I made a black bean, sweet potato, chicken chili. Otherwise normal ingredients–onion, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, etc. And it’s okay, but nothing special…it has a very strong, spicy chili flavor, but not much to brag about otherwise.
Maybe I’m just not hungry for it after looking at it all day; I’ll let it rest overnight before I doctor it further, but if anyone has ideas to make it more interesting, I’m game.
I presume that garlic was included in that “etc.”? When I find my spicy dishes are lacking something I can’t put my finger on, it often turns out to be garlic.
Have you made this recipe before? If so, how did it turn out then?
No, it’s a new one. I didn’t add extra garlic, although I usually do. That may be it…and more garlic certainly can’t hurt, right? 
My secret chili ingredient is mole paste, about two table spoons for a large pot of chili.
Maybe it just needs a little salt.
I like to add about a teaspoon of vinegar to chili, but I don’t know if that would work with chicken-sweet-potato chili.
Lime juice could give a tart zing.
Item the First - That ain’t chili.
Item the Second - Garlic, No, more than that.
Item the Third - Sweet potatoes? Really?
Item the Fourth - Where are the peppers? Just chili powder isn’t going to cut it. Toss in a couple of diced habs, or at least serranos.
It;s the sweet potatoes that are really throwing me here. Dump those, add some corn and you’d have a nice Southwestern Chicken Stew.
Probably didn’t have any beets.
Well, it’s a really weird chili, at least. But we’re not here to critique the label, but the flavor.
Oh, and to what Manduck said, I agree that even just a touch of cider vinegar can really help a chili out, too.
Really? You’re going to start all that bullshit again?
You have things you’re an unreasonable asshole about, I have things I’m an unreasonable asshole about.
It’s the circle of Life. The price of Purity is purists. 
Well, I had black beans, and I had sweet potatoes, and I’ve been seeing recipes around for quite some time for black bean sweet potato chili, and one thing led to another…no apologies here. I like my beans.
It does have peppers, too, which are so standard to my chili that I consider them…well, standard, and didn’t think to mention them. It’s quite spicy-hot, actually more than I prefer. I’m a weenie so I use aleppo pepper plus various shaker-type peppers, but I do use plenty of heat.
It’s just that it tastes so much like…chili seasoning, I guess. I think I should’ve used sausage instead of chicken, but I always use sausage and I wanted something different.
So…I got something different. Heck.
I’m going to let it sit there and think overnight and we’ll see how it is tomorrow. With the addition of garlic, of course.
FWIW, the sweet potatoes are spicy roasted before adding them. Really? You guys have never heard of sweet potato chili?
(Of course, maybe there’s a reason for that, heh. But I’ve seen it around for ages.)
Anyway…all suggestions welcome, and thanks for the advice so far.
Well, without tasting it myself, my guess would be you want some more umami in there. I’d go with some Worcestershire sauce sauce or something.
I had some great chili with butternut squash in it last week. Sweet potatoes would have been even better. No chicken, though, just beans. I sauteed a chopped-up onion with diced bacon until the onion was caramelized and added them to the chili at the end, which really helped the flavor. I’m a bacon purist.
The sweet potatoes, especially prepared that way, sound interesting. And they are a natural part of Mexican and Mesoamerican cuisine.
Does anybody remember when habaneros were supposed to be hot? But no, roasted dark red poblanos are what you need here for the flavor.
Haven’t shared this report of a yankee judging a Texas Chili Cook-Off in a long time. 
Perhaps add some Canadian Bacon? Pineapple? Shrimp?
When in doubt add tomato sauce or maybe Rotel diced tomatoes or both.
I just added a big can of tomatoes and a good amount of garlic. It’s better than yesterday, at least, and I think once it simmers for a while it’ll be passable.
Do you know what I mean if I say it tasted too raw? Maybe it just needed to simmer for another half-day or so.