For about three winters my slow cooker chili came out as soup.
Good soup. Still soup.
You could tilt the bowl and the whole thing would slide, and a chili should never do that.
I blamed the beans, then the tomatoes, then the machine itself.
The actual culprit was the four cups of chicken broth I was pouring in out of habit.
Here is the thing about a slow cooker: nothing evaporates.
The lid seals, the chicken and the sweet potato and the peppers all release their own water, and every drop stays in the pot for eight hours.
So now I add no broth at all.
Not a splash. The canned tomatoes are the only liquid that goes in.
What comes out is thick and deep tomato red, with shredded chicken running all the way through it and soft orange cubes of sweet potato holding their shape.
It sits on a spoon. That is the whole test.
The chicken goes in raw and whole, nothing gets browned, and there is no searing pan to wash.
I load it before work maybe twice a month all winter.
Fifteen minutes of chopping, seven hours of ignoring it, and dinner is done when I walk back in!
Why This Chili Works
Four decisions separate this from the watery slow cooker chili everybody has made. None of them add work.
- No added broth. The canned tomatoes carry all the liquid this needs. Nothing evaporates under a sealed lid.
- Raw chicken, straight in. Breasts go in whole and come out shreddable. The pot never boils, so they poach rather than toughen.
- One inch cubes. Small dice turns to mush over seven hours. Big cubes survive and stay orange.
- Mashed sweet potato as the thickener. A cup of it crushed against the side of the crock binds everything. No cornstarch, no flour.
- Vinegar at the end. A tablespoon of cider vinegar wakes up a long cooked pot that would otherwise taste flat.
Sound like a lot of rules? It's really just one: leave the broth in the cupboard.
What You Need
- Chicken breasts (1 ½ lb). Boneless and skinless, whole. Do not cube them, they dry out.
- Sweet potatoes (1 ½ lb). Peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes.
- Yellow onion (1). Diced.
- Red bell pepper (1). Diced. It sweetens as it cooks down.
- Garlic (4 cloves). Minced.
- Black beans (15 oz can). Drained and rinsed.
- Kidney beans (15 oz can). Drained and rinsed. Two bean types give you two textures.
- Diced tomatoes (15 oz can). With the juice. This is your liquid.
- Tomato sauce (8 oz can). This is what makes the body deep red rather than pink and thin.
- Chili powder (2 tablespoons). Sounds like a lot. Seven hours dulls spices, so it isn't.
- Cumin (1 tablespoon) and smoked paprika (2 teaspoons). The savory backbone.
- Dried oregano (1 teaspoon).
- Apple cider vinegar (1 tablespoon). Stirred in at the very end.
- To serve. Shredded sharp cheddar, sour cream, chopped cilantro, lime wedges.
How to Make It
Step 1: Load the Crock in Order
Sweet potato cubes go in first, spread across the bottom.
The bottom is the hottest part, and this is what gets them tender in the same window the chicken needs.
Onion, bell pepper, garlic and both cans of beans next.
Lay the whole chicken breasts on top, then pour the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce over everything and add all the dry spices.
Stir once, gently. The chicken should end up mostly submerged.
Step 2: Cook Low and Slow
Lid on. Low for 7 to 8 hours, or high for 4.
Low is better here and it is not close. High boils the edges and shreds the sweet potato.
Do not lift the lid to check on it.
Every peek costs you twenty minutes of cooking time and lets out steam you actually want.
Step 3: Shred the Chicken
Lift the breasts out onto a cutting board with tongs.
Shred them with two forks, pulling along the grain. It takes about two minutes.
Stir the shredded chicken back into the pot.
Fair warning: shredding in the crock feels faster and it is how you end up mashing the sweet potato by accident.
Step 4: Mash and Thicken
Press a cup or so of the sweet potato cubes against the side of the crock with the back of a spoon.
Stir that mash through the chili and watch it tighten up.
Add the vinegar, then salt and pepper to taste.
Let it sit with the lid off for 10 minutes before serving. It thickens further as it settles.
Will the Sweet Potatoes Go Mushy?
They will if you cube them small, and they won't if you don't. This is the question every recipe leaves unanswered and it has a concrete answer.
- Cut at one inch. Bigger than feels right. Half inch dice will not survive seven hours.
- Bottom of the crock. They need the most heat, and the chicken on top acts as a lid over them.
- Low, not high. High cooks by boiling at the edges, and boiling is what breaks cubes apart.
- Peel them. The skin separates and floats off in curls during a long cook.
- Some mush is the point. You are mashing a cup of it on purpose anyway. The rest should stay in pieces.
Instant Pot Version
Same ingredients, ninety minutes instead of eight hours. The pressure cooker also loses no liquid, so the no broth rule holds exactly as written.
- Load the same way. Sweet potato at the bottom, chicken on top, tomatoes poured over.
- 12 minutes at high pressure. Then a 10 minute natural release before you vent the rest.
- Shred and mash as usual. Do it on saute mode off, with the residual heat.
- Too thick? Simmer on saute for five minutes with the lid off, or add water a quarter cup at a time.
Toppings That Actually Help
Chili toppings should do a job, not just sit there. These four each fix something.
- Sharp cheddar. Salt and fat against a sweet base. Grate it yourself, the bagged stuff refuses to melt.
- Sour cream. Cools the chili powder and adds the tang a long cook flattens.
- Lime wedges. A squeeze at the table does more than the vinegar did in the pot.
- Cilantro. The one fresh, green thing in an otherwise entirely cooked bowl.
Common Mistakes
- Adding broth. The mistake that took me three winters. There is nowhere for it to go.
- Cubing the chicken. Small pieces overcook into dry threads. Whole breasts stay juicy and shred better.
- Lifting the lid. Every peek adds twenty minutes and drops the temperature.
- Dicing the sweet potato small. One inch, every time.
- Trusting the spice amounts from a stovetop recipe. Slow cooking mutes everything. Two tablespoons of chili powder is right for a seven hour pot.
Variations
- Chicken thighs. Richer and more forgiving. Same times, and you will want to skim a little fat at the end.
- Ground chicken. Brown it first, or it clumps into grey lumps. Add it in the last hour.
- More heat. A diced jalapeno at the start, or a chipotle in adobo minced into the tomato sauce.
- Corn. A cup of frozen kernels stirred in during the final fifteen minutes, for pop and color.
- Milder for kids. Cut the chili powder to one tablespoon and skip the smoked paprika.
Storage, Freezing and Leftovers
- Fridge. Up to 5 days, and it genuinely improves on day two.
- Freezer. Up to 3 months in flat freezer bags. Beans and shredded chicken both freeze beautifully.
- Reheat. Low on the stove with a splash of water, since it tightens up considerably when cold.
- Leftover ideas. Over a baked potato, spooned into tortillas, or thinned slightly and ladled over rice.
- Packable lunch. It travels better than most chilis because there is no loose liquid to slosh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you cook raw chicken and sweet potatoes together in a slow cooker?
Yes, and it is the standard way to do this. Seven hours on low takes the chicken well past a safe temperature while the sweet potato at the bottom of the crock reaches tender at about the same time.
Will the sweet potatoes go mushy over eight hours?
Not at one inch cubes on the low setting. Half inch dice will collapse, and so will anything cooked on high.
Do I need to add broth?
No, and this is the most important line in the article. The canned tomatoes plus the water released by the chicken and vegetables is plenty, and none of it evaporates under the lid.
Can I use chicken thighs or ground chicken?
Thighs go in raw exactly like the breasts. Ground chicken needs browning first and should go in for only the last hour.
Can I make this in an Instant Pot?
Twelve minutes at high pressure with a ten minute natural release. Load it in the same order.
How long does it keep, and does it freeze?
Five days in the fridge, three months in the freezer. It is one of the better chilis for freezing because there is no dairy in the pot.
Leave the broth in the cupboard and it comes out thick every time. I promise.
Recipe
Thick Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chicken Chili
Ingredients
For the Chili
- 1 ½ lb boneless skinless chicken breasts left whole
- 1 ½ lb sweet potatoes peeled, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
- 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- salt and black pepper to taste
To Serve
- 1 cup sharp cheddar shredded
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 lime cut into wedges
Instructions
Load the Slow Cooker
- Spread the sweet potato cubes across the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic and both cans of drained beans on top of them.
- Lay the whole chicken breasts over the vegetables. Pour the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce over everything, then add the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika and oregano. Stir once gently so the chicken is mostly submerged. Do not add any broth or water.
Cook
- Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 hours. Low gives a better result because high boils at the edges and breaks the sweet potato apart. Keep the lid on the whole time.
Shred and Thicken
- Lift the chicken breasts out onto a cutting board and shred them with two forks, pulling along the grain. Stir the shredded chicken back into the pot.
- Press about 1 cup of the sweet potato cubes against the side of the crock with the back of a spoon, then stir that mash through the chili to thicken it.
- Stir in the apple cider vinegar and season with salt and black pepper. Let the chili stand uncovered for 10 minutes before serving, and top the bowls with cheddar, sour cream, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
Notes
- No broth: nothing evaporates under a slow cooker lid, so added stock is what makes chili into soup.
- One inch cubes: smaller sweet potato will not survive 7 hours.
- Whole chicken breasts: cubed chicken dries out. Shred it on a board, not in the crock.
- Low over high: high boils at the edges and shreds the vegetables.
- Mash to thicken: a cup of crushed sweet potato replaces any starch or flour.
- Vinegar at the end: a long cook flattens flavor and an acid brings it back.
