Creamed Spinach Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Super delicious twice baked sweet potatoes filled with your favorite sides for steak dinner. These stuffed sweet potatoes are filled with creamed spinach and topped with crispy fried shoestring onions.

Ok so here's Valentine's Day part two, and it's what you do if you are the "let's cook something nice, aka steak" type of person.  I kind of am that person, mainly because my growing-up family was NOT a red meat type of a family.  Still isn't, in fact, unless I cook it for the whole lot of them.  

Which I'm wont to do.  

This, as most of my recipes are, was Jay's idea.  He suggested doing a potato that involved lots of classic steakhouse flavors that would go with steak.  So that's exactly what I did.  We have roasted sweet potatoes, then we scoop them out and mash them up with garlicky creamed spinach.  Then the whole thing gets topped with crispy onions, and steak goes on the side.  Super crispy on the outside, rare inside, salt sprinkled over, thinly sliced.  That's my fav type of steak, no matter what the cut is.  

Steakhouse Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

You need sweet potatoes!  One whole one per vegetarian, one half per meat-eater, imo.  Then you need spinach, garlic, onion, flour, seasoned salt, and heavy cream.  Maybe some olive oil for the spinach and frying the onions and some extra salt.  

First, you'll bake the potatoes.  450F for 20-30 minutes until they're super soft, then let them cool until they're not going to burn your fingers off.  While that's happening you can fry the onions and wilt the spinach.  In a skillet for frying the onions, add about ½ inch of olive oil and turn the heat to medium-high while you prep the onions.

PS, if you have a lot of sweet potatoes, you can double up on meal prep and cube + roast some for grain bowls with walnut kale pesto later in the week! Your oven has multiple racks for a reason, you know?

How To Make Crispy Fried Onions

Peel and thinly slice the onion, then add the flour and seasoned salt to a little dish.  Toss the onions with the flour and seasoning. 

(gluten free fried onion variation: sub the flour with cornstarch and follow the recipe exactly!)

When the oil is hot (test one onion first), fry the onions in batches for about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown.  You don't want to hurry this process, just do a little handful at a time so the onions can fry in one even layer.  

Take the fried onions out of the oil and onto paper towels to drain, then finish frying the onions.  They can hang out while you make the rest of the potato filling.  

For the spinach, mince the garlic and add it to a pan with a drizzle of oil over medium heat.  

When the garlic sizzles and baaaarely turns brown, add the spinach.  

Pour in the cream, add a sprinkle of salt, and stir everything together for about a minute to wilt the spinach slightly.  

Now, back to the roasted sweet potatoes!  Halve them and scoop most of the flesh right into the spinach mixture.  

You want to leave a little edge of potato to keep the boat sturdy, but get as much sweet potato as you can OUT and into the spinach.  

Stir the sweet potato into the spinach, then taste!  Add salt and pepper, as much as you'd like.  

Now, gently spoon the potato mixture back into the potato skins.  

And top everything with the crispy onions.  

Now, at this point you can eat the potatoes straight away, but I like to stick them back in the oven for 10 minutes or so at 375F to really meld the flavors.  If you do that you'll want to be working on your steak or whatever else you're making with this while you're working on the potatoes.  OR, you can make these way in advance (a few days, even, just keep them in the fridge) and reheat them in the oven at 375F for a little longer until they're heated through and the onions are crispy again.  

Glorious!  I'm really inspired now to top everything in my life with fried onions.

Anyway.  This is a really nice date night at home dinner for Valentine's Day.  Or any day!  These stuffed sweet potatoes are delicious, fried onions are awesome, and you should make these for someone you love, even if you are all about self and/or labrador love.  Do it.  

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