This Sweet Potato Chicken Chili can be made in the Instant Pot or slow cooker for an easy, healthy dinner. And the leftovers make the perfect packable lunch.
Originally published Jan 2018. Updated Oct 2021.
Hi friends!
Soup season is here! As the weather starts to get colder, I always crave soup and this Sweet Potato Chicken Chili is a forever favorite. I’m not a huge ground beef fan so traditional chili isn’t my favorite but I love this twist because it incorporates some of my favorites. I also love it because like a lot of soups, it gets better as it sits, so making a huge batch on Sunday and eating it for lunch or dinner all week long works out well. If you’re not a fan of red chili, try my White Chicken Chili!
Chicken Chili with Sweet Potato
Here are the ingredients:
- Onion – White or yellow work best
- Black beans – Look for a low-sodium can or give them a good rinse after draining
- Sweet Potato – Leave the peels on! You won’t even notice them. And make sure to dice into evenly-sized chunks.
- Corn – I usually use frozen corn but fresh or canned would also work
- Diced canned tomatoes – I prefer the no-salt-added variety so I can salt the whole soup to taste
- Spice – paprika, chili powder and cayenne can all be adjusted to your taste preferences
- Chicken – chicken breasts or thighs work for this recipe
- Broth – Use chicken or vegetable broth
- Toppings – I top mine with avocado, cheese and tortilla chips
Chicken Sweet Potato Chili Slow Cooker
This is a great soup for pulling out your slow cooker. Just throw everything but the toppings in and give it a good stir. Then cook on low for about 6 hours, shred the chicken and serve with toppings
Chicken Sweet Potato Chili Instant Pot
If you’d prefer to make it in the Instant pot, cook time will depend on the thickness of your chicken. Start with 15 minutes and then check to see if the chicken shreds easily. If not, restart for a few more minutes.
Sweet Potato Chicken Chili
I actually made this soup on a whim. Turns out it was so good that I immediately made a second batch to photograph and share with you guys. I’ve made it both in the Instant Pot and the slow cooker and it turns out great either way. The great thing about chili is that it’s pretty hard to screw up. Like most soups, you basically just throw what you have on hand in a pot, add some seasonings and serve. Plus you can easily adjust this recipe to make it fit your dietary preferences.
Turkey Sweet Potato Chili
In this sweet potato chili turkey or beef (ground) can be substituted for the chicken, however, I would cook the ground meat first before adding to the slow cooker or instant pot and reduce the cooking time in the Instant Pot to about 10 minutes.
No Bean Sweet Potato Chili (Quinoa and Sweet Potato Chili)
Not a fan of beans, no problem! You can still enjoy this chili. Just swap the black beans for cooked quinoa or farro! They’re both a great source of nutrients that will add protein and fiber just like beans do but may reduce the intestinal discomfort beans can cause some people.
Sweet Potato Chili Recipe Vegetarian
Another option would be to leave the beans and swap chicken for cooked quinoa or tempeh for an easy sweet potato chili recipe vegetarians will love.
Chicken Sweet Potato Chili
Recipe for Sweet Potato Chili with Chicken
PrintSweet Potato Chicken Chili
This Sweet Potato Chicken Chili can be made in the Instant Pot or slow cooker for an easy, healthy dinner. And the leftovers make the perfect packable lunch.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 12 min
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: serves 4
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1.5 cups black beans (or one can drained)
- 2 cups diced sweet potato
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 (14.5 oz) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper, optional
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- 1 cup chicken broth
- optional toppings: chips, cheese, avocado
Instructions
Combine all ingredients (except optional toppings) in the instant pot or slow cooker.
Option 1: Use the manual button on the instant pot to cook for 12-15 minutes depending on how thick your chicken breasts are. I usually let the pressure release naturally but if you’re in a hurry you can do manual release. If the chicken doesn’t shred easily, cook a few minutes more.
Option 2: Cook in the slow cooker for about 6 hours on low or until the chicken shreds easily.
Add toppings and serve!
Pretty easy right? Want more soup? Try:
- Leftover Turkey and White Bean Soup
- Sausage Lentil & Kale Soup
- Instant Pot Sweet Potato Chicken Soup
- Curried Sweet Potato Soup
- Instant Pot Vegetarian Lasagna Soup
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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Happy New Year Lindsay! Wish you and your family the best in 2018!
This recipe looks delicious! Would it work on stove top? I don’t have either instant pot or slow cooker.
yep! you’d just need to cook it until the chicken is cooked and the sweet potatoes are soft!
This is one of my all time favorite Instant Pot recipes! One of the first I tried and keep coming back to. All the ingredients I love and turns out perfect every time. Thank you!
I just tried this tonight and I was unsure about the sweet potato because I have never tried it in chili before, but it came out delicious. I used the slow cooker method and it took about 5 hours on low until my chicken breasts reached 165 and the potatoes were soft. I liked how the chicken breasts are put in whole so you can check to see if they are done with a meat thermometer. Thanks for the recipe.
so glad you liked it!!
Can’t wait to make this!! How would you adjust the cooking time if one were to double this recipe? Thank you!
in the crockpot it should be the same amount of time and i also think it’d be pretty close in the instant pot. You’d have to try it out, but i’d definitely check it at the original time and see if the chicken is cooked, if not you can always turn it back on!
This recipe sounds AMAZING! And a HUGE thanks for reminding us that we are worth more than the size of our pants, the number on the scale, or the number of squat jumps we did 7 days this week! I got an Instant Pot for Christmas and LOVE to try new recipes. Thanks for also including slow cooker options.
Happy New Year!
Sheri
I made this for dinner tonight and it is delicious! I added a chopped yellow pepper and a half tablespoon of cumin to mine!
so glad you liked it!
I added cumin too! I’m a flavor nut so I chopped a whole onion and used 4 cloves of garlic. I also used a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes instead of the regular canned tomatoes. Omitted the cayenne but added a tablespoon of salt, teaspoon of pepper too.
How large a can of diced tomatoes? Thanks!
14.5 oz can
This recipe was so good and easy in the crockpot!
so gad you liked it!!
I want to try this tonight!! Just curious did you peel your potatoes?
Nope! i rarely peel my sweet potatoes!
I am making this tomorrow! Out of Curiosity how many calories in a serving ?
Hope to hear from you soon
I don’t know, sorry!
Can the chicken breasts be frozen?
it could but you’d probably need to cook it longer in the instant pot. i would add 5 extra minutes or so and see how that works.
Hey LindsAy!
How much is one serving? I ended up getting 5 – 1 cup servings out of mine. So 1 1/4 cups per serving? Just trying to plug it all into My Fitness Pal and wanted to see if we were on the same page. Thanks!!
that sounds about right to me
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I used a slow cooker on low for 4 hours and everything turned out perfectly. We will definitely make it again!
awesome! so glad to hear it was a hit!
Can I use canned sweet corn, or does it need to be frozen?
canned would be fine!
Hey there, just wondering if you could provide the nutritional information for this recipe? The flavor is so good and I love it but I’m trying to really track my nutrition this year and I hope I can make this in the future! Thanks!
Sorry! I don’t have it! you could try putting it into my fitness pal!
Finally made this a few weeks ago and the whole family loved it, which means something as my son is a really picky eater. Super easy and delicious.
I followed this recipe loosely and loved it! Delicious combination of healthy foods!
Just made this tonight. Super easy and delicious! I used smoked paprika and added 1/2 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp of Mexican oregano and salt. Garnished with lime juice cilantro and cheese. Definitely a keeper. Thanks Lindsay!
yay! so glad to hear it 🙂
Absolutely wonderful recipe that’s ridiculously easy to make! Being Type II diabetic, I’m always looking for simple healthy crockpot recipes to try.
I’m serious about my cooking and especially my chili. Being not only one of the youngest members of my hunting camp, but also one of the 3 or 4 real cooks(I’m mean those guys are flat out serious southern COOKS), I always got criticisms waiting to be unleashed. This will definitely be a staple meal at the hunting camp. Made it a couple days ago and already working on another batch to vacuum seal for Whitetail season.
Silly question maybe… do you drain the beans? Thanks!
yep! drain first!
I’ll definitely make this. Do the black beans need to be soaked, or can they go in the pot dry? Thanks!
haven’t tried with uncooked ones, only ones that have already been cooked.
Can’t believe I haven’t commented on this recipe before! We make this Chili so often in the IP and comes out perfect everytime. It’s a family favourite. Thank you!
So you drain all the canned ingredients? The corn , beans , tomatoes?
yep!