Lunch

Beef and Sweet Potato Hash

Name: Beef and Sweet Potato Hash
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 5
Ingredients: 1000 g sweet potato; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1000 g lean ground beef; 2 onions; 5 garlic cloves; 2 tsp smoked paprika; 2 tsp dried thyme; 1 tsp dried oregano; 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 120 g spinach; 220 g low-fat Greek yogurt; 30 ml lemon juice; 2 tbsp fresh parsley; 1 tsp salt; 1 tsp black pepper

Roasted sweet potato tossed with spiced ground beef and wilted spinach, finished with a garlic yogurt sauce, for five meal-prep servings.

Servings

Prep

15 min

Cook

30 min

Total

45 min

Meal prep container of beef and sweet potato hash with spinach, parsley, and drizzled yogurt sauce

Ingredients

1000 g sweet potato (peeled and cut into even cubes)
2 tbsp (27 g) olive oil
1000 g lean ground beef
2 (220 g) onions (diced)
5 (15 g) garlic cloves (4 minced, 1 grated for the sauce)
2 tsp (4.6 g) smoked paprika
2 tsp (2.8 g) dried thyme
1 tsp (1.8 g) dried oregano
2 tbsp (34 g) Worcestershire sauce
120 g spinach
220 g low-fat Greek yogurt
30 ml lemon juice
2 tbsp (7.6 g) fresh parsley (chopped)
1 tsp (6 g) salt
1 tsp (2.3 g) black pepper

Equipment

Large baking tray
Parchment paper
Large frying pan
Knife and cutting board
Fine grater
Kitchen scale
Food thermometer

Method

Heat the oven

Heat the oven to 220°C (430°F) and line one large or two medium trays with parchment.

Prepare the sweet potatoes

Peel the sweet potatoes, cut them into planks, then into even cubes. Toss the cubes with half of the olive oil and a little of the salt and pepper until coated.

Roast the sweet potatoes

Spread the cubes in a single layer on the tray and roast for about 30 minutes, stirring halfway through, until tender with browned edges.

Prepare the onions and garlic

Dice the onions. Mince four garlic cloves for the beef and grate the fifth for the yogurt sauce.

Mix the yogurt sauce

Stir the Greek yogurt with the grated garlic and the lemon juice, then season with salt and pepper. Chill it until serving.

Fry the onions

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and cook for about four minutes, stirring, until softened and golden.

Add the garlic

Stir in the minced garlic, breaking up any clumps, and cook for one more minute until it smells fragrant.

Brown the beef

Add the ground beef, season with salt and pepper, press it down, and let it sear before breaking it up. Cook for about seven minutes until no pink remains and most of the moisture has cooked off, reaching 71°C (160°F).

Season the beef

Stir in the smoked paprika, thyme, oregano, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook for one more minute so the spices coat the beef and caramelize slightly.

Wilt the spinach

Add the spinach and toss for about two minutes until it has wilted completely and is mixed through the beef.

Combine and portion

Fold the roasted sweet potato into the beef, tossing gently so the cubes keep their shape. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper, then divide between containers, drizzle with the yogurt sauce, and scatter the parsley over.

Nutrition

Per serving (one fifth of the recipe, including the yogurt sauce), calculated from the listed ingredient quantities

Calories

566

Protein

52 g

Carbs

51.1 g

Fat

16.7 g

Fiber

8.2 g

Hash at a glance

This makes five servings in 45 minutes. Each serving provides 566 calories, 52 g protein, 51.1 g carbohydrates, 16.7 g fat, and 8.2 g fiber, calculated from the listed ingredient quantities.

At 52 g of protein and 566 calories per portion, this is one of the more protein-dense meal-prep options you can build from cheap ingredients. Lean ground beef does most of that work, and the yogurt sauce adds a little more.

Running the oven and the pan together

The sweet potatoes need 30 minutes in the oven and the beef needs about 15 minutes in the pan, so start the tray first and use the roasting time for everything else: chopping the onions and garlic, mixing the yogurt sauce, and browning the beef.

Spread the cubes in a single layer. Crowding the tray steams them, and you lose the browned edges that make the difference between roasted and boiled sweet potato. Use two trays if one looks tight.

The yogurt sauce

Grate rather than chop the garlic clove that goes into the sauce. Raw garlic in visible pieces is much sharper than garlic that has been grated into a paste and given a few minutes to settle into the yogurt.

Make the sauce early and chill it. It thins slightly as it sits, which makes it easier to drizzle over the containers.

Serving and storage

Fold the roasted cubes into the beef gently so they keep their shape, and let everything cool before you put the lids on. Refrigerate within two hours and use within three to four days. Keep the yogurt sauce in a separate small container if you want the hash to stay crisp when reheated.

Cook ground beef to a safe minimum internal temperature of 71°C (160°F).

Storage

Let the hash cool before covering, then refrigerate within two hours and use within three to four days. Store the yogurt sauce separately if you want the sweet potato to stay firm when reheated.