Easy Sweet Potato Bean Chili! Get ready to experience a flavor fiesta with this Easy Sweet Potato Bean Chili – it’s so tasty, it’ll make your taste buds do the salsa!
Hearty and flavorful, this Easy Sweet Potato Bean Chili is a protein powerhouse, thanks to the combination of beans and lentils. Packed with wholesome ingredients and enriched with the natural sweetness of sweet potatoes, this chili is a comforting choice for a chilly day or any day of the week.
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
We are a chili loving family. The versatility of this comforting meal has made it a go-to in our home. We’ve experimented with countless variations from flavors to ingredients, and we are excited to share this yummy recipe.
If you love sweet potatoes and you love chili, then please don’t let a robust list of nourishing ingredients and aromatic spices stop you from enjoying this delicious chili.
You gotta give this one a try!
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: Full of delicious chili flavors, this sweet potato and bean chili is hearty and perfect to enjoy on a chili day. Don’t let the long list of ingredients stop you from this easy-to-make chili.
- Spices: Be careful with the spices, we love a great spicy chili, but chili can easily become over-spiced quickly and end up with a very astringent flavor. Start on the low side and build up slowly.
- Regular Chili Powder: Feel free to use your favorite chili powder, just be sure to select a mild one and not one that has a lot of heat to it.
- Oil-Free Recipes: This chili has great flavor. Because it is low in fat, we suggest tasting it 3 times before adding any additional seasonings. Oil-free, low-fat dishes tend to build on the palate. By tasting this chili 3 times, you have a better chance of not over-seasoning or under-seasoning it. Recipes with oil coat the palate making the spices and herbs feel smooth and more pleasing. Removing oil from dishes requires more finesse to ensure that a dish is properly seasoned. Tasting a dish 3 times allows the cook the chance to better understand the flavor profile and if the flavor of the dish builds on the front-end or back-end of the palate.
- Low-Fat Dish Expectations: This dish was designed to be low in fat. Because it is low in fat, you are not going to experience that endorphin rush associated with eating high-fat foods when eating this dish. It is very tasty for what it is, and that is a low-fat dish. We just want to make sure that our Readers recognize this when contemplating making this recipe. If you wish to make it more indulgent, crush some tortilla chips over the top and add vegan sour cream on individual servings.
- Sautéing Spices: For this recipe, sautéing the spice mix helps release the flavor and fragrance, be careful not to burn them. We suggest having the liquids prepped and ready to add so when you start sautéing the spices, the liquids go immediately into the pot to prevent them from becoming scorched.
- Tahini (optional): The purpose of the tahini is to inject a small amount of fat into the chili just to round out the flavors. It is optional, but it does help.
- Frozen Sweet Potatoes: We used cubed frozen sweet potatoes found in the frozen section of most grocery stores. We used them simply for convenience as they cook quickly.
- Fresh Sweet Potatoes: You can use fresh sweet potatoes, but the chili will have to cook much longer. If you use fresh sweet potatoes, we suggest either microwaving, baking, or steaming them until tender and then add them at the end to allow them to maintain their shape.
- Sweet Potato Substitutions: You can substitute the sweet potatoes for butternut squash if you wish. Follow the Frozen versus Fresh notes above. You can also leave them out completely.
- Beans: This recipe is very versatile; you can add your favorite beans or use all of the same type of bean if you wish. The amount of beans can also vary based upon how thick you enjoy chili.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda is often used as a neutralizer for dishes that contain a lot of acidity, typically from tomatoes. We use it in this dish to remove some of the tomato acidity (from the tomato paste and crushed tomatoes) without losing the tomatoey flavor. When you add it, the mixture may bubble up, then settle down as it neutralizes the acidity. However, if you prefer that ‘tinny’ flavor that comes from canned tomatoes, then leave out the baking soda or perhaps use a tiny pinch.
- Brewed Coffee (Optional): The brewed coffee accents the chili flavors by helping the spices along, but not overpowering them. It is completely option. The term “brewed” is simply used to identify that this would be coffee that you would drink. In other words, you would create a cup of coffee to drink as you would normally do, but then remove ½ cup of the coffee liquid and place it into the chili.
- Flavors to Marry: Make sure you allow at least 10 minutes for the flavors to marry. The flavors continue to develop once the soup slightly cools.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep 5 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered container.
This chili can be frozen.
Pantry Products:
- Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.
- Regular Chili Powder: Feel free to use your favorite chili powder, just be sure to select a mild one and not one that has a lot of heat to it.
- Hot Sauce: We used Frank’s RedHot Original Hot Sauce.
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Kitchen Products:
- Large stock pot
If you try this flavorful chili, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
PrintEasy Sweet Potato Bean Chili
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 35-40 Minutes
- Total Time: 50 Minutes (+Rest Time)
- Yield: 11 Cups 1x
- Category: Stew
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Hearty and flavorful, this Easy Sweet Potato Bean Chili is a protein powerhouse, thanks to the combination of beans and lentils.
Ingredients
Base Ingredients:
- 1 medium yellow onion, fine dice
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, fine dice
- 1 green bell pepper, small dice
- 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 – [ 28 oz. can ] crushed tomatoes
- 1 ½ cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth *
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce *
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 Tablespoon tahini (optional) *
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup (optional)
- ½ cup brewed coffee (optional) *
- ¼ + 1/8 teaspoon baking soda (optional) *
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika (+/-)
- 3 to 5 teaspoons regular chili powder (+/-) *
- 2 to 4 teaspoons cumin (+/-)
- ¼ teaspoon dried coriander (+/-)
- ¼ teaspoon chipotle powder (+/-)
- ½ to 1 ¼ teaspoons sea salt (+/-) *
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Other Ingredients:
- 1 – [ 12 oz. package ] frozen cubed sweet potatoes *
- 1 – [ 15.5 oz. can ] black beans, drained and rinsed *
- 1 – [ 15.5 oz. can ] kidney beans, drained and rinsed *
- 1 – [ 15.5 oz. can ] pinto beans, drained and rinsed *
- 1 – [ 14.5 oz. can ] brown lentils, drained and rinsed *
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
Optional Toppings:
- Chopped fresh cilantro
- Crushed tortilla chips
- Vegan Sour Cream
Instructions
- Place the Spice/Herb Ingredients in a small bowl, mix well, set aside.
- In a large stock pot, add the diced onions, green bell pepper, and jalapeno pepper; sauté over medium heat until they begin to soften, approximately 7 to 9 minutes. Add a tablespoon or so of vegetable broth or water if they start to stick and/or to prevent burning.
- Move the base ingredients (onions, peppers) to the sides of the pot, then add the minced garlic and tomato paste to the center of the pot, stir constantly for one minute.
- Add the Spice/Herb Mix and, sauté for 30 seconds, stirring constantly just to allow the spices to become fragrant, then add all the remaining Base Ingredients (except for the baking soda), bring to a boil, then add the baking soda, stir well, then lower to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Next add all the Other Ingredients, simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes become tender, stirring occasionally.
- Allow to sit for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to marry. Serve with freshly chopped cilantro and/or other items like crushed tortilla chips and vegan sour cream.
Notes
*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Servings: 5 to 6 (makes 11 cups)
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Can’t wait to try these recipes!
Hi there Chris,
Thank you so much! We hope you give this recipe a try and enjoy it as much as we do!
-Ameera and Robin
Wow, just made and it’s SO good. I will make this again and again. Topped it off with blue tortilla chips, avocado, and fresh cilantro. The sweet potatoes add balance. I also added corn but left out the bell and jalapeno peppers to save a trip to the store.
Hi there Scout,
WOOO HOOO!!! We are thrilled that you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it. Thank you so much for the awesome review of this recipe.
-Ameera and Robin
Adding to above, I used white sweet potatoes which are my favorite and not the orange ones.