• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Eat Sleep Wild logo

Eat Sleep Wild

Routes Recipes and Wild Experiences from the West Coast of Scotland

  • Home
  • Adventures with us
    • Guided Hikes
    • Wild Camping
    • Backpacking
    • Hills skills & Navigation
    • Astro Nights
  • Useful info
    • Trip Reports
    • Recipes
    • Gear Reviews
    • How-Tos and Downloads
    • Van Life
    • Interactive UK Route Map
  • About
  • Contact

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chilli

January 30, 2019 by Monica

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 inspired by my friend Abby who cooked this up after a very cold day spent cross country skiing in Wisconsin. There is something so enormously satisfying about a big bowl of chilli after an energetic day out, especially when the weather is cold.
You can cook this chilli on a campfire in a dutch oven or make it at home in your kitchen then dehydrate. I almost always have a couple portions of dehydrated vegetarian chilli around for those impromptu wild camping trips. Guaranteed deliciousness on the trail.
This sweet potato and black bean chilli is vegan, though I do like to garnish with a bit of cheese or sour cream (and yes I have been known to haul these items in to a wild camp, along with avocado and lime). 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 – dehydrated meals work best when low in fat… that’s why you add the cheese and sour cream at base camp!).

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chilli

For the chilli

  • 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 tins diced tomatoes
  • 3 tins black beans (drained)
  • 1 jalapeno chili pepper (seeded and chopped)
  • 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

At home

  1. 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.
  2. Add the sweet potato and lime zest, and cook 10 to 15 minutes more, continuing to stir occasionally.
  3. Add the jalapeno, cumin, chill powder, cinnamon, cocoa and oregano, stir and cook for a minute or two.
  4. 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

  1. Let the chilli cool thoroughly.
  2. Spread the chilli on dehydrator trays covered with non-stick sheets or parchment paper.
  3. 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).
  4. Once totally dry, pack the chilli into zip lock bags or use a vacuum sealer which will allow for a longer shelf life.

At Camp

  1. Put the veggie chilli in a pot and pour water over to cover.
  2. Place the pot on your stove and heat until boiling. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes.
  3. Remove from the heat and cover. Let sit for another 5-10 minutes to rehydrate completely.
  4. Serve with those tasty garnishes that you’ll be so happy you carried with you!


 
Sweet potato black bean campfire chilli

Category: Campfire Recipes, Dehydrated Camping Food, Main Dishes, Recipes
Monica standing on a stone ledge

Take your next steps and travel with us

Our trips are for everyone. Whether you’re an experienced hillwalker or a total newbie, we can work with you to create an amazing experience in nature that you’ll never forget.

Get in Touch
Previous Post:Wild Camping Checklist (Customisable, Downloadable)
Next Post:Lentil Ragu with Kale and Parmesan

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tim Heyland

    April 8, 2021 at 12:33 am

    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.

  2. Tim Heyland

    April 8, 2021 at 1:38 am

    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.

  3. Monica Shaw

    April 8, 2021 at 5:16 am

    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!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

stay in touch

Hiking, camping, & cooking in wild places across the UK, inspiring delicious, sustainable adventures. Mountain leader based in the Scottish Highlands! Ever in pursuit of being closer to nature.

bmc logo
mountain training logo
mountaineering scotland logo

article topics

Trip reports
Route maps
Recipes
Gear reviews
How-Tos and downloads
Van conversion

monica@eatsleepwild.com

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Copyright © 2008–2023 · Eat Sleep Wild · All Rights Reserved