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A long-time 40 Aprons favorite, our recipe for tender sweet potatoes stuffed with creamy buffalo chicken is nutritious, delicious, and unbelievably simple. It’s a full meal that’s full of flavor, thanks to the baked sweet potatoes, shredded chicken, and creamy buffalo ranch sauce. Made with just a few ingredients, it’s perfect to throw together for a busy weeknight dinner. Whole30 and paleo-friendly, too!

Buffalo chicken stuffed sweet potatoes topped with ranch dressing and green onions.

🔥 What Makes This Recipe So Good

  • Literally every component is as delicious as the last. Nutrient-rich sweet potatoes? Check. Juicy shredded chicken? You got it. Creamy, spicy buffalo sauce? Wouldn’t be caught without it. Plenty of ranch dressing? Of course. It’s total winner (chicken) dinner if you ask me.
  • Stuffed sweet potatoes are super satisfying and full of nutrients. They don’t make you feel like you’re eating “health food”, though, which I love. This recipe’s great for anyone eating gluten free, dairy free, Whole30, or paleo. You can pretty easily adapt it for most other dietary needs, too!
  • You don’t need a whole kitchen stocked full of fancy equipment or expensive ingredients to make this meal. As a matter of fact, you can throw buffalo chicken stuffed sweet potatoes together with fewer than 10 ingredients! And an oven’s all you need as far as appliances go.

👩🏼‍🍳 Chef’s Tips

  • Making stuffed sweet potatoes is SO super easy already, but there are a couple of ways you could make it even easier! For the chicken, using pre-cooked rotisserie chicken is a great shortcut if you don’t feel like cooking any yourself. Along those same lines, maybe baked sweet potatoes don’t fit into your schedule tonight. Go with Instant Pot sweet potatoes instead and they’re ready in half the time! Don’t have enough oven space for everything? Opt for Crockpot sweet potatoes or sweet potatoes in the air fryer.
  • Need a little more flexibility or just not sure how much everyone’ll want to eat? You can use 8 small sweet potatoes rather than 4 large sweet potatoes. They’re way easier to divide up that way, especially if someone only wants “half” a large potato instead of a whole one.
  • The goal here is obviously stuffed sweet potatoes, so you want to use potatoes that are easy to stuff! I’ve found that wider potatoes are easier to work with than narrower potatoes as they open up a little more and give you more room for the chicken.
  • Use sweet potatoes that are roughly the same size and thickness. If you use one really large potato and one small potato, they’ll cook at different rates. You’ll risk over- or under-cooking one of them that way. Same goes for the chicken!
Buffalo chicken stuffed sweet potatoes topped with ranch dressing and green onions.

🥘 Other Chicken Recipes You’re Sure to Love

Recipe By: Cheryl Malik
5 from 16 votes

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Buffalo Chicken & Ranch


Prep 15 minutes
Cook 45 minutes
Total 1 hour
Tender sweet potatoes stuffed with creamy buffalo chicken and ranch dressing. This recipe is nutritious, delicious, and so easy to make.
4 stuffed sweet potatoes

Equipment

  • Oven
  • running water
  • vegetable brush
  • Paper towels or clean kitchen towel
  • Fork
  • Cutting board
  • 9×9 baking dish
  • internal meat thermometer
  • tools to shred chicken 2 forks, hand mixer, or stand mixer; see Notes
  • medium mixing bowl
  • small whisk or spoon, or silicone spatula
  • Sharp knife
  • Tongs

Ingredients

For the Sweet Potatoes

  • 4 large sweet potatoes approximately 8-12 ounces each

For the Chicken

  • 2 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts approximately 6-8 ounces each
  • salt to taste

For the Buffalo Sauce

  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 9 tablespoons hot sauce Frank's Red Hot recommended
  • 1 tablespoon ranch dressing
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt more or less to taste
  • 2 green onions thinly sliced; white & green parts only, dark green parts reserved

Serving Suggestions (All Optional)

  • additional ranch dressing
  • dark green parts of thinly sliced green onions
  • blue cheese crumbles see Notes
  • celery sticks

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit. Adjust oven racks as needed to fit sweet potatoes and chicken simultaneously.
  • Rinse 4 large sweet potatoes under running water. Use scrub brush to remove any surface dirt. Once potatoes are clean, pat potatoes dry with paper towels.
  • Pierce each potato on all sides with tines of fork, creating small vent holes all over surfaces of potatoes. Set potatoes aside.
  • Place 2 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts on cutting board. Trim chicken as needed. If chicken breasts differ in size or thickness, pound chicken with meat pounder or rolling pin until evenly thick.
  • Season chicken breasts generously on both sides with plenty of salt, then place chicken in baking dish.
  • Transfer prepared sweet potatoes and chicken to preheated oven, placing sweet potatoes directly on oven rack. Bake potatoes and chicken 15 minutes.
  • After 15 minutes, check chicken by inserting internal meat thermometer into thickest spot of each chicken breast. Continue baking chicken as needed, checking temperature every 2 to 3 minutes, until chicken reaches internal temperature of 161° Fahrenheit.
  • Once chicken reaches target temperature, remove baking dish from oven. Set chicken aside to rest 5 minutes. Continue baking sweet potatoes until potatoes are soft, approximately 20 to 30 minutes. Note: very large potatoes may need up to 40 minutes. Check potatoes regularly to avoid over-baking.
  • While chicken rests and sweet potatoes bake, add 3 tablespoons mayonnaise, 9 tablespoons hot sauce, 1 tablespoon ranch dressing, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and ½ teaspoon salt to medium mixing bowl. Mix ingredients together until fully combined into smooth mixture. Set sauce aside.
  • After chicken has rested, shred chicken into small pieces using method of choice (see Notes). Add shredded chicken to bowl of prepared buffalo sauce. Add thinly-sliced white parts and light greens parts from 2 green onions to bowl and stir until all ingredients are incorporated and chicken is coated in sauce. Set bowl aside.
  • When sweet potatoes are soft, carefully remove potatoes from oven. Set potatoes aside just until cool enough to handle, then carefully slice each potato open from one end to other end. Lightly press ends of sliced potato in toward center to open potato more.
  • Stuff each sweet potato with desired amount of buffalo chicken. Top chicken with additional ranch dressing, dark green parts of thinly sliced green onions, and blue cheese crumbles, and serve immediately with celery sticks if desired.

Video

  • Sweet Potatoes: Use sweet potatoes that are roughly the same size and thickness so they cook at the same speed. Shorter, wider potatoes are easier to stuff than longer, narrower potatoes.
  • Potato Prep: The potato skins stay on for this recipe, so make sure to clean them well before you get started. Remove as much surface dirt as possible so you’re not eating dirt. Dry the potatoes well before baking them, too.
  • Chicken: Use chicken breasts that are roughly the same size and thickness so they cook at the same speed. You can also use pre-cooked chicken (like rotisserie chicken) if you’d rather. You’ll need roughly 3 cups of shredded pre-cooked chicken.
  • Keep it Whole30/Paleo: Make sure you’re using store-bought or homemade compliant mayonnaise, compliant ranch dressing, and compliant hot sauce. Do not use blue cheese crumbles.
  • Storage: Refrigerate leftover sweet potatoes or chicken in an airtight container up to 4 days.
 

To Shred the Chicken

Read our post on The Best Shredded Chicken (Plus 5 Shredding Methods) for more info and our favorite basic chicken recipe.
  1. Hand Shredded: Use your hands/fingers to pull the chicken apart until completely shredded.
  2. Two Forks: Use one fork to steady the chicken while shredding the chicken with another fork.
  3. Hand Mixer: Break the chicken into manageable chunks and place them in a large bowl. Use the standard attachments on your mixer and set mixer to a medium speed. Mix until chicken is completely shredded.
  4. Stand Mixer: Use the standard paddle attachment and mix on medium-low speed until chicken chunks are completely shredded.
  5. Food Processor: Break up the cooked chicken breasts into chunks first, and work in multiple batches. Add chicken to food processor and use the plastic dough blade attachment to avoid your chicken turning to mush. Process for 30 seconds or until uniformly shredded. Repeat until all chicken is shredded.

Approximate Information for One Serving

Serving Size: 1 sweet potato with buffalo chickenCalories: 418calProtein: 28gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 78mgSodium: 1422mgPotassium: 1252mgTotal Carbs: 47gFiber: 7gSugar: 10gNet Carbs: 40gVitamin A: 32325IUVitamin C: 30mgCalcium: 83mgIron: 2mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

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36 Comments

  1. I wanted a different recipe for our Whole 30 rotation and this was delicious. I used primal kitchen Whole 30 compliant mayo, hot sauce and ranch and all the flavors were delicious. I seasoned my chicken with garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper. My kids and husband loved this meal. We added some roasted cauliflower in the side to make it a complete meal! This recipe is a keeper! Thank you for such a yummy recipe.5 stars

    1. Thank YOU so much for such a lovely review! I’m so happy you all loved it so much – your additions sound delicious!

  2. My little one has an egg allergy. I am having a hard time finding a paleo mayo with no eggs. Can we substitute the mayo with anything?

    1. Hi Kayla! You might have luck with vegan mayo! I know thrive market makes a coconut oil mayonnaise that tastes pretty good as well. Hope this helps!

  3. These have become a weekly staple for over a year now! I had to write and say how yummy and easy these are to make! Thanks for doing what you do! ♥️5 stars

    1. Hi, Sarah! So glad these have been a staple for you! Thanks for sharing! 😊 🤍

  4. Could these be made in advance and reheated for a party or better prepared and kept warm. If so would you reheat in oven

    1. Hi Sandy, although we haven’t tested it, these could probably be made in advance. You could make both the sweet potatoes and the buffalo chicken mix ahead of time and keep separate, then just stuff and reheat the day of. I would definitely recommend using the oven to reheat! You may also want to cover so nothing dries out. Save the toppings for serving. Let us know how it goes!

  5. Hi Cheryl, what do you use for dairy free ranch? I am at a loss 🙁 (food sensitivities to casein and dairy).

    1. We either make our own using a dairy free plain yogurt or we like to buy some from the store! I hear Daiya has a good dairy free ranch.5 stars

    2. We use Primal Kitchen and have really enjoyed the taste & texture of their products (they’re the closest to “normal”) I’m looking forward to making this recipe tonight using Primal Kitchens Mayo & Ranch.

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