Sweet Potato, Kale and Shrimp Skillet
This Sweet Potato, Kale and Shrimp Skillet only requires 4 ingredients and it’s whole30, gluten-free, paleo, and super easy to make!
This recipe was first published on July 24, 2014. I updated it in July 2018 with new pictures and extra information about the recipe.
We are receiving some Brazilian guests today (well, when you will be reading this post they will be here already) and I really have to finish cooking some goodies to offer to them. I don’t know about you guys, but when Brazilians have friends or family over, they will fill you up with food until you say “I can’t eat anymore, please stop it” 😉
I guess this is the way Brazilians show how much they care about their friends and family. In Canada, it is very common we offer guests something to drink when they arrive, but in Brazil, food is the first thing to be offered.
MY OTHER RECIPESSo funny! My husband is Canadian and every time he visited my mom he used to say to me “baby, why does your mom think I am hungry all the time? She is like an Italian!” YES, we are like Italians, Portuguese, and Spanish. That’s Latin culture, guys. Just for the record, he wasn’t complaining about it. In fact, he loves this tradition since he is such a good eater, right baby?
And if you are like my family and I, that really enjoy to cook, you won’t want to miss any recipes from my blog, right? So, you just need to subscribe to my newsletter and you will receive new recipes in your inbox plus a free e-cookbook!
So, this sweet potato, kale, and shrimp skillet is so easy to make for lunchtime or busy weeknight meal. It will take only a few minutes to be ready on your table. The only thing that takes more time is the sweet potatoes to cook.
Since you will sauté the leaves, you will have to keep the heat at low to avoid them from getting very soggy. I don’t like very soggy leaves and that’s why in the pictures my leaves look almost raw. I just sautéed them for about one minute or so, but if you wish you can sauté for longer. It is really up to you. Let’s talk a little bit about shrimp now.
Why did you use a cast iron skillet to make this recipe?
I’m a huge fan of cast iron skillets. If you often visit PK, you know that I have a variety of cast iron skillet recipes here for you to try. I love cooking with cast iron pans because they are very versatile. You can use it forfrying, baking, grilling, broiling, braising, and sautéing meats, vegetables and more!You can make almost everything with it. Isn’t that great? It’s also very resistant and durable. I have my three cast iron skillets for over 7 years now and they look absolutely new.
They are also fairly cheap for the quality you get and it also has a precision heat distribution, which makes your food cooks evenly and tastes delicious. I have two favourite cast iron skillets. One is this one you see on the pictures from Le Cruesset and the other one is my Lodge skillet, which I use to make lots of recipes for my family such as my Chimichurri Chicken Green Beans Skillet and Creamy Parmesan Chicken Skillet. This Lodge skillet is great, because it has a very good price (14$ at Amazon) for the quality you get. I highly recommend this type of skillet and you can get yours here.
Can I make this Sweet Potato, Kale and Shrimp Skillet with frozen shrimp?
Absolutely, but you need to thaw the shrimp before cooking it. If your shrimp are frozen, you can place them in a bowl with cold water in the sink and leave it there for about 5 minutes. The shrimp is thawed when it is soft and easily bendable. Then, rinse and pat the shrimp dry with paper towels. Now, they are ready to cook.
Why is my shrimp so chewy?
Probably it’s because you overcook your shrimp. When shrimp is overcooked, it becomes tough, rubbery, dry and chewy. Shrimp cooks very quickly. So, as soon as the shrimp turns pink, it’s a sign that the shrimp is done. It will take about 3-5 minutes to cook if shrimp is medium size. If shrimp is large, it will take about 6-7 minutes.
More Shrimp Skillet Recipes to Try:
All these recipes are low-carb, paleo, gluten-free and whole30.
- Shrimp Vegetable Skillet: It’s a great one-pan meal for the whole family. Super healthy and perfect for a quick dinner or a delicious lunch.
- Chimichurri Shrimp Broccoli Skillet: This recipe is another easy and quick one-pan meal for your busy weeknight dinner. It’s ready in less than 15 minutes and super flavourful.
- Garlic Shrimp Asparagus Skillet: Perfect for busy weeknight since this one-pan meal will be ready in 20 minutes or so.
- Creamy Parmesan Shrimp Skillet: It’s full of flavours that you’ll think you are eating a gourmet meal!
- Shrimp, Bell Pepper and Onions Skillet: I love this recipe because even if you don’t have bell peppers or onions, you can still make this Shrimp, Bell Pepper and Onions Skillet with other veggies of your preference.
For more quick and healthy lunch recipes or dinner, please visit my lunch time and what’s for dinner Pinterest boards!
I hope I inspired you to create a delicious healthy lunch dish in your own kitchen today.
As a memory, I kept the original photo from 2014!
Sweet Potato, Kale and Shrimp Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil or Ghee.
- ½ cup onion diced
- A pinch of crushed red pepper to taste
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups sweet potatoes diced
- 2 cups fresh shrimp
- 3 cups trimmed and coarsely chopped kale leaves
- Salt and ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a cast iron skillet, add the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat.
- Add onions and crushed red pepper.
- Cook until onions are soft and golden.
- Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add sweet potato and cook until soft. In case you need, add a few tablespoons of water or 1/4 cup to help steam the sweet potato*.
- Add shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until they turn pink*.
- Turn the heat to low and add kale, stirring until wilted.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe Notes
*Don't add more than 1/4 cup of water to cook the sweet potato because it may become soggy. Also cover the skillet with a lid for about 2 minutes. It will help to cook the sweet potato faster.
*I like to cook first the shrimp and set it aside if I'm cooking with more than 2 cups of shrimp to avoid overcrowding the skillet.
HERE is a complete list of shrimp recipes for you to try. They are healthy, easy to make and great as leftovers too.
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Sweet potato, Kale, and Shrimp Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil or Ghee.
- ½ cup onion diced
- A pinch of crushed red pepper to taste
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups sweet potatoes diced
- 2 cups fresh shrimp
- 3 cups trimmed and coarsely chopped kale leaves
- Salt and ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a cast iron skillet, add the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat.
- Add onions and crushed red pepper.
- Cook until onions are soft and golden.
- Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add sweet potato and cook until soft. In case you need, add a few tablespoons of water or 1/4 cup to help steam the sweet potato*.
- Add shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until they turn pink*.
- Turn the heat to low and add kale, stirring until wilted.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe Notes
*Don't add more than 1/4 cup of water to cook the sweet potato because it may become soggy. Also cover the skillet with a lid for about 2 minutes. It will help to cook the sweet potato faster.
*I like to cook first the shrimp and set it aside if I'm cooking with more than 2 cups of shrimp to avoid overcrowding the skillet.
HERE is a complete list of shrimp recipes for you to try. They are healthy, easy to make and great as leftovers too.
Found this great recipe in Pinterest! Added feta on top!
Mm.. Yummy! Love feta cheese!
Stopping over after seeing your recipe featured on The Everygirl Blog. I am printing this recipe and making tonight!
That’s awesome. Hope you enjoyed this recipe 😉
Awesome inspiration! My girl and I love to cook together. Shrimp is one of our favorites.
Thanks a lot 😉
Made this recipe tonight. It is absolutely delicious!
Happy to hear about that, Sharon 😉
Was really good my daughter thought the sweet potatoes were carrots! Lol
A work of art beautiful recipe. The flavors of the shrimp sweet potatoes and kale blend and compliment one another sweet and tastefully. My whole family luved it so very much. There was only one thing i did differently and that was instead of the oilve oil i used advacodo oil cause thats what i had on hand. This is the kind of recipe that says fall is here. U can keep going back for more and not feel so gulity cause its healthy. I usaually take a pic when done cooking but in this case i was so excited to try it that i forgot. While cooking this the aroma gets ur stomach growling and howling in anticipation. Thank u for a simple elegant tantalizing recipe.
Hi! I want to try this recipe, as I just fixed your Asparagus, Sweet Potato Chicken dish tonight. I didn’t have a cast iron pan like you show, and although it was an extremely tasty meal, I can’t say it turned out just like the picture! 🙂 So, I was wondering, is the pan you use a 12 inch skillet, or 10 inch? Thanks!
Yes, I use a 12 inch skillet.
Just whipped this up for dinner and it was delicious! Love how quick and easy it is. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Happy you enjoyed it!!
I’m sorry but I won’t be making any skillets from your recipes. You missed informed everybody by saying you used “sweet potatoes” when you used “yams” there’s a big difference and they are NOT the same thing. I purchased “sweet potatoes” like the recipe stated and when I was done cooking them I noticed they were not the same color as the ones in the picture. Why? Because you used Yams. So I basically wasted my money and time on making this because it wasn’t even good. Thanks but no thanks for the help and waste of a dish.
I’m sorry you feel this way, Megan. Sweet potatoes come in many different colors depends on the variety. I’m originally from Brazil and sweet potatoes there are white. Here in Canada sweet potatoes have a copper skin with an orange flesh. All sweet potato varieties normally have the same shape and size and they are much smaller than yams. Yes, I used sweet potato for all my recipe. I would never miss inform my readers just because I have an enormes respect for everyone who comes here and try my recipes. Thanks.
I love this recipe! I tweaked it a bit & used low sodium soy sauce & some balsamic vinegar on the shrimp & then added a little more to wilt the kale. Very good!!
Mm… Soy sauce and balsamic vinegar are great addition to this recipe 😉
I made this last night and it was absolutely amazing! It took me a little longer to cook the sweet potatoes but I don’t think I cut them up small enough! It paired really nicely with a sauvignon blanc 😊 thank you so much!
Yes, if you don’t cut the sweet potato in small pieces it will take longer to cook. Happy to know you enjoy this recipe 😉
This is really good. I’m newly gluten free and having a tough time finding recipes that I actually like, but I’ll make this again!
This is a great gluten-free meal option 😉
I made this tonight with white sweet potatoes! My husband and son loved it! I will try it again with orange sweet potatoes too! l only added a little lemon juice when cooking the shrimp. Some of the others posts have great ideas for next time! Yum!
That’s awesome, Kim. Happy to hear that. If you try any other recipe from PK, please let me know how it turned out. xoxo
Couldn’t believe such a simple recipe could turn out so delicious! Will definitely make again
That’s awesome. Happy to hear that!