These vegetarian sweet potato and tempeh pitas with garlicky tahini yogurt sauce are perfect for an easy lunch or dinner! Sweet potato and tempeh slices are roasted in the oven until tender then piled onto pita bread slathered with a thick, garlicky tahini yogurt sauce. Enjoy them as-is or add your favorite toppings like sliced tomatoes and pickles.
Continuing my tradition of roast some things on a sheet pan and create a meal out of it, I bring you these incredibly easy sweet potato and tempeh pitas with garlicky tahini yogurt sauce! There’s minimal hands-on time (the oven does most of the heavy lifting!) and these are fairly high in protein at roughly 20 grams per pita. I love enjoying these as an easy vegetarian lunch with some chips and whatever seasonal fruit I’ve got hanging around. They’re also great for meal prep if that’s your thing!
Notes on Ingredients and Substitutions
These pitas are vegetarian but can very easily be made vegan by swapping in your favorite plain vegan yogurt for the Greek yogurt (my favorite brands are Culina and Cocojune). If you do that, you shouldn’t need to add any water to help thin the sauce. Since raw garlic isn’t for everyone, you can use 1/4-1/2 teaspoons of garlic powder in the tahini yogurt sauce instead for a more mellow flavor. If you don’t have tahini or are allergic, cashew butter or sunflower seed butter are both great swaps!
Tips for Building Your Pitas
I prefer eating my pitas like a taco rather than cutting them in half and stuffing the pockets because it’s much less tedious. Plus, I’m from Texas and eating things like a taco is apparently engrained in my muscle memory! Aside from the sweet potato, tempeh, and garlicky tahini yogurt sauce, feel free to add your favorite sandwich toppings. In the photos I used some tomatoes from my garden along with sliced dill pickles. Here are some other great options: sliced avocados, microgreens, shredded lettuce, pickled jalapenos, sliced red onion, and arugula.
Sweet Potato and Tempeh Pitas with Garlicky Tahini Yogurt Sauce in 6 Easy Steps
Recipe Pairings
If I’m eating these for a quick lunch, I’ll just add a bag of my favorite chips and some fruit. If you have a little extra time, or are eating these pitas for dinner, here are some easy salads to make on the side:
- Cucumber Tomato Salad with Roasted Cashews and Mint
- Kale, Apple, and Celery Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing
- Yellow Zucchini and Armenian Cucumber Carpaccio
Sweet Potato and Tempeh Pitas with Garlicky Tahini Yogurt Sauce
- Total Time: 35-38 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These vegetarian sweet potato and tempeh pitas with garlicky tahini yogurt sauce are perfect for an easy lunch or dinner! Sweet potato and tempeh slices are roasted in the oven until tender then piled onto pita bread slathered with a thick, garlicky tahini yogurt sauce. Enjoy them as-is or add your favorite toppings like sliced tomatoes and pickles.
Ingredients
- 1 8–ounce package tempeh
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- Sea salt, to taste
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, about 1 pound
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 1–2 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane or minced
- 1 medium lemon, zested and juiced
- 4 pitas
- Toppings of your choice, such as sliced tomato and pickles
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment. Cut the tempeh in half lengthwise, then slice into half inch thick pieces. Add the tamari, rice vinegar, maple syrup and a pinch of salt to a medium sized bowl, mix well, then add the tempeh. Toss to coat in the marinade then set aside.
Peel the sweet potatoes, then cut in half lengthwise. Slice into half inch pieces then arrange on one half of the baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with a pinch or two of salt. Toss to coat, then spread the sweet potatoes in an even layer. Toss the tempeh one last time in the marinade, then place the tempeh pieces on the other half of the baking sheet, drizzling some of the extra marinade over the top. It’s fine if the marinade creeps towards the sweet potatoes! Roast the sweet potatoes and tempeh in the preheated 400 degree oven for 25-28 minutes until the sweet potatoes are fork tender.
While the sweet potato and tempeh are in the oven, make the yogurt sauce. Whisk together the yogurt, tahini, garlic, 1 teaspoon of the lemon zest, 1 1/2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, and a pinch of salt until very smooth. Taste and add more salt as needed. If the yogurt sauce is super thick, add a tablespoon of ice water at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
Slather a big dollop of the yogurt sauce onto a pita then pile on some of the sweet potato and tempeh. Add your desired toppings and serve any extra sauce on the side.
Leftover sweet potato and tempeh can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Enjoy cold or gently reheated. Store leftover yogurt separately and enjoy within 5 days.
Notes
- Use one garlic clove for less garlicky flavor and two for a more intense flavor. I usually prefer using just one.
- If you prefer, you can warm your pita up on in the oven towards the end of the baking time. Spritz with a bit of water then place it on a baking sheet or directly on the other rack.
- You can use regular yogurt or vegan yogurt in place of the Greek yogurt. If you do this, you most likely won’t need to add any ice water to thin it out.
- If you’re making these to enjoy throughout the week, store the components separately until you’re ready to make and eat a pita.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25-28 minutes
- Category: main
These look so flavorful and easy, love that tahini yogurt sauce!
The tahini yogurt sauce really ties everything together! Sometimes I double the recipe so I can have extra to use throughout the week.
Your recipes always hit it out of the park! Can’t wait to try this one!
So happy to hear that! Let me know if you try this one 🙂
I’ve never even heard of tempeh before, but you better believe I’m making this! Any tips on where to buy it?
So happy to hear that! Tempeh is typically stocked alongside tofu in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, usually with other vegetarian/vegan items. I usually get mine from Trader Joe’s.
These were so good! I made them exactly as suggested and was blown away with their great flavor! Love the idea of just eating them taco style instead of filling the pocket – I always got leaks when filling pockets, taco-style is so much better!
So glad you enjoyed eating them taco-style, too! Thank you for leaving such a lovely review!
This is one of those recipes I keep in my back pocket for those moments when I absolutely cannot be bothered with anything complicated. Love the combination of the sweet potatoes and tempeh with the tangy, garlicky yogurt. And, love that I can customize the toppings based on what I’m craving at the moment!
This sounds so simple to make, and looks incredible. Can’t wait to make it. I bet that tahini yogurt is to-die-for!
The tahini yogurt sauce is so good! I love making it by itself for weekly meal prep because it pairs so well with roasted veggies.
Can’t wait to try this! It looks so delish and I love tahini sauce!
The tahini sauce really takes these over the top! Hope you enjoy the pitas!