Vegan Sweet Potato Nachos: Healthy Recipe Swaps

This vegan sweet potato nachos recipe is such a crowd pleasure. I hope you create it for your next big bash! 

I’m all about recipe swaps. I try to sneak in vegetables and healthy ingredients every chance I get. Whether it’s by using cheese substitutes or carb impostors, every “junk” food has a dupe. I remember when I was in high school, I had a remarkable love for nachos. You know those murderous nachos you get at the movies that are just tortilla chips with a side of processed cheese? Yup – used to eat those bad boys all the time. Oh and if you ever used to hang out at Cheesecake Factory on a Friday night (like I did with all my bad-ass high school friends), you probably had their rendition of nachos. 

So. Incredibly. Good. 

But so incredibly b-a-d for you!

Not only are regular nachos filled with empty carbs, tortillas can really rile up someone’s digestion if they have a gluten intolerance. I can personally eat them with no side affect, but everyone’s different. Beyond the empty carb debacle comes the mound of calories and sodium that people plop on your chips. Want to know how many calories are in Cheesecake’s nachos? 1670. That is an ENTIRE day’s worth of calories. And sodium levels? Almost 2,000 mg of sodium. I don’t need to say any more about this matter.

Since it’s so hard to find a decent nacho here ‘n there, I took it upon myself to create a healthy version of nachos. My vegan sweet potato nacho recipe is inspired from the current trend of using sweet potatoes instead of tortilla chips for these types of recipes, but I put my own special twist on it as usual. 

Health Benefits of Vegan Sweet Potato Nachos:

• Even though sweet potatoes are indeed higher in sugars than other carbs, they are still going to be a heck of a lot better for you than going out to a restaurant and shoveling thousands of calories into your mouth. Sweet potatoes also contain beta carotene which is one of my favorite skin boosting antioxidants.
  • (Related: Protect Your Skin From Sun Damage with Beta Carotene)

• This recipe is vegan. Instead of loading up on cheese and sour cream, I used my favorite vegan jalapeno cheese from Soul Vegan Foods. This is not an advertisement either, this is simply a vegan product that I love. Dairy tends to rev up inflammation in my body (primarily in the form of blemishes), and gives me indigestion. For those of you who also have a sensitivity to dairy in the form of bloating – vegan cheeses like these will solve your problem. 
  • (Related: How I’m Eliminating Cheese by Using Capers)
• Protein in the form of good ole beans: You may be wondering, well how will I get my protein from this recipe? From beans – duh. I made sure this recipe is simple by topping my sweet potato chips with only jalapeno cheese, avocado, red onion, and black beans. You really don’t need much else to make this recipe delicious. One serving of black beans will give you around 8 grams of protein and 30% of your daily fiber needs. AKA – they keep you feeling full! 
• You’ll get a serving of healthy fats from the avocado. 
• Not too high in calories: According to my calculations (and this is probably not precisely correct, but pretty darn close) this recipe has around 400 calories per serving. Which is INCREDIBLY lower than your restaurant nachos. If you decide to eat the entire thing (as I do) as a meal, cut the ingredients in half so that you’re using 1 sweet potato instead of two. So put that apron on and get to work! 

Vegan Sweet Potato Nachos:

Serves 2

Ingredients: 

• 1 avocado pitted and sliced
• 1 red onion diced
• 1 cup of black beans (rinsed and drained)
• 3-4 tbsp jalapeno vegan cheese (this can be adjusted to your liking)
• 2 sweet potatoes sliced into thin circles
• 1 lime
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• Drizzle of chili powder
• Drizzle of low sodium Adobe seasoning

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line 2 sheet pans with tin foil.
2. Brush the tin foil with coconut oil, and place your sliced sweet potatoes on the sheet.
3. Drizzle the sweet potatoes with the chili powder and adobe seasoning, and bake for about 18 minutes. Take out of the oven, flip over, drizzle the other side with the seasonings, and bake for another 10 minutes. 
4. When your sweet potato chips are crisp, place them on a serving plate and top them with your diced onion, avocado, black beans, and vegan cheese. 
5. Serve and enjoy!

Give me a holler if you try out this vegan sweet potato nachos recipe – it is seriously SO GOOD! Happy baking!