2013 – Gluten Free Living

I think Sweet Potato Bacon Boats is my F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E sweet potato recipe. No kidding. I absolutely love this recipe. It’s loaded with cheese and bacon making it a savory rather than a sweet dish that’s most typical of sweet potato recipes.

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While it’s a typical side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas or other holiday dinners, I like it served with any kind of main dish meat entree all through the year. In fact, it’s such a hearty dish, you can serve this dish without meat at all, and make it your entree! While this isn’t exactly a low calorie recipe, it is gluten free for anyone with gluten intolerance.

Years ago I found this wonderful, savory recipe for sweet potatoes in a magazine. I was looking for ways to make sweet potatoes other than candied, souffleed, with praline or marshmallow toppings, and the like.

I made this for a Thanksgiving dinner when our children were still young and we had John’s family over for the special meal. They were a hit with everyone and I still love making this filling, and satisfying comfort food recipe today. Sweet Potato Bacon Boats are so amazing to taste, I could eat them almost daily if I could get away with it. Alas, I have to choose lighter fare most of the time. 🙂

After I made  Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes a couple of weeks ago I realized I was craving this flavorful recipe. Yes, you already know how much I love sweet potatoes, but load them up with bacon and cheddar cheese and oh, my. Sweet Potato Bacon Boats are simply spectacular! In fact, they are so substantial that you can actually have these for a main dish or lunch.

If you are ready for a new way to prepare sweet potatoes, consider making them savory for a change instead of sweet. The recipe for Sweet Potato Bacon Boats is really easy. The hardest thing is removing the sweet potato from the shell while still leaving some of the pulp intact so the shell holds its shape adequately to re-stuff the potato. If you like sweet potatoes, and if you eat bacon and cheddar cheese, the combination is incredible. Try out this recipe for your next holiday feast, or just because!

When I first posted this recipe in March 2013, I was really disappointed with the appearance of the potatoes. My camera was just an iPhone, and it was dark at night so the potatoes looked dark and not as elegant as they really are. On top of that, the large whopper sweet potatoes I used, were not conducive to this recipe because they were over-stuffed.

I recently remade this lovely recipe (October 2014) for a regular family dinner with Parmesan Pork Chops and decided to take a few new pictures so you can better appreciate what this dish is supposed to turn out like. I hope you enjoy.

Sweet Potato Bacon Boats are loaded with bacon and cheddar cheese.

Sweet Potato Bacon Boats are a great side dish for any main dish entree, including Parmesan Pork Chops!

I like a lot of bacon and cheese on top also to garnish the sweet potatoes and add extra zest. I also garnish them with diced green onions.

Here’s what I did.

Bake sweet potatoes. While the sweet potatoes are baking prepare the stuffing ingredients. Microwave or bake bacon. You can also fry it, but I like it microwaved the best–it takes out all the grease. I usually microwave about 1 minute per slice.

Remove potatoes from oven. Cut a slit out of the top carefully.

Scoop out sweet potato pulp being careful to leave an edge so you can put the filling back into the shell. The potatoes are very hot. You will need to hold them with potholders while you do this. You don’t want them to cool too much or you will have to rebake them. 

You must leave some of the pulp in the shells in order for the potatoes to hold their shape.

Place sweet potatoes into a mixing bowl.

Add the sweet potatoes to a mixing bowl with butter, cheese, salt and pepper.

Mix with an electric mixer until smooth.

Add bacon pieces. Stir to combine.

Pipe stuffing into boats (shells).

Bake about 20-25 minutes to heat through before adding topping.

Remove from oven and add cheese and bacon pieces on top of sweet potato filling and press into the mixture slightly.

Bake at 350 for another 10 minutes or until cheese has melted. Here are the potatoes fresh out of the oven. Yum, yum!

Don’t Sweet Potato Bacon Boats look spectacular? They taste incredibly wonderful. 

Garnish with green onions and even sour cream, if desired. All things considered, these sweet potatoes are not all that difficult to make and you have a very substantial and satisfying side dish for almost any meat you want to serve.

Sweet Potato Bacon Boats are my favorite way to eat sweet potatoes during the holidays.

Here’s the recipe.

SWEET POTATO BACON BOATS

(From a magazine)

These Sweet Potato Bacon Boats taste as great as they look!

Yes, they are loaded with cheese and bacon but this recipe is wonderful for special indulgences every now and then! 

Sweet Potato Bacon Boats are a great alternative to Candied Sweet Potatoes, or Sweet Potato Casseroles for holiday baking. 

I love Sweet Potato Bacon Boats. Bacon and cheese make everything better!

You may also enjoy these delicious recipes!

Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes Parmesan

Sweet Potato Casserole