Black beans and sweet potatoes come together in this sweeter, milder version of my Vegan Sweet Potato Chili.
I know many of you absolutely LOVE my award-winning Best Damn Vegan Chili as much as I do. But shockingly..... there are some of you out there who think it's actually too spicy .... ?
I'm looking at you Mrs. BNV.
So for those of you who just can't handle anything remotely spicy, I rebooted this 5 yr old recipe - just for you.
That's right, I originally posted this recipe in January of 2018. But to be honest, it never got much attention. Only 1 comment and 468 shares (compared to thousands of shares on my BDVC)
Was it a bad recipe?
Not even, but I'm sure my lack of photography skills had something to do with it. Here's a quick before and after.
My what a difference 5 years can make!
That's almost embarrassing, but hey - we all have to start somewhere, right?
Actually, the real reason I wanted to remake this recipe, is the Blue Zones.
For those of you who don't know, The Blue Zones are 5 areas of the world where people just naturally live longer, healthier lives, oftentimes well into their 90's and 100's.
These areas are
- Ikaria, Greece
- Sardinia, Italy
- Okinawa, Japan
- Nicoya, Costa Rica
- Loma Linda, California
What these areas all have in common, is they get some kind of daily exercise, whether it be walking to town, or digging in their gardens - and they all eat predominantly a high carbohydrate, plant-based diet.
Okinawa, for example, gets 85% of their daily calories, from sweet potatoes and rice (sorry Atkins).
So I love this recipe because it combines the staples of two of these areas: Sweet potatoes from Okinawa, and black beans from Costa Rica - to make this incredibly simple but flavorful chili.
Okinawa's sweet potatoes ARE purple, but even our orange variety is packed full of nutrition.
So whatever your reason for trying this recipe, I do hope you enjoy it and I hope you leave a comment down below.
Let's get cooking....
Vegan Sweet Potato Chili
The Potatoes
We're going to start off by roasting our sweet potatoes. This will help them retain their shape and texture when we eventually add them to our chili.
I cut 2 sweet potatoes into cubes and added them to a bowl (about 1.5 - 2 pounds)
Now add 1 Tbs of the juice from a can of black beans.
This is called AQUAFABA in the vegan world, and it will replace the oil we traditionally use when roasting. We're going to add those beans later, so no waste.
It allows our spices to stick, and speaking of spices, it's time to add a little smoked paprika and salt.
Toss to coat - then roast the potatoes in a 400° F oven for 20 minutes. When they're done, set them aside and let them cool.
As you will see in the video below, I used my Cuisinart Convection Oven/Air Fryer to roast them. There are a few products I show off in the video and if anyone is interested, I'll add some Amazon Affiliate Links after the recipe.
The Chili Base
Next we move on to our soup base.
In a dutch oven, we are going to saute a white onion, a red bell pepper, some garlic, and of course - some mild or tamed jalapenos (optional - but so good).
All the amounts are listed below in the recipe box.
As for the liquid to saute them in, you can use some more of that aquafaba, some veg broth, or even water - just enough to keep things from sticking - about a tablespoon or two.
Add the cumin, chili powder, and oregano, and stir well. We'll let those veggies soften over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes or so.
Finally, we add 2 cans of fire-roasted tomatoes (28oz total), and a cup of water.
The final 3 ingredients we're going to add might seem strange, but they are going to add to the body, the texture, and the flavor of our chili.
- I like to add Masa Harina to help thicken my chili. Masa Harina is a fine Mexican flour made of corn used to make tortillas and tamales. If you can't find it, you can also add regular cornmeal.
- A bit of Molasses to sweeten it and cut the acidity.
- And a small amount of unsweetened cocoa, for that extra depth of flavor.
Stir all those ingredients to the soup, bring up the heat to med-high, and let that simmer for 30 minutes.
Finishing Up
The last two ingredients are our beans and sweet potatoes.
As you saw in the video, I use NO SALT ADDED black beans from Kroger. Simply drain the rest of the aquafaba (some people save it by freezing in ice cube trays) and add the drained beans to the soup.
If you beans are salted, drain AND rinse before adding. Then add the now-cooled sweet potatoes. Stir well.
We have not added any salt at this point, so taste and adjust for seasoning.
Let that simmer on low heat for an additional 15 min and serve with your favorite garnish. As you can see, I love to add cilantro and a dollop of my Amazing Vegan Cheese...
That's it for this week and I hope you enjoy it. Drop me a line and let me know.
And if you don't see the video, come back a day or so as it usually takes me about 24 hrs to edit a video.
Thanks and I'll see ya next week!
Vegan Sweet Potato Chili
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 50 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 Servings 1x
- Category: Soup, Stew
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Black beans and sweet potatoes are popular in the Blue Zones - so why not combine them in this delicious Vegan Sweet Potato Chili?
Ingredients
- 2-3 sweet potatoes (orange flesh - about 1.5 to 2 lbs)
- 1 Tbs aquafaba (juice from a can of black beans)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 large white onion (diced)
- 1 red bell pepper (diced)
- 3-4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1-2 tbs mild pickled jalapenos (optional)
- 1 Tbs chili powder (McCormicks®)
- ¾ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp oregano
- 2 cans fire-roasted tomatoes (28oz total)
- 1 cup water
- 1 Tbs masa harina (or cornmeal)
- 1 tsp molasses (or other sweetener)
- 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa
- 2 cans black beans, drained (rinsed if they are salted)
Instructions
- Cube sweet potatoes and add to a bowl
- Add aquafaba, salt, and paprika and toss to coat
- Roast at 400° F for 20 min - set aside to cool
- In a large dutch oven, saute onion and pepper until softened
- Add jalapeno if desired and garlic - stir to mix well
- Stir in cumin, chili powder, and oregano - simmer 5 min
- Add tomatoes, water, masa, sweetener, and cocoa
- Bring heat up to medium and simmer for 30 min - stirring occasionally
- Drain and rinse black beans and add to chili
- Add roasted sweet potatoes and taste for seasoning
- Add salt is needed and serve with your favorite garnish
Notes
Products I Used
Note: As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualified purchases but at no extra cost to you.
Pat W
Love your Best Damn Vegan Chili recipe so thought I’d try this one, as well. Oh Yum! It was delicious!!! Thanks for sharing!
Ken
I made this recipe this afternoon for my lunches this week. I like it! My wife gave me her thumps up approval, as well.
Marion
Made this last night. It is a new favorite. Thanks for the recipe.
Rachel
Is this technically gluten free too? Trying to keep to the dietary requirements of my vegan and GF coworkers 😄
M.A.
I love all your recipes and after watching the video, I can hardly wait to make this one. Thanks so much, Chuck!
Morag
My partner (not vegan) saw me watching your video of this and requested it for tea the following day. So I made it, along with your cheeze sauce and it went down really well. Take care, best wishes x
Charmaine Lanjopoulos
This was wonderful one of the better recipes I have made and it was awesome the second night!!!!
Gail Curran
Hello Chuck....Was sorry to learn of your stroke back in February, do hope you are continuing to do well. I was looking for a new WFPB chili recipe and came across your site. . . made this one tonite. We really enjoyed it....husband said twice! how much he liked the flavor of this recipe. Nice and hardy and filling. Definitely a keeper recipe.. Gary & Gail/NH
Alvis
This recipe was great. I followed the video and it turned out wonderful. I looked just like the picture. That is amazing for me to follow the recipe and it turn out correctly. I will definitely try more recipes of yours.
APRIL BURGER
This is about the link to the vegan cheese sauce. The link takes me to the correct page, but when I want to print the recipe, it goes to an error page. Just fyi. I just copied and pasted it...I can't wait to try the sweet potato chili recipe! Thank you so much.
Karen Johnston
This was so delicious. Thank you for all your great recipes. I made my black beans from dry ones in the instant pot for this. Came out great and made the whole house smell wonderful.