Instant Pot sweet potato chili is an easy vegetarian chili (with vegan option) that you can make in your pressure cooker! It’s a smoky sweet, quick and easy meal!
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It’s no secret that I love a good bowl of chili. I have several chili recipes on this site, and over the years I’ve adapted almost all of my favorites to be made in the Instant Pot.
While all of my chili recipes can also be made on the stove top, the Instant Pot cooks everything faster, allowing me to get dinner on the table more quickly. In fact, I even compiled my favorites in this list of the best Instant Pot chili recipes!
I first started making sweet potato chili years ago using a recipe from Lemons and Basil. Over time, I’ve made some adjustments to the recipe suit our tastes and most recently converted the recipe to be made in the Instant Pot pressure cooker.
Why I Love this Instant Pot Sweet Potato Chili
Although I love chili with beef or chicken in it, I also try to serve meatless meals from time to time. Our family is not vegetarian, but I find that meatless meals often give us the opportunity to include more vegetables or other sources of protein in our diet.
Not only that, but meatless meals are a great way to save money and trim the grocery budget a bit.
I love the collection of root vegetables in this recipe–the sweetness of carrots and sweet potatoes melds nicely with the slightly peppery flavor of parsnips. Add in some savory, smoky flavors of chili powder and cumin and you’ve got a tasty meal!
5 Quick and Easy Instant Pot Dinners that Will Save You Time and Wow Your Family
More Instant Pot Vegetarian Recipes:
- Quick and Easy Instant Pot Broccoli Soup
- Delicious Instant Pot Potato and Corn Chowder
- Instant Pot Tomato Basil Soup
How to Make Vegetarian Sweet Potato Chili in the Instant Pot
In the insert pot of the Instant Pot, add some olive oil. Using the Saute setting, allow the oil to heat up a bit. Next, toss in your diced onion and peppers, cooking for a few minutes until the onions begin to soften and turn translucent. Add in the garlic and stir, cooking for a minute until it becomes fragrant.
Turn off the Saute setting. Add in the sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, black beans, corn, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste. Finally, add in all of the seasonings: chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.
Give everything a good stir to combine. Lock the lid into place and set the vent to the sealed position. Use the Manual/Pressure Cook setting to select a cook time of 8 minutes at high pressure.
Once the cook time is complete, allow a 5 minute natural release of pressure, followed by a quick release of remaining pressure.
After the pressure has released and the valve has dropped, carefully open the lid and stir the chili. Serve and enjoy!
Notes and Adaptations for Making Vegetarian Chili in the Pressure Cooker
- Feel free to make adjustments to the vegetables included in this chili. If you don’t have parsnips handy, add more carrots or sweet potatoes. If you have them available, purple Japanese sweet potatoes would add a nice splash of color. Use whatever color bell peppers you have handy.
- You can adjust the level of spice to your preference. Personally, I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to spice, so I tend to go a bit on the milder side. If you like your chili spicy, feel free to add some cayenne pepper for some extra heat.
- I used black beans, but you can certainly add different types of beans as desired. Kidney beans or pinto beans would be tasty.
Adaptations for Making This Instant Pot Sweet Potato Chili Vegan
This recipe can easily be made vegan with a couple of substitutions.
Instead of chicken broth, choose vegetable broth. You could also just use water, but may find that you need to add some salt.
Additionally, you’ll either want to leave the Worcestershire sauce out or choose a vegan version that doesn’t include anchovies (such as Annie’s Homegrown brand). Alternatively, you could use soy sauce in place of the Worcestershire sauce.
If you need this meal to be Whole30 compliant, you can leave out the beans and corn (feel free to add more veggies if desired) and make sure your broth and Worcestershire sauce are sugar-free.
More Instant Pot Chili Recipes You’re Sure to Love:
- Delicious Classic Chili in the Pressure Cooker
- Easy 4 Ingredient Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
- The Best Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Chili
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Chili
- Cincinnati Chili (Skyline Copycat) in the Instant Pot
Recommended Equipment
- Instant Pot – I have the DUO60 model, which I love!
- Chef’s knife and cutting board for chopping the veggies
Vegetarian Sweet Potato Chili in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot sweet potato chili is an easy vegetarian chili (with vegan option) that you can make in your pressure cooker! It's a smoky sweet, quick and easy meal!
Ingredients
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 peppers, diced
- 1 Tbs minced garlic
- 2 medium-large sweet potatoes, chopped into 1" cubes
- 2 medium parsnips, sliced
- 2 medium carrots, sliced
- 1 can black beans, drained
- 1 can corn, undrained
- 1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth (or water)
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- To the insert pot of an Instant Pot, add olive oil. Use the Saute setting to heat the olive oil. Add onion and peppers and cook with the Saute setting until onions are beginning to soften and turn translucent.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute.
- Add in sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, black beans, corn, tomatoes, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, black pepper, broth or water, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to combine.
- Lock the lid in place and set the vent to the sealed position. Using the Manual/Pressure Cook setting, select an 8 minute cook time at high pressure.
- Once the cook time has completed, allow a 5 minute natural release of pressure before performing a quick release of remaining pressure.
- After the pressure has released and the valve has dropped, carefully remove the lid and stir ingredients. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Feel free to make adjustments to the vegetables included in this chili. If you don't have parsnips handy, add more carrots or sweet potatoes. If you have them available, purple Japanese sweet potatoes would add a nice splash of color. Use whatever color bell peppers you have handy.
- You can adjust the level of spice to your preference. Personally, I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to spice, so I tend to go a bit on the milder side. If you like your chili spicy, feel free to add some cayenne pepper for some extra heat.
- I used black beans, but you can certainly add different types of beans as desired. Kidney beans or pinto beans would be tasty.
- Vegan Option: Instead of chicken broth, choose vegetable broth. You could also just use water, but may find that you need to add some salt. Additionally, you'll either want to leave the Worcestershire sauce out or choose a vegan version that doesn't include anchovies (such as Annie's Homegrown brand). Alternatively, you could use soy sauce in place of the Worcestershire sauce.
- Whole30 Option: You can leave out the beans and corn (feel free to add more veggies if desired) and make sure your broth and Worcestershire sauce are sugar-free.
Adapted from Lemons and Basil
Recommended Products
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Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker and Warmer -
Victorinox Fibrox Pro Chef's Knife, 8-Inch Chef's FFP -
Gorilla Grip Original Reversible Cutting Board (3-Piece) BPA Free, Dishwasher Safe, Juice Grooves, Larger Thicker Boards, Easy Grip Handle, Non Porous, Extra Large, Kitchen (Set of Three: Black)
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 250Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 24mgSodium: 470mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 9gSugar: 10gProtein: 13g
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You mentioned chicken broth/ water in the options, but I didn’t find any mention of either in the recipe or the instructions. ???? I left it out but added a half can of water. Hope it works. ☺️
Hi Patricia! Oh my, you’re right–I totally left that part out of the ingredients and instructions! ♀️ Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention–I’ve updated the recipe!