A super easy sweet potato chili recipe, with everything you could ever want in a quick and healthy weeknight meal!
The best sweet potato chili
This classic homemade vegetarian chili recipe has been a favorite in my family for over ten years.
Packed with delicious and wholesome ingredients like sweet potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, and black beans, what’s not to love?
Leftovers freeze well too, so it’s a really great healthy recipe for meal prep!
Along with my Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies, this chili is one of the first recipes I ever made without following instructions in a cookbook.
The chili can be vegan, gluten free, Whole 30, paleo, high in protein, and oil free.
Also try these Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
Chili serving suggestions
Sliced Avocado
One of these Cauliflower Recipes
Serve over rice or quinoa
Serve over spaghetti squash
Or make up a batch of Applesauce Muffins or these Oatmeal Muffins to go along with your chili.
To make the sweet potato vegetarian chili, start by peeling your sweet potatoes and chopping the onions.
(I love roasting the sweet potato before beginning, but it’s not required.)
In a large pot, bring all ingredients except the zucchini to a boil. Turn the heat to medium-low, and cook uncovered (adding zucchini about halfway through) until the sweet potato is soft.
Depending on the size of the potato, it should take around 15 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired.
I haven’t tried the recipe in an instant pot, so be sure to report back if you try. There is a slow cooker chili version here: Crock Pot Sweet Potato Chili.
Add a shake of hot sauce for smoky or spicy chili, and feel free to use whatever beans you have on hand. I especially like it as black bean sweet potato chili.
Leftover Sweet Potato? Make this Sweet Potato Salad or these Sweet Potato Brownies.
Above, watch the video of how to make sweet potato chili
The recipe was adapted from my Vegetarian Chili Recipe.
Sweet Potato Chili
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato (10 oz)
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 can black beans, or beans of choice
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup chopped zucchini, optional
- 2 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1/2 tsp each: cumin and salt
Instructions
- Peel sweet potato, and chop or dice, depending on desired size. (If you have time, I love roasting the sweet potato now, but it's not required.) Bring all ingredients except zucchini to a boil. Then turn to medium-low and cook uncovered (add zucchini about halfway through) until sweet potato is soft. It depends on the size of the potato but should take around 15 minutes. Taste, and add salt and pepper as desired. I add an additional 1/2 tsp salt. Serve with sliced avocado, tortilla chips, or whatever you wish.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Dinner Recipes
I saw this post this morning… and just HAD to make it for dinner! It’s delicious! I added a little hot sauce to mine to make it a little spicier. Paired it with a cornbread recipe from The Happy Herbivore. Best. Dinner. Thanks! 🙂
Oh wow, I’m so excited you already tried it!
And I love Lindsay (Happy Herbivore). She’s such a sweetheart :).
Mmm chili! I love with sweet potato- it’s good with squash too though 😀
Yummy! I am so making this recipe 🙂
I love sweet potato chili!! But I actually like mine chocolate covered 🙂 I add cocoa powder and cinnamon and cayenne pepper. It’s like mexican hot chocolate chili – it’s so good!! One time I even added chocolate chips. It was awesome.
I feel like you posted this recipe just for me. I wanted a savory post and you gave me sweet potato. I am in heaven. I WILL be making a massive pot of this and freezing it for super cold day comfort food. Sweet potato is best with peanut butter melted into it.
Only in the last year or so did I figure out that I actually like sweet potatoes… as long as they’re not cooked like a dessert. The mushy Thanksgiving casseroles always grossed me out, but then I tried them as fries- delicious! I like to chop ’em up and roast them with olive oil and seasoned salt as fries, or with regular potatoes and onions for a more formal side dish. I did a spicy version with chili powder and red pepper a few weeks ago- based on that, I bet they’d be delicious in chili!
I personally think that sweet potatoes and black beans were made for each other–definitely one of my favorite flavor combos! I also really like sweet potatoes topped with cashew butter 🙂
I have a SUGGESTION!!! 🙂
How about a cupcake with cookie dough inside?? A healthier, vegan version of something like this: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Chip-Cookie-Dough–Cupcake–The-BEST-Cupcake-Ever/Detail.aspx
Doable?
Oh heck, definitely yes. I bet you could stuff some of my cookie dough dip into these: https://lett-trim.today/2011/07/10/my-go-t-chocolate-cupcake-recipe/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
But that’d be a chocolate version. I’m still working on a vanilla cupcake recipe :).
Hi this is my first time commenting – sweet potatoes or kumura (I’m from new Zealand) are my absolute favourite food and I love them in any shape or form. In nz you can get kumura chips instead of normal potato (hot) chips! I’ve never tried them in baking though, and I once tried a sweet potato green smoothie which was disgusting, but that was due to the greens. I’m loving the sound of this chilli!
Hi Joy!
I love hearing from people in different parts of the world. Plus, I’ve wanted to visit NZ ever since I did a report on the Kiwi bird when I was eight :).
This sounds delicious! I’m in love with anything sweet potato…but oh no you said “cornbread.” That will be on the brain all day! I have yet to find a yummy tasting and healthy vegan cornbread. Please bring one in to my life soon! 🙂
I love making sweet potato fries. At school, I often bake one in the microwave and peal it and eat it (kind of like a banana)
Finally! A Sarah friendly chili recipe! Thanks Katie =)
I LOVE (like seriously l-o-v-e) sweet potatoes. I like to slow roast them in the oven until they’re sweet, soft, and syrupy and then drizzle with some homemade nut butter. Walnut butter is my favorite; the combination is mind blowing!
That’s a beautiful looking chili! As for sweet potatoes, I actually don’t care for them all too much; well, not plain anyway. Though I wouldn’t mind trying them out as fries ( or in a chili. 😉 ).
Cornbread, you say? I will defiantly be keeping my eyes open for that one! I love cornbread, but can never seem to find a good, healthy recipe for it. The ones I seem to come across would have to have too much tweaking to the large amounts of butter, buttermilk, sugar, white flour etc. Ooh, but speaking of flour, I bet they would taste great with a mix of cornmeal and spelt!
On the topic of cornbread, just wondering; how do you like yours? For me, it’s just not cornbread if it doesn’t crumble everywhere, lol.
I haven’t actually had cornbread in years! I’m putting it at the top of my to-make list :).
I really love creamy polenta (cornmeal), though!
Just made this for lunch today (with plenty of leftovers for future meals, yay!) and it’s delicious! I added more chili powder than called for because I like things spicy. It turned out fantastic. Thanks for the recipe!
TOTALLY making this tonight!
I love sweet potatoes any and EVERY way. When I run into someone who DOESN’T like sweet potatoes I end up looking at them like they’re from another planet!