The humble jacket potato is one of the easiest ways to make filling and satisfying interactive dishes for all kinds of tastes like fussy or learner eaters! This tex mex version of the jacket potato is one of the tastiest around thanks to the spices, and only needs some basic cooking skills to prepare. It’s perfect to make in bulk and leave in the fridge for quick, healthy weekday meals.

? Serves: 6
Prep: 20 mins Cook: 60 mins (or 25 min with microwave)

Ingredients

• 3 large sweet potatoes, washed, dried, cut in half (or 6 white potatoes if preferred)
• 1 red/yellow capsicum, cubed
• 1 red onion, diced (or white if preferred)
• 2-3 medium cloves of garlic, sliced
• 800g canned tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 400g canned black beans
• 1-2 tablespoon vegetable/olive oil
• 1-2 teaspoon salt to taste, optional
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika powder

EXTRAS:

• 250g your choice of yellow cheese: colby, cheddar or tasty (or a mix) work great
• 2 teaspoon smokey paprika powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne chilli powder
• Pickled jalapeño slices for serving
• Commercial taco sauce, I’ve always used Old El Paso but you can use your favourite
• 1 cup coriander, picked from the stem for garnish
• Sour cream for serving

Directions

1. Set oven to 200°C (or 180°C if fan-forced)
2. Slice jacket potatoes length ways and wrap in foil
3. Bake for an hour until a skewer easily passes through the potato
4. After 45 minutes, while potatoes are baking, heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat
5. Fry onions and capsicum until soft, then add beans, spices and garlic for 1-2 minutes until lightly browned
6. Add canned tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and salt
7. Let sauce reduce until mildly thick, checking flavour to make any final adjustments for taste
8. Once cooked, remove potatoes from oven, leave to cool and remove foil
9. Scoop out some of the insides and set scooped flesh aside. It can be used to bulk up the sauce or for our sweet potato, pumpkin and apple bake
10. Add cheese and your sauce, drizzle with taco sauce and top with sour cream
11. Garnish with extra option, if desired

Notes

Instead of using the oven to bake the sweet potatoes, you can use a microwave. If using a microwave DO NOT wrap in foil and cook on high for 10 minutes, then 5 minute increments until soft all the way through.

If you want to make a more interactive meal, make the sauce separately from the beans, pour the sauce on the potatoes and let everyone choose the rest of the toppings.

Feeling fancy? Go ahead and make a pico de gallo to serve as a side on the plate or with corn chips.

Looking for a simpler option? Try our sweet potato boats.