Chorizo Enchilada Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

ONE YEAR. March 15, 2025. Rivera's BBQ is one year old.

Anniversary night one: family. Thirty people at the restaurant — Roberto and Elena, Jessica, Sofia, Diego, Jim and Diane (who flew in from Duluth for the occasion, because Jim said "I am not missing the anniversary of the best restaurant in Arizona" and Diane said "I am not letting Jim fly alone"), cousins, neighbors, church friends. I cooked the original opening-day menu — brisket, ribs, pulled pork, Roberto's carne asada, green chile stew, Sofia's corn, tres leches, chess pie. The same food that Gerald tasted on March 15, 2024, when he closed his eyes and said "this is the best brisket I have ever eaten." One year later, the food is the same. The fire is the same. The cook is older by exactly one year, which in restaurant years is approximately seven human years.

Roberto sat at the counter in his FOUNDER apron. Elena sat in her booth. Fuego sat under the community table hoping for dropped food (his success rate at family dinners is approximately 86%, mostly from Diego's side of the table). Jessica stood at the back and watched the numbers — the woman cannot stop watching numbers, even at a celebration — and she smiled. The smile of a woman who said "the numbers work" in 2023 and who has been proving it every day since.

I gave a toast. I am not a toast-giver — Roberto gives toasts, Jessica gives spreadsheets, I give food. But tonight I stood at the head of the community table and I said: "One year ago, the doors opened and a man named Gerald ate the first plate of brisket ever served at Rivera's. Since then, 26,000 people have walked through those doors. But this restaurant did not start one year ago. This restaurant started in 1982, when Roberto Rivera built a cinder block grill in a backyard in Maryvale and lit a fire that has been burning for forty-three years. I am just the cook who gave the fire a building. The fire belongs to my father. The food belongs to my family. The restaurant belongs to everyone who has ever shown up. Thank you for showing up."

Roberto stood up from the counter. He does not stand for toasts. He does not stand for announcements. Roberto stands when something moves him beyond the capacity of sitting. He stood and he clapped once — the Roberto clap, single, definitive — and he said, "Just show up." Two words. The tagline. The philosophy. The toast. The whole thing. Just show up.

Night two and night three are next week. But tonight — tonight was for family. Tonight was for the fire. Tonight was for Roberto standing at the counter in his apron and me standing at the pit and the family filling the room and the food filling the plates and the year filling the ledger and the love filling everything else.

The anniversary menu was set — brisket, ribs, pulled pork, Roberto’s carne asada, the stew, the corn — but I always add one new dish to the family table, something that honors where the fire came from. These chorizo enchilada stuffed sweet potatoes are that dish: smoky, bold, built on the same Southwest backbone that Roberto brought out of Maryvale four decades ago. If you’re feeding thirty people who flew in from Duluth and drove in from across the valley and sat under Fuego’s hopeful gaze all night, you need a side that holds up. This one holds up.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 10 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound fresh chorizo, casings removed
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 cup red enchilada sauce (store-bought or homemade)
1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
Salt and black pepper to taste
Sour cream, sliced green onions, and fresh cilantro for topping

Instructions

Roast the sweet potatoes. Preheat oven to 400°F. Rub sweet potatoes with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 45–50 minutes, until completely tender when pierced with a fork. Set aside to cool slightly.
Cook the chorizo filling. While the potatoes roast, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chorizo and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, for 5–6 minutes until browned. Drain off excess fat, leaving about 1 teaspoon in the pan.
Build the filling. Add the diced onion to the skillet and cook 3 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, and chili powder; stir and cook 1 minute more. Pour in the enchilada sauce and stir in the black beans. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 4–5 minutes until slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
Split and stuff. Slice each sweet potato lengthwise down the center without cutting all the way through. Gently press the ends toward each other to open the potato. Divide the chorizo filling evenly among the four potatoes. Top each with the remaining shredded cheese.
Melt the cheese. Return the stuffed potatoes to the oven (or place under the broiler on high) for 3–5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and beginning to bubble at the edges.
Finish and serve. Top each potato with a dollop of sour cream, sliced green onions, and fresh cilantro. Serve immediately alongside your main dishes.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chorizo Enchilada Stuffed Sweet Potatoes — A Side Worthy of the Anniversary Table