Simple Sweet Potato Chili Recipe
In the fall season, there’s nothing better than a good chili, and this sweet potato chili easy is a delicious variation that makes sure your taste buds never get tired of it.
Sweet potatoes are a great way to boost the nutrition of your dinners, while making them even more tasty.
Chili is nutritious in its own right, serving protein in your ground beef (or turkey), fiber and complex carbs with beans, and plant phytonutrients in the tomatoes and onions.
The addition of sweet potatoes balances it out with carbohydrates, antioxidants, potassium, and vitamin A, and makes it a nearly complete meal.
What you’ll love about this sweet potato chili
This chili’s hearty textures and flavors will win you over.
It’s packed with veggies. Sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, celery, tomatoes, and black beans bring a lot of nutrition as well as bulk to your chili.
Full flavor. This chili is perfectly seasoned with chili powder, paprika, cumin oregano, salt, and black pepper – all essential for a good chili!
Lots of protein. ground beef provides not only hearty flavor, but boosts your protein to make this chili satisfying!
Some additions and changes you can make:
For extra spice, you can add cayenne pepper, add a dash of cinnamon to compliment the sweet potatoes, and add a flavor reminiscent of Skyline chili, swap vegetable broth for beef broth, and kidney beans for black beans, or add some diced bell pepper in when you’re browning your ground beef.
You can also add some garlic powder, use sweet onion instead of yellow onion, use fire-roasted tomatoes, use red bell pepper instead of green bell pepeprs, or add a bit of cocoa to intensify the flavors.
Ingredients for sweet potato chili
- Like most chili recipes, this one has a lot of ingredients that you’ll expect, and a few additions. They all work together to meld into one delicious flavor.
- Ground beef. I like to use our lean, grass-fed beef. You can also use ground turkey.
- Sweet potatoes. No surprise here, given the recipe title. I use orange sweet potatoes like Beauregard, for the classic sweet potato flavor.
- Onion, celery, and garlic. These vegetables are essential for flavor.
- Black beans. These bring bulk, flavor, fiber, and complex carbs to your chili. I use canned black beans for convenience.
- Diced tomatoes. I love diced tomatoes, but if you or the people you’re serving don’t care for them, feel free to use crushed tomatoes, or blend your diced tomatoes (I do this for the sake of my kids sometimes).
- Chili, paprika, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper. All these spices are critical for good chili flavor. While you can easily adjust them to your preference, I recommend making sure you include them all.
- Beef broth. This adds flavor, and volume.
How to make sweet potato and black bean chili
- Mince celery and onions, and sauté with ground beef in a large pot over medium-high heat, until beef is just browned.
- Add garlic, and cook another minutes, stirring garlic in.
- Peel and dice sweet potatoes into about 3/4 inch chunks, and add to ground beef.
- Add remaining ingredients, and stir together.
- Cover, and heat over medium heat to a simmer.
- Continue simmering until sweet potatoes are tender.
- Remove from heat, and serve with desired toppings. This is really good served with gluten-free cornbread!
Topping suggestions:
- Cilantro
- Avocado
- Sour cream
- Green onions
- shredded cheese
- Tortilla chips
Storing leftovers
We all know that chili only gets better with a little age, so it’s a great dish to make with the intent of leftovers, or to let simmer in the crockpot all day.
To store it, simply let cool down to room temperature, and store in airtight containers in your refrigerator. I like these glass containers with locking lids. They make it easy to pop leftovers the oven to reheat without changing pans. I also have used these rubbermaid containers for years, and love how long they’ve lasted, and how they store in a compact space.
To reheat the chili, simply transfer to a saucepan, and heat over low to medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. If your soup has thickened while stored, consider adding additional beef broth or water to keep it from sticking to the pan.
Other recipes you’ll enjoy
- How to can chili beans
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- Italian Peasant Soup
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- 15 bean ham soup recipe
Simple Sweet Potato Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 stalk of celery
- 4 cloves, or 1 tablespoon garlic
- 1 large sweet potato (2 cups, diced)
- 1 15.9oz can diced tomatoes (I like petite diced)
- 2 15.9oz. cans black beans
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Toppings such as fresh cilantro, avocado, sour cream, tortilla chips, and shredded cheese
Instructions
- Start by dicing your onion and celery, and mincing your garlic. Then, peel and dice your sweet potato.
- Heat a large (at least 4 quart) pot over medium-high heat.
- Add ground beef, onion, and celery.
- Stir and crumble as the beef browns.
- When beef is done, or almost done, add garlic, and cook for another minute.
- Add sweet potato, tomatoes, black beans, beef broth, cumin, chili powder, paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper, and stir together.
- Reduce heat to medium, place a lid on the pot, and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer until sweet potatoes are fully tender.
- Remove from heat and serve with desired toppings.
- To make in a slow cooker, brown beef with vegetables, then transfer all ingredients to a crock pot, and cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8.
Amazing recipe! I absolutely love the combination of black beans and sweet potatoes—it’s a perfect blend of flavors! So delicious, I can’t get enough!
Great recipe! I absolutely love the combination of black beans and sweet potatoes—it’s a perfect blend of flavors! So delicious, I can’t get enough!
This chili amazing! I’ve never thought to add celery and sweet potato to chili. Thanks for sharing!
so great thanks for sharring
I love how this sweet potato chili recipe combines flavors and textures for a hearty, nutritious meal. The addition of sweet potatoes is a great idea for boosting nutrition and taste. Can’t wait to try this out for dinner tonight!
I absolutely love how this sweet potato chili recipe combines the heartiness of traditional chili with the added nutrition and flavor from sweet potatoes. It’s a brilliant way to elevate a classic dish while packing it full of essential nutrients and antioxidants. Can’t wait to try
Tried this recipe last year. The mix of sweet potatoes and black beans is genius. Great texture and my family loved it.
Glad I found this in 2025. Using sweet potatoes instead of extra meat makes it healthier and full of fiber.
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