This Sweet Potato and Kale Hash is on the menu a lot at around here. It shows up alongside sticky buns at breakfast, veggie burgers at dinner, and sometimes as a light meal all on its own with a couple of corn tortillas on the side. Whenever I’m looking for a way to incorporate more veggies into our daily menu, I always go back to this simple yet crazy tasty side. The combo of sauteed onions, lacinto kale, and sweet potatoes – especially when the sweet potatoes are caramelized with the tiniest drizzle of maple syrup and kicked up a notch with a sprinkle of chipotle pepper – is pretty legit.
Plus, the combo of sweet potato and kale indulges my love of the veggie mix. Come on, you know you know the veggie mix. The delicate (not really) art of pairing green or cruciferous vegetables with a sweeter counterpart – like cauliflower with carrots or arugula with watermelon – to get the uber healthy stuff to go down a bit easier. Even the most dedicated veggie lover can benefit from an artfully crafted veggie mix to help pack in their daily 7 servings. This hash is here to help.
So grab a fork and get your veggie on.
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped
- 1 bunch lacinato kale, ribs removed & roughly chopped
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions to pan and saute until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, place sweet potatoes in a glass bowl and cover with a paper towel. Steam in the microwave for 2-3 minutes until potatoes are just fork tender.*
- Increase heat to medium-high and add sweet potatoes to skillet. Season with salt and pepper and and saute about 5 minutes until evenly browned, stirring often to prevent burning. Add maple syrup to pan and toss to coat, saute 2 minutes more. Add chipotle chili pepper and saute a minute more.
- Lower heat to medium and add kale to skillet. Season again with salt and pepper. Allow to cook until kale is just wilted, about 2 minutes.
- Serve warm.
Your description of the sweet potatoes in this side dish made my mouth water – yum! Thanks for sharing and happy FF:)
Thank you, Lily!
This sweet potato & kale has looks fabulous! I would love for you to add it to my Sunday Fitness & Food Link-Up at: http://www.marathonsandmotivation.com Pinned 🙂
Done! Thanks so much, Angela!
Thank you for sharing, looking forward to trying it!!
Let me know how it turns out!
Yum! I love every single ingredient in this recipe 🙂 I have all of it in my kitchen right now…I need to go make it!! Thanks and pinned!
Sweet potatoes and kale are kitchen staples around here too. You’ll have to let me know how it turns out, Sammi!
Kale is such a delicious vegetable and I like the sound of sweet potato and maple syrup!
I hope you make it and love it, Petra!
What do you mean by “pre-steam” the sweet potatoes? I would hate to have them mushy. Also, you don’t mention whether they should be peeled or not. Should I chop them and then steam them, or steam them whole and then chop. I’m not an accomplished cook so I need more guidance!
Hi Jem, I include instructions in the recipe for steaming the sweet potatoes in the microwave for 2-3 minutes until they are fork tender. If you throw them into the pan from raw then they’ll take quite a while to cook and might still be kind of hard. Thanks for the heads up on the peeling, I added it to the recipe. They should be peeled! 🙂
I made this! It was delicious and my family was impressed. I am just learning to cook and I love your website! I also made the pasta e ceci which was also delish
Yay, that’s awesome Jane! I’m flattered my recipes are inspiring you’re cooking journey!
I made this this morning and it was amazing! I used coconut oil instead of olive oil. So good! Will be making this again 🙂
Thank you for commenting, Cansu! Love that you made it with coconut oil.
I made this dish and the sweet potatoes with the maple syrup and chipotle chili gave the dish a nice smoky flavor. I cooked the kale a bit longer to make it easier for my father to chew. Kale is usually chewy so next time I will try using chard in place of kale. Using chard will reduce the amount of additional salt. Will keep you posted on results after using chard.
Thanks for commenting, Mae Quon! I like your idea of substituting chard for kale.
I just made this and mixed in some quinoa for a meal, and it was fantastic! This will definitely become a go-to quick dinner!
Love the idea of adding quinoa to make this a meal in itself! Thanks for sharing, Ashlyn!
I’m looking to take this to work for a staff breakfast! Is it possible to do in a slow cooker?
can this be made in the crockpot?
Hi Julia, I wouldn’t think so. I don’t know much about cooking with crockpots, but there’s no liquid involved in this recipe, which is usually necessary. A lot of the flavor comes from browning the onion and sweet potatoes in the pan, which you’d lose in the crockpot as well.
Oh good point! Ok thank you!!
I added a can of rinsed black beans and a tablespoon of old-style Dijon mustard to make it a dinner. Fantastic!
So glad you enjoyed it, Syrahdi! Black beans are a fantastic addition with sweet potatoes and kale.
Very Good-perfect side for salmon!
Can I leave out the chipotle chili peppers? I can’t take spicy ingredients.
Hi Glenna, the contrast of the smoky chipotle with the sweet of the potatoes and maple syrup is really what makes this dish. I’d try reducing the amount of chipotle powder first or maybe trying smoked paprika.
I’m in Hawaii with a friend staying at a timeshare so my options were limited to what was at the Farmer’s Market today. I used purple sweet potatoes and swiss chard, chives, garlic, mango jam and a little olive oil. Steamed the potatoes in the microwave and added them to the chives. Then added garlic, mango jam, and the swiss chard. It all went together perfectly. I’ll have to try the original recipe when I get home.
We made this today for breakfast and loved it!!
Awesome! Thanks for commenting, Leah!
Delicious! My four year loved this!
Awesome to know the hash is four year old approved!