These Sweet Potato Skins Stuffed with BBQ Ranch Pulled Pork are perfect for your next football tailgate!
Who is excited for football season to be back?! I am so excited. I am most definitely a football girl myself. Having been born and raised in Texas, football is pretty much a way of life growing up. I was in the marching band all through school (as a baritone player and later in color guard) so I never missed a game in middle school or high school. In fact, my high school stadium and marching band is the one featured in the popular TV show Friday Night Lights. (I’m serious! My parents are even extras in the stands for some of the episodes.)
I was a die-hard Cowboys fan growing up, but now that I live in Denver, I’ve been converted to a Broncos fan. It was super exciting to watch them win the super bowl last year! The city went wild with blue and orange everywhere, and celebrations went late into the night and all through the rest of the week. This year, without Peyton Manning, I really have no idea how we’re going to do as a team. We lost our pre-season game over the weekend, but cycled through all 3 of our potential new quarterbacks trying to see who might be the best choice. So far, it’s still undecided from what I’ve heard, which isn’t really a vote of confidence for a winning team. Our defense is still amazing, so there’s still hope right?
In addition to loving the game, I really love all the football food. You just can’t beat a party with football queso, chips and peach salsa, Sriracha kettle corn, and all the fancy tailgating treats everyone always brings over. I feel like each of my friends has a “go-to” tailgate food that they are known for, so when we get together, we have one heck of an EPIC spread going on. I always get FOMO around tailgating buffets, so I have to try a little bit of everything on the table before I decide what to pile onto my plate. (Does anyone else struggle with that too?)
Since we all love football food, I’ve joined up with a bunch of blog friends from all over the country — all of whom are big football fans! — to put together 64 tailgating recipe ideas for a terrific football party. Click through their links below the recipe for some FANTASTIC ideas!
I have been craving potatoes lately, so I came up with these stuffed sweet potato skins. If you’ve never had pulled pork on a sweet potato, you have been missing out! It’s one of our favorite weeknight dinners because it comes together so quickly. To save time, I usually buy the already cooked pulled pork from Trader Joes, or make a bunch of my slow cooker pulled pork ahead of time and keep portions ready to go in the freezer. Something about BBQ and sweet potato was just made to be together, and I don’t know why it hasn’t invaded all the restaurants yet. Sometimes I’ll even put BBQ sauce on my sweet potato fries, that’s how much I love this combo.
These Sweet Potato Skins are definitely going to up the tailgating spread wherever you are. In addition to being easy, they are also super cute! And they’re super cute in a way that doesn’t require a whole ton of extra work since sweet potatoes are already pretty football-like. They’re going to make you look like Martha Stewart, but in minutes – my favorite kind of recipe!
What’s your favorite tailgating food?
Print
Sweet Potato Skins Stuffed with BBQ Ranch Pulled Pork
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 270
- Total Time: 285
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes (I prefer fatter potatoes over skinny potatoes)
- 1 lb sweet bbq pulled pork (make your own with this recipe, or use store-bought)
- 1/4 cup ranch dressing
- 1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
- 3 Tablespoons ranch dressing (for drawing laces)
Instructions
- Rinse and scrub sweet potatoes to remove dirt and pierce each one with a fork.
- Place, still damp from rinsing, directly into a slow cooker and cook on High for 3.5-4 hours, or until they are fork tender.
- Remove from slow cooker and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before you cut each potato in half.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Carefully scoop the flesh out of the inside of each potato into a medium bowl, leaving about a half inch of potato attached to each potato skin so it can keep its shape.
- Place the potato shells skin-side up on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush each with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until the skins are crispy.
- While skins bake, heat up the pulled pork and mix it with the reserved insides of the sweet potatoes and 1/4 cup ranch dressing.
- Remove skins from oven, flip each one over, and stuff with the sweet potato pork mixture.
- Sprinkle tops generously with cheese and return to oven to bake for 5-10 more minutes, or until cheese has melted and the insides are hot.
- Add remaining ranch dressing to a small Ziploc bag, snip off a small corner of the bag, and use it to draw “laces” on each potato skin. (See images.)
- Serve while warm or store in the fridge for up to 3 days. (Stored potato skins will lose their crispiness.)
Notes
- Gluten-free: These are gluten-free if you use GF pork.
Pin these Sweet Potato Skins for Later!
Ready for an epic list of tailgating recipes? Because I am drooling over every single recipe. Click through and check them out!
Spicy Mexican Cheese Dip by 2 Cookin Mamas
Salsa Verde by A Dish of Daily Life
Skillet Sausage Dip by A Joyfully Mad Kitchen
Sausage, Peppers + Onions Pigs in a Blanket by A Little Gathering
Grilled Jalapeno Poppers by A Mind Full Mom
Beer & Brats Bake by A Simpler Grace
Black Bottom Maple Pecan Pie Bars by An Oregon Cottage
Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings by And She Cooks
Blackberry BBQ Sticky Wings by Around My Family Table
Cheesy Pull Apart Garlic Bread by Beer Girl Cooks
Black Bean & Corn Salsa by Body Rebooted
Roasted Garlic BBQ Chicken Wings Recipe by Bread Booze Bacon
Smoky Jalapeno Poppers by Brunch-n-Bites
Loaded Sweet Potato Nachos by Bucket List Tummy
Deconstructed Smoked Chicken Chile Relleno by Cafe Terra
Chicken Spinach & Artichoke Dip French Bread by Cake ‘n Knife
Cuban Sandwich Quesadillas by Casa de Crews
Grilled Asparagus Spears by Celebrating Family
Sweet and Salty Blueberry Popcorn by Club Narwhal
Buffalo Chicken Poppers by Coffee Love Travel
Sea Bass Skewers + Blackbeard Cocktails by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Buffalo Chicken Poppers by Dash of Herbs
Easy chicken roll ups with cream cheese and veggies by Family Food on the Table
Bottled Tailgate Cocktails by Feast + West
The Best Tex-Mex Arrachera Fajitas by Foodal
Loaded Guacamole by foodbyjonister
Cincinnati Nachos by Foodtastic Mom
Cajun Red Beans and Andouille Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms by For the Love of Food
Grilled Shrimp Pizza by Glisten and Grace
Mini Bell Pepper Nachos by Hello Little Home
Slow Cooker Sweet Spicy Meatballs by Honey & Birch
BBQ Chicken Wontons by Lauren’s Kitchen
Loaded Tailgate Tots by Life’s Ambrosia
Ricotta & Fig Bites by Living Well Kitchen
Tailgate Tacos by Lizzy is Dizzy
Nashville Hot Chicken Wings by Loaves & Dishes
Cincinnati Chili Dip by Love & Flour
{Slow Cooker} BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches by Love Bakes Good Cakes
Tailgate Bloody Marys by Loves Food, Loves to Eat
Sweet Korean Chicken Wings by Macheesmo
Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots by Me and My Pink Mixer
Beer Sangria by Mixplorology
Crab Pretzels by Mom’s Messy Miracles
Hot Bacon Dip by Nik Snacks
Build Your Own Bloody Mary Bar by Off the Eaten Path
Chowder Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers by Order in the Kitchen
Old Fashioned Sweet by Peanut Blossom
Baked Mac and Cheese Cups by Polka Dotted Blue Jay
Texas Toothpicks with Buttermilk Ranch by See Aimee Cook
Pretzel Turkey Meatballs (GF, DF, SF) by Shaws Simple Swaps
Hearty Vegetable Chili by Simple and Savory
Focaccia Pizza by Simplify, Live, Love
Sweet Potato Skins Stuffed with BBQ Ranch Pulled Pork by Sustaining the Powers
Bacon-Wrapped Cheeseburger Bites by The BakerMama
Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad by The Creative Bite
German Potato Skins by The Crumby Cupcake
Old Bay Trail Mix by The Culinary Compass
Meat Lover’s Pizza Bites by The Life Jolie
Raspberry Chipotle Black Bean Dip by The Mexitalian
Grilled Asian Chicken Wings & Shishito Peppers by The Secret Ingredient Is
Blackened Shrimp Tacos by The Speckled Palate
Honeydew Melon Refresher by Two Places at Once
Grilled Sauerkraut Stuffed Brats by West via Midwest
Sausage Apple and Sage Hand Pies by What A Girl Eats
Note: This post is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by the National Football League (NFL) or any of its teams. All opinions and views expressed on our blogs are our own, not that of the NFL and/or any of its 32 teams. Any team names, logos or other symbols referenced are properties of their respective organizations. We are just big fans — and we want to share our love for our teams, the game and the food that brings us all together on game day.
These are awesome! What a great combo with the sweet potatoes and the pulled pork. Love how you dressed them to look like footballs! Can’t wait to make!
These not only sounds delicious but are so fun and festive! What a great idea.
LOVE anything with sweet potatoes. My kids just harvested a ton from our garden. One of my goals for the fall is freezing bbq so it’s alway on hand… These are so cute. I bet they would be a big hit.
These are the absolute cutest footballs I’ve ever seen! Pinning now for sure!