These pulled sweet potato tacos feature sweet potato cooked in spicy barbecue sauce, kale slaw, and tangy hemp cilantro lime sauce!
Ready for a meal that’ll satisfy your comfort food needs in the depths of winter? These Pulled Sweet Potato Tacos with Green Hemp Cream and Kale seriously do the trick! A couple of these tacos and a few episodes of The Office (or your favourite feel-good TV show) spells out bliss on a chilly night. I’m happy to announce that I am emerging from a slump that began over the holidays. Something about the frenzy of it all- and we don’t even go all-out at Christmas- put the brakes on my creative flow. Now that routine is once again present, I can feel my energy increasing and the inspiration to come up with new recipes and improve this space has returned.
Speaking of inspiration, the idea for this recipe came from a pulled sweet potato sandwich that I recently enjoyed at Pure Kitchen. While I’ve seen many recipes utilizing jackfruit for that ‘pulled meat’ effect, I’ve never tried making it myself, and we all know how obsessed I am with sweet potato (I feel like it’s more readily available in stores, too). Also, I’m definitely more of a taco gal than a sandwich gal, so I took the concept of pulled sweet potato, added lots of smoky and spicy barbecue flavours, whizzed up a cooling hemp-cilantro sauce with lime to provide flavour contrast, and even added a quick shredded kale slaw for your health! The flavours here are definitely southwestern, which is one of my favourite cuisines, especially when it’s so chilly outside!
I hope that 2019 has been treating you well so far. I’ve slowly been getting back into the running groove and am currently trying to decide between running a full marathon or a couple of half marathons in May. I’ve also been enjoying lots of yoga, HIIT, walking, and overall just embracing good people and good energy. School has started back up again, too, and although I’m not stoked about what I’m studying, I’m definitely enjoying the change of pace and am finding a lot more free time in my days to hit the pause button and relax- something I haven’t always been good at, but am always working on!
If you make these pulled sweet potato tacos, share a photo and tag me @upbeet.ktichen and #upbeetkitchen on Instagram!
Pulled Sweet Potato Tacos with Green Hemp Cream and Kale
These southwestern-inspired tacos will transport you from the depths of winter to warmer and sunnier climes! Sweet and spicy ‘pulled’ sweet potato stands in for pulled meat, while a cool and tangy cilantro hemp sauce brightens and cools the palate. A simple kale salad brings it all together and provides an extra boost of green nutrition!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings of 2-3 tacos each 1x
- Category: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
- Cuisine: American, Mexican
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Pulled Sweet Potato
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small red onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 6 cups packed shredded sweet potato (from about 2 large sweet potatoes)
- 3/4 cup barbecue sauce (preferably an organic vegan one)
- 3 tbsp hot sauce (I used Frank’s original)
Green Hemp Cream
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from 2–3 limes)
- 1/4 cup hemp hearts
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp chickpea or mellow white miso
- 1 medium clove of garlic
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1–2 tbsp water, to thin, as needed
Simple Shredded Kale
- 1 bunch kale, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup crumbled goat or sheep feta (optional)
Everything Else
- 8–12 6-inch wheat or corn tortillas of choice (I used sprouted wheat)
- 1 ripe avocado, sliced
- Hot sauce, for serving
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once oil is shimmering, add onion and garlic. Add salt and spices. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until lightly browned and fragrant.
- Add sweet potato. Cook for five minutes, stirring often to prevent sweet potato from sticking to the pan. Add barbecue sauce and hot sauce. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring often, until sweet potato has softened but still retains some crunch. Turn off stove and cover until ready to eat.
- Next, prepare the Green Hemp Cream by adding all ingredients into an upright blender and blending until smooth. You want the consistency of a creamy ranch dressing, so add water as needed until proper texture is achieved.
- Place the kale in a large bowl. Massage the olive oil into it until soft and bright green. Add lime juice and salt and massage again. Add feta, if using.
- Warm up tortillas on the stovetop or in a covered dish in a 300 F oven for 5 minutes right before serving.
- To serve, place desired amount of sweet potato, kale, and avocado on a tortilla and drizzle with cilantro cream and hot sauce.
Keywords: sweet potato tacos
Kelsey
These tacos are fabulous! My husband and kids have been complaining about all the bean dishes I’ve been making lately, so this was the perfect way to mix things up for them. The hemp sauce was really tasty. I have leftovers, so I’ll probably use it as a salad dressing!
★★★★★
Allison
That’s so kind of you, Kelsey! I really appreciate the feedback. 🙂