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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!
Oh well, I just made this dish. But will have to do it again, more like my way. The flavors are just not enough despite of upgrading it with fresh ginger and lemon juice. Next time I’ll also add some green cardamom pods, stout, oregano.
Those all sounds like great additions, Peter! This is a very flexible recipe when it comes to adding things to suit your taste 😀
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. Followed the recipe exactly just mixed some spinach in at the end. Yum! I will make this again.
So happy to hear it, Kristina! 😀 The spinach addition sounds delish!
Sarah, I was really excited to try this recipe. The mushroom/walnut/black bean mixture sounded so unique and tasty. And the ‘chilli meat’ combo delivered—the texture and look of this chilli was very meat-like. It was great to have this chilli meal-prepped in the fridge for quick lunches all week.
So happy to hear it, Liane! Enjoy! 😀
Loved it! I will make it again.
Really enjoyed it! I like my chili thick and chunky and this recipe did not dissapoint. The “chili meat” was especially good.
Sounds interesting- will try although not a big fan of sweet potatoes
My first try using a nut based “meat”, and we forgot while eating that it wasn’t meat. The flavors were delicious and the meal was filling. Another winner!
Oh yay! This makes me so happy to read 🙂 Enjoy!!
Hi Sarah
This recipe looks so good, but just wondering what you would recommend to use instead of walnuts as I’m allergic to nuts? Would chick peas work?
Thanks 🙂
Walnuts are just for texture! You could omit them or use chickpeas 🙂
I don’t like mushrooms, so I skipped the”meat” prep altogether. And I used tomato sauce instead of the diced tomatoes. This has become my favorite version of chili and I look forward to cold weather so I can eat it more often.
Thanks for making it and sharing Beth!
So chili ALWAYS gives me the worst heartburn, but I absolutely love it. I made this recipe and not only was it super delicious, but I had ZERO ISSUES with heartburn after I ate some. This is an absolute keeper of a recipe and I will be making it for a very long time!
Happy you enjoyed it, thanks for cooking with us!