Chorizo and Sweet Potato Chili Recipe

This chorizo and sweet potato chili is a recipe I came up with a couple days ago. I wanted to eat sweet potatoes, and I had pulled some chorizo out of the freezer to thaw, so I set to googling. It seems like everyone only makes sweet potato and chorizo hash and that just seemed too fussy, so I decided to wing it and make chili instead!

This chili is AMAZING. It has loads of flavor for the small amount of ingredients.

By the way - I'm totally cheating ible-wise this time. I know I normally take step-by-step photos, but sometimes I just want to cook without a camera around my neck. And this was too good not to share! :D

Ingredients:

• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into a 1/2 inch dice
• 1 onion, diced finely
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 pound good chorizo - if in casings, remove it from the casings. Make sure this is raw, uncured chorizo.
• 14.5 oz can black beans
• 1-2 tablespoons salt-free chili powder
• 2 cups chicken stock (you can sub water, but you'll lose a little flavor)
• salt to taste

How much chili powder you use depends entirely on your chorizo. The chorizo I'm using right now is awesome and local and has loads of spices. Start with one tablespoon of chili powder and add more as needed. :)

Recipe:

1. First, prep work! Peel the sweet potato and cut it into a 1/2 inch dice. Dice the onion finely and mince the garlic. Remove the chorizo from the casings if it came that way.
2. Place a large heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium heat and cook the chorizo. Cook this, stirring frequently, until it starts to brown and the fat begins to render out. Break the chorizo up into tiny pieces as it cooks. This will take about 10 minutes.
3. Drain the excess fat is there's a ton - you only need 1-2 tablespoons to do the rest of the cooking.
4. Add in the cut up onion and sweet potato and turn the heat down a little. Stir this around so everything is coated in the fat. Cook this, stirring frequently, for 5-10 minutes or until the onions start to go translucent.
5. Add in a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of chili powder. Stir this around and let it cook for a couple minutes. Determine by smell if it seems chili-y enough at this point. If so, you're good to move on. If not, add more chili powder and let it cook again.
6. Once the chili powder is smelling great and covering all the ingredients, add in the garlic. Stir this for a minute - just until it gets really fragrant!
7. Add in the tomatoes, the black beans and their liquid and two cups of chicken stock. Stir and bring to a boil.
8. Once the chili has come to a boil, drop it to a simmer and cook it, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Stir at least every ten minutes.
9. After a half hour, the chili should be thickened up nicely. Taste test it and add more of whatever you need. I added a little extra chili powder. :D Also check the sweet potatoes
10. Simmer with the lid on for an additional 15 minutes after tasting it - this will ensure the sweet potatoes are nice and soft. :D
11. EAT THE WHOLE POT OF CHILI

And there you go - my super easy and tasty chorizo and sweet potato chili recipe! I think I'll be making this all the time now. It's maybe even better than my Ratfink chili. ;)