Sweet Potato Chorizo Chili with Poblano-Avocado Crema. If you've never added potatoes to chili before, prepare to be wowed by the heartiness of this intensely flavor-packed chili. There's a reason I've been making this recipe for years!
Every fall, my house goes absolutely soup-crazy. The second the slightest chill can be detected in the air, we break out the soup pot or the slow cooker, stock up on... well, stock (usually chicken stock) and our favorite veggies, and go to town.
Some weeks, there might be five different kinds of soup we throw together to warm our insides as we pile on blankets and hoodies and slippers and complain about how early the sun goes down this time of year. Sometimes we enjoy mugs of chicken noodle. Often, we fill up three bowls full of stew each because it is just that good. But what we love most of all-- and what I truly can't get enough of-- is a good chili.
Now I know you chili purists out there are clutching your chests and gasping at the thought of changing up your traditional chili, but hear me out-- sometimes change is good. That's not to say that I wouldn't love your state fair winning family recipe, but this Sweet Potato Chorizo Chili with Poblano-Avocado Crema is an entirely different beast we're talking about here.
This chili will change everything you ever thought you knew about chili, or at least it will broaden your opinion of what "good chili" can be. With ingredients like sweet potato, chorizo, poblano peppers, chipotle peppers, avocado, hominy, black beans, and, yes, even goat cheese, how could it not be great?
By the way, tangy goat cheese goes amazingly with the spicier ingredients in this chili (and I just love it with sweet potato and black beans in general, as well), but if goat cheese weirds you out, feel free to substitute in a cheese of your choice, or go with no cheese at all. It's not a critical part of this Sweet Potato Chorizo Chili, but I like to think of it as the finishing touch that really takes it from over-the-top-awesome to super-over-the-top-crazy-delicious-oh-my-gosh-these-flaaavors! You know what I mean?
Like most chili, this recipe requires a little bit more time than your typical last minute soup-- in fact, it takes a bit longer than many of the "open these cans and dump it all together" types of chili. But I promise you, the few easy extra steps are so worth it for the heartiness and depth of flavor you get here.
Speaking of extra time, a little extra time in the fridge does nothing but good for this recipe. Leftovers taste just as amazing as (if not better than) the first day you make it. I got a reminder of that when I made this recipe again Saturday night to prepare for football Sunday, and wound up eating leftovers every single day since. I'm all out of leftovers now, but you can bet that I'd be eating Sweet Potato Chorizo Chili for breakfast if I had any!
Yes, I'm serious.
Whether you want to make it for game day tailgates, on a chilly weeknight with family, or to serve up to friends at a casual dinner get-together, I'm willing to bet that everyone who tastes this Sweet Potato Chorizo Chili with Poblano-Avocado Crema will be begging for the recipe in between a chorus of "yum"s and "this is so good"s. I'm not exaggerating; When I first made this chili, my mom even begged for the recipe (as if she doesn't know where to find it) because she absolutely had to insert it into her fall dinner rotation. And now, what, six years later, she still adores it.
Sweet Potato Chorizo Chili with Poblano-Avocado Crema
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 1 whole head garlic
- 2 poblano peppers
- 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
- 1 pound uncooked Mexican chorizo
- 1 white onion, diced small
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, from the can
- 1 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 ounce) can hominy, drained and rinsed
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1 avocado, pit and skin removed
- Juice of 2 limes
- 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
- Fresh cilantro, chopped, to top
- Sliced radish, to top, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil.
- Cut the papery top off of the head of garlic to expose the cloves. Place the garlic, sweet potatoes, and poblano peppers on the prepared baking sheet and drizzle lightly with oil. Roast for 3o minutes, then let cool until you can easily handle the potatoes.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Remove the chorizo from the casing and add to the pot. Break apart the chorizo as you would ground beef as it cooks. Cook until browned all over, about 5 minutes.
- Add the onion to the skillet and saute until translucent. Stir in the spices and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
- Once the sweet potatoes and peppers are cool enough to handle, use your hands to peel the skins from the potatoes and poblanos. The skins should come off easily. Chop the sweet potato into bite-sized pieces. Stem and seed the poblano peppers.
- In a blender or food processor, combine the roasted garlic (squeeze it out of the papery exterior), 1 of the roasted poblano peppers, 1 chipotle pepper, and the diced tomatoes. Process until well-combined. Pour the mixture into the pot of chili and bring back to a boil. Allow the liquid to reduce slightly, then stir in the black beans, hominy, tomato paste, and chopped sweet potato. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Season with kosher salt and black pepper, to taste.
- As the chili simmers, process the remaining poblano pepper, avocado, and lime juice until smooth.
- Serve the chili warm with a dollop of the Poblano-Avocado Crema, crumbled goat cheese, chopped cilantro, and sliced radish on top.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 20 mins
- Category: Main
Elisha says
so, i made this on sunday and i was sooooo excited to try it! i make chili all the time, but never like this!
i had all of my ingredients and i was ready to rock!
i have never cooked with canned chipotle in adobo sauce before, so i was a little weary about that. the recipe calls for a can of it, so that's what i did. WHOA!!! i wish it was stated somewhere that you only need a LITTLE of either of the peppers or the sauce and NOT the whole can!
while i was taste testing, my mouth caught on fire! i thought, well, maybe the sweetness from the potato will help the heat, but NOPE! i was so wrong.
this dish was not only super time consuming, but the spice factor was through the roof!! and i love spicy, but this was way over the top. it was almost not enjoyable. and now i have a HUGE pot of leftovers. i will be eating it tonight with extra goat cheese and sour cream and a huge glass of milk!
also, when roasting the veggies, i think it would be wise to cut the sweet potatoes FIRST before the go into the oven. the 2 giant potatoes are in there with the 2 peppers and tomatoes, which roasted in like 20 minutes. it would have been SO much better if i cut them first and roasted that way. because it had to sit on the stove for an extra 30-45 minutes to finish cooking the potatoes.
needless to say, i will probably make this again, but believe me, i have made my notes and will be following my own instructions next time!
live and learn!
Morgan says
Oh no, you put in the entire can of chipotles! The recipe calls for 1 *canned* chipotle in adobo (meaning 1 pepper from the can), not a can of them, but I totally understand how that could be confusing and I am so sorry! I can only imagine how spicy that was. As far as the roasting of veggies go, I didn't have the same experience but thank you for the feedback--it may help other people who plan to make the recipe in the future. Sorry again for the trouble you had! =(
Glenda says
Curious about the crema. Is that the crema on top? It looks quite light in color to be just avocado, poblano or lime juice. Or, maybe that is the goat cheese? Anyway, I made what sounds like your crema when I was experimenting, and I was trying to figure out a way to use it, which led me to find this recipe.
I had already pured my sweet potatoes, so I imagine I can use that as part of the base and get another one to cut up for chunky pieces.
Thanks,
Morgan says
Glenda,
I'm so sorry that I never answered your comment. Sometimes other people are in the back end of this site and approve comments before I get the chance to see them and answer. I know this won't help you now, but I will answer anyway in case anyone wants to know in the future.
Yes, that is the crema on top, to the right. On the left is the goat cheese. They kind of blend because I got a lot of light in the picture, but it is slightly darker in person.
The pureed sweet potatoes would be an interesting spin on the base, and I think a really great idea. I hope you did give it a go and everything turned out well for you.
Again, I'm so sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I just happened to stumble across this comment today.
Val says
Is it me or is there no recipe for the avocado poblano cream?
Morgan says
It is included in the chili recipe! 🙂
MK says
I don't know how it happened, but when I saved this link on an organizer app (Pocket) the recipe is completely different than what's here on the website - and I didn't realize until the end 🙁 3 cloves of garlic instead of a whole head, three tomatoes instead of a can, two cans of beans, only one poblano... So disappointing! I can only hope it turns out decently well.
Courtney Taylor says
LOVED this recipe! My husband and I like spicy, so I added a little chili powder, a dash of cayenne and used 2 of the adobo chiles. Cant wait to make this again
Julie says
Has anyone tried this with soy chorizo?
NBL says
Thanks for sharing this recipe! It was very good, healthy (used chicken chorizo from Whole Foods), and easy to adapt for spice preferences. I will definitely make it again. A few notes and one question:
- Did you really mean 1 tablespoon of cumin? I used 2 teaspoons and was nervous using that much but it turned out well. 3 teaspoons (or 1 tablespoon) feels like a lot. But maybe it was intentional 🙂
- I would reccomend wrapping the garlic in foil. I tried it your way and it got a little dry and was messy and difficult to squeeze even though I drizzled it with olive oil. I've wrapped it before roasting in the past and it was much easier to squeeze.
- Letting the peppers cool in a bowl with a lid or plastic wrap makes them easier to peel.
- Specific measurements for the lime juice. I used juice from 1.5 limes and it was already too much.
Thanks again!
Celine says
This is by far my most favourite dish of all times. My husband made it for me years ago when we stumbled across your site and it's a staple in our house. I could eat this dish once a week (easily). Thank you!!
Morgan says
Celine, that is such a great compliment - thank you! It is one of my favorites as well. I'm so glad you and your husband have enjoyed it!