Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili
Try this Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 large onion diced
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1 jalapeno pepper sliced
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes peeled and cubed
- 1/2 teaspoon dried chipotle pepper
- 2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon cocoa unsweetened
- 2 15 oz cans black beans
- Carbohydrate 239.440269709694 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 11.5224273751956 g
- Fiber 40.6832422700141 g
- Protein 23.7189629212078 g
- Saturated Fat 1.61883325375684 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (1504g)
- Sodium 1716.78885701086 mg
- Sugar 198.75702743968 g
- Trans Fat 1.5310504062319 g
- Calories 1120 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees, line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Toss sweet potatoes with chipotle pepper, salt and olive oil.
- Roast in a single layer 20-25 mins, cool.
- Cook onion, garlic, peppers and spices in dutch oven 5 mins.
- Pour tomatoes and water in, simmer for 30 mins.
- Add remaining ingredients and roasted sweet potatoes.
Unlike a traditional beef chili built on ground chuck and long-simmered animal fats, this plant-based iteration relies on root vegetables and legumes for its body. Roasting the cubed sweet potatoes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit on parchment paper creates Maillard browning on the exterior starches, which prevents the cubes from dissolving into mush when they hit the simmering tomato liquid. Ground spices like cumin and ancho powder contain fat-soluble compounds, meaning the initial five-minute sauté in olive oil unlocks aromatic volatiles that raw simmering cannot achieve. Unsweetened cocoa powder provides bitter tannins that balance the concentrated natural sugars of the sweet potatoes and canned tomatoes.
Maximizing Second-Day Flavor
Resting the chili for 24 hours allows starches to retrograde and flavors to fully homogenize, yielding a markedly deeper taste profile than freshly cooked bowls. During refrigeration, water molecules re-bind to the matrix of black bean starches and broken-down tomato solids, thickening the overall consistency naturally.- If the chili thickens excessively in the refrigerator, thin it with two tablespoons of water per serving during reheating rather than oil.
- Store the cooled chili in an airtight glass container for up to four days at 38 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Reheat gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to prevent scorching the dense sweet potato starches at the bottom of the pot.
