After nearly a month hiatus traveling then settling back into work, I’m back! Now that I have some time, I am proud to give you my latest recipe: stuffed sweet potato with egg, cheese, and green onion!

Much like the popular egg baked into an avocado that was all the rage a couple years ago, I got inspired for this dish on my trip to England. While there I tried bread stuffed with halloumi cheese, butter and egg, topped with…more butter and cheese. Delicious, yes, but certainly a heart attack waiting to happen!

I thought of ways to make a similar but healthier dish, so I settled on swapping bread for sweet potato, eliminating the butter and adding some greens! Of course, you can take out the cheese as well and pile it up with veggies, but I chose to stick with the more traditional version containing halloumi cheese.

If you’re not sure what halloumi cheese is, well it’s made with goat or sheep’s milk and could be compared to feta. It’s harder than regular white cheese, and almost a bit rubbery in texture. This cheese is popular in England, but not too popular here in the US, though I have found it at supermarkets with an extensive cheese selection like at HEB, Sprouts, or Whole Foods.

Like any cheese or dairy (but particularly this one) halloumi cheese is not good to eat regularly, because of the high saturated fat and salt content. If you don’t have halloumi cheese available, this dish can easily be made with feta or any other cheese you prefer. You can remove the cheese altogether to make it healthier, and add in more vegetables.

This dish is also part of my Healthy Budget Meals category made especially for all of you shopping and eating healthy on a budget! Be sure to check the end of this post for the total cost of the dish and keep this recipe on hand for a fun, easy, affordable meal!

So without further ado…let us begin!

Makes 4 large sweet potato servings

You will need:

• 2 large sweet potatoes. Make sure they are round and wide and not long and thin, as you want the inside to have plenty of room for stuffing
• 4 free range eggs
• 1/3 cup diced halloumi cheese or any other cheese of your choice, plus 4 small cheese slices
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onion
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 tbsp butter
• dash of pepper (I wouldn’t recommend adding salt, as the cheese is salty enough)

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Poke the sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Wrap them in foil and put in the oven to bake for about 40 minutes. Make sure the potatoes are soft, but not too soft so that they lose their shape, as you will the shell to keep the round shape.

Step 2:

As the potatoes bake, take out a medium sized bowl and crack two of the eggs in. For the second two, separate the yolks from the whites, and set aside the two yolks in a small bowl. In the larger bowl, mix the eggs together then add the cheese, green onion, thyme, and pepper.

Step 3:

When the potatoes are done, unwrap immediately, slice in half and set aside to cool for about 2 – 5 minutes. After that, use a spoon and scoop out the inside and add to a separate bowl. Make sure to leave a small layer of potato inside with the skin, as that will be the shell for your egg cup.

In the bowl with the sweet potato insides, add the butter and mix thoroughly. The sweet potatoes should still be hot enough to melt the butter, making it easy to mix in. This will be a great side to eat with the meal or use for another time.

Step 4:

Pour the egg mixture into each of potato molds and top with a slice of cheese and a bit more green onion. For two of the potatoes, put the yolks in gently so that they float on top.

NOTE: If you want to do this with all the eggs you will have to increase your egg count to 6 instead of four.

Put the egg stuffed potatoes back in the oven and bake on 375° for 15-20 minutes, depending on how hard or soft you want the eggs.

After baking, remove the stuffed sweet potatoes from the oven and top with a bit more fresh green onion, olive oil, butter, or other veggies. Serve immediately with a side salad, extra sweet potato or anything else you like!

Avocado is another great side for this dish. In the photo above I serve the potatoes with my delicious purple cabbage salad!

This dish will keep great in the fridge and can easily be warmed up in the microwave or in the oven on low heat to eat for lunch or your breakfast the next day!

Enjoy!

Cost breakdown for Healthy Budget Meals: 

(Cost based on current prices in Texas from date of post and always rounded up)

• Sweet potato:
  • $1.30 each, non-organic.
  • $1.50 each, organic
• Green onion stalk:
  • $.80 each, non-organic.
  • $1.00, organic
• Cheese:
  • Halloumi: $4.00 for 4 oz
  • Mozzarella (more affordable): $3.00 for 16 oz
  • Cheddar: $3.00 for 16 oz
    • Approx $1.50 for meal
  • Organic cheese: $4.50 for 16 oz
    • Approx $2.00 per meal
• Free Range Eggs:
  • $5.00 for a dozen = $.42 per egg
    • $1.66 for 4
  • Free Range Organic: $6.00
    • $2.00 for 4
• Thyme:
  • $2.00 for 8 oz, regular
    • 1 oz = $.25
  • $2.50 for oz, organic
    • 1 oz = $.31
• Black Pepper
  • $1.80 for 1oz
    • Approx $.06 per serving
  • Organic: $2.00 for 1 oz
    • Approx $.10 per serving

Total cost: 

Organic: About $10.91 total cost for 4 servings

Non-organic: About $7.37 for 4 servings