Inspired By Courtney Cook Here Are 3 Recipes That Take 4 Minutes And Involve Sweet Potatoes
Mmmmmm
by The Candidly Team
It’s nice to have things we can all agree on these days. And that Courtney Cook is adorable is seemingly one of them.
Courtney is a high school English teacher from Georgia who’s gained TikTok fame by sharing divinely simple, filling-looking lunches (and breakfasts, dinners, snacks, but her lunches are especially fun to watch). She has 2.9 million followers on TikTok, a slew of copycats testing her recipes, and even a couple TV appearances under her belt, all thanks in large part to one unlikely character that frequently appears in her videos:
The sweet potato.
Big, baked, juicy as a steak, and oft treated like a baguette or a burrito, the sweet potato Courtney totes with her to work is usually eaten on camera after mayyyybe 30 seconds of stuffing it with a filling, the most famous of which we’ll get to in a moment.
There’s one reason we think Courtney is holding her audience (us) so captive, that is, apart from her authentically sweet demeanor. We think it’s that both the meals she makes and the way she eats them sort of counters all the pressure, care, and control we feel around food as women. It isn’t that she’s going crazy on Pop-Tarts and foot-long subs. She’s making satiating superfoods like sweet potatoes, filling them with fats and proteins and enjoying every big, unapologetic bite. Is it all fitting perfectly within her recommended macros all the time? Maybe not. But there’s an underlying sense that food should make us full and there are more natural, speedy, and uncomplicated ways to feel that AND be healthy at the same time.
But enough of our philosophizing. Let’s get to those potatoes.
Why the sweet potato?
Ok, we lied. Before we talk about the recipes, we’re going to very, very quickly tell you why a sweet potato is such a healthful vessel for these on-the-go meals.
They have fiber, which 95% of Americans don’t eat enough of. Fiber leaves you satiated, while benefitting your heart and gut and potentially lowering your cancer risk.
They promote gut and intestinal health, giving gorgeous support to your digestive system.
They have lots and lots of vitamin A which is great for your immune system and your eye health.
They satisfy a sweet tooth with their natural sugars.
They’re a good source of potassium which can help with blood pressure.
The Recipes:
We should say that each one of these recipes involves a baked sweet potato, which can be kept in the fridge for 3-5 days if you want to prep them in advance. Courtney slow bakes her potatoes at 300°F in an air fryer or oven for 1-1.5 hours. You can also bake them for about 40 minutes at 425°F. Courtney says she leaves the potato for up to two hours in the oven after turning off the heat so it caramelizes and softens on the inside and is still a bit warm when she eats it, but you can also cool your potato and refrigerate for later.
1) The Viral Cheese-Stuffed Sweet Potato
Inspired by:
What you need:
1 cooked sweet potato,
1 block of Butterkäse cheese (we know - what on earth? You can also use a similar cheese - more on that later)
How we make it:
As demonstrated in the above video, making this meal could not be simpler.
You slice a few thick rectangles of a favorite cheese. The Butterkäse is a semi-soft German cheese Courtney says she gets at ALDI, but you can also use havarti, a mild gouda, or fontina.
Cut off the end of your sweet potato and use a knife or a spoon to carve a hole down the center of the vertical standing potato then stuff it with your cheese slices.
Feel free to add any lettuce, onions, or veg that feels right to you.
Enjoy sandwich style.
Nutrition:
One large sweet potato has about 162 calories, 3.6g of protein and 3.9g of fiber. One ounce of Butterkäse cheese has about 100 calories and 6g of protein, so if you add about 3 ounces of cheese to your potato, your meal should round out to roughly: 462 calories, 21g of protein
2) The Deviled Egg Salad Sweet Potato
Inspired by:
What you need:
1 cooked sweet potato
1/2 cup egg salad (Courtney uses store-bought, but we make this very lazy, delicious, deviled egg-inspired version and substitute cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, or light mayo for the mayo on days we’re feeling extra healthy
1/2 cup of low-fat cottage cheese
How we make it:
We admit this does involve making or procuring egg salad, but once your eggs are boiled and peeled, it’s really just 8 seconds of mashing. The mustardy tang of a deviled-egg style egg salad goes really well with a sweet potato, so here’s what we do.
Prep the egg salad, using this recipe with the option to use light mayo, cottage cheese or Greek yogurt instead of mayo.
Cut off the end of your sweet potato and use a knife or a spoon to carve a hole down the center of the vertical standing potato then stuff it with the egg salad.
Plop an extra dollop of cottage cheese on your plate (we love THIS* one) and add it in as you eat your way through the potato for extra creaminess and protein.
Nutrition:
Again one large sweet potato has about 162 calories, 3.6g of protein and 3.9g of fiber. A 1/2 cup of egg salad in the recipe we included as is will have about 215 calories and 12.5 grams of protein. With the added 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, you’ll get about 80 more calories and 14 grams of protein, so your meal should round out to about: 457 calories, 30g of protein
3) The Taco Sweet Potato
Inspired by:
What you need:
1 cooked sweet potato
1/2 cup lean ground beef (you can also sub in ground turkey or even lentils if you’re a vegetarian or want to up your fiber)
Taco seasoning
Shredded lettuce or red cabbage
1/4 of an avocado
1/2 cup of low-fat cottage cheese
Drizzle of hot honey
How we make it:
First we have to mention another very easy, weirdly addictive, viral sweet potato taco bowl recipe that we now make weekly and wrote about HERE. It has 638 calories and 64 grams of protein. We realize we digress, but not exactly because our version of Courtney’s taco sweet potato borrows from our fave taco bowl.
Cook your ground beef to your liking, using taco seasoning.
Slice your avocado.
Cut off the end of your sweet potato and use a knife or a spoon to carve a hole down the center of the vertical standing potato, then stuff it with ground beef, cottage cheese, shredded lettuce, and avocado.
Finish with a drizzle of hot honey.
Enjoy burrito style.
Nutrition:
This will obviously vary based on what protein you choose and how much oil you cook it in. But one large sweet potato, one last time, has about 162 calories, 3.6g of protein and 3.9g of fiber. According to Fat Secret a 1/2 cup of taco meat has about 208 calories and 23 grams of protein. A quarter of an avocado has 80 calories and 3g of fiber and 1g protein. The 1/2 cup of cottage cheese has 80 calories and 14 grams of protein. A tablespoon of hot honey has about 60 calories but you’ll probably use less when drizzling, adding up to about: 510 calories, 42g of protein
And there you have it, three easy, high-protein meals we can take monstrous bites of and feel plop-down-on-the-couch full, all involving a sweet potato. Our thanks to Courtney Cook for understanding what we want eating food to feel like … and bringing a little joy to yet another helluva day.
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