This Crock Pot Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili is a true dump-and-go dinner: toss everything in the slow cooker and let it simmer into a hearty, budget-friendly meal the whole family will love. It’s naturally vegetarian, ready in about 5 hours, and costs just $1.49 a serving.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Kid approved – finely diced peppers and a mild spice level make this a chili even picky eaters will eat.
- Dump and go – toss everything in the crock pot and walk away. No sautéing or browning required.
- Budget friendly – this makes 6 hearty servings for under $9 total, using pantry staples and canned beans.
- Freezer friendly – make a double batch and freeze half for an easy meal on a busy night.
- Naturally vegetarian and gluten free – no one will miss the meat, and it’s easy to make vegan too.
Ingredients:
- Onion – You can use any onion you have – white, yellow or a red onion.
- Green Bell Peppers – We finely chop the bell peppers so the kids will eat them.
- Minced Garlic
- Black Beans – Or you can try using a combination of beans. Some light kidney beans would go perfectly with this chili.
- Diced Tomatoes – You can spice this chili up with fire-roasted diced tomatoes.
- Chili Powder – Must have spice for your chili.
- Cumin
- Paprika – You can also use Smoked Paprika
- Cayenne Pepper (optional)
- Oregano
- Salt
- Chicken Broth – You can also use vegetable broth instead if you are trying to keep this a vegetarian chili.
- Sweet Potatoes – Sweet potatoes pair perfectly with the chili spices and give this chili its natural sweetness and hearty texture. You don’t have to peel them if you don’t mind the skin — it softens right up as it cooks. To save prep time, look for pre-cut diced sweet potatoes near the produce section.
How to make Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili?
Just put all the ingredients into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or high for 2-3 hours, until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender. You literally just set it and forget it!
Variations:
- If you are short on time, you can easily make this recipe in the Instant Pot. Throw all the ingredients in the instant pot and cook it on high pressure for 12 minutes with a quick release on the pressure.
- You can easily add or omit ingredients in this chili recipe for what you have on hand or can get on sale. Instead of diced tomatoes you can use tomato sauce.
- You can add ground turkey or ground beef to the recipe. Brown the meat first in a skillet and then add to the slow cooker.
- It is great to double the recipe as this is perfect leftover.
Turn This Into a Freezer Meal
This chili is perfect for freezer meal prep. Add all of the raw ingredients except the broth to a gallon-sized freezer bag, squeeze out the air, and freeze flat for up to 3 months.
When you’re ready to cook, thaw the bag in the fridge overnight, then dump the contents into your crock pot with the broth and cook as directed. It’s such an easy way to get a head start on a busy week — even more dinners done with almost no extra effort.
Why Is My Chili Too Thin?
Sweet potatoes release a good amount of moisture as they cook, so it’s normal for this chili to turn out thinner than a traditional beef chili. If yours is thinner than you’d like, remove the crock pot lid for the last 30-45 minutes of cook time to let some liquid cook off, or stir in a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with a little cold water and cook for another 10-15 minutes to thicken it up.
How to store leftovers:
Chili is great for leftovers. Personally, I like it better the next day. To store your leftovers, place the chili in an airtight container once it’s cooled completely. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days.
3 Ways to Use Up Leftover Chili
- Chili Baked Potato: Spoon leftover chili over a baked potato and top with cheese and sour cream for an entirely new meal.
- Chili Nachos: Layer tortilla chips with warmed chili and shredded cheese, then broil for 2-3 minutes until melty.
- Chili Mac: Stir leftover chili into cooked elbow macaroni for a quick, kid-friendly dinner. Why readers will care: It stretches one recipe into three different meals, which is real, practical value for a family trying to make groceries go further.
What to serve chili?
The chili is amazing alone but we love a good topping bar around here. We like to load our chili with all sorts of yummy toppings and the kids enjoy it too.
- shredded cheese
- chives
- sour cream
- hot sauce
- diced jalapeno peppers
- saltine crackers
- corn chips
- tortilla chips
- cornbread
Make sure to check out all our favorite chili toppings.
Tips:
Another time saving tip is to use a small food chopper or food processor to quickly and easily chop onions. If you do not have one of these, I highly recommend them. They are such a time saver and you make cooking so fast and easy.
I usually just chop the entire vegetable and freeze what I don’t need. It’s so nice to be able to just take the diced onion out of the freezer for recipes. This is how I meal prep. It’s so quick and easy and helps get dinner on the table fast.
Lots of the recipes we cook call for onions and peppers so this is such a great time tip that we use frequently. You will love having peppers and onions all ready to go! It is quick and easy.
Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili Is Budget Friendly!
No one misses the meat in this recipe, and at $1.49 a serving, it’s one of the most affordable dinners in our regular rotation. It’s easy to swap in whatever produce is on sale that week, which makes it a great way to stretch your grocery budget even further.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Brown 1 pound of ground turkey or ground beef before adding it to the crock pot, or add diced raw chicken breast at the start of cooking so it finishes at the same time as the sweet potatoes.
Yes, this chili freezes well. Let it cool completely, then store in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 2-3 months. We like to freeze it in individual portions for quick grab-and-go lunches.
Tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes both work great as a substitute.
This recipe makes 6 servings, about 1½ cups each.
Crock Pot Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili
Equipment
- Crock Pot
Ingredients
- ½ onion diced
- 1 green bell peppers diced
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 cans cans black beans (15 oz.) drained and rinsed
- 1 can can diced tomatoes (15 oz.)
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and diced
See how we calculate recipe costs.
Instructions
- Add ½ diced onion, 1 diced green bell pepper, 2 tsp minced garlic, 2 (15 oz) cans black beans (drained and rinsed), 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes, 1 Tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp paprika, ½ tsp cayenne pepper (optional), 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp salt, 3 cups chicken broth, and 2 diced sweet potatoes to a crock pot.
- Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours, or high for 2-3 hours, until the sweet potatoes are fork tender.
- Serve warm with toppings like sour cream, avocado, and cilantro if desired.
Making it for a second time . I never missed meat but am adding some cinnamon this time around.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Melanie! Thank you for sharing and thank you so much for the positive review!
Made several times already and absolutely love it. Added browned ground turkey. Always freeze batches so we have ready made meals for the week as well.
I’m so glad you enjoy this recipe Yvette. Thank you so much for sharing and for the positive review! I appreciate it so much!
If I don’t like diced tomatoes, could I use a can of tomato sauce instead? Or what would a good substitute be? Thank you!
Nicky – Yes, tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes would be a great substitution for the diced tomatoes in this recipe.
Absolutely delicious! Instead of using separate spices, I just used a packet of chili seasoning. It was a little bit easier for me, and since I was trying to get it together before work, I had to hurry.
Amazing. My daughter said it was great. And my hubs called it a keeper. <3 Thanks!
The recipe was quick and easy to make. I replaced the green pepper with a poblano pepper and added browned hamburger. I followed the suggestion of adding sour cream and avocado and loved that addition. It was very tasty but ended up being more of a soup rather than a chili. I’ll cut back on the broth the next time. Overall, this was a delicious and successful recipe.
Easy and delicious. Safe for my daughter in law with food sensitivity. She loved it
If you want to kick the flavor up on this chili, swap out the cayenne for Chipotle chili and add smoked paprika. The smoky flavors play up the sweetness of the sweet potatoes while still adding some heat.
Thank you for your comment. Love the ideas!
This has become a go-to recipe for me! So easy and delicious!
Just had 2 bowls of this! So SO good. The hubs even ate it and he is not a sweet potato fan at all??. Definitely a do again!
So good! I used red pepper, added some canned pumpkin, corn and Spanish rice. Also one can black beans, one kidney and one chili beans.
Topped it with kite hill sour cream red onion and avocado. Will definitely make again!
This is really Good I loved it.The spices are right on target ?and Wow the sweet potato put it over the top. I recommend this
I just put some in freezer
I’m so glad you loved it!
I made this because I actually had everything on hand (except the pepper )and was really trying to use up a couple sweet potatoes. It tuned out fabulous just on the stove top, added some frozen corn, chopped chipotle pepper and my Grandma’s secret ingredient for chili… cocoa powder! It had such a nice rich flavour, will definitely make again!
Hi,
Can you add meat to this during the cooking process? I’m thinking ground turkey? Or maybe chicken breasts? Or maybe shredded store made rotisserie chicken added during the last 30-45 minutes of cooking time? I am not the best “ad hoc” cook and really need to follow recipes or it’s all messed up 🙂 Thank you in advance for your help!
Yes, you can definitely add any of those proteins to this stew recipe. If you use ground turkey, I would brown before adding to the crock pot. If you use raw chicken, I would dice it before adding it so that it will be done around the same time as the sweet potatoes. Let us know how it turns out!
Hi! I pulled a container of Carrie’s “HOW TO COOK BLACK BEANS IN THE CROCKPOT (AND HOW TO FREEZE THEM)” out of my freezer, and made a batch of this chili. I only had diced tomatoes with medium chilies on hand, and they just gave it a bit more kick. My carnivore hubby thought I was trying to starve him, but he loved the taste. Will definitely be making this again (with some ground beef on the side =:). Thanks for the great recipe!
I’m craving chili on this snowy day. I think I’m going to try this out. It looks so good! Will report back!
can this be frozen?
Yes, this can be frozen. Thanks.
What is a serving size? I am not seeing that on the nutrition label.
The entire recipe is for 6 servings, so 1 serving would be 1/6 of the entire amount. Thank you!
I used vegetable broth as well. And a jalapeño in place of the green bell pepper. And some smoked paprika in place of the regular paprika. Initial taste (before everything has cooked and melded together) is delicious!
Your additions sound great! I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Sounds yummy! However, I will be using veggie broth to make it truly vegetarian. ?