Vegan Sweet Potato Nachos

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These loaded Vegan Sweet Potato Nachos are a wholesome twist on the classic hot snack. Made with nutritious ingredients like sliced sweet potato, avocado and topped with black beans for protein and a rich cashew sour cream for that satisfying rich finish. They’re vegan, gluten free and feel like a treat but are actually healthy. They are perfect for lunch or Friday night dinner on the couch.

Sweet potato chips topped with creamy sauce, mashed avocado, black beans, red onion, and fresh cilantro.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Instructions
Substitutions & Variations
Storage
Expert Tips
FAQ
Serving Suggestions and More Recipes
Vegan Sweet Potato Nachos
Author

I’m always looking for simple ways to make everyday meals more fun, so when I saw Sweet Potato Nachos on TikTok, I knew I had to try it. This kind of recipe is the perfect example of how to eat healthy, without feeling like you’re missing out. For most of my early twenties, I was always on a diet or trying to ‘eat ‘better’ but it always came from a place of feeling bad about myself. I would eat the same two or three sad meals that were, on paper, healthy. Think tomato and vegetable soup, apples (I once at only apples for 3 days… don’t ask me how I thought that was sustainable!) and vegetables with fat-free gravy. The food had little flavor, looked awful and made me feel like I was eating from a cafeteria in some sort of awful diet-food-prison. Safe to say, none of those diets ever lasted more than a few weeks. It wasn’t until my late twenties (and now early thirties) that I really started to approach eating healthy from a more positive place. Especially after having a baby (read about my experience as a first time mum here), I developed even more of an appreciation for just how amazing our bodies are, and how important it is to take care of them if we want to live an independent, active life well into our senior years.

I still have my moments of course where I slip into negative feelings about my body (surely a universal experience for women). But mostly my motivation for eating well now comes from a place of wanting to do better for my body and my life. Plus, if I feel well, I can be a better mum and support those around me more. Making a healthy meal is a lovely act of self-care and benefits those around you too.

So now my approach when it comes to eating healthy is to focus on adding more nutrients into my meals, rather than thinking about what I should be removing from my diet. It’s such a subtle distinction, but I’ve found it has had a hugely positive impact on my mindset around food. Calorie counting and eating the same foods on repeat and denying yourself any food for pleasure is a quick way to make yourself miserable. But the great thing is – it needn’t be that way! Recipes like this prove it is possible to live your best life and enjoy delicious and nourishing food.

One of my favorite ways to make healthy eating more fun is to swap out the ingredients of classic snacks and takeout foods for something more nutritious. I have applied this strategy for many breakfast recipes like Chocolate Chia Mousse, Blended Cookie Dough Oats and Blueberry Overnight Oats – they all taste like pudding or a thick cake batter consistency. I’ve also adapted a few appetizers too like Air Fryer Buffalo Cauliflower and Teriyaki Cauliflower Bites. So for these Vegan Sweet Potato Nachos I’ve swapped out corn chips for sliced sweet potato, and dairy sour cream for cashew sour cream. I’ve also swapped out the heavy toppings you’d normally expect with loaded nachos (like beef mince and refried beans) for black beans, fresh mashed avocado with a sprinkle of finely diced red onion. Plus, as a bonus, it’s all entirely vegan and gluten free.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Sweet potatoes are a delicious and filling vessel for healthy toppings that are sliced into rounds like chips. They have that satisfying sweet-meets-savory flavor and pair perfectly with the other toppings.
It looks like nachos and is just as fun to eat, but is nutritious and an entire balanced meal with healthy fats from avocado and cashews, protein from the black beans and carbohydrates from sweet potato.
It’s entirely plant-based and gluten free. Plus the vegan sour cream is easy to make and genuinely rivals the dairy version thick, tangy, and ultra-creamy.
It’s high in fiber, full of plant-based protein, and surprisingly filling for such a simple recipe.
You can prep the sour cream ahead and mix and match toppings based on what you have – it’s adaptable and low-effort.

Ingredients You’ll Need

The exact measurements are provided in the recipe card at the end of this post, but here’s a quick shopping list:

Sweet potatoes
Olive oil
Salt, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper
Raw cashews
Neutral flavored oil (like canola or sunflower)
Unsweetened plain plant-based yogurt (I use soy)
Apple cider vinegar
Nutritional yeast
Black beans (canned)
Fresh jalapeño
Red onion
Avocado
Fresh lime
Fresh cilantro

Ingredients for vegan sweet potato nachos

Instructions

Here’s how to make Vegan Sweet Potato Nachos. Head to the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact cooking times, temperatures, and measurements.

Thinly sliced sweet potatoes sprinkled with spices in a blue roasting dish.

Step One: Slice the sweet potatoes thinly and toss with oil and spices. Arrange the slices on a lined baking tray and bake until golden and crisp at the edges.

Vegan sour cream sauce being blended in a Nutribullet on a kitchen counter.

Step Two: Add the soaked cashews, oil, yogurt, vinegar, nutritional yeast, and salt to a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy.

Person mashing avocado in a large white bowl with a fork.

Step Three: Mash the avocado with a squeeze of lime juice and a pinch of salt. Prep the remaining toppings.

Sweet potato chips topped with creamy sauce and black beans on a white plate.

Step Four: Arrange the roasted sweet potatoes on a serving plate then top with black beans and drizzle with vegan sour cream.

Sweet potato chips topped with creamy sauce, black beans, scoops of mashed avocado, red onion, and cilantro.

Step Five: Add the jalapeño, red onion, mashed avocado, and fresh cilantro on top. Serve immediately.

Substitutions & Variations

The great thing about Vegan Sweet Potato Nachos (or any nachos recipe really) is that the toppings are completely customizable. I browsed for awhile on TikTok when I was researching this recipe and saw a few different combos. The all seemed to include at a minimum: sweet potatoes (kind of non negotiable), avocado, sliced jalapenos and cilantro. But aside from that, there was a mix of proteins, seasonings, cheese and sauce options. I eat plant-based, so naturally I went for vegan toppings, but you can really mix it up depending on what you have at home. Just start with a base of sweet potatoes and get creative. Here are some ideas:

Protein: I think this would be really tasty with a plant-based beef mince pan-fried in taco seasoning. You could also use textured vegetable protein (TVP), one of my go-to vegan protein sources. I often use it as a beef mince substitute as it is affordable and keeps in the pantry. I just rehydrate it in boiling water with a splash of soy sauce to season then cook as normal. You could swap the black beans for refried beans (be aware refried beans often contain pork lard, so check the label carefully if you do not eat meat).
Cashew Sour Cream: Can be omitted or swapped for a store-bought option, or even just vegan cheese.
Make it Mild: You can omit jalapeños if you don’t want any spice. The seasonings used for the Sweet Potatoes are super mild.
Other Toppings: Include corn, diced tomato, pickled onion, or crushed tortilla chips as optional add-ons.

Storage

These Vegan Sweet Potato Nachos should be eaten immediately, this recipe won’t keep well. Once the toppings have been added, they will quickly start to soften and the avocado will brown. You can, of course, keep the leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for a couple of days, and you won’t get sick. But the texture will be soggy and unappetizing. If you are hosting or want to do some prep in advance, you could slice the sweet potato and coat it in the oil and spices so it is ready for roasting. But the time saving will be pretty minimal.

Expert Tips

How crispy you’d like your Sweet Potatoes is up to you! I tend to bake mine for a few extra minutes because I like them very crispy, but be aware they can get a little tough. If you don’t mind a softer texture, then follow the recipe timings below and use a fork to eat them if they are a too soft to eat with your hands.

FAQ

Can I make the sweet potatoes in the air fryer instead of the oven?

Yes, definitely! Just slice them thin and cook in batches so they crisp up evenly. I usually air fry them at 375°F and flip halfway. It’s quicker than the oven and gives great texture – just keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.

Is this recipe gluten-free?

Yep, as long as your yogurt and any toppings are gluten-free (most are, but it’s worth a quick label check). Sweet potatoes make a naturally gluten-free base that holds up really well.

Can I use a different bean?

Yes. Pinto beans, or kidney beans all work well in place of black beans. I think this would also taste great with some pan-fried plant-based mince with taco seasoning.

Can I bake the sweet potatoes ahead of time?

I don’t recommend roasting in advance as the sweet potatoes will become soggy. If you want to do some prep in advance, I suggest slicing them and coating in oil, but only roast them when you’re ready to eat.

Serving Suggestions and More Recipes

I usually serve these nachos for a night on the couch / girl dinner, but they’re perfect for sharing too – just double the batch and give everybody a fork!

If you are looking for more tasty and nutritious snack-meets-meal ideas then try Cowboy Caviar (another TikTok inspired recipe), Oven Baked Carrot Fries or Buffalo Tofu Fries for a protein rich snack (and can also be used as a filling for wraps).

I hope you have fun making this wholesome little twist on nachos. If you give the recipe a try, please let me know what you thought in the comments below or send this to a friend who needs some healthy dinner inspo! You can also tag me on Instagram @glowdiaries___ if you wanna show off your creation.