Crock Pot Paleo Sweet Potato Chipotle Chili! This chipotle chili recipe is healthy but hearty, and has a kick of spice! Made with simple ingredients you probably already have in your fridge! A gluten-free and paleo friendly chili made easy in the crock pot so you can be ready to serve with little effort.
Hey friends. I’m sure most of you are running around like crazy getting your Thanksgiving to do list done. Am I right? Or are Type A and have it planned and prepped? Haha, you know who you are your overachievers.
But either way, one thing is for sure, we all pretty much have planned to SAVOR the leftovers. Let’s face it, that is secretly your favorite part about this holiday anyways. Utilizing and enjoying every last piece of turkey, sweet potatoes, dessert, stuffing, etc.
And if you’re like me, throwing leftovers in into a pot or crock pot to make chili, sweet potato chipotle chili to be exact, is definitely going to happen.
I know I know, I’m still talking thanksgiving food. And I hate mention it yet again, but we don’t like plain turkey (much), which is why I made this chicken. However, I’m pretty sure you could add any meat to chili it taste DIVINE. Hence this recipe, which you can make with poultry, pork, or beef. I’ve made it twice once with turkey and the other with 5280 meats organic pork.
Yep —> Crock pot Paleo sweet potato chipotle chili.
The true smokey flavor from this chipotle chili definitely comes from slow cooking the chipotle peppers.
We don’t mess around with spice here in Texas ya’ll. And when you add in the sweetness of well… sweet potatoes, you got one KILLER combo. I mean, one SMOKEY SPICY SWEET combo. You have been warned, the spicy part is not an understatement. Haha!
But can I tell you another secret? I really made this chipotle chili to try to branch out a bit when making this for family. They are so used to traditional Texas chili or White bean Chili, which consists of corn and bean as the main starches. Sure, that’s all good from time to time, but dang, we needed change. We needed a SUPERFOOD veggie (sweet potatoes for the win!).
Crock Pot Sweet Potato Chipotle Chili {Paleo}
Ingredients
- 2 -3 sweet potatoes (peeled and chopped). Turns out to be around 3 1/2 - 4 cups
- 2- 3 cups broth (use 2 cups for more Chili texture) see notes for more tomato base alternative
- 1 lb ground lean pork, beef, chicken, or turkey (see notes for using precooked meat)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 14 oz diced canned tomatoes (drained) - you can use garlic or onion flavor canned if you like
- 1 cup chopped white onion
- 2 -3 cup finely chopped or riced cauliflower (add as much or little as you'd like)
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 chipotles in adobo, chopped, found on Spanish/Mexican foods aisle or, 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup hot chipotle salsa may be substituted
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- sea salt to taste
- 1/2 shallot (diced) or 1/4 cup red onion - optional
- herbs to garnish
- optional cheese topping (omit if paleo or Whole30)
Instructions
- First chop and peel your potatoes. Place in a microwave safe bowl and steam with 1 tbsp water in them for 90 seconds.
- Next add your ground meat to the crock pot with broth and oil. (*updated* other option is to slightly brown meat beforehand so you do get as much grease in crock pot).
- Add your tomatoes, sweet potato, onion, cauliflower and mix all together.
- Finally, add your seasonings and chipotle peppers with sauce.
- Stir and cook on high for 3-4 hrs. If you browned your meat prior then cooking time will be less. Around 1-2 hrs high, checking at 1 hour or so.
- Add your shallots the last hour of cooking if you adding them.
- Add more paprika and or black pepper/sea salt when finished cooking if desired.
- Garnish with fresh herbs such as cilantro or basil works well too.
Recipe Notes
if you are using cooked meat, adjust time to one hour or until veggies are cooked. Add your meat in the last 20 minutes to just reheat.
The canned chipotles in adobo, chopped, are found on Spanish/Mexican foods aisle or you can use 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup hot chipotle salsa
If you use the canned, you can include some of the sauce with it to make it more spicy! And more colorful. But be careful, it will be VERY SPICY with the sauce.
Updated for a richer flavor, substitute the broth with tomato juice or tomato puree.
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Nutrition estimate based on using a lean pork, turkey, or chicken.
That is totally is justifiable, right?
Plus it was just another way to bust out my crock pot again. Which we all know I’m kinda obsessed with these days.
Okay, I won’t keep you. I know you’re busy. So remember this dish next week. You know, when you are sick of plain turkey and eat more turkey sandwich. Or if you’re entertaining a hungry crew and you just need a big pot of healthy but hearty substance to feed people. DO IT!
CHIPOTLE CHILI TO THE RESCUE!
Everyone will certainly “gobble this chipotle chili up!” Okay, I’ll stop with the turkey jokes now. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
What’s the first thing you will make with leftovers?
Favorite type of Chili?
Happy Almost Turkey Day!
Cheers,
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We’re really in the same page with recipes lately between molasses and chili! I’ll definitely have to try this since I’ve been looking for new slow cook ideas 🙂
which means we need to live closer… sigh
I’m liking the no bean aspect here although I have nothing against beans! Happy Thanksgiving friend!
i know you’d love this! <3 happy thanksgiving freind
The perfect slow cooker recipe! I love the sweet-and-savory combo of adding sweet potatoes to dinner. So, so good! I need to make this ASAP. 🙂
Want this and need this! It looks amazing. Reminds me that I need to use my crockpot more!
Sweet goodness. I had chili yesterday, and now I want it again. I would make this with chicken, and have my turkey on the side (because you know I loooove it!)
thought of you! yes, turkey chili!!!
I need a bowl of that asap! This chili sounds amazing! I’m such a fan of sweet potato (or even butternut squash) in chili. Gives it just enough sweetness!
It’s totally man friendly! LOL!
Cauliflower in chili – I didn’t think I could love chili more but that’s a great addition!! I’m all about sweet potatoes in my chili – we rotate between sweet potatoes and butternut squash.The sweet and heat is the perfect combo!
YES – a change – especially when it comes in a KILLER SMOKEY SPICY SWEET combo that looks as mouthwatering as this is needed and justified! I love a good spicy kick and this is a wonderful use of leftovers! I got me some purple sweet potatoes – I wonder if they’d work as well as sweet potatoes? Hmmm…something to ruminate on…
Hope you and your family have a happy happy happy Thanksgiving sweet friend!
oh purple sweet potatoes would make it even prettier!!! I say yes! go for it
I am SO making this when I get back to Nantucket…PERFECT for a cold night! I’ll let you know how it goes…XOXO
This looks incredible! I might need to consider putting Thanksgiving on hold for this one lol!
I say go for it! haha
I haven’t had chili yet this season and I see so many amazing recipes like this one surfacing- time to bust out the crock pot after this weekend! Happy Thanksgiving friend 🙂
I love me some spice. Will have to make this when those temperatures drop down again which is always too soon for me 🙁
it’s like 75F here. haha I am sweating eating this
I just showed this to Vegas. We’re making it when we get home. 😉 Happy Turkey Day!!!
wait? where are you now? LOL! ATL?
LOL! I’m not sure where I am anymore. Greenville, SC for the moment. 🙂
WOW ! this is soooo gorgeous. I love this kind of a meal. Gorgeous.
thanks simi!
Ooooh it is perfect chilli weather!! This sounds heavenly!
totally! stay warm up there! <3 Love you!!! xxoo
It’ll be another month till we get the turkey out here, but in advance of that, I’m pinning this recipe now. This would be a fab recipe to use that leftover turkey with! Thanks Lindsay. Happy Thanksgiving, hope you guys are having fun!
wonderful! or you can just come visit and we can make it next week! haha
I am definitely going to have to try making this. I need a new chili recipe and would love making one with sweet potatoes!
Yay! Let me know if you do Sandra
I just made something super similar to this last week. It was sooooo delicious and flavorful. I love anything with chipotles. So good!
wonderful! YAY! chili lovers unite
This chili looks amazing! I love the sweet potatoes in here and also the cauliflower! Sound delicious! Will have to give it a try! 🙂
This looks incredible!!! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving friend!
thank you friend. MIss you! Hope yours was great!
This looks perfect for a day after Black Friday shopping!
Oh I’m lovin’ this sweet potato chili, Lindsay! Nice changeup from the regular. No overachiever here. Ha, in my dreams. Hope you had an awesome Thankgiving with your family.
The photos of this recipe are gorgeous!
Plan on making this Friday! How long would I need to cook this if I set my crock pot to low instead of high?
are you going to add meat or keep it vegetarian? I would say try low for at least 5 hours. Check meat then if you are using it. And keep on low for a few more hours until meat is cooked. If you are not using meat, then it might just take 5 hours. Does that make sense?
Yes thank you! Can’t wait to make it.
Hi, I’m planning on making this in the morning, it looks delicious, but I’m curious what needs to be added to the sweet potatoes in the 1st step. It states 1tbsp of .., but that is what I’m not sure on. Thanks
Good catch! I steam them in the microwave with 1 tablespoon of water in the bowl. Does that make sense?
Can you tell me what kind of broth is used in this recipe?
I used organic chicken broth but beef or veggie works too!
You say to put the shallots in during step 3, but then in step 6 say that they must be added 1 hour before the chili is done. Just wanted to let you and any other readers know. I’m hoping this will not ruin the chili as I can’t take them back out. Smells good though! Thanks!
Oh thanks for the heads up! I will fix that. It should be okay though. Keep me posted!
Didn’t turn out to be a problem. So. Dang. Delicious. A new cold-weather staple!
So glad!!!
I just made this and it was delicious! I made it in the pressure cooker- only took 3 minutes on high pressure. Reduced the broth to 2 cups and only used 1 seeded chipotle (I’m a wimp!) Thanks for a great recipe!
oh yay! Now i need to get a pressure cooker. LOL! genius!
Did you cook the meat before putting it in the pressure cooker? I’m thinking about trying this in my Instant Pot and would love to know if you made any other modifications! Thanks!
I did not. It was uncooked. But you could totally brown it a bit before and then place in instant pot. Let me know if you try it Erin!
Also, are you wanting it spicy or not spicy?
I just got an Instant Pot and was going to ask about this being made in pressure cooker. You followed the recipe the same, but cooked on High Pressure for 3 minutes? Was that a mistake, 30 minutes? Thank you!
You cooked all in pressure cooker vs crock pot. Is that correct?
No sorry, that was a question to a comment above where someone wrote that they made this in a pressure cooker for 3 minutes. I was wondering if that was the correct time. Just received my Instant Pot yesterday and was pinning recipes to try! This is on my list but want to get the correct timing. thank you!
I cooked this in an old school stove top pressure cooker. There aren’t pressure variations. I browned and drained the meat in the cooker. I wilted the onions the cooker, then added everything else. I didn’t use cauliflower. I sealed the lid, brought it up to pressure, then cooked for 3 minutes. Then I did a quick release ( removing from heat and running under cold water at the sink). It was fine and tasted great. I left the peels on my sweet potatoes (scrubbed) I like the texture and the added nutrition.
I made this last night. It was delicious. Perfect amount of spice. I did brown the meat before adding it in at the end. Overall awesome. Thank you so much.
Ugh good call… I didn’t cook the meat first and it looks soooo greasy!! I hope I can redeem it by scooping it out of the juices 🙁
Yes totally save-able! Scoop out juice or strain a bit. Keep me posted
Also, if you use lean meat or cooked sausage, it doesn’t have grease on top .i should have mentioned that sorry
It said it was lean pork… but who knows! Its a lot better now that I took out the juices! Definitely needed to add more Adobo and some more seasoning… almost there! (Yours still looks prettier though ?)
This looks amazing. I was really looking forward to it. I made it tonight and made the mistake of adding two cans of the chipotle chillis instead of two chillis. It is soooo spicy. What can I add to tame this down? I hate to waste the whole batch 🙁
Just sent you an email! Poor you. Sorry it’s so spicy
I made this last night. While it is summer, I have been craving a good soup or chili. This is perfect with the sweet potato. I subbed zucchini for cauliflower because we have about 20 of them on hand at all times from the garden. I definitely recommend using the shallot too. Added chunks of avocado to my 2nd bowl…amazing! Thank you for sharing this.
ohhh good call on the zucchini! will have to try that next. Thanks Andrea!
I am not at all a cauliflower fan – can’t get past
the smell of it when cooking – so can you just
omit it? It seems like it would still be very good
just not as chunky.
Thanks!
for sure! are you paleo? If not you could use corn. Or just use another veggie if you want it thicker. Keep me posted
So pumped to make this recipe tonight – but mine came out very pale and not at all “chili”-like or red like yours! It’s more like a beef and potato soup with so much broth. I only found pre-chopped chipotles so I used several spoonfuls, but everything else was exactly the same as the recipe. Not sure what happened!
Hmmm i wonder if it was the peppers? My are super red and the oil from them made the chili red. I’m so sorry! I’ll adjust the notes. I’d say less broth and just pack in more vegetables. You can also drain the tomatoes so it’s less liquid. How was the flavor?
I’m going to make this today! I’m using ground turkey, which I will cook before adding to the crock pot. I am also leaving out the cauliflower. And I’m going to cook it on low for 5 hours or so. I hope the hubby likes it. He doesn’t really like new things. But he hates beans and loves sweet potatoes, so I’m hoping this chili will be a hit with him!
Keep me posted. It wont’ be as thick without the cauliflower but you can totally add in more veggies!
Delicious! What are the nutritional values per serving?
I don;t know but happy to calculate that. Will do it soon and add it, for sure!
On the video Cooke meat is used and then still cooked for 3 hours. I am following the video because I was kind of confused by the end note that said adjust to an hour and add meat last, hopefully it’ll turn out but if you could please clarify for next time.
Oh thanks for reminding me to update that. I will do so! sorry, ive been moving and forgot i needed to fix that. browning meat is optional for shorter cook time. Keep me posted.
Hi there! I’m currently on hour 3 of the slow cooker on high and the potatoes are still rock hard. I definitely did the steaming step in the beginning. Adding on another hour in hopes they will soften up! I browned the meat (turkey) before adding it so now I’m afraid it will get dry, but hopefully the broth and liquids will keep it moist.
One thing to note is that the recipe says the cauliflower should be chopped, but the video shows you ricing it (and now I’m realizing the pictures reflect riced cauliflower as well). I didn’t realize this until a few hours into the slow cooker starting and I just chopped my cauliflower into little bit-sized florets, so maybe you could add the word “riced” to the cauliflower in the ingredients list? Maybe I’m the only one who got tripped up on this 🙂
thank you! Just updated it to say finely chopped or riced. Both work though. How did it turn out? Were your potatoes large? Maybe that’s what happened. Hmmm, sorry! The meat should be okay as long as it’s in the broth. If the potatoes are still hard, just turn to low until they are cooked. DOes that make sense?
Yep that makes perfect sense, thanks for your quick response! The potatoes were definitely soft enough by 4 hours in. I’m currently waiting for it to cool a bit before I have a big bowl of it but I had a small taste of a potato and it was good! The cauliflower seems plenty soft. In the future I think I will try ricing the cauliflower and cutting the potatoes slightly smaller. Thanks again for this recipe and your quick response! Perfect for cold weather.
Final verdict is that it was DELICIOUS and I just needed to be patient with the slow cooker 🙂 I’m looking forward to eating this for my lunches this week. Thanks!
Wonderful!!
Hi Lindsay,
Honestly, you’ve shared so many amazing recipes here and oh my gosh, I just want ALL of them. I’m totally drooling over here!
This was excellent! I did sneak in a tablespoon of brown sugar to cut the acidity. I used half ground beef, half ground pork. Just delicious and bet it’s going to be even better today!
oh that’s a great idea! I will have to add that next time! Thanks Michelle!
This was DISGUSTING. Tasted like meat and vegetable water with some adobo mixed in. I suggest adding more tomato purée an tomato paste no beef broth. It was so watery and not at all chili like.
Oh no! so sorry to hear that. I’ve made this so many times and always get great feedback from others. I truly am sorry you didn’t like it. I wonder if it was the adobo sauce you used? I’ll definitely add in the tomato sauce suggestion vs broth. Thank you!
Loved it!! A keeper
I so agree!!
I’ve been using my crock pot a lot lately and this looks like one my while family will love!
Definitely not type A personality so I’m sure I’ll be running around like a headless chicken when the holidays kick in. Only hope, I have a bowl of this chilli waiting for me!
How much is in the serving size?
About 1 1/2 to 2 cups. Hope that helps!