Sweet Potatoes With Chorizo & Chimichurri

This delicious and healthy meal of roasted, jammy sweet potatoes with salty grilled chorizo and tangy chimichurri is a real flavour explosion and one of my favourite recently cooked recipes. Inspired by choripan, it’s nutritious, balanced, satiating and suitable for paleo, gluten-free and Whole30 diets. What’s not to love?

In This Post:

Recipe Overview

This sweet potato recipe was inspired by a dish called choripan, which features grilled chorizo sausages served in a bread roll with chimichurri sauce on top. I wanted to create a more nutritious version with sweet potatoes instead of bread.

There are three elements to my dish:

• Jammy Roasted Sweet Potatoes – slow roasted until jammy and almost caramelised, seasoned with salt and pepper to balance out the sweetness. 
• Chorizo – pan-fried or grilled sliced chorizo, which adds a chewy, crispy texture and lovely umami saltiness that goes so well with the sweet potatoes. You can also add shredded cooked chicken and diced bacon, pan-fried to crispy, as an alternative to chorizo. 
• Chimichurri – this tangy, aromatic, garlicky sauce ties everything together because the other two need some acidity for balance. Plus, the green colour with red speckles of chili brings a lovely contrast to this dish.
• New to chimichurri? It’s an Argentinian/Uruguayan condiment typically served with steak. It’s delicious and I put it on everything.

These can be made simultaneously as the sweet potatoes need about 1 hour in the oven, so there is plenty of time to make chimichurri and cook the chorizo. 

The recipe is designed for 4 servings, with each serving using 1 medium sweet potato. The final dish needs to be served with a side of greens (like my pan-fried broccoli) or a simple side salad. 

👉 If you like the look of this dish, check out my Spanish cauliflower rice with chorizo, chicken & shrimp, or my chorizo chicken sheet pan dinner, or sweet potato chorizo and egg skillet for breakfast.

You Will Need

Here is what you need to make this chimichurri chorizo and sweet potatoes.

• Sweet potatoes – look for straight medium sweet potatoes that are easy to cut diagonally, and not too large as we’re using 1 potato per serving. If you’re super hungry or making it for a larger member of the family, then choose a large potato.
• Chorizo – I used Spanish-style smoked, paprika and garlic chorizo you can normally get in the deli section next to bacon, ham and salami. You can also get chorizo from the butcher. Mexican chorizo would work too. Chorizo HAS to be cooked for this recipe!
• For chimichurri – lots of parsley, garlic, red long chili pepper (cayenne, or another type that’s not too spicy), red wine vinegar (this is authentic to chimichurri but could be replaced with white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice if needed, the flavour will be slightly different), olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried oregano (also important for good chimichurri, don’t skip!).

How To Make Sweet Potatoes, Chorizo & Chimichurri

Find the full list of ingredients and nutritional info in the recipe card below. Here are some step-by-step pictures to guide you along.

• Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F.
• Step 1. Cut the sweet potatoes in halves, lengthways, and place on a flat baking tray. Brush lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Pop in the oven, middle shelf, for 60 minutes. You will get super soft, almost jammy sweet potatoes. If you need them on the table sooner, they will be cooked after about 40-45 minutes but won’t have that caramelized finish.

• Step 2. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, prepare chimichurri. This step can be done right away. Chop the parsley and red pepper very finely and mince or grate the garlic. When doing the chili, remove the seeds. Combine these with the remaining ingredients in a bowl and stir. Set aside.

• Step 3. Remove the skin from the chorizo and slice halve into circles and halve into half circles. I like different shapes but you can pick one cut and go with that. There is no right or wrong here.
• Step 4. Cook the chorizo when the sweet potatoes are ready. Pan-fry in a tiny bit of oil over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes on the first side and quicker on the second side (it cooks quicker as the pan is hotter). Remove to a plate lined with some paper towel to soak up excess oil.
• Step 5. Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven. Using a tablespoon, make indents inside sweet potato halves, turning them into boats. Top each sweet potato boat with grilled chorizo and a tablespoon or two of chimichurri. Serve the remaining chorizo and chimichurri on the side.

What To Serve With This Dish

This recipe is a complete meal but it does need a little vegetable side dish, in my opinion. I really enjoyed serving it with simple steamed or boiled broccolini or pan-fried broccoli. A simple side garden salad or rocket, pear and Parmesan salad would work well as well.

My 5-minute zucchini salad is another great option that’s really quick. Whatever veggie you choose, make sure it’s not too sweet. I don’t recommend carrots, pumpkin or potato, as an example.

Full Recipe 

Find the full list of ingredients, instructions, and a nutritional breakdown below. If you have questions or cook this recipe, please let me know in the comments, and make sure to rate this recipe so it’s easy for others to find.

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