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When you need a quick, hearty, and filling meal, this sweet potato chili recipe with black beans and mushrooms is the way to go. It’s a vegan chili that’s easy to make and great for meal prep! The mushrooms and walnuts form a ground meat substitute that makes this chili unlike anything else (readers who have tried the recipe love it—see comments)!
save this recipe!Chili is one of those meals that always delivers. It’s perfect for dinner and doubles as meal prep but requires very little work. And with sweet potatoes and a meat alternative made from nuts, this vegetarian chili is extra delicious and hearty!
I love to make a big pot of this sweet potato and black bean chili to eat throughout the week, and I sometimes save a batch in the freezer. It makes an awesome freezer-friendly meal that can be prepped ahead of time and saved for when life gets busy and you don’t feel like cooking.
Pair this chili with your favorite tortilla chips, cornbread casserole, or even grilled cheese. Get ready for the best plant-based chili recipe ever!
Reader rating
“Really enjoyed it! I like my chili thick and chunky and this recipe did not dissapoint. The “chili meat” was especially good.” —Jon
Black bean chili variations
There are so many ways to customize this chili and make it your own! Here are some ideas to get you started.
Extra Veggies: If you want to add even more vegetables to your chili, green peppers, pumpkin, zucchini, red onions, and jalapeños are great options.
Protein: For an even higher-protein meal, you can add an extra can of beans to the filling. Since we’re already using black beans, try adding kidney or pinto beans! You could also add grated tempeh as we do in this tempeh chili.
Toppings: Toppings are the easiest way to transform chili. I like to load up on sour cream and green onions, but you can also add cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, or even jalapeños!
Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili With Mushrooms
Ingredients
Chili “Meat”
- 1 cup walnuts, 100 g
- 2 heaping cups mushrooms, 8 oz, 226 g
- 1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed, 425 g
Chili Fillings
- 2 Tbsp oil, 30 mL
- 1 cup white onion, about 1 medium onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups diced sweet potato, about 2 to 3 medium sweet potatoes
- 2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes, 425 g
- 1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed, 425 g
- 1 ½ cups vegetable broth, divided
Seasonings
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 30 mL
- 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp chili powder
Instructions
- Chili "Meat": Add walnuts, mushrooms, and drained beans to a food processor. Blitz until mostly broken down into a chunky paste, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Cook Veggies: Heat oil over medium in a large pot. Add onion, garlic, and sweet potato, cooking until onion is translucent and soft, about 10 minutes.
- Cook "Meat": Add chili "meat" then continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Bring It Together: Add diced tomatoes (undrained), black beans (drained), 1 cup of the vegetable broth, and all seasonings. If your chili is thick, add remaining ½ cup of broth.
- Simmer: Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until consistency is thick and chili-like (too watery? let it simmer with the lid off).
- Serve: Ladle into bowls, optionally topping with sour cream/yogurt, cheese, tortilla chips, or green onions.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
I like the look of your chilli with the sweet potatoes but am allergic to mushrooms and have ibs so have to watch what I eat.
Can you make this one with meat and sweet potatoes or some other replacements for a vegetarian chilli
Regards Andrea
Hi Andrea! All of the recipes here are vegetarian 🙂 You make like this chili with all beans and no mushrooms!
No one knows I am not feeding them meat! Heart and delicious!!
So glad it turned out so well Mag!
Recipe says 1 can black beans.
Then, put them in food processor w/ mushrooms.
Further directions say to add black beans to pot w/ sweet potatoes. Does that mean use 2 cans of black beans?
Hi Laura! Black beans are listed twice in the ingredients: first under “chili meat” and then under “chili fillings”. So, yep, you’ll need two cans of black beans!
Thank you. Recipe says only one can. I thought it must be two
Our son and his wife gave my husband a mushroom growing kit for his birthday. Personally, I am no fan of mushrooms. Well, we made this recipe and I cannot believe how good it was. We used Lion Mane mushrooms that were freshly harvested.
The possibilities for using this ‘meat’ is endless. Another recipe to save!
Sarah, would it be horrible to let us know if a featured recipe is in your cookbook already? Also, still waiting for your next cookbook.
Hi Meegan! Those mushroom growing kits look like so much fun and I love that you were able to use the mushrooms in this recipe. So happy to hear it was a hit! This specific recipe IS in my cookbook!
Hello Sarah,
I am just looking through your book and Im loving it!! Regarding this recipe, could I substitute pecans for the walnuts due to an allergy? Have any of your other followers tried this substitute? Thank you for your time!
Barbara
We haven’t tried this but I think it would work! Would love to hear how it goes if you try it out! 😀