Are you ready for a recipe that I’m reviving from over TEN years ago? Good, me too.
I first shared this delicious, hearty chipotle black bean sweet potato chili with quinoa back in 2012, but when the team and I were perusing old recipes I remembered just how incredible it was. In fact, my original post still holds true 11 years later and this easy one pot chili recipe makes the perfect dinner while it’s still cold outside:
“I ate this chili all weekend. At first, it’s slightly sweet but has a tiny bit of kick from the chipotle peppers. It’s also full of a medley of spices including turmeric, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg. Ugh, it was everything I wanted: sweet, savory, and perfect for a chilly day.
I swear you’ll fall in love with it. And it’s hearty enough to last you a couple of days. Or if you prefer, you can freeze half of it and take it out later during the winter when you need a big bowl of comfort.
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I can’t forget to tell you about the magical smoked chipotle greek yogurt topping. My roommate and I made it last week as a dipping sauce for sweet potato fries, but it was so good I started putting it on everything. I couldn’t resist making it again for that cooling yet spicy topping. It’s made with plain greek yogurt (or sour cream), the adobo sauce from the can of chipotle peppers, honey, and a tiny bit of dijon mustard. I am so in love with it!”
Ingredients in this chipotle black bean sweet potato chili
This hearty vegetarian just so happens to be vegetarian, easily vegan, and packed with plant-based protein. You’re going to LOVE the sweet & savory flavors going on in here. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Produce: we’re filling this cozy chili with carrots, sweet potato, an onion, and garlic.
- Chipotle peppers: get that wonderful savory, smokey flavor from canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.
- Spices: the spices are everything. We’re using cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- For the broth: we’re adding a can of fire-roasted tomatoes for extra flavor. You can also use regular canned tomatoes if you’d like. You’ll also need some vegetable broth.
- Beans: this chili has two cans of black beans for tons of plant-based protein.
- Quinoa: oh yes, this chili gets an extra boost of protein and heartiness from quinoa!
- For topping: I mixed together a smoked chipotle yogurt sauce made from greek yogurt, a little adobo sauce from your can of chipotle peppers, honey, and dijon mustard. It’s cooling, tangy, and so delicious. I also like to top my bowl with fresh cilantro, sliced avocado, and a little shredded cheddar cheese.
Customize your chili
Just like many chili recipes, this easy sweet potato quinoa chili is great for customizing! Here’s what I can recommend:
- Pick your veggies: feel free to add or swap with vegetables like bell pepper, diced jalapeño, or even some corn.
- Choose the spice level: I recommend starting with 2 chipotle peppers, but if you like heat feel free to add a third!
- Use any broth: if you’re not vegetarian, you can also use low sodium chicken broth.
Keep this sweet potato black bean chili vegan
Simply leave off the chipotle yogurt topping or use your fav plain vegan yogurt.
Make it in your slow cooker
You can easily make this chili in your slow cooker! Here’s how:
- Reduce the vegetarian broth to 2 1/4 cups.
- Sauté the onions, carrot, and garlic on the stovetop in a little olive oil until the onions become translucent.
- Transfer the veggies to your slow cooker and stir in the chipotles and spices.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to your slow cooker and cook the chili on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours.
More delicious ways to enjoy this chili
Besides diving head-first into this bowl of chili with a spoon, I also love:
- Topping my bowl with a fried egg and enjoying it for breakfast
- Serving it over grilled chicken or fish
- Scooping it up with my fav tortilla chips
The options are endless!
Storing & freezing tips
- To store: this quinoa, sweet potato and black bean chili will stay good in your fridge for about 1 week. Once your chili is completely cooled, just place it in an airtight container (or multiple, if you’d like to meal prep it) without the toppings and place it in the fridge. To reheat it, simply do so in the microwave with a microwave safe bowl, or feel free to reheat it on the stovetop. Add the chipotle yogurt topping once you’re ready to serve!
- To freeze: follow the instructions above, but instead of placing the chili in the refrigerator just put it in your freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, simply thaw the chili overnight and reheat it on the stovetop or in the microwave when you’re ready to eat.
More healthy chili recipes
- The Best Healthy Turkey Chili
- Healthy White Chicken Chili
- Actually, the Best Vegetarian Chili Ever
- Slow Cooker Black Bean Quinoa Pumpkin Chicken Chili
- White Chicken Chili Pie with Pumpkin Cornbread Crust
Get all of my chili recipes here!
I hope you love this black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili recipe! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Quinoa Chili with Smoked Chipotle
Ingredients
- For the chili:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped (start with 2 and if you want it spicier you can always add another one later)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch nutmeg
- 1 (15 ounce) can fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
- 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 3 cups vegetable broth, plus more to thin if desired
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- For the smoked chipotle yogurt sauce:
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt (I prefer whole milk greek yogurt)
- 1-2 teaspoons adobo sauce from the can, plus more if you really like a little heat
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon dijon mustard
- To garnish:
- Cilantro
- Sliced ripe avocado
- Shredded cheddar
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a pot and place over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add the onion, carrots and garlic; cook for 5 minutes or until onions become translucent. Then stir in the chopped chipotles, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg.
- Next stir in the sweet potato cubes, fire-roasted tomatoes, black beans, quinoa, vegetable broth and salt. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more salt if desired. You can also add more chopped chipotle peppers or adobo sauce if you want it spicier.
- Make the smoked chipotle yogurt: add yogurt, adobo sauce, honey, and dijon mustard in a medium bowl; stir to combine. Taste and adjust as necessary. Add more honey if you want it sweeter, or add more adobo sauce if you'd like it spicier!
- Spoon chili into bowls and add yogurt sauce on top. Garnish with cheddar cheese, avocado, and cilantro if you'd like!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on October 8th, 2012, and republished on March 2nd, 2023.
I love your blog and recipes and have had many successes with them. This was another very tasty recipe. My only caveat is that I’m not sure what chipotle/adobo brand you’re using, but since I have little kids, I only put 1 pepper (a fairly large one, I suppose, but I thought it regular size for adobo peppers) into the mix and whoa it was almost too spicy for all of us. And we are not spice-adverse. Even my kiddos are okay with some spice. But this was definitely quite spicy. My kids had to use tons of yoghurt to get it down. Next time I’ll only add 1/2 a pepper. Just thought I’d add this in case anyone else experiences something similar. Other than that, it’s a very nice chili and I’ll definitely try it again. Thanks for all of your flavorful recipes!
Thank you for the note! I typically use a brand like this one, but yes, feel free to reduce the peppers next time. I’m glad it was still delicious!
Recipe is quite confusing. Why would I make COOKED quinoa then add it to the recipe to simmer for 20-30 minutes? This would overcook it.
Delicious and easy to make. I didn’t add enough chipotle peppers so next time will add one more.
I love your recipes but I am one person and need the recipe for 1 and not 4 or 6 people. Please provide either a scroll bar for the amount of people I’m serving! I’d greatly appreciate this.
Hi! Thanks so much for your feedback – we’ll look into this option. A great way to save multiple servings is to freeze this for later!
I just made this and it was phenomenal and easy!! I chose to double the spices for our taste. This is now going to be a regular meal for us.
Love it! Glad you enjoyed!
I was looking for a healthy, nutrient dense meal and this really hit the spot. I used 2 1/2 adobo peppers and it had a nice level of heat. 3 peppers may have been too much for me. I also used 4 cups of broth and it still turned out pretty thick. I’m looking forward to leftovers!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
I did not think this was going to be that good but it is surprisingly very taste, flavorful, and hearty. The adobo yogurt sauce is yummy.
Absolutely! Glad you gave it a try 🙂
Can this be done in the instant-pot? Also, any trick to get the sweet potatoes to cook faster?
Hi – I don’t have an instant pot so I am not sure, I bet it could but I am not sure the cooking time. I would make sure they are cut in to smaller pieced if you are having a tough time getting them to cook faster. Enjoy!
I made the quinoa in the IP and at the same time i roasted the sweet potatoes in the oven bc its quicker. Then took everything and just heayed it on the stove in a pot.
I’m making this now and when I started to prepare the chipotle peppers, it’s like they are all seeds with some skin around them. Am I suppose to take the seeds out? If so, how? They are 90% seeds.and no body/firmness to the peppers at all. I don’t want to ruin this. Thanks.
I made this tonight and it was so flavorful! I had a small can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and so I added all three and most of the sauce. It was just the right amount of warm heat and we like it a little spicy. I made the quinoa ahead of time with chicken broth, and I also used chicken broth in the chili since we aren’t vegan and I make my own. I made the yogurt topping, as well as avocado and cilantro. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for another dinner recipe!
Perfect! I am so glad you found this recipe and are loving it
This recipe was awesome! The perfect amount of heat, we like a little spicy. I only had a little can of chipotle peppers so I put all three in and most of the sauce (I added some to the yogurt topping). I made the quinoa ahead of time with chicken broth and then added it to the chili and it was fabulous. I will definitely be making this one again!
So good! Even my meat loving husband devoured this!!!
This is now a household staple in our house but it took some adjusting. We double all the spices, Tabasco and garlic.
I’ve been making this chili for years and love it, even crave it. It’s filling, flavorful and I never miss the meat. I’ve even made it for my sister when she gave birth and she now makes it for her family and associates it with new baby feels ☺️
Amazing! Love that 🙂
Delicious! I’ve made this multiple times and I love the flavors! Takes a little prep time but very easy to put together. I add in shredded chicken and corn. Yum.
Perfect! Such a great dinner 🙂
The best vegetarian chili I’ve ever made. It is a staple in our household. We make at least once every week or 2!!! Thanks AK❤️
Amazing! So happy to hear that 🙂
This is probably our favorite AK recipe! Its so easy to whip up, and as vegetarians, we appreciate a good, filling dinner. If I need to, I will throw this in the crockpot in the morning (saute the veggies first) and set it on low, so when we are home after work, dinner is already done!
Perfect! I’m so glad you found this one. Such a great weeknight dinner!
Awesome. Very easy to make and definitely very tasty. I foresee the leftovers will taste even better. I got lazy and didn’t make the creme to go with it, but it still was super yummy. I will be making this again. Thank you!
Perfect! And yes, the leftovers will be delicious. Glad you enjoyed!
I just threw it all into the crockpot with uncooked quinoa! So far so good! Looks amazing!
Great! Hope you’re loving it!
This was absolutely incredible. Great for my toddler without the spicy yogurt topping, but added the perfect kick of spice for my husband and I. Will make this over and over again! Thank you!!!
Amazing! So happy to hear that!
I followed the recipe except I cooked the quinoa with the chili rather than cook the quinoa separately. Unfortunately this made the meal extremely dry. I look forward to trying it again.
Hi Mike! Strange – that method shouldn’t make the chili dry (lots of liquid in here!) This is also a great chili recipe to try that uses uncooked quinoa 🙂