21 February, 2021
Chipotle Sweet Potato Chili
This is my favorite way to make chili! I’ve experimented with many different recipes for vegetarian chili over the years and I always come back to this one, there’s just something about the smoky chipotle combined with the sweetness of the sweet potato. This recipe as written makes a mild chili, but you can easily adjust the level of spice by adding more chipotle chilis.
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 medium sized onion, chopped
- 1 medium sized red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (I’m actually using mini bell peppers here, 10 of them because they are so tiny)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbsp chili powder (or more to taste)
- 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2inch cubes
- one 14.5oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
- one 15.5oz can dark red kidney beans
- 1 1/2 cups water
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Tbsp of minced canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (or more to taste)
Instructions:
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic, cook and stir about 5 minutes until softened. Stir in the chili powder and cook another 30 seconds.
Dump the tomatoes into a 4-6 quart crockpot and crush. There are many ways this can be done, (sometimes I let my kids crush them with their hands) today I’m using a potato masher. Add onion mixture, beans, sweet potatoes, and water. Give it a quick stir and cover, cook on Low for 6-8 hours or on High for 3-4 hours.
When ready to serve, stir the chipotles into the chili. (These days, I leave the chipotle chilis out for the kiddos. The adults can add to their own bowls, a little goes a long way here so I’d recommend only about 1/2 tsp per bowl to start)
I really enjoy this in a bowl over buttered noodles, but it’s equally as good over rice, or alone with a side of cornbread.
