This Sweet Potato, Kale and Shrimp Skillet only requires 4 ingredients, and it’s super-easy to make!
Looking for more shrimp recipes? Try these ones too: Garlic Butter Shrimp, Air Fryer Shrimp and Shrimp Fried Rice.
This Sweet Potato, Kale, and Shrimp Skillet is so easy to make for lunchtime or a busy weeknight meal. It takes only a few minutes to be ready on your table. The only thing that takes a little time is for the sweet potatoes to cook.
Since you are sautéing the kale leaves, you need to keep the heat low so that they don’t become soggy. I dislike soggy leaves, which is why they look almost raw in the pictures. I just sauté them for about one minute or so, but if you wish, you can sauté them for longer. It is really up to you. Let’s talk a little bit about the 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 visit Primavera Kitchen often, you know that I have a variety of cast iron skillet recipes for you to try. I love cooking with cast iron pans because they are very versatile. You can use them for frying, baking, grilling, broiling, braising, and sautéing meats, vegetables, and more! You can make almost anything in them. Isn’t that great? Cast iron is also very resistant and durable. I have had 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 they have a precise heat distribution, which makes foods cook evenly and taste delicious. I have two favourite cast iron skillets.
You can see the Le Creuset one in the pictures in this post, and the other one is my Lodge skillet, which I use to make lots of recipes for my family such as Asparagus Sweet Potato Chicken Skillet, Chimichurri Chicken Green Beans Skillet, and Creamy Parmesan Chicken Skillet or any of these Cast Iron Skillet Recipes or these Skillet Dinner Recipes.
This Lodge skillet is great because it is a very good price for the quality. I highly recommend this type of skillet, and you can get yours here.
Can I make this recipe with frozen shrimp?
Absolutely, but you need to thaw the shrimp before cooking it. If your shrimp are frozen, place them in a bowl with cold water in the sink and leave them for about 5 minutes. The shrimp are thawed when they are soft and easily bendable.
Then, rinse and pat the shrimp dry with paper towels. Now, they are ready to cook. It’s such an easy-to-cook protein! Try my Sweet Potato Green Beans Shrimp Skillet if you want another tasty shrimp recipe.
Why are my shrimp so chewy?
It’s probably because you overcooked your shrimp. When shrimp are overcooked, they become tough, rubbery, dry, and chewy. Shrimp cook very quickly. So, as soon as the shrimp turn pink, it’s a sign that they are done. It will only take about 3-5 minutes to cook if the shrimp are medium-sized. If the shrimp are larger, they will take about 6-7 minutes.
5 more shrimp skillet recipes to try:
- Shrimp Vegetable Skillet: This is a great one-pan meal for the entire family. Perfect for a quick dinner or a delicious lunch.
- Chimichurri Shrimp Broccoli Skillet: This recipe is another quick-and-easy, one-pan meal for your busy weeknight dinners. It’s ready in less than 15 minutes and super flavourful.
- Garlic Shrimp Asparagus Skillet: Perfect for a busy weeknight since this one-pan meal will be ready in 20 minutes or so.
- Creamy Parmesan Shrimp Skillet: This recipe is full of so many flavors 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 recipe with other veggies of your choice.
For more quick and delicious lunch or dinner recipes, please visit my lunch time and what’s for dinner Pinterest boards!
I hope I inspired you to create a delicious lunch dish in your own kitchen today.
As a memory, I kept the original photo from 2014!
Sweet Potato, Kale and Shrimp Skillet
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or ghee
- ½ cup onions diced
- pinch crushed red pepper to taste
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups sweet potatoes diced
- 2 cups shrimp peeled, deveined, and thawed if frozen
- 3 cups trimmed and coarsely chopped kale leaves
- salt and ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the onions and crushed red pepper.
- Cook until the onions are soft and golden.
- Add the garlic, and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add the sweet potatoes, and cook until soft. Add a few tablespoons or ¼ cup of water to help steam the sweet potatoes, if necessary.*
- Add the shrimp, and cook for 2-3 minutes or until they turn pink.**
- Turn the heat to low, and add the kale, stirring until wilted.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Notes
- Don't add more than a ¼ cup of water to cook the sweet potatoes because they may become soggy. Also, cover the skillet with a lid for about 2 minutes. It helps cook the sweet potato faster.
- If I'm using more than 2 cups of shrimp, I cook the shrimp first and set them aside to avoid overcrowding the skillet.
- Here is a complete list of shrimp recipes for you to try. They are delicious, easy-to-make, and also great as leftovers.
- If you don't have a cast-iron skillet, you can use a large non-stick skillet instead.
- To store: Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- To reheat: You can microwave leftovers or reheat on the stovetop.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?
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I just made this tonight for my “detox week”. The only change I made was using coconut oil in place of EVOO. This dish was AMAZING! My bf doesn’t like shrimp and he ate it and commented that it was pretty good. Success! Thank you 🙂
Thanks a LOT! So glad to hear you both enjoyed this recipe! Happy New Year 😉
Awesome things here. I’m very happy to peer your post.
Thank you so much and I’m taking a look ahead to touch
you. Will you kindly drop me a mail?
Delicious! I was just trolling online for a way to use Kale and shrimp I had on hand. this recipe is a keeper.
Wow a great way to use kale! I’ll definitely try this recipe. 🙂
Thanks Vivek 😉
I am in a strict diet now but this recipe sounds right up my alley. Do you happen to have the nutritional value information?
I had to leave out the red peppers because of a nightshade intolerance and we found it to be a bit bland.
Any ideas on some seasoning?
You can add Italian seasoning and also 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce. I am sure it will taste very good. I hope it helps 😉
I made this for my family. My husband loved it and so did a few of my kids – that means it’s pretty good! I boiled the sweet potatoes so that i could peel the skin off easily. Chopped veggies while potatoes were softening…easy to make and beauitiful!
Awesome! I am very happy to know that your family love this recipe 😉
I added a tablespoon of lemon juice after the kale to brighten it up a bit. I might try it with red wine vinegar next time, and barley or Faro to make it a cold salad dish in the hot summer. Thanks!
You are very welcome. Glad you enjoy this recipe.
This was amazin! All 5 family members gobbled it up. (I tripled the recipe w/growing boys in the house.)
thank you so much!
This is definitely a “keeper”!
So glad to hear that! Thanks for stopping by 😉
Yummmm…I googled “shrimp and sweet potato” since I had shrimp and sweet potato on hand. This is the first thing I came across! I used fresh spinach instead of kale and added in a little curry powder and cumin with the garlic. I.LOVE. THIS. With a nice glass of white wine! Cannot wait to go through the rest of your recipes!
You are so sweet to say that, I appreciate it so much! I am thrilled you loved this recipe and it was so good and flavorful! Thank you for the comment!
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 😉
Just made this tonight!! Thank you for the easy & delicious recipe!
Happy to know you enjoy it!
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.
Hi Olivia, I live in Sydney, Australia and I’ve just found your site this morning. I’d also like to reiterate on the difference of “sweet potato” and “Yam”. You are TOTALLY CORRECT as my family are market produce growers and I’m 76 years old having grown up in the industry all my life I know the difference between the two.
To what I’ve seen of your site and I’ve been on my laptop now for 2 hours copying out some of your MARVELOUS, IMPRESSIVE RECIPES and can’t wait to try them all. Keep up the good work and I look forward to many more recipes to come. Than you again. 🙂
Uh, she DID use sweet potatoes. Hence the ORANGE colour of the potato in her photos.
If you read up on sweet potatoes vs yams, almost all the “yams” we have here in North America are actually sweet potatoes. Real Yams are from Africa and hard to come by. Sweet potatoes come in many varieties and colours but basically taste the same.
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 😉