Sweet potato chili is a hearty, one pot dinner that comes together in about 40 minutes on the stovetop, no slow cooker required. It’s built on lean ground beef, cubed sweet potatoes, and black beans, simmered with cumin, smoked paprika, and coriander until the sweet potatoes are fork tender and the broth has thickened into something you want to scoop up with cornbread. Unlike a lot of sweet potato chili recipes that go fully vegetarian, this one keeps the protein high with ground beef.
The chili my family actually asks for seconds of
I’ve made a lot of versions of this chili since I first posted it, and I keep coming back to the same choice: ground beef instead of the all-vegetarian, beans-and-sweet-potato-only version you’ll find on most food blogs. I love a vegetarian chili, but this one is our favorite.
A few readers have asked over the years whether this recipe used to include ground turkey. It did, and it still works beautifully if that’s what you have on hand or what your family prefers. I switched my go to version to beef because it holds up better after a day or two in the fridge, but I’ve tested this with ground turkey plenty of times and it’s just as good, just a touch lighter.
If you’re serving a crowd, I like to set this out with a basket of my Gluten Free Cornbread on the side, it’s sturdy enough to hold up to a ladle of chili without falling apart. And if chili season has you cooking through the whole fall lineup, my Slow Cooker Chicken Chili is the hands off version I make when I want dinner to cook itself.
Thomas isn’t a spicy food kid, so I keep the red pepper flakes light in the base recipe and let everyone add their own heat at the table. That’s also why you won’t find cayenne in my ingredient list even though a few readers remember it from an older version, I took it out on purpose.
All ingredients and their amounts are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Ground Beef: I use extra lean ground beef here because it browns well without leaving the pot greasy. I’ve tested this with ground turkey and ground chicken too, both work, but I find beef holds its texture best after the chili sits in the fridge for a day, which matters since this is one of those recipes that tastes even better as leftovers.
Sweet Potatoes: Cut these into one inch cubes, not smaller. I tested a smaller dice once and the sweet potato basically dissolved into the broth by the time the beef and everything else cooked through, which left the chili starchy instead of chunky. One inch pieces hold their shape through the full 15 minute simmer.
Black Beans: I add these last, not at the start with everything else. If they simmer the full 15 minutes alongside the sweet potatoes, they break down and turn the chili mushy. Stirring them in during the last five minutes keeps them intact.
Beef Broth: This is what separates my version from the all vegetable broth chilis you’ll see elsewhere, it gives the base more depth since there’s already meat in the pot. Chicken or vegetable broth works fine in a pinch, but I recommend beef broth if you have it.
How to Make This Sweet Potato Chili Recipe
Note before Step 1: You’ll need a large pot or Dutch oven for this recipe, no slow cooker or special equipment needed. Have your vegetables and sweet potatoes prepped before you start, since the first few steps move quickly.
1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. I let it heat for about a minute before adding anything. If the oil isn’t hot enough, the onion steams instead of sautéing, and you lose the flavor base that a proper sauté builds.
2. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and carrot, and sauté for about 3 minutes. You’re looking for the onion to turn translucent, not browned. This is the base of the chili’s flavor, so I don’t rush this step even on a busy night.
3. Add the garlic and sauté 30 seconds longer. Garlic burns fast, so I add it after the other vegetables have already softened, never at the same time. Thirty seconds is enough to release the flavor without turning it bitter.
4. Add the ground beef and break it apart with a wooden spoon as it browns, about 5 minutes. I break it into small, even pieces here rather than large chunks. Smaller pieces means the beef distributes through the whole pot instead of clumping in bites.
5. Add the sweet potato, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, and spices. Stir everything together so the sweet potato cubes are fully submerged in the liquid, this is what cooks them evenly.
6. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to low for about 15 minutes. I always test a sweet potato cube with a fork at the 12 minute mark. You want it tender enough to give with light pressure but not falling apart, since it’ll continue softening slightly even after you turn off the heat.
7. Stir in the black beans and let them warm through, about 5 minutes. I add these last so they stay whole instead of breaking down into the broth.
8. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then serve. I always taste right before serving because the sweet potato absorbs a surprising amount of salt as it cooks, what tasted seasoned at step 5 often needs a bit more by the end.
Recipe Tips
Brown the beef properly before adding liquid. If you add the broth too early, the beef steams instead of browns, and you lose the deeper flavor that browning builds. Give it the full five minutes.
Taste before you serve, not just before you simmer. Sweet potato pulls a surprising amount of salt out of the broth as it cooks. I always adjust the seasoning one more time right at the end.
Sweet Potato Chili
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup diced onions
- 1 cup red bell pepper seeded and diced
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 lb extra-lean ground beef
- 2 cups sweet potato diced
- 1 cup (10 oz) diced tomatoes undrained
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- Salt and pepper
- 1 can (19 oz/540 ml) black beans drained and rinsed
- Chopped fresh cilantro for garnishing
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, celery, carrot and sauté for 3 minutes, then add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds longer.
- Add ground beef and cook, breaking up the beef with a wooden spoon, until the beef is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
- Add sweet potato, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, red pepper flakes, cumin, paprika, coriander, salt, and pepper to taste.
- Stir mixture, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot with a lid and cook for about 15 mins or until the sweet potato is tender.
- Add black beans and allow to heat all the way through, about 5 minutes.
- Before serving, top with green onions.
Notes
- To store: To store leftovers, transfer the chili to an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 4 days.
- To reheat: You can reheat chili in the microwave or stovetop.
- To freeze: Freeze chili in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?
Follow @primaverakitchen on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag it #primaverakitchen. We’d love to see your recreation.
This recipe was absolutely delicious. I made it for all my coworkers and they gobbled it up!
Awesome to know that 😉
What size slow cooker did you use for the preparation of this meal? Thanks!
I doubled up the recipe and my 6qt slow cooker just barely fit that.
This was absolutely delicious! Thank you for posting!
That’s awesome! Thanks for your comment 😉
Great recipe my wife and I both really enjoyed it.
Sweet potatoes are nice touch for additional colour in Fall and tasted just right
Fast easy to prepare a great recipe.Six hours on low was just right in slow cooker.
Not too hot or too spicey.
My wife really enjoyed it and the sweet potato is nice
touch looks Autumnal and tastes good.
Glad you like it 😉
So I made this recipe today before leaving for work and put the slow cooker timer to 5 1/2 hours. When I got home this evening the sweet potatoes are still hard. 🙁 It’s pizza for dinner tonight I guess. I’m going to leave it cooking the rest of the evening and see. Fingers crossed.
Oh too bad! How it turned out?
Followed recipe exactly!! Delicious and even better the second day! A little too spicy for my young kids but they don’t really like chili anyhow unfortunately.
That’s sad your kids don’t like chili, but I’m glad to know you enjoyed this recipe!
Has anyone tried this using different beans or using a combination of beans?
Thanks for any feedback.
Has anyone tried this with other kind of beans or using a combination of beans?
Thanks for any feedback, if so.
I haven’t tried it, but I feel like black beans or even garbanzo beans would also work.
Made this today, followed the recipe almost to a t. Easy, healthy and delicious. My husband, 13 year old and picky 10 year old all went back for seconds. Thanks!
HOME RUN!! Amazing and healthy chili the whole family loved:)) usually it’s always so heavy and fatty feeling aka food baby, but everyone feels great and full. Thanks out for this recipe. Will use for years to come!
Happy to hear that 😉
2 tsp of red pepper flakes is too much. I only used 1 and it was too hot.
It’s because my family and I love spicy food. But I am happy you didn’t add 2 tsp. It would be a lot for you. Next time you can add only 1/2 teaspoon. Thanks for stopping by 😉
Great recipe! Had to add some sugar to it!! Chilli was way too spicy! However the sauce never thickened!!! Sweet potatoes never cooked! Had to put it on high for the last hour! Very hearty! More like eating minestrone not chili!
Sorry to hear you had few issues with this recipe, Jennifer. I really don’t know why this happened because I always make this recipe and it always ends up well.
I just bought a crockpot and this was my first ever recipe. Wow, turned out GREAT!! Thank you!
Wonderful! Happy to hear that 😉
I meant, when do you add the red BELL pepper?
When you add the celery. I just adjusted the recipe to clear further confusion. Thanks for pointing it out!
What size slow cooker did you use?
It’s a 6-Quart Slow Cooker.
If I have a 4.5 quart, do I need to cut down the recipe at all?
No you will be totally fine 😉
When it says tomato sauce, is this ketchup or chopped tomatoes?
Any tomato sauce of you preference. It’s not ketchup. I have a tomato sauce recipe here for you to take a look.
if my squash is frozen but cooked – can i put this recipe on high for four hours?
Sorry, Paige. I’m not totally sure. But I think it may work.
I scrolled most of the comments and didn’t see the answer to my question- how many cups is a serving? I am planning to make this for meal prep for about 10 people and need to know if I should keep the recipe as is or count on double servings…thank you for your help!
It about 10 cups. Hope it helps 😉
I loved the recipe for years, but it changed? It used to be a recipe for a slow cooker. I’ve had it saved for longer than I can remember. It’s been a staple in my house. I pulled it up today and it’s entirely different. Same ingredients, different style of cooking. What happened?
We had to update and retest this recipe to make it better.
I had the same problem just now but I have screen shots of the old recipe if you want them. Can’t believe I kept the pics! Eenelz@gmail.com