Our family’s favorite chili! This wonderfully satisfying Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili is super easy to make and full of rich, cozy flavors. (Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free)
Hugging a warm bowl of chili totally comforts the soul. Especially on days like yesterday; a textbook autumn day with plenty of spooky Halloween vibes. Dark clouds looming with sprinkles of rain. Wind swirling the dull, crispy leaves in whimsical patterns. Ravens perched on the fence, crowing to the bare trees. It felt like something out of a movie, practically begging me to make chili. (Don’t have to ask me twice!)
Pretty sure this chili with fresh avocado on top is one of my favorite things ever. The broth thickens and develops such a rich, comforting flavor spiked with cumin and smoked paprika. And I love the combination of black beans and sweet potato together. Not to mention they look like a festive, color-themed meal for Halloween – perfect for warming you up after those chilly trick-or-treat shenanigans. Truly hope you enjoy this recipe as much as our family!
Come join The Garden Grazer on Instagram and share a pic if you make this! I love seeing your recreations. (Or leave a star rating below if you give it a try – your feedback is very appreciated!)
Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 1 large sweet potato
- 4 cloves garlic
- 15 oz. can black beans
- 15 oz. can pinto beans (or kidney, black, etc.)
- 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 Tbsp. chili powder
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- Salt to taste
Toppings (optional)
- Avocado, cilantro, green onion, hot sauce, vegan sour cream, etc.
Instructions
- Dice onion. Peel and dice sweet potato. Mince garlic.
- In a stockpot over medium-high heat, saute onion for 6-7 minutes. (I use 3 Tbsp. broth/water for no-oil saute method.)
- Add chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and sweet potato cubes. Saute for 3 minutes.
- Add minced garlic and saute 1 minute.
- Add vegetable broth and diced tomatoes with juice.
- Rinse and drain beans. Add to stockpot.
- Increase heat and bring to a boil. Then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about 25 minutes (or until sweet potatoes are cooked through), stirring occasionally.
- Salt to taste and add any desired toppings (avocado is my favorite!)
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving (estimate)
Enjoying this Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili? Also check out the full “Vegan Soup” recipe archives for more cozy, plant-based inspiration! (Or this roundup of 50 Awesome Vegan Black Bean Recipes for more black bean goodness.)
Yum, you posted this at the absolute perfect time! I want to try a new chili recipe this weekend and this is definitely the one 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
xo – Michelle
http://www.borncreativeblog.com
Yay Michelle! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do 🙂 I think we're due for another batch this weekend too… my husband keeps requesting it again!
Loved this chili. Added mushrooms, can of spicy rotel, Tj mix of peanut onions, celery and carrots. After sauteing veggies added to slow cooker. Awesome!
Awesome!! Really love your adaptions – creative & delicious! Thanks so much for the kind feedback and recipe rating. Very appreciated! Wishing you a wonderful week! -Kaitlin
Made this last night……it was excellent!!!! I'm not a vegetarian, so I did add about a half pound of ground chicken, but other than that I followed the recipe as written and topped it with a couple of avocado slices. Can't wait for the leftovers tonight!! It's definitely going to be a recipe I turn to often. Thanks so much!
Awesome! So fun to hear you enjoyed it, and that it even earned a spot in your regular rotation! 😉 Thanks for the sweet message, hope you had a great weekend!
Does it matter what color bell pepper you use in this recipe?
Hi! Any one will work! Though I usually use an orange or yellow for this since it's not quite as bitter and the slight sweetness compliments the sweet potato very well 🙂 I hope you enjoy!
I know this is an old comment, but I don’t see peppers in the ingredients.
Hi Amy! Good catch! When I first posted this recipe, I included a bell pepper but have since updated it and removed that ingredient. (The only reason for omission is most of the time when I make this now, I don’t have a bell pepper on hand and find it’s not absolutely necessary for the recipe.) It is a lovely addition however, so feel free to include it if you’d like! Just dice and add it with the onion while sauteing 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
it looks fantastic! Can't wait to try it!
Thanks, enjoy it!! 🙂
Wonderful chili. It's a winner in my book. Will be making this often. My grandson loved it too.
Aww, thanks for your kind words 🙂 Thrilled to hear you and your grandson loved it! It's a common meal in our house too. Wishing you a lovely week! 🙂
I love this chili recipe. I've used it so many times for family and friends. You should totally enter this chili contest! I think you have a good chance at winning (because I don't want to steal your credit)!
http://bushbeans.thedailymeal.com/
Hey Molly! Ahhh that's so fun to hear!! Glad you've been enjoying it. It's still my favorite chili! And thanks for the heads up about the contest, haha – I'll go check it out!
This is tasty comfort in a bowl! I must have pinned about 20 different sweet potato chili recipes but they all tend to have an ingredient or two that I don't have or feel like buying because I know I'll never use it again. I came across this one yesterday while searching for something to do with the bag of sweet potatoes that I have lying around and was thrilled to realize that I had all of the ingredients, which feels like an even bigger win because I didn't have to leave the house. It was so incredibly easy, hearty, and delicious, and I love the fact that it fits into my healthy lifestyle! I followed the recipe exactly as written except I added a dash of cayenne pepper per your suggestion and it had just the right amount of heat. I gave it a test run while my husband is away on business but now I can't wait to make it again for the two of us when he returns because he will LOVE this. Now I'm off to check out your other recipes! Thanks again.
Aww, what a sweet message Laura! Thanks for taking the time to write 🙂 It's always such an awesome victory finding a recipe and realizing you have ALL the ingredients in the house already!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and hope your husband loves it too! Hope you two have a great week 🙂
What is the serving size and nutrition on this? I made some last night had to double it for my large family. It was excellent.
Hi Chrystal! So glad you enjoyed! Unfortunately I don't provide nutritional stats on the site, but if you'd like to calculate your own you can try this website:
http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
I've heard it's pretty straightforward and easy to use. Hope that helps! 🙂
Update: I know this is an old comment, but just wanted to let you know that the estimated nutritional content is now provided! (You can find it below the recipe in the post.) Hope you find it useful! 🙂
This is my favorite chili – hands down. Love it. Heartiest vegetarian chili I have had. A+!
Totally awesome Laura!! <3 Super excited and honored to hear it's your favorite. I actually just made a (huge) double batch of this to last throughout the week 🙂 Thanks so much for the sweet comment, and enjoy the rest of your week!
Love this, made it yesterday.Best chilli ever, very fulfilling.
Fantastic!!! Glad to hear you enjoyed it so much 🙂 Thanks for the kind words. Happy Thursday! <3
Super good, this is now my go to chili recipe! Also just tried adding 1/2 cup of quinoa and that ended up being a lovely addition.
Hi! First of all I LOVE your addition of quinoa – how perfect! I always enjoy the texture of it in soups/chilis (and of course the nutrition bump!) 😉 Wonderful idea!! And I'm thrilled to hear it's your go to chili recipe, yay! Thanks for coming back to leave such a sweet message. Wishing you a warm and cozy week! -Kaitlin
This is my favorite way to make chili! I made it for the very first time for a friend and she loved it too. I also tried using a 1/4c of quinoa as well to each portion when I put the portions into containers to store instead of sweet potatoes and it was just as delicious! I love your recipes so much
Love that you portion these out for quick & easy meals!! Rice/quinoa + avocado are my favorite additions 🙂 And that quinoa gives it a nice nutrition bump too! Thanks for all the sweet comments – so glad you're enjoying the recipes!
I've made this recipe several times and love it. Is it possible to freeze this recipe? It's just me and I would like to save the rest for later.
Yay!! So glad you're enjoying 🙂 I've personally never tried freezing this one but I bet it would freeze wonderfully. Would love to hear if you give it a go! Wishing you a beautiful week! -Kaitlin
I add 1 can corn and a little left over breakfast sausage, so good! We’ve made it several times now
Fantastic! So happy to hear you're enjoying it and putting your own spin on it! 🙂 Have a lovely week! -Kaitlin
Made this tonight, tasted awesome! Added tomato paste to make it thicker.
Great call with the tomato paste!! So glad you gave it a try and enjoyed! 🙂
A favorite in our house! I usually throw everything in the instapot for 30 minutes and it turns out great!
Oooh good idea Angie!! I’ve never tried this in the instapot – appreciate you coming back to let me know it worked! Have a beautiful week! 🙂
Just made this for lunch today……Tastes Amazing!!! Thanks for a great recipe 😊
Wonderful to hear that Denise! Thanks for the kind feedback 🙂 Hope you’re having a lovely autumn!
In the winter I make soup every 3-4 days – this recipe is THE best soup I’ve ever made!!
Yay! So fantastic to hear you enjoyed this Diana! (I also make a big pot of soup/chili once or twice a week – love the leftovers as well.) Thanks so much for coming back to leave such sweet feedback. Very appreciated! Have a beautiful week and stay warm! -Kaitlin
Are most of your soups easy/ok to freeze? Can’t wait to try!
Hi Francie! Yes! Most of the soups here will work wonderfully as freezer meals. Generally you’ll want to avoid any with a creamier base (like the Vegan Corn & Potato Chowder) or ones with pasta (like Chickpea Noodle Soup) as it tends to get mushy upon reheating. In that case, you can cook the soup without the pasta and add fresh pasta when you thaw and reheat. 🙂 Hope you enjoy any you give a try! -Kaitlin
This sweet potato black bean chili was delicious and so easy! Yum!
So lovely to hear that! Thanks for giving it a try and coming back to share your very kind feedback 🙂 Very appreciated. Wishing you a beautiful week! -Kaitlin