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    Home > Vegan Entrees

    Mexican Sweet Potato “Rice” Bowl

    By My Pure Plants on 02/23/2021 - May contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure.

    Jump to Recipe Print Pin

    Do you want a unique twist to Mexican Rice Bowl? I skipped classic rice and made some fajita spiced riced sweet potato. It is a perfect addition to fajita veggies, guacamole, black beans, and tomato corn salsa, don’t you think? Let me show you how to make Sweet Potato Rice.

    A large white plate in the middle with colorful ingredients like black beans, corn, shredded cheese, bell pepper strips, lime, orange rice. A hand is holding a fork in the middle.

    Do you love spicy and rich Mexican or Tex-Mex flavors? We sure do. Try our Vegan Bean Chili, or our Veggie Burrito Bowl, or our Veggie Burrito. We have delicious Vegan Taco Soup that is ready in 20 minutes! And here is our popular Vegan Queso Dip recipe that is nut-free and soy-free.

    Table of Contents hide
    1. What is Sweet Potato Rice?
    2. How to make Sweet Potato Rice?
    3. Let’s make a Mexican Rice Bowl!
    4. What else can you add to your bowl?
    5. Where can sweet potato replace rice?
    6. More vegan Mexican recipes
    7. Mexican Sweet Potato “Rice” Bowl

    What is Sweet Potato Rice?

    If you are not sure whether you want to change rice to sweet potato rice yet, let me tell you what you can expect. It is evident that sweet potato goes great with Mexican or Tex-Mex-style recipes. Its sweetness combined with spicy ingredients works perfectly. We sure love them in our Quinoa Sweet Potato Chili.

    Sweet potato rice has a lovely texture. It is quite soft and tender, but if you sautee it long enough it gets crispy. Its sweetness is more evident this way compared to a sweet potato that is cooked in water. We added a bit of fajita seasoning mix that complements this sweetness and turns it into a rich and flavorful side dish.

    A large white plate in the middle orange riced sweet potato. Small white bowl are scattered around with colorful ingredients like black beans, corn, shredded cheese, bell pepper strips, lime, orange rice.

    How to make Sweet Potato Rice?

    You only need a couple of steps to make a crispy but soft riced sweet potato.

    1. Wash and peel your sweet potatoes.
    2. Use the grater of your food processor or a larger cheese grater to shred it. If it is too big for your chute, cut them in half or in quarters. Even if you seem to end up with long strips like grated cheese, don’t worry it will break down to a more rice-like texture in the end.
    3. Take a skillet or a frying pan and heat olive oil over medium heat.
    4. Add the shredded sweet potato and season it with fajitas spice mix (or another seasoning to your taste), salt, and black pepper.
    5. Sautee. The sweet potato “rice” is tender and ready to be served after approx. 15 minutes. Although if you want a caramelized crispy coating you need to add an extra 10 minutes to your time. (This is how it looks like after 25 minutes! See below picture.)
    A white frying pan with crispy riced sweet potato.

    Let’s make a Mexican Rice Bowl!

    So you have your sweet potato rice, now what. I will not leave you hanging to figure out what to serve with it. I show you a quick and easy recipe that complements riced sweet potato perfectly. And the recipe is Mexican Sweet Potato “Rice” Bowl, where I also added several delicious ingredients to accompany the sweet potato:

    • Fajita veggies (see below for details)
    • Guacamole (see below for details)
    • Canned black beans (or if you want to use dried beans, here is a Copycat Chipotle Black Beans from Culinary Hill)
    • Chunky salsa sauce (we used a store-bought salsa* and added canned corn)
    • Sour cream (here is our Dairy-free Sour Cream recipe)
    • Shredded cheese (I used Violife*)
    • Lime slices

    How to make fajita veggies?

    Especially if we want to make a larger batch, we prepare fajita vegetables in the oven. It is easy and no-mess to use a sheet pan, and you can also do other things in the kitchen while the oven is busy roasting your veggies. In our Sheet Pan Fajita Veggies post, you can find detailed instructions, useful tips, and even a quick video on how to make them in an oven. 

    However, if we need only 2 servings of fajita veggies, we usually prepare them in a frying pan or skillet. Peel and slice red onion ¼-inch (4-5 mm) wide. Wash and slice bell peppers also ¼-inch (4-5 mm) wide. Pre-heat a skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil. Once the oil is hot enough add the onion and the bell pepper slices and sprinkle them with fajitas spice mix. Stir to combine and fry them for 5 minutes until they are tender. 

    Black frying pan with red yellow green bell pepper strips, and onion slices after frying.

    How to make guacamole?

    We use the same guacamole recipe for all Mexican recipes on the blog. Take one ripe avocado and mash it with a fork. Add lemon or lime juice. Add finely chopped red or purple onion and finely chopped fresh cilantro (photo #1). Mix it well and season it with salt if needed (photo #2).

    2 photo collage on how to make chipotle guacamole. The first shows the peeled avocado, the chopped onion, cilantro. The second shows everything smashed together.

    What else can you add to your bowl?

    What else you can add to this Mexican Rice Bowl? Well, still lots of tasty things come to my mind like:

    • Vegan Taco Meat
    • Vegan Shredded Chicken
    • Vegan shaved beefsteak that I make in our Vegan Philly Cheesesteak recipe
    • Vegan sausages
    • Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce
    • Vegan Queso Dip
    • Tortilla chips
    • Flourless Tortilla
    • Avocado slices instead of Guacamole
    • Tomato and Corn Salsa Fresca instead of Chunky Tomato Salsa that I make in our Copycat Chipotle Veggie Bowl recipe.
    • Shredded lettuce
    • Freshly chopped cilantro

    Let us know what is your favorite combination!

    A large white plate in the middle orange riced sweet potato. Small white bowl are scattered around with colorful ingredients like black beans, corn, shredded cheese, bell pepper strips, lime, orange rice.

    Where can sweet potato replace rice?

    Do you mean apart from this delicious Mexican Rice Bowl? You can substitute sweet potato rice for regular rice in plenty of recipes. To give you some ideas, think of dishes like:

    • stir-fries (Quick Broccoli Lentil Stir-Fry)
    • burritos (Copycat Chipotle Veggie Burrito)
    • tacos
    • veggie bowls, burrito bowls, Buddha bowls (Copycat Chipotle Veggie Bowl)
    • samosas (Spicy Vegan Samosa Rolls)
    • rice bowls
    • fried rice, pilaf
    • stuffed vegetables (zucchini, eggplant, mushroom etc.)
    A large white plate in the middle with colorful ingredients like black beans, corn, shredded cheese, bell pepper strips, lime, orange rice. Small white bowl are scattered around with the same ingredients.

    This Mexican Sweet Potato “Rice” Bowl recipe is meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free. It is also suitable for vegan, vegetarian, nut-free, and gluten-free diets. It is WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) if you sautee onion and bell peppers in water or veggie broth, and choose oil-free plant-based cheese and sour cream.

    More vegan Mexican recipes

    • Vegan Taco Soup
    • Vegan Bean Chili
    • Loaded Vegan Nachos
    • Vegan Portobello Mushroom Fajitas
    • Fajitas Portobello Mushroom Burger
    A large white plate in the middle with colorful ingredients like black beans, corn, shredded cheese, bell pepper strips, lime, orange riced sweet potato. Small white bowl are scattered around with the same ingredients.

    Mexican Sweet Potato “Rice” Bowl

    My Pure Plants
    Do you want a unique twist to Mexican Rice Bowl? I skipped classic rice and made some fajita spiced riced sweet potato. It is a perfect addition to fajita veggies, guacamole, black beans and tomato corn salsa, don’t you think? Let me show you how to make Sweet Potato “Rice”.
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 20 mins
    Cook Time 10 mins
    Total Time 30 mins
    Course Main Course
    Servings 2 servings
    Calories 581kcal

    Equipment

    • Non-stick frying pan (10.5 inch / 26 cm)
    • Food processor

    Ingredients
     
     

    Sweet Potato "Rice"

    • 8 oz Sweet potato
    • 1 Tbsp Vegan butter
    • 1 + ½ Tbsp Olive oil
    • 1 + ½ tsp Fajitas spice mix Here is our Homemade Fajitas Spice Mix

    Guacamole

    • 1 Avocado ripe
    • ⅛ Onion (medium)
    • 1 Tbsp Freshly chopped cilantro
    • 1 tsp Lime juice
    • pinch Salt

    Fajita Veggies

    • 1 Bell pepper (red, yellow, green)
    • ½ Onion (medium)
    • 1 Tbsp Olive oil
    • 1 tsp Fajitas spice mix Here is our Homemade Fajitas Spice Mix

    More Add-ins

    • ½ cup Black beans canned (already flavored with onion, garlic and other spices)
    • ¼ cup Shredded vegan cheese
    • 2 Tbsp Sour cream try our Dairy-free Sour Cream
    • ½ cup Chunky salsa sauce
    • ¼ cup Sweet corn
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    Instructions
     

    Sweet Potato Rice

    • Wash and peel your sweet potatoes.
    • Use the grater of your food processor or a larger cheese grater to shred it. If it is too big for your chute, cut them in half or in quarters. Even if you seem to end up with long strips like grated cheese, don't worry it will break down to a more rice-like texture in the end.
    • Take a skillet or a frying pan and heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the shredded sweet potato and season it with fajitas spice mix (or another seasoning to your taste), salt, and black pepper.
    • Sautee. The sweet potato "rice" is tender and ready to be served after approx. 15 minutes. Although if you want a caramelized crispy coating you need to add an extra 10 minutes to your time.

    Pan-fried Fajita Veggies

    • The EASIEST way to make fajita veggies is in a sheet pan. For detailed steps, top tips, video, and more guidance visit our Fajita Veggies post. However, if we need only 1-2 servings we usually make pan-fried veggies in 5 minutes.
    • Peel and slice onion ¼-inch (4-5 mm) wide. Wash and slice bell peppers also ¼-inch (4-5 mm) wide.
    • Pre-heat a frying pan on medium heat. Add olive oil.
    • Once the oil is hot enough add the onion and the bell pepper slices and sprinkle them with fajitas spice mix. Stir to combine and fry them for 5 minutes until they are tender.

    Guacamole

    • Take a ripe avocado. Cut them in half and turn it with your hands around the seed. Spoon the soft avocado flesh into a small bowl. Mash it with your fork.
    • Peel and finely chop the red onion. Squeeze a bit of lime juice. Chop fresh cilantro leaves.
    • Add all chopped ingredients plus lime juice and salt to the mashed avocado and mix well.

    Add more delicious ingredients

    • Serve some sweet potato rice, with guacamole, black beans, tomato-corn salsa, shredded cheese and a drizzle of sour cream.
    Tried this recipe? Can we see it?Please share a picture with us by uploading an image to Pinterest below ours.

    Video

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Facts
    Mexican Sweet Potato "Rice" Bowl
    Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
    Calories 581 Calories from Fat 225
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 25g38%
    Saturated Fat 6g38%
    Sodium 574mg25%
    Potassium 775mg22%
    Carbohydrates 78g26%
    Fiber 12g50%
    Sugar 8g9%
    Protein 14g28%
    Vitamin A 1359IU27%
    Vitamin C 55mg67%
    Calcium 121mg12%
    Iron 4mg22%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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