This smoky Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili is going to rock your world! Honestly, it’s the best vegetarian chili to ever grace my kitchen. 100% a game changer.
I’m about to say something bold: this Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili will convert any meat lover. I know, it’s a bold statement. But after a few years of hearing from you guys about this recipe… I stand by my statement confidently. Chili is an ESSENTIAL recipe during the fall/winter. And you won’t miss the meat with all the black beans, sweet potatoes and spices in this one.
Loaded with chili powder, chipotle peppers, cumin, beans, tomatoes and quinoa, it’s basically a giant party in a pot and it’s addictive. Make it, enjoy it, and then take it for lunch the next day and make everyone jealous. I tend to make a double batch of this on the weekends and then freeze small portions to pull out when needed. It freezes like a charm. Just make it, let it cool, portion it into small containers and then freeze. When you’re ready to serve, take it out of the freezer, let it sit on the counter until it’s no longer totally frozen, and then re-heat either in a microwave or in a non-stick skillet with an extra splash of stock to loosen it up. Bingo.
As far as substitutions for this goes:
- Butternut Squash is a great substitute for sweet potatoes
- Farro or rice also works in place of quinoa. You might need a tiny bit extra time for farro, and a little extra liquid. But both are delish.
- Black beans can be substituted with any of your favorite canned bean. If you want to make your own beans, this is my favorite recipe
Stuck in a dinner rut? Looking for new delicious dinner ideas? Check out my roundup of 50+ easy dinner ideas here.
Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus 2 extra teaspoons
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
- 1 large red onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 1/2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 14.5-ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup dried quinoa
- 4 teaspoons lime juice
- serving suggestions: avocado, cilantro, crema, grated cheese
Instructions
- Heat a large heavy bottom pot with the oil over medium high heat.
- Add the sweet potato and onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until the onion is softened. Add the garlic, chili powder, chipotle, cumin and salt and stir to combine.
- Add the stock, tomatoes, black beans and quinoa and bring the mixture to a boil. Stir to incorporate.
- Cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer.
- Cook for 30-40 minutes until the quinoa is fully cooked and the sweet potatoes are soft and the entire mixture is thick like a chili.
- Add the lime juice and remove the pot from the heat. Season with salt as needed.
- Garnish with avocado, cilantro, crema or cheese before serving.
Making this for the second time tonight. This recipe is fantastic! I made everyone I know try it and everyone loves it. I double the recipe. Warms up well too so it’s convenient for me to take to lunch at work. Loooove this!!!!!
Would this work well to freeze? I haven’t used quinoa before so not sure if it would hold up after thawing out. Thanks!
yes it absolutely would! I freeze it all the time 🙂
This is one of my new faves! I make this recipe at least once a week! Delicious, easy and healthy! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve made this a dozen times now and I love it more and more! It’s delicious! I’ve decided to make it for a party I’m hosting. One of the guests is on a gluten free diet. Is this gluten free? If not, what needs to be eliminated to accommodate a gluten free diet?
Hi Brandy
Unless there is some gluten hiding in the tin of beans, this dish would be gluten free.
Regards
Linda
My husband who HATES sweet potatoes LOVED this chili. I am craving it right now. Everytime I passed the fridge, I would need to take a spoonful…cold. Being a spice wuss, I will cut the ground chipolte to 1/4 tsp. A dollop of sour cream on top…OMG….deeeeeelish!
omg your comment made my day!! so glad he enjoys them 🙂
This is such an amazing recipe, I have changed it up a little adding some diced pepper or some celery and mushrooms, but anytime I make it it is wonderful for my daughter the vegetarian and my honey the carnivore everybody lloves it, I’ve made it 3 times in 2 weeks doubled it tonight, to freeze some individual portions for my work lunches, Yummo, thanks so much for what has become a classic recipe in my house! P.s. It freezes well!
yayyayay love this! thank you!!
My husband made it a few days ago when I was on a girls day out. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find the sweet potatoes, so he used regular ones and found a golden beetroot which he also put in. It worked really well.
Gaby, your chili rocks!! I loved everything about it! The heat was just right. The sweetness of the sweet potatoes were devine! I did let it cook down a bit longer than suggested by that’s personal preference. Thank you for my first vegetarian chili recipe. As far as I’m concerned the search is over!
The quinoa do you cook it seperately before mixing it to bring to a boil or no?
you add the uncooked quinoa to the chili and then bring it to a boil and that thickens the chili and cooks the quinoa 🙂
Does this work well in the slow cooker?! Can’t wait to make this tonight!
Does this work well in the slow cooker?! Can’t wait to make this tonight!
yes it does!! 6 hours should do the trick on low 🙂
Just finished a dish of this excellent chilli. Added turkey mince to make it go further and some corn and chopped capsicum. Used kidney beans as black beans are not readily available here. Loved the texture with the quinoa. Will be enjoying this for lunch next week 🙂
I made this last week and my roommate and I could NOT STOP EATING IT! I made it with with a little honey and cinnamon added in to add a bit more sweetness to the heat, and piled it on top of corn bread. I’m making it again tonight… it’ll definitely will become a staple for us here in my house.
Very tasty! Found this through Plan to Eat and we really enjoyed it. Mine didn’t quite come out as thick as I’d like, but from reading other comments I will be a bit more patient next time and let it thicken up.
Thanks so much!
Looks yummy…how many do you think this would serve? We’ve got two adults, two 10 year old and a 4 year old.
It serves 4-6 for sure!! All my recipes are written for approx 4-6 servings 🙂
Great, thanks! Plan on trying it tonight.
I saw you make this on snapchat and decided to try it. I’m currently doing Weight Watchers so I had to add it to check the points. It came out to 9 smart points without the added toppings. Im SO excited to try this because 9 points for a meal is great! It’s cooking right now and my husband is skeptical about the sweet potatoes, but I’m sure I’ll be making it again for dinners and to take to work for my lunches! I LOVE to watch your snapchat recipes!! Thank you. 🙂
THANK YOU EMILY!!! so glad you enjoyed it! xx
My husband liked it. He said it needed a new name other than chili, but we live in Texas, so it’s not the kind of chili he’s used to lol. It’s REALLY good. I’m looking forward to taking it for lunch the next couple of days. 🙂
yayyyyyyyyyy!
Hey Gaby,
Can’t wait to make this. I’d love to use what I already have in my kitchen and I have all the ingredients except the chipotle peppers. Is there an adequate substitute or should I really drop by the store for the chipotles?
Thanks,
Annie
you can skip it – it’s just chipotle pepper seasoning – and you’ll already be using cumin and chili powder so you could add in a bit of cayenne if you wanted spice! Either way, you’re great!
We’re trying to eat healthier, so I’ve been scouring Pinterest. I came across this recipe. I made this for supper tonight. I doubled the recipe as there are 5 of us 🙂 I used brown rice instead of quinoa. It was delicious! This is definitely going to be one of my go-to recipes from now on! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
i saw in the comments that this recipe can be made in the crock pot. Should i stilll cook sweet potato before putting in the crock pot? Any other changes I shoild make?
Hey Dawn! I haven’t tested it in a crock pot so I’m unsure from personal experience – but my gut is telling me that you do not need to cook the sweetpotato prior to putting it into the crock pot and it will cook perfectly once in there 🙂
This sounds delicious! I see in previous comments it serves 4-6 people. Can you tell me the serving size? Thank you!
This recipe rocks. Thanks Gaby! I’ve made it twice in two weeks already. The lime and cilantro are perfect.
THANK YOU!!!!
I work at a day spa and one of my clients shared this recipe with me. Oh my goodness. This is amazing and so addicting I added ground turkey and it was delicious. Thank you for sharing!
Hi! This recipe looks like the one i’ve been searching for ever! I so want to try it! But i have a question (i’m kindaof a kitchen noob) do you add water in the beggining? as i read the recipe it only makes sense but you dont mension it. Sorry for the trouble!
no water needed!! you saute the sweetpotatoes in oil and then continue with the recipe! The liquid comes from adding the stock later in the recipe
I have to thank you for this recipe.
I didn’t have some of the ingredients, so it was slightly modified- but my 2.5 year old just kept spooning it in his mouth – as my jaw dropped in amazement. He actually said the words ‘I like this mommy’ and that has NEVER happened before. I rarely write reviews, but wanted to make sure to take the time to say thank you. I had one of those food highs last night watching him eat and felt like someday, I might not have such a picky eater. I really appreciate it!
omg this made my day!! thank you for letting me know!! xoxo
This is my FAVORITE plant based chilli. Even people who aren’t vegans love this stuff! Do you know the nutrition information? I’m trying to be intentional about getting enough protein and it would be very helpful to know! I’m assuming because of the quinoa and beans that it is decent.
Hey Meg!! So glad you love this recipe. I actually don’t calculate nutritional values for my recipes because there are so many variations one can make within a recipe. I know a lot of my readers use online programs that they are comfortable with to calculate points or calories!! Hope that helps! xx
Just made this and after 30 mins of simmering, it’s still very very liquidy. I’ve put in 3.5 cups of stock (28 oz)…Have I missed a step?
keep simmering it until it reduces to a chili like consistency!
Excellent, simple and delicious, well worth making.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’ve made it a few times, it’s so great! The quinoa makes such a difference. I added some corn at the end for a little sweet crunch.
Made it tonight. Even my picky eating kids loved it. Great recipe.
Yes, yes, yes. Made it tonight and just finished my bowl. I had to get on here and leave a review, right away! This recipe is awesome and oh, so filling. Wonderful. The only change I made is adding a little extra Chipotle, I like the spice.
Thanks for the recipe.
This chili was AWESOME! Totally hit the spot, and I’m sure leftovers will be delightful too. I served mine over some spinach and cilantro–amazing!
Made this recipe in the crockpot over the weekend and it was AMAZING! Seriously this chili was delicious-so glad I doubled the recipe so we can enjoy it all week! Thank you so much for this idea!
How? I would like to try to cook this in a crock pot!
I just put everything in the crockpot on high for 4 hours and then let it cook for about an hour after that on low. It can out really great, I might use some more quinoa next time to make it a little thicker!