
This is hands-down the BEST slow cooker sweet potato chili recipe. You can keep it simple and vegetarian, with only the beans and sweet potatoes, or add ground beef for extra heartiness!

Everyone raves about this recipe and I’m so happy to make it often because it’s a snap to toss all the ingredients into my crock pot and let it cook away all day. Leftovers just get better and better!



Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili
This is hands-down the BEST slow cooker sweet potato chili recipe. Keep it simple and vegetarian, with only the beans and sweet potatoes, or add ground beef if you want a little extra heartiness!
Servings: 5 Servings
Calories: 435kcal
Ingredients
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into 1” pieces
- 1 medium onion coarsely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 15 ounce can kidney beans
- 15 ounce can black beans
- 1 lb ground 90% lean ground beef sirloin optional
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in the base of your slow cooker (including raw ground beef, if using) and stir to mix well. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
Notes
Nutrition Information for 1 Serving (1/5th of recipe NOT including beef): Calories 280, Total Fat 1.2 g, Total Carbohydrate 58.5 g, Dietary Fiber 15.4 g, Sugars 5.2 g, Protein 13.1 g
Nutrition
Calories: 435kcal | Carbohydrates: 58.5g | Protein: 31.5g | Fat: 9.2g | Fiber: 15.4g | Sugar: 5.2g
Yumm…sweet potatoes in chili sounds like a delicious idea! They must make an already filling dish even more satisfying!
Gotta try!! :)
I had planned on putting sweet potatoes in my chili over the weekend! However, I didn’t make it to the store before then and I was completely out!
Oh my gosh, I want to make this meal this wkend!! I adore sweet potatoes, and eat one at a least 5 days a week.
Uh oh, just realized something- can you make this recipe withOUT a slowcooker……? I got too distracted by the ingredients list and photos;-).
Hey Joelle!
Yes, you can make it in a large stock pot. Just brown the ground beef and then toss in all other ingredients, stir, and cook over low for about 2 hours (3 hours even better)
indeed…and chili is the best way to ring fall in! it’s too hot right now in colorado, but next week? next week chili is happening in our house. everything til then is just mental preparation :)
YES!!! I have been waiting oh-so-patiently for this post. I’m going to hold a pumpkin carving party in my driveway the weekend of Halloween for all of my neighbors and wanted to serve a “fall” chili. This will do the job…
It is a recipe like this that reminds me why I love fall! The chili looks delicious and the ability to cook it in a slow cooker makes me very happy:-)
Yum! I made chili this weekend too (2 batches!) but sadly I don’t have a slow cooker – yet – so mine were on the stove. However… I’m making a trip to my favourite kitchen supply outlet this weekend so I might just have to christen a new slow cooker with this recipe!
This is why I need a slow cooker. Good lord.
Hooray! The sweet potato chili recipe you had hinted at previously! Thanks, Andie. Looks like a winner!
So you do not brown the meat beforehand? I just made my first crockpot chili and was wondering about just throwing it in without browning it first. Innnnteresting…
I’m wondering the same thing. Are we supposed to brown the meat first?
Yes. I would like to know that too! cant wait to try this!
Hey ladies!
Nope, no need to brown the ground beef. Just crumble and toss it in your slow cooker, give the whole mixture of ingredients a stir, and set it to low for 10 hours. No fuss necessary :)
I am bookmarking this right now! Sweet potatoes + slow cooker + chili = heaven :)
Heavenly! AND I’ve been looking for an excuse to make jalapeno cheese cornbread…thanks for giving me one!
Oh this dish just makes me want to curl up by a fire! This is so perfect for fall and I love the addition of sweet potatoes!
Oooh, sweet potatoes! That sounds nice. I confess, I greatly dislike chili but I’ve been trying to find a way to make it myself so I enjoy it. I think it goes back to my mom’s chili being flavorless but full of kidney beans and celery. Yikes.
Side note – Oct. 8 is National Fluffernutter Day! Just in case you don’t have it in your date book. :)
This looks amazing!! Do you know what time would be roughly if you did this in a soup pot instead? I don’t have a slow cooker…
we both wrote letters to fall today. fun :)
OH YUM. This looks delicious! Can’t wait for a cool day to try it out.
brilliant! making this over the weekend.
This is my first visit to your blog and I’m so glad I stumbled upon it! This recipe looks perfect–easy, healthy, and delicious. I’m bookmarking and going to give it a try next week. Thank you. :-)
I can’t wait to try this over the weekend. Philadelphia is nice and crisp right now, so it should be a perfect fall meal. I wonder if substituting the optional ground beef sirloin with ground turkey would taste as good?
Bet that would work just fine :)
Andie, I’ve been quietly stalking your blog for some time, but this time I can’t resist posting. This stew looks uh-may-zing and I can’t wait to try it in the near future. The fact that it’s a crock pot recipe is just a bonus!
Thanks for posting!
I LOVE sweet potato and black bean chili. Yours looks so hearty and cozy! I never thought to add brown sugar, what a fabulous idea. Those corn bread crumbs made me smile, too. :)
Yuuuuuuum! Sweet potato chili is one of my favorites. And I can’t WAIT to bring out the slow cooker again soon!
Oh man, that looks fantastic! And so dunkable. :)
This looks delicious – I want to give it a try. Question though – what does the sweet potato add to the chili? Meaning, an intense flavor, texture, etc.? I am curious b/c I’ve never seen a chili recipe with sweet potato! :)
Hey Christine,
The sweet potato just adds a hearty thickness to the chili and also a mild sweetness, but otherwise, it’s not essential. Carrots could do the same thing
I love fall because I love stews, soups and chili! Thanks for the great recipe Andie! :)
Perfect timing – I’ve been on such a chili kick lately! One question.. what size crock pot did you use? I often find that I have to give up halfway through on certain recipes because my crock pot is too small which then makes me sad…
This looks so good and I love that it is made in a slow cooker!
I loooove the sweet potato. It’s a great little fall addition to a basic chili recipe!
Delicious! I’ll be trying this out soon. I love chili and this looks like awesome comfort food.
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I have this in my crock pot right now – I subbed turkey for the beef. The house smells delicious, I can’t wait for it to be done!
Andie – It turned out wonderfully! My husband loved it too – It’s going into my regular dinner rotation for fall/winter. :)
Mmmmm. I’ve been using and abusing pumpkin for the last month and a half… I think this resipe may be my graduating dish to my new ingredient obsession: sweet potato? Loveeee.
I swear that I know how to spell recipe.
This chili looks awesome and the corn bread looks super yummy! Excited to try this now that there’s cool fall weather.
Its in my slow cooker now! It smells so good. Im so excited to try it.
made this tonight for dinner and it was awesome. got the high five from the kids and hubby. thanks.
Yummy yummy yummy :-)
Just the kind of delicious comfort food I want in this cold and windy weather!
Mmmm…made this yesterday. I wanted to serve this over mac noodles, but didn’t want the extra empty calories, so after it finished cooking, I threw in a handful of barley, went on a run, and when I came back, it was perfect! I topped it with (vegan) chorizo…soooo good. Thanks for the great recipe.
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I made this last night with ground turkey, and it was perfect! So happy I have lots of leftovers for dinner tonight :) Thanks!
Giddyup! Finally an excuse to dust off that slow cooker. Love the dainty crumbs on your cornbread too! Hope you’re having fun with your mum. My Mothership touches down today from Australia, first time I’ve seen her in 2 and a bit years, woohoo! :)
There are three awesome things about this recipe; chilli, sweet potatoes, made in a slow cooker. I’ll be making this very soon.
I have to commend you: I made this Monday and have eaten it for lunch every day since. It’s the most delicious chili recipe I’ve ever made! Thank you so much for sharing! (Like seriously, I love chili. This is THE chili.)
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Love, love, love the chili. Made it for company today and it turned out fabulous!
So question, is this spicy? I want to make it so bad but I am a bit of a spice baby, meaning a little tiny bit of spicy-ness is great, but too much and I die. Anyone, is this chili pretty spicy?
Thanks!!
I reduced the chili powder to 1 TBS and it has just enough kick
This is a great recipe, thank you for sharing it! I love making chili, but have never added sweet potatoes to chili. This is something new to try.
First snow day today, in Denver, Colorado. Just came home to your sweet potato chili, smelling up my house so wonderfully!! I am going to make some corn bread now and hope I can control myself until it is down. Wonderful recipe. Thanks!!
I didn’t know how I would feel about this chili since I decided to not put meat in it (I am an avid carnivore). I’ve had this in my crockpot for 4.5 hours. . .I couldn’t resist trying a bite. It reminds me of a “light and fluffy” version of chili; love the smokey paprika flavor too. I used 1.5 tablespoons of chili powder and 1/2 tablespoon of Mexican hot chili powder to give it a little of a kick. Can’t wait until it’s done!! Thanks for sharing!
I just made this for my work chili cook-off and it was a hit! I combined the sweet potato idea with my usual recipe and got lots of positive feedback. Thanks for the inspiration!
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Hi Andrea!
Quick q: do you have any nutritional info for the chili? I made it on Sunday and it is soo good, just want to know how much to eat at a time. :) thanks!
Leah
Made this a while ago – totally delicious! Making another batch again today
Just put this in my crockpot and I am SO excited about it. It already is smelling delicious. :-)
It ended up being very delicious! Yay! Thank you. :-) I added some turkey broth and didn’t put the beef in. Those were my only modifications. Oh, and I doubled it. :-)
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Hello!
My friend just turned me on this this website and I love it. I never cooked before until 5 days ago and I already made 3 recipes from your site and they are all delicious and fun to make!
I wanted to make the sweet potato chili tonight but have everything except cumin. How will the chili come out with out it? Should I add more of something else?
Thank you for your time! Happy Holidays :D
Does anyone know the serving size for this recipe?? I am on WW and plugged it into the recipe builder on etools to find out the pointsplus value and would like to know the serving size. Any help would be great!!
Thanks :)
Hey Rebekah! Each of the (6) servings should be about 2 cups :)
Thanks for reading!
andie
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Hi there. Just wondering, do you rinse the beans first?
This looks sooo good. For those that have tried it, did you end up browning the meet or not?
Hi Sandy,
Thanks! I do not rinse the beef first. In fact, I never rinse any of my meats. And I do not brown the meat first.
:) Andie
Hi Andie sorry I mean the beans? Do you rinse them?
I know I also misspelled meat, how sad…LOL!
Thanks for replying :)
Haha, this is almost too good. My fault- I misread your original question :)
Yes, I rinse the beans and drain them before adding to the pot.
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Made your chili today. Amazing will be eating leftovers for lunch this week. Topped with a little goat cheese and served with corn bread. Wouldn’t change a thing. So simple to make. Thanks for sharing.
This looks delicious! I’ve never heard of using sweet potatoes in chili but it sure sounds interesting. I’m going to try this over the weekend.
suggestion: add 1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
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I have never liked chili before but the rest of the family does so I make it occasionally for them. This smelled so good I had to try it and LOVED it! I think it’s the combination of the sweet potatoes and the cumin. It’s delicious. I did the nutritional info for it and was very pleased with the calorie/fibre/protein numbers too.
Thanks!!
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A friend made this without meat and it was SO good! I’m planning to make it next week – if I sub ground turkey meat for the sirloin, do you know how many WW points that will end up being for a serving?
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Hi! I’m making this right now and realized it needs to cook on low for 10 hours…I don’t have that much time. Can I cook it on high? How many hours?
I made this using ground turkey. Thanks for the yummy recipe. My husband, who always complains he does not like sweet potatoes, loved it!
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does anyone know if we drain the beans beforehand?
Mine is in the slow cooker right now! I cannot wait to get home tonight and try it :)
I’m going to make this during my lunch hour so I will not be able to do the low setting for 10 hours. Do you think 5 hours on HIGH in the crockpot would alternatively work just fine?
Hi Heather,
Yes I think that would be just fine!
Do you think I can get away with cooking it for only 6 hours? That’s all the time I’ve got left. :) Also, do you think it would ruin it if I don’t add the brown sugar?
Yes, I think 6 hours is fine! The brown sugar does add a nice sweetness, but if you feel like omitting it, I’m sure it will still taste great!
Andie
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What is the difference flavor wise between smoked paprika and regular paprika? I looked for the smoked version at the grocery store, but couldn’t find any…
Hi! I am including this in my slow cooker recipe collection here http://mommyssweetconfessions.blogspot.com/2012/12/34-slow-cooker-soups-stews-and-chilis.html
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I worked in the meat dept. for 14 yrs…..I encourage everyone to please rinse your meat! ;)
Rise even ground beef? I have never even considered thst.
I made this over the weekend. We couldn’t eat as it was too acidic. How do I tone done the tomatoes?
Oh no! I haven’t had that problem, but I’m really sorry to hear that you had poor experience, Brenda! To tone down the acidity: increase the amount of brown sugar. Add 3 additional tablespoons, stir well, and then taste and adjust as needed.
Andie
Has anyone made a double batch and frozen half? I was wondering how it would taste after thawed and reheated.
Hi! I have made this recipe several times and I absolutely LOVE IT! I do modify the spices a bit based on what I have on hand. I have also added green bell pepper and turkey farm sausage and most recently cilantro! Definitely an easy go to recipe for me! Thank you :)
-Becky
Made it today… Was wonderful!
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Hey there! Quick question about te recipe. The serving says 1/5 but do you know that in cups or oz’s? Just want to be able to measure out a serving without having to devide it 5 ways lol
Hey Sara! It should come out to a cup and a half per serving.
Andie
thanks andie! i’m going to try this recipe this weekend. my parents are coming over to help my husband and i take down 3 layers of wall paper in our new home (the previous owners clearly didn’t take anything down before putting up a new layer) and we’re going to need a hearty home cooked meal after a hard days work!!
Andie, can this sweet potato chili be freezed? If so, how long do you think it would be good in freezer?
I like chili with a little spice, could I add some heat with chipotle peppers or something, do you think that would work with the sweet tater? Thanks.
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Oh man that looks good, that’s going on next week’s menu!
Mad e this chili tonight and my husband declared it to be a “hit out of the park”! Did make one slight error….didn’t have regular chili powder so used a new Chipotle Chili Powder I recently picked up. Whew..that stuff is HOT:( Not a fan of HOT. So back to the web to find a way to tone down the spice. Believe it or not, the hands down winner was a 2 Tablespoon add-in of creamy peanut butter. Took the heat down to a very manageable level and didn’t adversely effect the taste at all. This will definitely be my new go-to chili recipe when the temperatures drop. Thanks so much for sharing-L
To quote my hubby, “This may be the best chili you have ever made!” I made just a few modifications: I used almost 2 lbs of ground beef and so I added more sweet potato, doubled the amount of chili powder and cumin, added a bit more smoked paprika, but kept everything else the same. SO YUM!!! When I served it, I stirred into the PIPING HOT chili some shredded jack cheese. Wow, with an ice cold beer – perfection!
This chili is fantastic. I fixed it during a snowy day in the mountains. It was a hit! I followed the recipe as is (without the ground beef)
And I served it with jalapeno cornbread
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I’ve made this about five times on the stove and I love it. I have frozen it and it thaws out just fine. It still tastes fresh. I want to make a freezer meal for a friend who just had a baby and I get out of work at 10:30 tonight and I go back in tomorrow from 8-4:30. I’m already on the schedule to bring something tomorrow night. Can I cook the sweet potatoes tonight in the microwave and add them to the rest of the room temperature ingredients? I could dish it out in individual servings and put it in freezer bags. Then I could freeze it tonight and put it in the freezer at work tomorrow until I deliver it. Would that work? Or should i put it in the crockpot overnight?
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Wondering if this would freeze well? Anyone ever frozen uncooked sweet potato?
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Hey Andie!
I made this recipe this weekend and I loved it! The sweet potatoes added so much flavor..I would have never thought about that! My husband loved it so much..I am making lunch packs for him and freezing half so he can have this ready to go for lunch or dinner when I’m out with the girls;) I made the corn bread as well!! Super delish..will be a regular..I have corn bread lovers at my house! Making your stuffed peppers next..I have made these for years and have always roasted them..can’t wait to try and just blanch them! Thanks so much! x0x0x0x
Thanks Carol! I love this recipe, too! It’s definitely a favorite around my house, and one I hear that my friends make all the time, too :) I’m so happy you’re cooking through all of these recipes!!! xo
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Just made this tonight, it was sooo yummy!! I’ll be making this again for the rest of my family.
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Hi Andie, can this be made with already cooked plain chopped sweet potatoes? I have leftovers from a work potluck. How long would you cook this in the crockpot then since you are just heating everything? Would you add the potatoes in at the beginning or towards the end?
Hi Amberly! Yes, you can use already cooked ones but they’ll turn really, really soft–and maybe a little mushy, maybe if you put them in at the beginning so I’d put them in toward the end—-for the last hour of cooking. I’d say cook the chili for a total of 4 hours on low!
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