Veggie chilli has to be one of my all time favourite camping meals and I’m constantly inventing new variations. This sweet potato and black bean chilli is the one I come back to over and over again. It’s inspired by my friend Abby who cooked this up after a very cold day spent cross country skiing in Wisconsin – ultimate comfort food after an energetic day out in the cold. It’s a bit different from your usual kidney bean and tomato affair – this chilli includes cinnamon and cocoa alongside lime juice and zest to create some really great complex flavours that are superb with sweet potato.
Abby cooked this up on a stovetop, but you could also make it over a campfire in a dutch oven. It turns out it also dehydrates really well, hence I bring to you here as a dehydrated chilli recipe. But you can always skip the dehydrating part and just enjoy it straight out of the pot (it keeps well in the freezer, too).
This sweet potato and black bean chilli is vegan and gluten-free, so it ticks a lot of boxes if you’re catering for different dietary preferences. I like to garnish with a bit of cheese or sour cream and fresh or pickled chillies (yes I have been known to haul these items in to a wild camp, along with avocado and lime).
Looking for more protein? If you’re the kind of person who needs meat at the end of a big day out, you’re welcome to add some sautéed beef mince (go for high quality beef, as lean as you can get it – homemade dehydrated meals work best when low in fat… that’s why you add the cheese and sour cream at base camp!). You could also toss in some chorizo which travels really well.
For more guidance, check out my no nonsense guide to making your own homemade dehydrated backpacking meals.
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chilli
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil
- 1 medium red onion chopped
- 1 red pepper chopped
- 1 green pepper chopped
- 1 carrot chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 to 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cut into cubes
- Zest and juice of 1 lime
- 2 400 g tins diced tomatoes
- 500 g cooked black beans from a tin or homemade
- 1 jalapeno chili pepper seeded and chopped – or more if you like heat!
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1 tsp brown sugar or more to taste
Garnishes (These are optional but do make things nicer…)
- Cheese
- Sour cream
- Avocado
- Raw diced onion
- Pickled jalapeno
- Fresh cilantro / coriander
Instructions
At home:
- Warm the oil in a large pan over medium heat (this can be done on a stovetop or in a dutch oven set over your hot embers of a campfire) and add the onion, red pepper, green pepper, carrots, garlic, and salt. Saute until soft, about 4 minutes.
- Add the sweet potato and lime zest, and cook 10 to 15 minutes more, continuing to stir occasionally.
- Add the jalapeno, cumin, chill powder, cinnamon, cocoa and oregano, stir and cook for a minute or two.
- Add the tomatoes, black beans, lime juice and sugar. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 20-40 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are very soft.
For dehydrated Veggie chilli:
- Let the chilli cool thoroughly.
- Spread the chilli on dehydrator trays covered with non-stick sheets or parchment paper.
- Dehydrate at 63C/145F for 8-10 hours, until totally dry (to speed things up a bit, you can check the chilli after a few hours, peel the partially dried chilli off these sheet, and finish drying on the mesh dehydrator mats).
- Once totally dry, pack the chilli into zip lock bags or use a vacuum sealer which will allow for a longer shelf life.
On the trail:
- Put the veggie chilli in a pot and pour water over to cover.
- Place the pot on your stove and heat until boiling. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and cover. Let sit for another 5-10 minutes to rehydrate completely.
- Serve with those tasty garnishes that you’ll be so happy you carried with you!
Wild Camping Checklist (Customisable, Downloadable)
The recipe says it makes 4 servings but I would say it makes quite a lot more. My family of 3 wasn’t in the backcountry when we made and ate this but half of this recipe served us for 1 dinner and then I dehydrated the rest and ate 1/4 of that (so 1/8 of the total recipe) for lunch today with an apple that was a good lunch for me. However, when I calculated the calories of the major ingredients for the entire recipe I only got to 1500. That seems like that would be about right for 3 people after an active day of backcountry paddling/hiking. Any assistance would be appreciated.
Update: I goofed on the calories for the black beans. I only accounted for 1 tin @ ~777 cal and I used 2 tins (instead of the 3 the recipe calls for). So the total cal count is approx 2400, which divide by 4 is 600. That still seems a bit low for a backcountry dinner. I usually aim for 2000 cal per person per day, which about 600 at breakfast and lunch which leaves about 800 for dinner. Would love to hear others thoughts.
Hi Tim – thank you trying the recipe, giving feedback, and sense checking my maths! So I’m a bit of an odd one… first of all I’m a 5ft tall 55kg female so I’m well aware my calorie needs are probably not the same as a normal sized humans, and sometimes my recipes can reflect that (so I usually advise people scale up for bigger appetites!). I also rarely just eat chilli as my meal, but have a tendency to also bring along some cornbread and avocado, or rice and cheese, or other compatible pairing to add heft. Sounds like I need to update this post with these latest considerations. Thank you again and I hope you enjoyed it!
Hello, Your recipe calls for 2 tins of diced tomatoes and 3 tins of black beans. What size tins are you using. With dehydration the amount of liquid is important. I just want to make sure that I do not use too much. It would be helpful to know the size of the tins you use.
Thanks, RJW – these are the standard 400g tins. I will amend the recipe! Remember if you end up with too much liquid you can alway simmer to let some of the liquid evaporate. 🙂
Hi, I’m about to make this for a camping trip and just want to make sure it’s indeed the yellow fleshed sweet potatoes I should use, not yams, the orange fleshed ones. I know some people use the same name for both but they are quite a different vegetable so I just want to make sure I use the right one! Thanks!
Inge – it’s this type of sweet potato (though a yam could work!) Let me know how it goes!
So happy I’ve come across your page we are just starting to plan our 5 month walk of New Zealand and I am super excited to try making our own meals your recipes are a newbies dream thank you.