Tandoori Spiced Sweet Potatoes & Chickpeas
4.49 from 29 votes

These tandoori spiced sweet potatoes and chickpeas make for a vibrant, filling plant-based meal. Packed with flavor and great for sharing!

A bowl of stuffed sweet potatoes that have been topped with spice-roasted chickpeas, herbs, and a drizzle of tahini sauce.

Once in a while I make a recipe that I know I’ll make again and again. These tandoori spiced sweet potatoes, which are stuffed with roasted chickpeas, belong in that category. The chickpeas alone are worth bookmarking. They’re delicious as a crispy snack or piled on top of a salad. But the complete dish is a delight to eat. It’s a flavorful meal that showcases a lot of my favorite ingredients.

The recipe isn’t complicated, but it requires some time. You’ll need to bake the potatoes and roast the chickpeas. Once that’s done, though, the dish comes together easily.

A zoomed in image of a Tandoori spiced sweet potato, stuffed with chickpeas, fresh cilantro, and a drizzle of tahini lime sauce.

The beauty of roasted chickpeas

It’s no secret that I love roasted chickpeas. Why? Because they’re such a versatile plant protein. They can be stuffed into a wrap, used to top a bowl of your favorite soup, piled on top of a salad, or used as a topping for nachos (even non-traditional ones).

Roasting chickpeas takes a little more time than eating them plain, but it adds texture and flavor that wouldn’t be there otherwise. It’s also a great opportunity to use a variety of spices, herbs, and seasonings. Chickpeas become a protein-rich base for carrying flavor.

Tandoori style spice mix

The roasted chickpeas in this dish are tossed with a fragrant spice blend of ginger, cumin, garam masala, paprika, and turmeric. I also used a touch of cayenne for heat.

Most Tandoori spice mix recipes include a combination of ginger, cumin, coriander, paprika, and turmeric. I love Meera Sodha’s recipes, and and she outlines a mix here, which could be used to marinate tofu or seitan as well as chicken.

These seasonings pair well with the sweetness of baked sweet potatoes and the tangy tahini lime drizzle. That sauce stands in where yogurt might typically be used in a Tandoori-style marinade. It’s tasty, and you can use whatever you’ve got leftover for salads and bowls as well as this dish.

Assembling Tandoori spiced sweet potatoes

Making these tandoori spiced sweet potatoes is a stepwise process, but it’s easy to group some of the tasks together. If you’re someone who loves to meal prep, this recipe is a good candidate for doing that. You can bake the potatoes and roast the chickpeas a day ahead of time, then make the sauce and assemble the following day. Or, you can simply make the tahini drizzle ahead of time.

It’s hard to tell, but there are actually some cooked greens mixed into the roughly mashed potato filling. These are optional, but they add extra fiber and nutrition to the dish. I recommend them, not just for texture and color, but also for nutrient density. Kale, spinach, and collards all work well (as would chopped broccoli florets or green beans). The greens, too, can be made in advance.

Storing & serving

If you do wish to make the recipe in parts, I’d recommend storing components separately before mashing the potato filling and assembling them. You can store the leftovers for up to four days in an airtight container in the fridge.

I like to add chopped cilantro only before serving the Tandoori spiced sweet potatoes. This keeps the herbs from wilting. The potato halves look very pretty when they’re spread on a serving platter for friends or family. But if you’re enjoying one or two on your own, they’re the perfect size for a solo bowl.

A small bowl holds a baked sweet potato that's been stuffed with spiced chickpeas, herbs, and sauce.
A bowl of stuffed sweet potatoes that have been topped with spice-roasted chickpeas, herbs, and a drizzle of tahini sauce.
4.49 from 29 votes

Tandoori Spiced Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas

Author – Gena Hamshaw
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients

For the Tandoori chickpeas:

  • 3 cups cooked chickpeas (2 15-ounce cans, drained and rinsed)
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
  • Dash cayenne
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (substitute a few tablespoons vegetable broth for a no oil option)

For the potatoes:

  • 4 medium sized sweet potatoes, scrubbed
  • 1 tablespoon tahini, cashew butter, or almond butter
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened soy or almond milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • dash crushed red pepper flakes
  • 2 cups washed and chopped leafy greens
  • Chopped cilantro leaves and stems, for serving

For the tahini lime drizzle:

  • 1/3 cup tahini
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1 small crushed garlic cove
  • 1/2 teaspoon agave or maple syrup

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375F. Clean and prick the sweet potatoes a few times with a fork, and line two baking sheets with parchment or foil. Place the potatoes on one sheet. Toss all of the tandoori chickpea ingredients together in a mixing bowl and place them on the other sheet. Transfer both sheets to the oven. Roast the chickpeas for about 30-35 minutes, stirring halfway through. Roast the sweet potatoes for 40-45 minutes, or until tender when pricked with a fork. Allow both sheets to cool.
  • While the ingredients roast, whisk together all of the ingredients for the tahini lime drizzle. Then, bring a small pot of water to boil and gently boil or steam, then drain, the leafy greens.
  • When the potatoes have cooled a bit, cut them in half and very gently scoop out the flesh (careful not to pierce the skins when you do this). Transfer all of the flesh to a mixing bowl and mash roughly with the tahini or nut butter, plant milk, salt, and red pepper flakes. Fold in the steamed leafy greens.
  • Transfer the potato skins to a serving platter. Scoop the mashed potato mixture back into the skins. Top them all evenly with the roasted chickpeas. Drizzle the whole dish generously with the tahini sauce and then sprinkle it with chopped cilantro, if desired. Serve.

I love that little bit of tahini in the potatoes, by the way! Half of a baked sweet potato, drizzled with tahini and coarse salt, is one of my favorite snacks. Using the tahini (or cashew butter, or almond butter) to make the sweet potato flesh a little creamier was a great idea. I’ll need to play with it in future recipes, for sure.

A bowl of baked potatoes and roasted chickpeas, topped with cilantro and served with a small bowl of sauce.

This recipe brings together an almost comical number of my favorite plant-based ingredients. Sweet potatoes, chickpeas, tahini: they’re all foods that I turn to again and again. And garam masala happens to be a spice blend that I love. It’s the star of these lentils, which are a go-to protein in my home. Using it here only increased the odds that I’d love this meal.

And I really did.

Hope you’ll like the potatoes, too. On Thursday, I’ll be back with an easy and balanced weeknight dinner recipe. Till soon!

xo

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Categories: Recipes, Main Dishes
Method: Oven
Ingredients: Chickpeas, Sweet Potato, Tahini
Dietary Preferences: Gluten Free, Soy Free, Tree Nut Free, Vegan
Recipe Features: Meal Prep

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Recipe Rating




    37 Comments
  1. 5 stars
    All that I can say is “Wow”. This tandoori-chickpea-stuffed-sweet-potatoes-tahini-lime-drizzle recipe has made it onto our eat weekly menu. What a wonderful blending of sweet, spicy, crunchy ingredients. So fast and easy to make.

    Also fell in love with your tomato soup and grilled cheese combo. We will be trying more of your recipes soon. Thank you very much and keep up the wonderful work.

  2. 5 stars
    Great dish! My family loves it. Roasting the sweet potatoes definitely takes a long time, particularly if you have some thicker taters in the mix. I microwaved them the second time I made this and that cut the cooking time in half.

    Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!

  3. Made this tonight, big hit !
    Didn’t have tahini, so I used peanut butter. Added another 1/2 tsp. of the maple syrup. Worked great evening out the sauce. May I return the favor ? When baking your sweet potatoes, stick them in the
    freezer for 45min to an hour.
    Then bake as usual. DO NOT PRICK THE SKINS. When the ice crystals inside the potatoes melt, steam is formed. The sealed in steam cooks the potato and keeps it moist. When the skin is separated and papery (45min. or more) you’re done. I guarantee your potato will be super sweet, soft and fluffy. Once again, great recipe. My husband and I really enjoyed it tonight.

  4. 5 stars
    Hi, Gena! Quick question: We’re planning on cooking these tonight but we’ll be busy from 4~7, so I’d like to bake the potatoes and chickpeas ahead of time. Do you have any tips for storing and reheating? Thanks!
    P.S. We can never get enough of Power Plates!

    • Lindsay, I’m sorry I missed responding to this in time for your cooking! The potatoes can be baked up to 2 days before assembling. The chickpeas can be roasted 2-3 days ahead of time. I’d reheat both at 350 on a lined baking sheet in the oven for about 10 minutes. I hope you enjoy!

  5. 5 stars
    So good! I didn’t have nut milk so used full-fat Greek yogurt. Also used a combo of orange & purple sweet potatoes. Delish.

  6. 5 stars
    Amazing and filling! And not difficult or time-consuming to make at all! We doubled the amount of spices in the chickpeas because we like that flavor.

  7. 5 stars
    Made this for my husband and I tonight and we both loved it! We love “gourmet” food with lots of flavor and this fit the bill perfectly. I used Greek yogurt instead of milk and liked the consistency. Thank you for sharing this delightful recipe!

  8. So bummed, your website layout doesn’t seem to work with my phone! I can read the recipe fine, but the blog is half cut off. 🙁 Excited to try this recipe, however!! 🙂

  9. Lovely! I’m so happy I found this recepie.
    So easy to make but looks great and tastes so good.
    I ate so many all by myself.
    Dressing and chickpeas could be used in so many different dishes.
    Thank you so much

  10. This was insanely delicious!! However, I pared the prep down a lot to make it an easy weeknight meal. I found the chickpeas were just as tasty when not roasted at all so I just toss them in the spices and oil. I chop the sweet potato and steam it and then add the other stuff and mash it. I steam some frozen broccoli for a minute while I make the mash. I make the sauce and then layer the sweet potato and broccoli, chickpeas, and sauce in bowls! Easy! I’m sorry I couldn’t rate the recipe I was having issues on mobile with it not recognizing my touch. Thanks for such an amazing recipe and I hope my suggestion is helpful to you and others!

  11. 5 stars
    i’ve been busy with school and am catching up now, this looks amazing! i have a TON of sweet potatoes and regular potatoes to use up that are about to go bad (any recommendations for regular white, red, or purple potatoes?!)
    i’ve actually been making a similar dish : layer a roasted sweet potato, stewed greens, plain or dairy free yogurt (depending on what i have on hand), and sometimes dried channa, cumin always lots of sauerkraut!!
    i love the addition of tahini and lime and the tandoori spices. i willl give this a try 🙂

  12. So good! I didn’t have nut milk so used full fat Greek yogurt. Also used a combo of orange & purple sweet potatoes. Delish.

  13. 5 stars
    I followed this recipe exactly (which is not the norm for me – I usually make subs to suit my preferences), and it was mind-blowing! SOOOO flavorful, comforting, and filling without feeling “heavy.” I chose peanut butter because I thought it would balance some sweetness and compliment the flavors, and it was killer. I just polished off the second round of leftovers for lunch at work…the only downside is that the chickpeas don’t stay quite as crunchy, but honestly I didn’t care because they are so flavorful. Seriously, A++

  14. 2 stars
    I made this today. It came out way too sweet for my taste, even if I used unsweetened almond milk and have skipped the maple syrup in the sauce. The skins of the potatoes were too damaged so I discarded them and served the potatoes puree style, adding more almond milk to make it a little more runny. I topped with the chickpeas, lots of cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil, and grounded peanuts, which was a nice addition.

    • Thank you. This is the sort of review that is actually helpful. Reviewers who comment on how good a recipe looks without actually making the dish are useless.

  15. These look so delicious Gena! My mouth is totally watering over here with the thought of that chickpea spice blend paired with a creamy sweet potato and tahini. Goodness it doesn’t take much to create a stellar meal and you’ve proved it here! Hope you guys have been enjoying this recipe all week 🙂 I think Scott and I need to try these soon <3

  16. Gena, thank you!! This looks absolutely fabulous! All the things and flavors I love in one dish, and so pretty too. I will definitely play with this. And I agree it’s a great potluck choice. Making a mental note of that. . .xo

  17. Hi Gena
    What a beautiful bowl combining some of my favourite flavours. Tahini just adds that addictive nuttiness that I love, especially in salads. Looking forward to making this fab dish. Thank you!

  18. GINA! I’m so excited about this recipe! Bookmarking now. This is like all my fave things! I’ve already made my menu plan for the next 2 weeks, but I will be making this very soon!

  19. Aaand, this just went on the menu for this week or next! KILLER. Also, that first photo. <3 Loving this surface as well! Perfect combo!