Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili with Hatch Chiles, Corn, and Beef

Sweet and spicy chili that simmers in the slow cooker for an easy supper. This chili has beef, sweet potatoes, 3 kinds of beans, corn, peppers and Hatch chiles for amazing flavor

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When my friend Mary brought her Sweet Potato and Black Bean chili to the thrift shop for lunch, I spooned up that bowl of spicy comfort and was smitten.  Mary's chili, adapted from The Clueless Vegetarian (Amazon affiliate link) was spicy yet went down smoothly, and like all great chilies each person can customize their bowl with a variety of toppings.

I don't know about you, but I tend to become smitten with foods and cook them over and over.  Being a seasonal eater works well with this tendency, because I'm always moving onto what's up next, seasonally, and don't really have time to get into food ruts. At least it works well when fresh vegetables are appearing each week in our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share box!  During the winter months I tend to rely on the produce that can store longer, like the sweet potatoes and butternut squash in the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve, as well as vegetables I've canned or frozen.

I was so smitten with this chili that I made it several times. Each time I loved it even more.  My kids gobbled it up.  Shoot, it was even the first leftover my spouse scrounged out of the fridge when he returned from his most recent deployment.  The combination of colorful beans and sweet potatoes from this chili inspired my Harvest Sweet Potato Salsa.

Serving chili is a great meal for a variety of eaters--you can top it with a whole host of extras if you like.  Some of our favorite toppings:

• red and green salsas
• pickled peppers
• black olives
• shredded cheese
• sour cream
• tortilla chips

My friend Rebbie hosted a chili party which included an oven full of baked potatoes.  My kids created their own loaded baked potatoes from Rebbie's topping selections and missed out on her award-winning chili, but we all went home full and happy.

Mary's Sweet Potato and Black Bean chili, that inspired this chili, is vegetarian.  Since my family is an omnivorous one, and we've got a freezer full of ground beef, I chose to make a meaty chili. You could easily leave the meat out, and add a second can of beans and a cup of vegetable stock if it's too dry.

For more recipes using beans, please see my Beans (Legumes) Recipe Collection. For more recipes using corn, please see my Recipes Using Corn Collection. For more recipes using Hatch chiles, please see my Hatch Chile Recipes Collection. For more recipes using sweet potatoes, please see my Sweet Potato Recipes Collection. These collections are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating seasonally from the farm share, the farmer's market, garden and crazy amazing scores on produce at the grocery store.

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First version, with baked sweet potato

Final version, with bell peppers and Hatch chiles

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili with Hatch Chiles, Corn, and Beef

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped (or smashed roasted garlic, here's how I put up mine)
• 4 teaspoons Arizona dreaming (or 3 teaspoons chili powder + a teaspoon of ground cumin)
• ¾ teaspoon salt (I use kosher)
• 1 can (15 ounces) beans, rinsed and drained (I use a tri-bean blend of black, kidney, and pinto)
• 2 cups cubed peeled sweet potato (or leftover roasted sweet potato cubes, or scooped out flesh of baked sweet potatoes, this one is really flexible)
• 1 cup corn kernels (mine were partially thawed, but fresh or frozen is fine)
• ½ cup chopped roasted bell peppers
• ½ cup chopped roasted Hatch chiles (you can substitute a 4.5 ounce can of roasted green chiles)
• 1 quart crushed tomatoes (Mary recommends Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Tomatoes if you're buying 'em)

Instructions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef and drain. 
2. Transfer to a 3-4 quart slow cooker. 
3. Sauté the onions in the mildly greased skillet until softened, about 5-8 minutes.  If you're using raw garlic, add it for the last few minutes. If you're using roasted garlic, just add it to the slow cooker. 
4. Transfer the onions to the slow cooker as well. 
5. Top with spices, beans, sweet potato, corn, bell peppers and Hatch chile peppers.  
6. Pour tomatoes over top.  
7. Cover, PLUG IN AND TURN ON THE SLOW COOKER.  (I always forget this part.)
8. Cook on Low 8 hours or High 4 hours until sweet potatoes are softened (if they were raw to begin with).  
9. Serve with the toppings that you and yours love.

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This post is shared with Tasty Tuesdays, What's Cookin' Wednesday, Fresh Foods Wednesday, Simple Supper Sunday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop