Try this healthy, black bean quinoa chili with chunky sweet potatoes and hearty sweet potatoes. The best part? It's made in a slower cooker, so it's easy and mostly hands-off!
Well, it's time my friends. Time to turn on the slow cooker. Time to pull out those chunky sweaters from the back of the closet. And the time to cozy up to a big bowl of chili.
And my #1 go-to chili recipe is always this. My sweet potato black bean quinoa chili that's made in a slow cooker. It's hearty, it's cozy, it's comforting, it's easy to make and it's INCREDIBLY delicious!!
And it's perfect for this time of year. There's honestly nothing that will warm you up faster than a bowl of this!
Why You'll Love this Quinoa Chili
If you followed SQ last winter, then you might have seen (or better yet, tried) my spicy quinoa chili recipe. It's a good one, but this one's better 😉
Why?
1) LOTS of sweet potato
2) black beans
3) lots of spices
4) vegetarian
5) slow cooker
And the last one might just be my favorite.
What You Need for This Recipe
See all those goodies in there? The spices, baby bits of quinoa, beans, and chunky sweet potatoes will slowly meld together and turn into the most spectacular chili EVER.
One thing to mention is that it might seem a little thin or liquidy at first, but as it cooks the quinoa will also cook, absorbing a lot of that liquid and helping the whole thing get nice and thick.
Here's what you need to make this quinoa chili:
- VEGGIES: for the veggies, we've got sweet potato, onion, bell pepper, and garlic.
- PROTEIN: for the protein, we've got black beans and quinoa.
- TOMATOES: I like to use fire-roasted tomatoes in my chili recipes because they add more flavor! We'll also be stirring in some tomato paste to make it nice and thick.
- SPICES: I've got my classic chili blend of spices in this recipe. We're using chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, coriander, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
And finally, we'll just add in some veggie broth to get everything simmering and soft!
How to Make Black Bean Quinoa Chili
Since we're making this recipe in a slow cooker, it's one of those meals that's just you just dump everything in and turn it on. Just add all the ingredients into your slow cooker, stir it together, then cover it and let it cook. You can cook this chili on high for 4 – 6 hours or on low for 6 – 8 hours. You're looking for it to be thick and for the sweet potatoes to be soft/tender. Taste it before you serve and adjust seasonings as needed!
What to Serve with Chili
Also, while totally optional, topping your chili might just be the best part. Here's what I like to use:
- a big ol' dollop of guac (or cubed avocado)
- sliced hot peppers (I ran out when I made this)
- crumbled tortilla chips
And If I've got it on hand, I'll also add a dollop of coconut yogurt for some creaminess.
This recipe honestly is my favorite chili and has been for years! It's loved by this community as well and I can't wait for you to try it. You can also totally meal prep this recipe, freeze it and enjoy it all week/winter long!
More Slow Cooker Recipes
- Pumpkin Quinoa Chili
- Coconut Quinoa Curry
- White Quinoa Chili
- Moroccan Chickpea Stew
- Lentil Sloppy Joes
Crockpot Sweet Potato & Black Bean Quinoa Chili
Ingredients
- 3 cups diced sweet potato about 1 large
- 1 cup diced red onion about 1 medium
- 1 cup diced bell peppers about 1 large
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 15 oz can organic black beans
- 1 28 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
- 3 – 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne more or less to taste
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add all ingredients into a crock pot (starting with just 3 cups of broth). Turn on high and cook for 4 hours, turn down to low and continue to cook until ready to serve. If too thick, stir in another ½ – 1 cup of water.
- Serve with diced avocado (or guac) and tortilla chips. It’s such a good combo!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
I started the slow cooker this morning before work. I got home and had a bowl, so tasty and delicious! Love the convenience and so easy. Thank you!
How long would you recommend using a slow cooker?
It will be the same cook time
I made this in an instant pot and found I had to double the time to get the sweet potatoes and quinoa to be done. Delicious but just wanted to note this in the event anyone uses the slow cook feature on an IP. I used the “more” setting.
I also have an Instant Pot and was thinking to make this using the slow cooker. So would you recommend using it on high for 8 hours?
HI! I’m going to make this today. I don’t have white quinoa, but do have a multi colored quinoa blend. Will that work ok? Or will it change taste and texture
That should work just fine!
I would like to make this recipe this weekend. Has anyone tried using dried beans instead of canned? I’m thinking it would need a little more liquid?
Is this gluten-free?
yes
Love, love it. I tweak it and use bone broth and make super spicy so I can cool down with sour cream but I freeze and have tons of extra. My fave thing to eat. Hands down. Thank you!!
Can I double this recipe
Absolutely 🙂
This is one of my all time favorite recipes. I make it a few times during the fall and winter and love reheating the leftovers.
Hooray! So glad that it’s time for soups again!
Hi!
I tried this recipe and it is absolutely delicious! Question for you- what item in the recipe is the 1gm of saturated fat from?
We use a nutrition calculator and I think it might have rounded up from the black beans. Definitely low in saturated fats!
This sounds so good. I don’t have a crockpot and am afraid to use that option on my instapot. How can I make this in an instapot? Thank you in advance!
10 minutes on manual setting and let pressure drop naturally! Should turn out perfect 🙂
Great recipe! Made it last night in crockpot 5 hrs low and it came out perfect! So delicious, healthy with lots of flavor.
Woohoo!! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
This was great! Thank you for a healthy, delicious chili!
I’m thrilled you enjoyed it!
This works great in a pressure cooker. I roasted the sweet potatoes in a toaster oven at 400F for 20min, and cooked the rest at high pressure on a stovetop pressure cooker for about 25min. I’ll try cooking the sweet potatoes IN the pressure cooker next time. I just didn’t want to have to worry about exact timing. I would think 25min would be plenty though for a stovetop (maybe 30min for electric since they’re lower pressure?) NOT vegetarians, but this is getting added to our rotation!
So glad to hear that! Thanks for sharing your tips 🙂
So much flavour! Was a hit for our family!
Woohoo! So glad you all liked it!
What size (how many quarts) slow cooker are you using?
This one I think is 6!
This was amazing! Thank you for the recipe. 🙂
So glad you enjoyed it!
THIS. WAS. DELICIOUS. I made it for my small group (8 people) and I was in a time crunch, so I took someone’s advice and stuck it in my instantpot. I set the timer for 10 minutes, and it took awhile to get all heated up, but the meal was ready to eat after about 30-40 minutes in the instant pot. It was SO dang easy to make and absolutely delicious. I received many compliments! Served with Sour cream, cheese, avocados and corn chips. yum!!
YAY! I’m so happy you (and your group) enjoyed it! One of my favorite recipes on the site!
When you cooked it in the instant pot did you do manual for 30 min?
Hi there!Is it 130cals or 182 cals?I saw two different nutrition fact sheets.Also what is the serving size?
Thanks can’t wait to try!
Updated! Not sure why it was showing two…strange!
Are these facts with or without toppings such as avocado ?
The nutrition facts are without the toppings
I really like this dish. I do not follow this recipe exactly. I actually make it in my dutch oven on the stove and it takes about an hour. I put in the onions and sweet potato and let it cook in olive oil w/ s&p for about 15-20 minutes on high heat. I then add the garlic and I add minced jalapeno either in addition to the green bell or in substitute of it (sometimes I even add about 1/2 tsp of fresh minced ginger) with the rest of the spices (sometimes I also add bay leaf) and let it cook for a handful of minutes on medium. I then add the tomato- I usually do 2 fresh diced tomatoes over canned. Then I add the black beans (drained and rinsed), veggie broth and some water and let to come to a boil for a couple of minutes before adding the quinoa, stirring in and covering it to cook on med-low for about 15 min while the quinoa cooks. I then top with limes, avocado, cilantro, and plain greek yogurt. I highly recommend giving the yogurt a try if you are not dairy free. This is a crowd pleaser and I am not sure you can mess it up. THANK YOU!
That all sounds FABULOUS! Thanks so much for sharing – I’m glad you were able to make it your own 🙂
I was wondering what the serving size is? Is it a cup? 1/2 cup? the nutrition information is per serving but it doesn’t say how big a serving is. thank you.
It’s about 2 cups!
Made this for my vegan date last night and we both loved it. Thank you for posting!
Yay I’m so happy you enjoyed it!! xx
This receipe is awesome and super simple.My husban and our son love it.
Woohoo! One of my favorites as well 🙂
Greetings. Your recipe looks like something I can cook for my mom, she had stage 4 lung cancer, and I would like to make this for her as part of her meal prep. However, we don’t own a crock pot… Can this be made on the stove? Thank you.
Definitely! Just cook it for a few hours on low 🙂
I made this last night in an instantpot for lunch for today. It’s actually very good! Next time I make it, I’ll add some finely chopped habanero (I like extra kick), but as is, this recipe is a winner! Thanks for sharing!
So glad to hear it worked in the IP! I don’t own one yet, so I love hearing when people test out the recipes in it!
Sweet potato is very firm still after the 4 hours on high. They’re cut pretty small too :/
Hmmm that’s strange! Was it really cooking high when you looked at it? Like bubbling and boiling? I’m wondering if maybe your crockpot wasn’t super hot? It should definitely cook in that amount of time!
I have the same issue. Cooked on High for 4 hours, set to low for an hour and the sweet potatoes are still kind of crunchy. Also I only used 3 cups of broth but I feel like its very soupy. Is that normal? This is my first time making a vegetarian chili so I’m not super sure what to expect. It’s very flavourful though!
Hmm maybe your crockpot doesn’t actually get that hot. When mine is on high, it’s on a low boil which will definitely cook the potatoes. Maybe transfer it to a pot and just boil it for another 60 minutes or so?
This recipe made regular rotation in my house!
I did not cook it in the slow cooker.
I sauteed all the veggies (I added about 1/4 minced jalapeno) with the spices on my stove on medium in the dutch oven for about 10 minutes.
I then added the rest of the ingredients, covered and let it slightly simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour and I would open it occasionally to check consistency and stir.
I topped with avocado, cilantro, fresh lime juice and a small scoop of plain greek yogurt, served with a side of basic salad. Did not miss the meat! Was even better as leftovers for lunch. Thank you!
Thanks so much for sharing!! A lot of people ask about making it on the stove top, so I’m glad we have directions now 🙂 XO
This look so good! I need to make a big batch to have some in the freezer for busy night.
You’re going to LOVE it!
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Can quick cook quinoa be used?
I’m not sure! I haven’t done much testing with that, but you probably wouldn’t want to add it until the very end of the recipe 🙂
I just made a batch today and it was DELICIOUS!!!! I would not change a thing .. it was perfect! I will be making this often for sure!! Thanks for sharing!!
Hooray! This is probably the recipe I make most from the blog!
Will this work if you cook on low for 8 hours instead of high for 4?
It should, yes! You might just need to add a tiny bit more broth before serving 🙂
Have you tried this in the instant pot?!
Anyone done this in the instant pot? How long would you cook it?
Yes! I just did and it turned out amazing! 10 minutes on manual setting and let pressure drop naturally
Thank you for sharing!!
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Making this tomorrow but won’t be home after 4 hours to turn it on low. Suggestions on timing? I can set my slow cooker to high or low. Then it automatically goes to warm when the time is up. Thanks!
You can just cook it on low for 6ish hours 🙂
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Can i use this cold at a party as a dip for tortilla chips?
Definitely! I might just chop the sweet potatoes up a little be smaller so they’re easy to have with chips!
Is the sodium accurate on the nutrition panel? Over 1000 mg?
Based on the nutrition plugin, yes, but if you drain and rinse your black beans, I think it will dramatically decrease!
I’m wondering if anyone’s tried making this recipe with dry black beans? I’ve read you can do this in chili recipes with no pre-soaking, but haven’t tried it myself. Maybe it would require adjusting cooking times?
Haven’t tested it personally, but I imagine it will take quite a bit longer to cook!
Do you have the nutritional facts per serving. I found this in Whole Foods and I’m going to try and make it. Delicious…thank you for the recipe.
I don’t have that info calculated at the moment, but you can use this tool to find it! https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
Just recently made this! I added an entire bag of frozen corn and also (this may sound odd), but some cinnamon! The cinnamon added a subtle sweetness that helped to bring out the flavor of the sweet potato! Thanks so much for this! 🙂
LOVE!!!! Definitely going to try adding corn and the cinnamon next time 🙂 xo
Do you rinse the black beans?
Yep! I always rinse my canned beans before using them 🙂
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Just finished making this and currently enjoying a bowl on this chilly day in Toronto! I love how easy this recipe is, and for someone who makes large batches and freezes portions for lunches this is perfect! I didn’t have any sweet potato on hand so I used acorn squash and it was still great. Thank you for the recipe!
Acorn squash sounds amazing!! I’m definitely going to try that next time. Thanks so much for sharing, Jenna and hope you stay warm! xo
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I made this tonight on the stovetop and used spiral cut sweet potato instead of chunks, added several handfuls of kale, and some garlic. Absolutely delicious!
That is SUCH a good idea! So glad you enjoyed it, April. Thank you for sharing! xo
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Made this today for Meatless Monday! Really tasty and would definitely make it again!
So glad you enjoyed it! xo
I made it this recipe over the weekend and it turned out absolutely perfect!
So glad you enjoyed!! One of my FAVES!
Got any ideas on cooking time and temp for on the stove top? Thanks
I would say at least an hour 🙂
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This was the first time I have made a vegetarian chili and it was outstanding. It was especially tasty with the avocado and tortilla chips. A family favourite!!
So glad you enjoyed it! We’re experiencing -10ºF weather right now and I’m thinking a big pot of this is perfect!
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I keep hoping to find a crock pot at a garage sale or on eBay, my Mom used one often but I don’t think I have one. It seems very worth getting, I love the idea of starting a meal in the morning and it being ready later – I tire too easily & really miss cooking so much. This looks flavorful and filled with good nutrients! Thank you for a great looking recipe! Now I need to find some vegan cornbread. (So sad that the old Jiffy 79 cent stuff has animal fat!) Surely someone has something.
Seraphina I am also vegan and this is one of the best I have found… it’s also super healthy! I only eat 1200 calories a day so I always find the best skinny recipes…. http://www.vegannie.com/recipes/skinny-cornbread-gluten-free-low-fat …. just copy and paste ????
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If I don’t have a crock pot, can I use a regular pot?
I don’t see why not, especially if you can adjust the cooking time? I like the idea of the slow cooker though, since this is one of those meals that is often better the second day – so I imagine cooking it for 6 hours would let all the flavors really mingle and get yummy.
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Making this right now – so excited to give it a taste 🙂
We’re trying this for dinner tomorrow. Can’t wait!
Can’t wait to hear what you think!
It’s fabulous! It’s safe to say I’m addicted. 🙂
This looks good! I must try it. And yes, I must also find my sweaters that are packed far away. It’s cold out there!
Hope you give it a try 🙂 Let me know how it turns out!
Made this today and SOO good! Slight mods: I don’t have a high tolerance for spice so I lessened the “heat”. I added 1/2 can of sweet corn. And served it topped with grated sharp cheddar (which promptly melted- delicious) and toasted rye. Took a mouth watering pic but can’t figure out how to attach 🙂 Thank you!!
Holy yum that sounds good! Love the edition of sweet corn!! So glad you enjoyed it, Amy! xo
Is this recipe freezer friendly?
Definitely! I have some in my freezer right now actually 😉