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This Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili recipe is a simple, dump and go dinner that is hearty and packed full of veggies. Take 15 minutes in the morning to prep and come back to dinner ready in the crock pot hours later. Perfect with all the toppings. Not up for vegetarian tonight? Easy to add your favorite meat as well!
There is nothing better than a warm bowl of soup to bring you right into the moment.
When I want a dump and go chili recipe that uses up a lot of pantry staples, this Crockpot Sweet Potato Chili is my go-to recipe.
(For a quick stove top recipe, this Turkey Chili is my FAVE–in case you came for a quick recipe!) Or for other vegetarian chili options, try this Pumpkin Quinoa Chili or Crock Pot Lentil Chili! All great options for any chili lover!
Perfect served with all the toppings and easy to pack in extra veggies with big chunks of sweet potato, bell peppers and more–can’t be beat!
Why You Will Love This Sweet Potato Chili:
- It is a simple dump and go dinner recipe. Take just 15 minutes in the morning to chop the veggies (or even less time if you grab pre-chopped or frozen) and then toss everything into the crockpot and stir. This Crockpot Sweet Potato chili will be ready and waiting for you at dinner time!
- Super freezer friendly and great leftovers. I have made this chili recipe well over 100 times and that is no joke. I freeze it all the time in individual servings so that I can grab and eat one whenever I am in the mood. As for leftovers, I think soups and chilis are always better the next day.
- Uses lots of pantry staples. This sweet potato chili is a great recipe when you are looking to use up pantry staples. Beans, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and sauce, etc.
- It’s veggie packed. I add bell peppers and sweet potatoes to start you off, but this veggie chili can easily pack even more. Use your favorite color bell peppers beyond just the green. Add in some corn, diced zucchini, small diced carrots, and any other veggie you may love to add to your chili.
- So easy to vary to meet your needs! This may be a vegetarian chili, but I often brown a pound of ground turkey or beef to satisfy my husband’s need for a meaty chili. The recipe is already gluten and dairy free so should be good for those sensitivities as well.
What you need to make this Crock Pot Sweet Potato Chili:
- sweet potatoes: 3 medium/large sweet potatoes with the skin removed.
- onion: yellow sweet onion, red or white, or really whatever you prefer or have on hand.
- garlic: I prefer freshly minced garlic cloves for this sweet potato chili, but if you just have garlic powder, you can use about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons to start and then adjust to taste.
- tomatoes: I opt for canned and drain the juices out. No salt added is great if you are watching your sodium intake. Fire-roasted tomatoes are great as well in this chili recipe.
- tomato sauce: Not marinara sauce. The kind in the can sometimes known as tomato purée.
- beans: I use a can of each: kidney beans, black beans and pinto beans. Any combo will work so pick your favorite type of bean!
- bell pepper: green bell pepper is what I always have on hand so it works well most of the time. But red and orange are great in the recipe as well.
- spices: A combo of chili powder, cumin, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. I started adding smoked paprika the last year or so of making this crock pot sweet potato chili, that I added it to the list of ingredients, but it’s totally optional!
- tomato paste: This will thicken up the chili in the end. You can adjust the amount as desired or omit it if you like a slight brothiness (yes, I made that word up 100%) to your chili.
Now for how to make this chili. Did I mention that this is a dump and go recipe? It so is. You can literally toss all the ingredients into the crock pot and walk away.
When you return, you will have hot and delicious chili all ready!
Step-By-Step Instructions:
- Combine all the ingredients in the crockpot aside from the tomato paste.
- Stir well to combine.
- Close the crock pot and heat on high 4-6 hours or low, 6-8 hours. When the sweet potatoes are softened, the chili is all ready. Add the tomato paste in and stir well to combine. You can add more tomato paste to thicken if desired.
- Serve with your favorite toppings!
Recipe Tips
- The best way to tell if this sweet potato chili is ready is by the sweet potatoes. When the sweet potatoes are soft, you are basically good to go. I like to make sure as many of the sweet potatoes as possible are on the bottom of the pot so that they are more likely to evenly soften.
- You can add some meat into the mix if you would like–I do quite often to make the hubby happy. When I add ground beef or turkey, I cook it in a skillet first and then add it in. If you find the chili to be a bit too thick once adding meat in, add an extra can of tomato sauce.
- Add some heat to your slow cooker sweet potato chili as desired.Toss in some hot sauce, dice up a jalapeño or add some cayenne. Tossing in some smoked paprika is also a great idea if you want a smoky flavor–I do it so often now, I added it as an option for the recipe.
Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili Toppings:
I usually serve this crock pot sweet potato chili with cornbread or this honey cornbread casserole, but the toppings are what really make any chili. These are some of our favorites:
- shredded cheese (Monterey, pepper jack, cheddar, etc.)
- diced avocado
- Fritos or crushed tortilla chips
- sour cream or Greek yogurt
- jalapeños
- hot sauce–especially to bring the heat!
- pickled onions
- chopped cilantro
- sliced green onions
Time Saving Tips:
While this sweet potato chili is fairly quick and easy, there are still some ways to cut down on prep time even more.
- Grab frozen veggies. Our grocery often has frozen chopped peppers and onions. I keep them in the freezer so I have them on hand when I need to cut a few minutes of chopping and crying from the onions.
- Use pre-chopped vegetables from the produce section. I have seen cubed sweet potatoes before and I am not above grabbing them to save 5 minutes on the days I just don’t have it in me.
- Put the family to work! Whether this saves time is debatable, but I often have our little guy rinse all of the beans while I chop a pepper or two to keep him out of trouble and get another task done.
- Chop the sweet potatoes, onion and peppers the night before. If you have a busy morning, chop everything up at night and then you can toss it all in the crock pot quickly before you head out the door.
Storage:
Store leftover chili in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 4-5 days. It can be reheated easily in the microwave or stove top. You can also make this chili a day in advance and then put it on warm in the crock pot the day you plan to serve it for even more flavor!
This chili also freezer very well. Allow it to cool completely and transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. I like to freeze it in individual containers for simple to grab lunches or meals in a pinch!
Other Soup and Chili Recipes:
- Simple Turkey Chili
- Pumpkin Quinoa Chili
- Sausage Gnocchi Soup
- Butternut Squash Chili
- Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Tomato Tortellini Soup {Stove Top and Slow Cooker Variations}
- Maple Roasted Sweet Potato Carrot Soup
- Chunky Italian Vegetable Soup
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Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili
Ingredients
- 3 large sweet potatoes, skin removed and cut into cubes
- 1 onion, diced
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 can diced tomatoes (15 oz. each)
- 1 can tomato sauce (15 oz. each)
- 1 can pinto beans
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can kidney beans
- 2 bell pepper, diced (any color works!)
- 1 T cumin
- 2 T chili powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
- ¼ – ½ tsp red chili flakes
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ – 1 tsp sea salt, more or less to taste
- ⅓ c tomato paste, more to thicken as desired
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except the tomato paste into slow cooker. Stir well to combine. Cook on high 4-6 hours or low 6-8 hours or until sweet potatoes are soft.
- When sweet potatoes are fully softened, add in tomato paste to thicken chili. Allow to sit for several minutes before serving.
- Serve with shredded cheese, avocado or a bit of cilantro. This is even better the second day so leftovers are a bonus! Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- The best way to tell if this sweet potato chili is ready is by the sweet potatoes. When the sweet potatoes are soft, you are basically good to go. I like to make sure as many of the sweet potatoes as possible are on the bottom of the pot so that they are more likely to evenly soften.
- You can add some meat into the mix if you would like–I do quite often to make the hubby happy. When I add ground beef or turkey, I cook it in a skillet first and then add it in. If you find the chili to be a bit too thick once adding meat in, add an extra can of tomato sauce.
- Add some heat to your slow cooker sweet potato chili as desired.Toss in some hot sauce, dice up a jalapeño or add some cayenne. Tossing in some smoked paprika is also a great idea if you want a smoky flavor–I do it so often now, I added it as an option for the recipe.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Oh my goodness! This was the absolute best sweet potato chili! I loved it! The flavors were spot on. Perfect amount of heat. I added hamburger meat for extra protein (seasoned with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and cooked in small amount of tumeric bone both just because it’s what I had on hand for extra protein). Im diabetic and loved it had the 3 beans which contain protein but also carbs aling with the sweet potatoes and thought extra protein would help blood sugar from spiking. Didn’t have extra can tomato sauce in gand so just added another can diced tomatoes to mixture since added meat and also put just little tumeric bone broth in mixture as it needed but more liquid. I don’t think it changed the flavor at all.bDidnt need the tomato paste (actually forgot about it, lol). I will be sharing this will all family and friends it was sooo delicious!!!!
Any advice on converting this recipe for an Instant Pot? I plan on making it next weekend and I only have an Instant Pot and want it done in a shorter time span than several hours.
Hi! Would you be ok doing it stove top? I have made it that way and you just have to simmer the ingredients together until the sweet potatoes have softened. It takes less than an hour to do!
Love this recipe. Easy and yummzzzzzz. To thicken I just use an emulsion blender for a few seconds.
What a genius idea–I hadn’t even thought of that! Thank you!
As we head into 2025, I decided to try eating healthier and more vegetable based meals and more along the Mediterranean way of cooking. This was very good. I varied it slightly by leaving out the black beans, adding a pound of browned ground turkey and two tsps of ground nutmeg. I did also add closer to 3 tsps of salt. I did not add the tomato paste at the end.
Delicious, hearty and enough for another couple of meals or more.
I just got this into the crock pot and I’d say the prep time exceeds 15 minutes by at least a half hour. Peeling the sweet potatoes, dicing the onions and peppers is not done that quickly. I’m hoping it’s worth the effort.
Hope you loved it! I have made this one a hundred times so maybe that is why I have it down to a science.