Delicious and crispy beef sweet potato hash is a truly a medley of superfoods. In this recipe, ground beef is combined with sautéed sweet potato, kale, and red pepper, resulting in a hearty and healthy pregnancy breakfast.
You Will Love This Recipe!
Few things bring me more joy than a vibrantly colorful recipe. This beautiful beef sweet potato hash is definitely a colorful dish! Vibrant red bell pepper combine with golden sweet potatoes and jewel green kale, resulting in equal parts eye candy and nutrition. Happily, when a dish has a variety of colors, this means that it also has a variety of nutrients, which is exactly what you want during pregnancy.
This comforting dish has all the flavors: sauteed sweet potatoes, bright peppers, and hearty, crispy, iron-rich beef. Because of the richness of flavors, we need only a few additional spices: paprika and garlic.
This beef sweet potato hash recipe is super easy to make. We spend just a few minutes of prep time chopping up the various vegetables; the rest of time is spent sautéing.
Benefits of Beef Sweet Potato Hash
One huge benefit about this recipe is that you can prepare a large batch early in the week and then have a healthy pregnancy breakfast ready to eat for the rest of the week! I’m a huge fan of batch preparation, especially in pregnancy, when we’d rather spend time on other pursuits besides cooking in the kitchen. A large batch of this recipe goes a long way in ensuring that you have an option for healthy eating available in the fridge for a few days.
Another great thing about this beef sweet potato hash recipe is that it can be tailored however you please. If you’d prefer a yellow pepper, feel free to make the replacement! Maybe you’d rather use a sauteed white potato than a sauteed sweet potato. If so, go for it! I do recommend substitution rather than omission because we want to maintain the nutritional value of this meal. In other words, replacing kale with spinach in this dish will still yield the nutritional benefits offered by this recipe, but omitting it will not.
For a pregnant woman, every bite counts. You can be sure that this easy, healthy breakfast hash recipe delivers an excellent amount of nutrition to your growing baby. Furthermore, this recipe is super family (and kid!) friendly. Your kids will love eating up all the little bits!
Nutritious Ingredients in Beef Sweet Potato Hash
Beef sweet potato hash is a super easy, healthy breakfast for pregnancy. Let's take a closer look at the nutrient content of the main ingredients used in this recipe.
Ground Beef
Red meat contains zinc and protein. Most importantly however, red meat contains iron. Per the CDC, pregnant women require 27 mg of iron every single day. Non-pregnant women require 18 mg of iron daily. The human body cannot produce mineral iron. Red meat is the best available source of heme iron; this is the form which the body readily absorbs. Significantly, a three ounce serving of red meat contains about 1.5 mg of heme iron.
Why exactly is iron so important in pregnancy? Well, during pregnancy, the body’s blood supply increases by up to 50% in order to bring oxygen to the growing baby and placenta. Even within just the first few weeks of gestation, the body requires extra iron to help support this increase in blood supply. Specifically, iron is needed for production of hemoglobin, which is a protein that carries oxygen and exists within each red blood cell.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of beta carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A. Vitamin A helps baby to grow healthy bones, lungs, eyes, and skin.
Additionally, sweet potatoes are a very good source of non-heme iron. In order for the body to absorb this non-heme iron more easily, it is very important to eat a food containing vitamin C along with the non-heme iron food. For this reason, I’ve added bell peppers to this recipe. Red peppers are rich in vitamin C and help the body to absorb the non-heme iron from the sweet potatoes.
Furthermore, when we eat foods containing heme iron along with a non-heme iron food, the iron is also more readily absorbed by our bodies. For this reason, I’ve coupled the sautéed sweet potatoes (non-heme iron) with beef (heme iron). Optimal nutrition is truly a science!
Green Kale
Kale is a pregnancy superfood and is one of the best foods one can eat during pregnancy. Dark leafy greens such as kale are excellent sources of calcium, folic acid, and iron. Kale specifically contains 10% of the daily requirement of calcium. Baby needs this calcium in order to build healthy teeth and bones. One cup of kale contains more than all of the vitamins K, A, and C that one would need in a day!
Red Bell Pepper
Bell Pepper is an amazing source of vitamin C. Red pepper specifically contains twice as much vitamin C as a green bell pepper! Again, when a vitamin C-laden food such as red pepper is consumed along with a non-heme iron-laden food (in this case, sweet potatoes), the iron is more easily absorbed by the body. Similar to sweet potatoes, red pepper also contains beta-carotene which the body converts into vitamin A; this helps baby to grow healthy bones, lungs, eyes, and skin.
Instructions for Beef Sweet Potato Hash
First, Wash All Vegetables Thoroughly
First, wash all of the vegetables thoroughly. Especially be sure to wash and scrub the sweet potatoes if you want to keep the peel (I removed the peel).
Next, Dice All of the Vegetables
Begin by dicing all of the vegetables. Dice the sweet potatoes (about two large sweet potatoes) into bite-sized cubes. Then, dice the red bell pepper and green kale into small pieces. The rib of the kale will soften during cooking, so no need to de-rib.
Next, finely chop the aromatics: onion and garlic.
Then, Brown the Meat
Once the vegetables have all been chopped, add one tablespoon of olive oil to a large, 12” skillet over medium heat. Any type of frying pan can be used but I prefer a large cast iron skillet. Using a cast iron skillet will impart a crusty texture to the food which cannot be accomplished with a regular, non-stick frying pan. A cast iron skillet can also slightly caramelize the edges of the sweet potatoes.
To the warmed olive oil, add one pound of ground beef. Break the meat apart using a wooden spoon or spatula and cook the meat for five minutes. Cook ground beef until browned.
Carefully drain any excess fat from the skillet.
To the browned beef, add in the paprika, ground black pepper, salt, chopped onion, and chopped garlic, and stir for an additional minute over medium heat until thoroughly combined.
Add in the diced sweet potatoes and again stir until thoroughly dispersed.
Reduce the heat to medium low and cover skillet with a lid for 10 minutes.
Next, remove the lid and cook for 5 additional minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. This time should allow excess water to evaporate and for the beef to regain its crispy texture.
Add in Remaining Vegetables
Next, add in the kale and red pepper to the sauteed sweet potato cubes and beef mixture.
Cook for 10 additional minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.
Serve this dish with lemon wedges, if desired. The lemon wedges add an extra pop of acidity.
Serving Suggestions and Tips for Beef Sweet Potato Hash
Beef sweet potato hash is so delicious on its own as a main dish, but is especially good served along with:
- A simple green salad dressed with fresh lemon juice and cracked black pepper.
- Warmed flour tortillas.
- A fried egg or two.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Beef Sweet Potato Hash
What is a hash? Hash is a dish derived from the French word “hacher” which means “to chop.” It applies to foods that that have been finely chopped in preparation to be served. Usually there is potato and protein involved; in this recipe we of course have sautéed sweet potato and ground beef. Unfortunately, hash served at some restaurants constitutes a greasy, oil-laden mixture of meat and potatoes. On the contrary, in this recipe, we instead have four healthy ingredients: red pepper, kale, sweet potato, and lean ground beef, all sautéed in just a bit of heart-healthy olive oil.
Is this just a breakfast recipe? Absolutely not! This beef sweet potato hash recipe is fabulous for lunch or dinner as well. This hearty, filling dish offers a wealth of nutrients to a pregnant woman and can be eaten at any time of day.
What other seasonings could be used? I think taco seasoning would be a tasty addition. If you prefer a bolder flavor in this dish, feel free to replace the paprika with taco seasoning. Taco seasoning is typically a blend of paprika, chili powder, cumin, garlic and onion powder, oregano, sugar, and salt. I also think a little curry powder would be a delicious addition.
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Recipe
Beef Sweet Potato Hash
Author:Ingredients
- 1 pound of lean ground beef (500g)
- 3 cups of diced sweet potatoes (500g)
- 1 cup of chopped red bell pepper (115g)
- 1 cup of chopped green kale (115g)
- 1/2 cup of chopped onion (75g)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon of high quality olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Dice the sweet potatoes into bite-sized cubes.
- Dice the red pepper into bite-sized pieces.
- Shred the green kale into small strips.
- Chop the onion and garlic finely.
- Add one tablespoon of olive oil to a large, cast iron skillet over medium heat.
- Add one pound of beef to heated olive oil. Break meat apart using a wooden spoon and cook for 5 minutes until all of the meat is browned.
- Carefully drain any excess fat from the skillet.
- Add in paprika, black pepper, salt, chopped onion, and garlic, and stir for an additional minute.
- Add in diced sweet potatoes. Stir until well combined.
- Reduce heat to low-medium and cover skillet with a lid for 10 minutes.
- Remove lid and cook for 5 additional minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- Add in chopped kale and red pepper.
- Cook for 10 more minutes, uncovered, over medium heat.
- Plate and serve.
Megan
This is so yummy!! I just found out I'm expecting and I want to start eating healthier. Im so glad I came across this recipie! We unfortunately didnt have red bell pepper, and I substituted the kale for spinach plus added cumin and it was still so yummy! Thank you for the recipie!
Sharon
Cumin sounds like the perfect spice addition!! I'm so happy you enjoyed it =)