What’s your favorite way to eat sweet potatoes? When I was young, I think we only ate sweet potatoes once each year. Every Thanksgiving we’d dump the canned variety into a casserole dish, sprinkle them with brown sugar, top them with mini marshmallows and pop the whole thing in the oven. Pretty much anything topped with melted marshmallows is good but now that I’ve learned my way around the kitchen, I’ve learned that sweet potatoes are far more versatile.One of my favorite ways to eat them is baked and stuffed with shredded BBQ chicken. The baking of the potatoes can be a lengthy process, though, so I recently developed an Instant Pot version of one of my favorite meals and I’m sharing it with you today. This BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potato Casserole is a hearty comfort food dinner that’s perfect for fall, or any season of the year, really. It combines tangy pulled BBQ chicken with tender sweet potato bites and savory melted cheese. This is a quick and simple meal that you can easily have on the table in under an hour.
So, what keeps you busy on the weeknights? School events? Dance classes? Soccer carpool? It’s all of those things and more for our busy family. That, my friends, is why I’ve made close friends with my Instant Pot lately. When I recruit its services in the making of dinner, I can easily get a healthy and wholesome meal on the table in under an hour. This BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potato Casserole is no exception. Seldom does so quickly a prepared meal come with a huge payoff in the taste category but this one does just that. Your whole family will lick their plates clean, should you decide to serve this for dinner one night this week.
This meal will be made all the better if you start with a quality bottle of barbecue sauce. We like to use Stubbs Original because it’s low in sugar but also very tasty. If you have a local favorite, use that. If not, aim for one that has 5 or fewer grams of sugar per serving. You can rely on the sweet potatoes in this recipe to counterbalance a touch of spicy heat that you might find in your barbecue sauce; no need to add unnecessary sugar with an overly sweet barbecue sauce.
You’ll also want to pick up some white cheddar if that’s not a staple item in your household. I opt for white because a) the color combo on this dish is amazing and b) generally speaking, I find it to be a bit more sharp than typical cheddar. Serve this BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potato Casserole with cornbread muffins and I promise your family will be begging you to make it again and again.
Yield: 6
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium red onion
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 2 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 18 oz. jar barbecue sauce
- 1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cups sliced green onions for garnish
Instructions
With a sharp knife, thinly slice the onion.
Peel the sweet potatoes and dice them into 1/4" cubes.
Turn the Instant Pot on and set it to the saute function. Add olive oil to the hot pot and allow it to coat the bottom before adding the sliced onions. Saute the onions until translucent. Add whole chicken breasts and diced sweet potatoes to onion mixture and stir to combine. Pour in one bottle of barbecue sauce.
Cover the Instant Pot and lock the lid into place, ensuring that the valve is set to "steam." Adjust the cooking mode to manual and set the timer to twenty minutes. At the end of the cooking time, allow the Instant Pot to naturally depressurize for ten minutes. At the end of the ten minutes, move the nozzle to "vent" to release any remaining pressure. Unlock the lid and remove it.
Remove the chicken breasts and finely shred the meat with two forks.
Return shredded chicken to Instant Pot and stir to combine. Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese evenly on top of chicken and sweet potato mixture. Return cover and allow the Instant Pot to remain in warming mode for five minutes to melt the cheese.
Garnish with green onions if desired before serving.
Notes
It's important to ensure that you dice the sweet potatoes to 1/4" cubes. If they are larger, they make take longer to cook. Also, thicker barbecue sauces may slow cooking time and result in the need for additional cooking time or additional liquid to thin the sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 254Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 196mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 22g
You might also enjoy:
Instant Pot Chicken Tamale Chowder
