I Tried the Viral Sweet Potato Lunch Hack and I Couldn't Stop Eating It

Korin Miller

Tue, December 23, 2025 at 4:14 PM UTC

7 min read

A viral sweet potato lunch hack involving stuffing Butterkase cheese into a baked sweet potato has taken the Internet by storm with overwhelmingly positive reviews.
The idea originated from English teacher Courtney Cook Bales, who shared her love for the cheese-stuffed sweet potato on TikTok, garnering millions of views and likes.
People are raving about the simple yet delicious combination of sweet potato and cheese, with many praising the unexpected flavor and easy preparation of this viral lunch hack.

I love to cook good food, but the wheels come off at lunch , when I'm almost always pressed for time. Lunch is usually leftovers I grab from the fridge between work calls, or a yogurt and hastily-peeled carrot I eat like a bunny as I race back to my computer. So, when I heard about a viral sweet potato lunch hack that is tasty and easy, I was ready to dive in.

The idea comes courtesy of Courtney Cook Bales , an English teacher in Georgia who regularly shares TikToks of her meals. Bales has built up a following (1.9 million on TikTok to be exact!) for her sweet, wide-eyed reviews of her favorite foods, including the lunches she eats at the school where she teaches.

But it's Bales' sweet potato lunch hack that's taken the Internet by storm. The hack is simple: She stuffed a specific cheese —a mild, German cheese called Butterkäse —into a baked sweet potato, and proceeded to give it a glowing review. Since then, people all over the Internet have shared their own reviews of this viral sweet potato lunch hack, and it's been overwhelmingly positive.

My lunch situation is admittedly sad, and I'm all for anything that can turn it around. But cheese and sweet potato? It seems like a random combination. But, like Bates' growing fanbase, I was surprised by just how tasty this was. And yep, it's super easy to make. Here's what I learned when I tried out the viral cheese-stuffed sweet potatolunch hack.

Related: The Easy Way To Make Sweet Potatoes 10x Better

What Is the Viral Cheese-Stuffed Sweet Potato?

The popular cheese-stuffed sweet potato is the brainchild of Courtney Cook Bales, who has shared several meals on TikTok of herself with various baked sweet potatoes. While Bales probably isn't the first person to stuff cheese into a baked sweet potato, she might be the most enthusiastic one to do it.

Bales went viral after she shared a video of her snack, which was a baked sweet potato with Butterkäse cheese stuffed inside. "This potato…freaking fabulous," she says in the video, while sharing a glimpse of her dish. It's Bales' look of pure joy after biting into her cheese-stuffed potato that really sells it. That post has now been liked 1.1 million times with more than 14 million views.

Since then, she's shared more videos of her sweet potato and cheese lunch, plus some of her other favorite meals, including her Aunt Laura's Tomato Soup, a British roast dinner and a ploughman's lunch.

What Are People Saying About the Viral Cheese-Stuffed Sweet Potato?

This recipe is getting a lot of love. "My FYP is filled with people pushing cheese into a sweet potato and praising your name," one person wrote in the comments. Others pointed out that this is such a simple, but random concept. "42 years on this planet and not once have I thought of jamming stuff into a potato like this, but it seems like a good idea," another person added.

Tennessee Titans majorette Chloe Holladay also praised the recipe, writing alongside an Instagram post of herself recreating it, "Did not expect it to be that good." Even Food Network star Alex Guarnaschelli got in on the action, stuffing American cheese into purple Japanese sweet potatoes. She told fans on Instagram that the recipe is a "10/10."

Ingredients Needed for the Viral Cheese-Stuffed Sweet Potato

You don't need much to make the viral cheese-stuffed sweet potato. Here's what Bales suggests:

Sweet potato (any variety you prefer: orange, Japanese or purple)
Butterkäse cheese, a semi-soft German cheese that's mild and a little nutty. Aldi typically carries Butterkäse cheese, but since this recipe has gone viral they've had trouble keeping it on the shelves. You can also use Havarti or Munster.

How To Make the Viral Cheese-Stuffed Sweet Potato

Bales keeps this recipe incredibly simple. She shared in a later post that she'll cook a classic orange sweet potato, Japanese sweet potato or white sweet potato by cooking it in the oven at 300 degrees for 60 to 90 minutes, depending on the size of the potato.

Bales then lets the potato cool in the oven for one to two hours. (She calls this the most important step.) When she's ready to eat, she cuts a hunk of Butterkäse cheese with a spoon and stuffs it right down the center of her potato. She then eats it like a sandwich.

My Honest Thoughts About the Viral Cheese-Stuffed Sweet Potato

I never would have thought to pair cheese with a sweet potato. A regular potato? For sure. But a sweet potato and cheese combination just sounded a little weird to me. I was so wrong . This was absolutely delicious.

Butterkäse cheese was sold out at my local grocery stores, so I used Havarti, a fellow semi-soft cheese with a buttery texture. (Even Bales pointed out in a recent post that she's had trouble finding Butterkäse at her local store lately.) The cheese got slightly melty and buttery when I shoved it in my still-warm potato, creating a rich, creamy taste. It was so satisfying.

It looks like Bales has her combo without any seasoning, which I found is still good—it's just not as amazing as it could be. I added some coarse salt on top, and it was even better. The combination of flavors and textures just works. It's almost like having a thicker, richer butter in your sweet potato.

Putting the cheese down the center of the potato ensures you'll get cheese and potato with every bite (genius!). But actually getting that cheese into the potato isn't as easy as it seems. I found it's best to dig out a hole down the center of the potato and then slide the cheese into the veggie vs. trying to shove it in there on its own.

This dish is surprisingly filling and still manages to deliver plenty of nutrients. It's also easy to make. I can pop a sweet potato in the oven before lunch and sail through the kitchen to grab it when I'm hungry.

One thing I'll point out: This dish tastes best when you make it while your sweet potato is still hot. That gives you the best chance that the heat from the potato will warm up the cheese and create the gooey texture. I wasn't able to eat a whole potato in one go, and went back for seconds later…it wasn't as exciting when the potato was cold.

Overall, though, I agree with the Internet: This combination is super good—in the most unexpected way.

My 4 Top Tips & Tricks

I discovered a few things while pulling this together:

1. Season it up

You can technically just put your sweet potato in the oven, but it'll have a crispier, more flavorful skin if you rub it with olive oil and sprinkle it with salt on top before baking.

2. You don't need to cool your potatoes that long

Most sweet potatoes bake up nice and soft when you cook them at 300 degrees. While Bales is onto something with the idea of letting the potatoes slowly cool in the oven for the best texture, it's unlikely your oven will still have any heat an hour after you turn it off. (My oven was cool within 45 minutes.) If you don't have time to remove your potato right away, it's nice to know you're not going to do any harm by letting it sit. But going out of your way to do two hours of cooling is overkill.

3. Salt as you go

Bales didn't mention this, but salting the sweet potato as you eat it will really take this to the next level. Sprinkle some on top before each bite for peak flavor.

4. Experiment with cheeses

Even Bales is having trouble finding Butterkäse right now. My local Aldi sells it, but I was told that they can't keep it in stock (likely due to this recipe). Any mild, semi-soft cheese should do the trick, like Havarti, Gouda or Muenster.

Now that I know that shoving cheese into a sweet potato tastes good, I have big plans to try out other add-ons, like bacon . If nothing else, it's just plain fun to bite into a massive sweet potato and call it lunch. The delicious flavor is an extra bonus.

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This story was originally published by Parade on Dec 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the Food & Drink section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.