Easy Baked Yam with Cashew Cream

This Baked Yam with Cashew Cream is one of our go-to dinners. It comes together quickly and uses lots of pantry staples! 

Like me, I'm sure many of you are running out of ideas of what to cook for dinner. Being home for 3 meals a day means very little rest when it comes to the kitchen—and a constant racking of the brain about what to cook. In times of uncertainty, we have relied on frozen pizza, samosas, and a few cans of Amy's chilli to get us through. But on other nights, we rely on quick meals that come together with little work and some pantry and fridge staples.

These baked yams are just the thing we want when we don't feel like slaving over the stove. They bake in around 30 minutes, utilise canned beans, pickled onions (something we always keep in our fridge), and a quick to make cashew cream. 

We kept these baked yams very Tex Mex / burrito style, but you can really add whatever veggies you have in the fridge—top them with a herb, something crisp and crunchy, something juicy, and something creamy.

Ingredients

• kidney beans
• avocado or olive oil
• whole cumin seeds
• yams
• cashews
• limes
• garlic
• hot sauce
• pickled onions
• salt
• veggies to garnish

Method

This dish is one of those ones that may look like it has a lot of components, but instead uses a lot of meal prep staples.

If you have some cashew cream and pickled onions in the fridge (highly recommended because they are so good on everything) you simply have to roast the yams and gently warm and season the canned beans. This is such a hands off yet impressive, family friendly meal.

Tips + Notes

While the ingredient list may look a little long, this is actually a quick meal to toss together. To help you save time, here are a few recommendations. 

• Make the pickled onions a few days in advance. They dress up any dish and last a few weeks in the fridge, so I recommend always having them on hand. You can see my pickled onion video here 🙂
• Make a double batch of the cashew cream and store in the fridge for up to 5 days. 
• If you don't want to make the cashew cream, try adding a little lime zest, juice, hot sauce and garlic to some dairy-free sour cream!

Substitutions

• This meal is easily doubled for larger families
• Try a can of black beans instead of kidney beans
• Use sweet potato instead of  yam
• Top with whatever veggies you have on hand to garnish—even frozen corn, salsa, black olives, or chopped red pepper
• Use any hot sauce you like. Our favourites are Valentina, Cholula, and Tapatio. 

More Simple Vegan Dinners

• Vegan Baked Maple Beans 
• Simple Ginger Dal
• Creamy Black Bean Soup 

Recipe

Print Recipe

5 from 3 votes

Easy Baked Yam with Cashew Cream

This Baked Yam with Cashew Cream is topped with cumin beans, a creamy lime cashew sauce, crisp veggies, and lots of avocado.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Additional Time4 hrs

Total Time4 hrs 45 mins

Servings: 2

Author: Sophie MacKenzie

Equipment

• Measuring cups and spoons
• Large pot
• Baking sheet
• Parchment paper
• Blender
• Heavy bottom frying pan
• Colander

Ingredients

Beans

• 1-14 oz kidney beans, drained and rinsed 398 ml can
• 2 teaspoons avocado or olive oil
• 2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds

Yams

• 2 medium yams 220 grams/ 8 oz each
• 2 teaspoons avocado or olive oil
• Sea salt

Cashew Sauce

• ½ cup cashews soaked 4 hours to overnight
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• Zest of ½ lime
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• ½ - 1 teaspoons Mexican hot sauce we like Cholula
• 1 clove garlic
• Water as needed

Pickled Onions

• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup water
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 red onion thinly sliced

Instructions

Pickled Onions

• In a pot heat the cider vinegar, water, sugar, and salt until it comes to a boil. Pour this mixture over the sliced onions and let them sit in the fridge for at least a few hours. See the note below.

Baked Yam

• Heat the oven to 205°C (400°F). Slice the yams in half. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the yams with the oil and place them cut side down on the baking tray. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Bake for 30 minutes (or until fork tender) flipping them after 20 minutes.
• While the yams are cooking make the cashew sauce. Add the soaked and drained cashews, oil, salt, zest, juice, hot sauce, and garlic to a highspeed blender. Puree until the mixture is fairly smooth. Slowly add water, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is creamy and a pourable consistency achieved. Set this mixture aside.
• To make the beans, take a large, heavy frying pan. Add the oil and place over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and stir often until they are fragrant and toasted about 30 seconds. Add the drained beans and toss until they are warmed through.
• To assemble, take the halved yams, top them with the beans, cashew sauce, pickled onions, and any other veggies you have (see below). Serve immediately.

Notes

To serve, try chopped tomato, shredded red cabbage, sliced avocado, cilantro, sliced Radishes, hot sauce, limes, sliced jalapeno, chopped green onions