Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet
on Sep 16, 2020, Updated May 03, 2026
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Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet is a 30 minute, easy and delicious recipe the whole family will love! It’s all made in one pan, works great for meal prep and there’s so many ways to serve it!
I bet you were a little surprised to see a ground beef recipe on my blog. I’m definitely more of a chicken, turkey, fish girl, but every once in a while I get a craving for beef. Lately I’ve been making more ground beef recipes including this Mongolian ground beef, ground beef pasta, burger bowls, and now this incredible Southwest ground beef and sweet potato skillet!
This is an easy one pan dinner that has flavors most people can get behind. You’ve got spice from the chili powder, savory from the ground beef and a little sweetness to balance it out from the sweet potatoes. Don’t let the sweet potato fool you into thinking this is going to be an “sweet” recipe. This skillet meal takes about 30 minutes to make and there’s many ways to serve it, which I’ve shared below.
Table of Contents
- Ingredients Needed to Make Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet
- How to Make Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet
- How to Serve the Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet
- Can I Make it Ahead of Time?
- Can I Freeze the Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet?
- Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet Recipe
- More Southwest Inspired Recipes
Ingredients Needed to Make Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet
- Yellow onion – White onion can be used as a substitution.
- Garlic – I like to grate the garlic with a microplane zester so it melts in with the other ingredients and you don’t risk having any burnt pieces.
- Ground beef – I use grass fed 90/10%. You want to use lean ground beef so it doesn’t get too greasy.
- Chili powder and ground cumin – The spice blend that adds earthy, warm flavors to the dish. Be sure to use mild chili powder.
- Sweet potato – Sweet potatoes are packed with nutrients, a good source of carbs and they add a little sweetness to balance all the savory flavors. My sweet potato hash is another great way to add sweet potatoes to a savory recipe.
- Fire roasted tomatoes – Fire roasted tomatoes are simply canned diced tomatoes that have a hint of smoky flavor from the fire roasting.
- Diced green chiles – I use mild green chiles, but use hot if you want it to be spicy.
- Cheese – cheddar, Colby Jack or Pepper Jack cheese can all be used. Grate the cheese from the block for the best flavor and melting.
How to Make Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet
To make this skillet recipe start by adding the ground beef and diced onion to a large skillet with a little bit of olive oil. Use a wooden spoon to crumble the beef. When the beef is nearly cooked through add in the garlic, chili powder and ground cumin. Cook everything for another minute and then pour it out onto a plate.
Wipe out the skillet and add in the diced sweet potato, fire roasted tomatoes, green chiles, water, more chili powder and cumin. Stir everything together, cover it with a lid and let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
Add the ground beef mixture in with the sweet potatoes and stir everything together. Top it with shredded cheese and cover with a lid for a couple minutes so that the cheese melts. Garnish with cilantro and serve with slices of avocado if you’d like.
How to Serve the Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet
Rice – Serve on top of white or brown rice. For extra flavor try it with cilantro lime rice.
Cauliflower rice – For a lower carb option try cauliflower rice. I season mine with salt, pepper and a little garlic powder. You could also docreamy mashed cauliflower.
Quinoa – Quinoa is another great option if you want something other than rice. For my tips on how to cook perfect quinoa check out refer to this post for sun dried tomato quinoa salad. The ground beef and sweet potato skillet would also go great with this Mexican quinoa salad with honey lime vinaigrette on the side.
As is – Since this skillet recipe contains both protein and carbs, it’s actually quite satisfying to serve on it’s own.
Tacos – Use it as taco or burrito filling. Top it with cilantro, chunks of avocado and even some pickled red onions would be delicious! I often do this when I make my ground turkey sweet potato skillet, which has similar flavors.
Can I Make it Ahead of Time?
Absolutely! This recipe not only tastes great the day you make it, but the leftover are delicious for several days after. It’s a great option if you meal prep.
Can I Freeze the Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet?
Yes. After everything is cooked let it cool completely. I suggest skipping the cheese on top and waiting until you plan to eat it to add it on. Once it’s cooled transfer it to a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 5 teaspoons chili powder divided
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon grated garlic
- 2 cups peeled and diced sweet potatoes
- 14.5 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 4 ounces canned diced green chiles
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Cilantro for garnish optional
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add in the ground beef and diced onion and crumble the beef with a wooden spoon. Add in 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) of chili powder, 1 teaspoon of cumin, and season with salt and pepper. When the beef is nearly cooked through add in the garlic and cook for another minute. Pour it out onto a plate and wipe out the skillet.
- Add the diced sweet potato, fire roasted tomatoes, green chiles, water, 2 teaspoons of chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, salt and pepper to the skillet. Stir everything together and cover it with a lid. Lower the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
- Add the ground beef mixture in with the sweet potatoes and stir everything together. Top with shredded cheese and cover with the lid again for another minute or until the cheese is melted. Top with chopped cilantro and serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’ve made this plenty of times with ground beef and it’s delicious! Would it still be good if I did substitute ground beef for ground turkey?
You can absolutely substitute the beef with turkey. Turns out great either way!
Hi! Your recipe calls for 5 teaspoons of chili powder but the instructions say tablespoons. Caught this a little too late but thought I’d let you know.
Hi Taylor. There’s 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) that go in with the ground beef mixture. The remaining 2 teaspoons go in with the sweet potato and tomato mixture. Sorry for any confusion.
The recipe says to use a whole tablespoon of chili powder in the 3rd sentence of step 1. I think it should say teaspoon.
Hi Madeline, 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) of chili powder goes in with the beef mixture and the remaining 2 teaspoons go in with the sweet potato mixture. Sorry for any confusion.
Super yummy! Will definitely make again with a few tweaks. Great autumn meal.
How much is one serving for tracking calories purposes, 1 cup=1 serving? Recipe is awesome.
How many sweet potatoes equals 2 cups diced? One large?
One large or two small.
Can you sub butternut squash for the sweet potatoes?
Absolutely! Butternut squash works great as an alternative.
Made this but added bacon and some brown sugar. It was delicious!!!!
HOW CAN I CUT DOWN ON THE HEAT SO MY SON CAN HAVE THIS AS WELL?
Hi Tara. This recipe isn’t very spicy, but you can omit the green chiles or replace them with bell pepper. Also, make sure you are using a mild chili powder. You could cut the amount of that in half as well to reduce the heat.
I made this once as is and it was good. I made it a second time and added some beef broth to the mix and it was even better.
I’m glad you liked it Alex and thank you for trying it out!
I made this for my family tonight with your quinoa salad on the side and they loved it! So delicious and healthy too. Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you and the family loved it Emily!