You’ll drool over this Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili. The cooked sweet potatoes adds a touch of sweetness and tastes great with the fresh chili flavors. This slow cooker chili is vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free. You’ll love the extra nutrition provided from this sweet potatoes black bean chili recipe.
Sweet Potato Chili Slow Cooker
I decided to make this vegan sweet potato chili using black beans because I had a hunch that the flavors would go well together. I was right.
I also thought it would be nice to make this in a slow cooker to let the flavors simmer together all day. And that worked like a charm too.
But before I go off sounding like the chili whisperer, there’s another reason I used a slow cooker with this recipe: time. Sweet potatoes cook up so easily (thanks to their natural sugars) and so I could throw everything into the slow cooker and let it cook all day, and that’s exactly what I did.
Vegan Chili
If you’re used to putting meat in your chili you might be surprised to learn that you don’t have to. In fact, I wonder if that’s where the whole “con carne” thing comes from in the first. It means, “with meat”. That means chili, in and of itself is at a minimum vegetarian, unless the con carne is added.
If you’re doubtful, I recommend you try this sweet potato chili recipe as an experiment. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
How to make This Chili
There are some ingredients you’ll want to have on hand to make this sweet potato chili recipe:
- Sweet potatoes
- Black Beans
- Canned tomatoes
- Onions
- Vegetable Broth
- Veggie Crumbles
- Seasonings
It’s all done in the crockpot so you won’t need additional pans to make this recipe work, unless you choose to cook the onions in a skillet. Otherwise, the crockpot will do the trick. I started the crockpot on high to cook the onions, and then switched it over to low to allow the ingredients to simmer all day.
The house smelled so good by the time dinner was ready!
Adapting this Chili Recipe
I love adapting recipes, even my own! Here’s some ideas to adapt this sweet potato chili recipe:
- I suggest using veggie crumbles, but you can make it with or without veggie crumbles
- Try adding some chopped red peppers when sautéing the onions
- For sure add some chopped cilantro when serving this chili
- If you like it spicy (like me), add additional heat with a teaspoon (or two) of sriracha or crushed red peppers
- You could add a cup of frozen corn kernels to this recipe.
You can also freeze this chili! Simply let it cool and then pour it into air-tight, freezer compatible containers. Be sure not to fill the containers all the way to the top! Then place the lid on top and place it in the freezer. What we do is put half of this chili in the fridge and half in the freezer. That way we can pull out a “fresh” batch of chili from the freezer after we’re done eating what’s been i the fridge.
Be sure to serve this sweet potato chili with our favorite (and easy) Vegan Cornbread! The two together are fabulous!
We love this recipe for Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili. Check out below where we’ve shared recipes from food bloggers to celebrate National Chili Day! In the meantime, if you decide to make this recipe, please be sure to snap a photo and share it with me using #namelymarly on Instagram or Twitter. We love seeing your photos!
Sweet Potato Chili
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion , peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 medium sweet potatoes , washed and chopped (see note)
- 2 15 oz cans black beans
- 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 1 cups vegetable broth
- 3 tablespoons chili seasoning (see note)
- 1 cup veggie crumbles
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes , optional
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the chopped onions and minced garlic in a slow cooker and drizzle with olive oil. Stir to combine. Set temperature to high and cook for about 10 minutes. See note for stovetop instructions.
- Turn heat to low and add the chopped sweet potatoes, beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, vegetable broth, and chili seasoning. Cook for 6 – 8 hours.
- About 30 minutes before serving, add the veggie crumbles and nutritional yeast flakes. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve warm with vegan cornbread.
Celebrating National Chili Day
Did you know it’s National Chili Day? I know, so exciting! I’ve learned that every day is probably a national food day of some sort, and today’s day happens to be chili. We should celebrate, don’t you think?
So, I’ve teamed together with some of my favorite food blog friends to share with you 29 awesome chili recipes! Now, not all my friends are vegan. That means some of the recipes mentioned below are not even vegetarian, let alone vegan. If you like a recipe and would like some help veganizing it, just send me a note and I’ll be happy to do my best.
Instant Pot White Chili by Ashlee Marie
Instant Pot Vegan Chili from Brand New Vegan
Homemade 3 Bean Vegetarian Chili thanks to an Italian in my Kitchen
Taco Chili by Simply Stacie
Easy Enchilada Chili by Creations by Kara
Easy One-Hour Chili by I Love Vegan
Slow Cooker White Chili via Real Mom Kitchen
White Bean Vegan Chili from Bakerita
Slow Cooker Chili by Pretty Providence
Easy Vegetarian Chili from Eating Well
Creamy White Chili via Isabelle at the Crumb Blog
Instant Pot Chili via Savory Experiment
Accidentally Awesome Vegan Chili by the Kitchen Girl
Verde Chili by the Baker Upstairs
Instant Pot Lentil Chili via 365 Days of Slow Cooking
Red Beans Vegan Chili by the Simple Vegan Blog
Slow Cooker Chili thanks to My Mommy Style
Black Bean Vegan Chili Enchiladas by the Savory Vegan
Easy BBQ Crock Pot Lentil Chili by Cotter Crunch
Killer Vegan Chili by Eat Healthy, Eat Happy
Instant Pot Lentil and Bean Chili from Super Golden Bakes
Vegan Chili with Mixed Beans by Vegan in the Freezer
Jalapeño Popper Chili by Premeditated Leftovers
Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili by Show me the Yummy
Award Winning Crockpot Chili from Heather Likes Food
That’s it for today’s celebration for National Chili Day. Enjoy!
Marly…thanks so much for including my chili in your roundup! Somehow I missed National Chili Day, but actually, I didn’t…thanks to you 🙂 PS, you’re giving me sweet potato chili photog goals…yours is gorgeous! 🙂
Thanks, Traci! I’m happy to have you as part of my National Chili Day Celebration!
I bet the sweet potato is a perfect balance to the spice. Looks so delicious!
I can finally get sweet potatoes in Italy, so I can’t wait to try this. Sounds and looks delicious.
Sweet Potatoes are such a great idea. I NEED to make this! That looks like an awfully good line-up of chili recipes too!
Thanks, Ginny! It’s better thanks to your recipe!
YUM! Marly, this looks fantastic. I love sweet potatoes 🙂
I love sweet potatoes! This looks amaaaazing!
You are totally right – chili doesn’t need any meat to be fantastic! I love sweet potatoes, so I’m excited to try this one!
Thanks Alicia! So excited to celebrate National Chili Day with you!
I’ve never tried sweet potatoes in my chili! It looks delicious. I bet i wouldn’t even miss the meat!
Sweet potatoes add such a nice pop of sweetness to the chili. I almost always put ketchup in my chili, but not when I have sweet potatoes in it! ❤️
Sweet potato chili is the best kind of chili! Thanks for including my Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili 🙂
Ah, you’re so welcome Jennifer!
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Hi! I just made this and it’s still cooking. Can’t wait to try it! The title says Quinoa but the directions don’t include it. Am I missing something? Perhaps you exchanged that ingredient with the veggie crumbles, but forgot to update the title?
Hi Christy! Thanks for your comment and I’m glad you’re trying this recipe. It’s one of our favorites! Also, thanks for your note about the quinoa. It was a “description” field that needed to be updated. It’s fixed now! Hugs to you!
Oh my gosh- this chili recipe us amazing! Loved it! And the cornbread was done if the best I’ve ever had…. and I love cornbread, so that’s saying a lot! Thanks so much- your recipes are great.
Tina! You just made my day! I’m so glad you made both and loved them! Oh, that cornbread. I SO love it. We are kindred spirits!
i love a good slow cooker chili recipe! nothing better than coming home and having dinner waiting for you!
I noticed it doesn’t say to peel the sweet potatoes ( or does that go without saying ) and I could not find “note“ that it refers to seeing.
Hi Jo. Thanks for your comment. I do not peel the sweet potatoes in this recipe. I will add a note in the recipe for that. Thanks!
Where are the “notes?” You refer to them several times but there aren’t any on this page….?
Hi Lisa. I searched this page but didn’t see where I referenced notes. Are you possibly referring to a different page?