Vegetarian Chilli Con Carne

• Warming and delicious - with caramelised roast sweet potato, soft beans and red peppers in a rich smoky and spicy sauce.
• Easy to make - on the table in 40 minutes in a few simple steps
• Nutritious - packed with fibre, healthy plant-based protein, vitamins and minerals
• Freezer friendly - make a large batch and freeze for up to 3 months
• Versatile - a great way to use up any veggies that are lingering in your fridge

Which beans should I use?

I love soft and creamy Pinto beans and have also added black beans to add a little more texture. You can change up the beans in this recipe, just make sure you keep the volume the same. Black beans alone or kidney beans will also work well. You can also just use pinto beans, but because they are soft the chilli may lack texture.

This recipe includes red peppers and hearty roasted sweet potatoes, but there are lots of vegetables that taste great in chilli. You can swap the sweet potatoes for squash or pumpkin. Other veggies that will work well include carrots, courgette/zucchini, corn or chickpeas.

Scotch bonnets are my go-to if I can find them because they add sweetness and fruitiness as well as heat. They do tend to be quite hot and adding two scotch bonnets will give the chilli a medium level of spiciness. Remove the seeds and membrane unless you are after a very hot chilli. You can substitute scotch bonnets for long red chillies or chilli powder and reduce the amount if you are sensitive to spice.

Heat your oven to 200°C or 400°F, peel the sweet potatoes and chop them into cubes. Place the chopped sweet potato into a roasting dish and add olive oil, cumin, paprika and cayenne. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes, turning halfway.

Air fryer instructions: if you have an air fryer, I highly recommend using it to roast the sweet potatoes. It just takes 15 minutes. Heat your air fryer to 200C or 390F, add the chopped and seasoned sweet potato and cook for 10 minutes. Then shake the basket and cook for 5 minutes more.

2. Fry the onions, chillies, peppers and garlic

Place a Dutch oven or pan on a medium heat and gently fry the onions for 5 minutes. Add the red peppers, chillies, cumin and paprika and fry for another 5 minutes. Then add the crushed garlic and cook for another minute.

3. Simmer

Pour in the chopped tomatoes and 1 cup of water and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add the black beans, pinto beans and sweet potato and simmer for a further 10 minutes. Finally, add the lime juice and a little salt to taste.

4. Mash / blitz

Add half of the chilli to a food processor and puree quickly. You want to do this until the chunks are removed but not so the mixture is completely smooth. You can also use a potato masher. Skip this step if you prefer a chunky chilli.

• White rice - this is the most common way to eat chilli and the way we tend to eat it most of the time.
• Quinoa - for a healthier alternative to white rice.
• Nachos - serve on grilled nachos. I recommend topping with plenty of cheese. and serving with sour cream and guacamole.
• On a jacket potato
• Stuffed peppers - ideal if you're after a lighter option or lunch.

A bowl of Sweet Potato Chilli just isn't complete without toppings. I always serve mine with grated cheddar cheese, chopped coriander and sour cream. My husband refuses to eat his without jalapeños. I also like to eat it with quick and easy guacamole and tortilla chips at weekends.

1. Season the sweet potato with cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper before you roast it - it's added towards the end of the recipe's cooking time and will not fully absorb all the flavours in the sauce.
2. Adjust the chilli to suit your spice tolerance - my veggie chilli recipe has a medium level of spice. If you are sensitive to spice you can reduce the amount of scotch bonnet chillies added, swap them for milder long red chillies or add a little chilli powder at the end to taste.
3. Mash or blitz - applying a food processor or potato masher on half of the chilli vastly improves the texture (unless you prefer a chunky chilli).

Chilli con carne translates as 'chilli with meat' and is a Tex-Mex dish that originated from Spain. Since then it has evolved and become a well-known international dish with a number of variations including vegetarian and vegan varieties that are made with beans, vegetables or tofu instead of ground beef.

Typical ingredients include beans and a mix of veggies including onion, carrot, bell pepper, corn and sweet potato.

There are many vegetables that taste great and chilli is a great dish for a fridge clear-out. Veggies that work well include carrots, peppers, courgettes/zucchini, butternut squash, sweet potato, corn and chickpeas.

Vegetarian chilli is very nutritious because it's packed with fibre, protein, antioxidants and lots of vitamins and minerals.

It certainly can be and depends on what you put in it. A portion of vegetarian chilli with sweet potato and beans contains around 250 calories. If you swap the sweet potato for other less carby veggies like carrots, peppers and courgettes/zucchini the calorie count would be lower.

You can store the leftover chilli in the fridge for up to 3 days and freeze for up to 3 months. I will often double the recipe to ensure a few portions can be tucked away in my freezer for days when there isn't time to cook.

My veggie dinner recipes are tasty, easy to make, use simple ingredients and most will give you yummy leftovers and are freezable. Some of my personal favourites include my tasty crowd-pleasing Pesto Lasagne, creamy umami Pumpkin and Mushroom Risotto, Mexican Street Corn Soup and my Warm Mushroom Salad (with miso tahini dressing).

Easy Lasagne Al Pesto

Pumpkin & Mushroom Risotto

Sopa De Elote Recipe (Mexican Street Corn Soup)

Warm Mushroom Salad (with miso tahini dressing)

Did you try this recipe? It would be really great if you could leave a comment and a star rating ⭐️. I would love to receive your feedback and know that other readers find it helpful too.