams)

0

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Disclosure: I created this recipe for Very.co.uk. I was not expected to write a positive review and any opinions expressed are my own.