This pumpkin chili is such a delicious fall twist on a hearty bowl of chili! It’s made with ground beef, kidney beans, tomatoes, and more, and perfect served with some warm bread or corn bread.
Chili is one of the best meals to eat in the fall. It’s so hearty, heart warming, and delicious. It’s meaty, filling, and so flavorful. Plus, it’s pretty easy to make too. Win, win.
We’ve already got some favorite chili recipes, like our white chicken chili, and our steak chili. But this recipe is a great one to add to the mix. Adding canned pumpkin to your chili makes it even more perfect for a yummy fall dinner.
This chili is perfect savory, unlike many of our favorite pumpkin dishes – seasoned with chili powder and cumin, like a typical chili recipe would be.
The pumpkin in this chili gives it a little bit extra creaminess, extra thickness, just a subtle pumpkin flavor, and lots of deliciousness. It’s definitely a winner.
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How to make Pumpkin Chili?
Start by cooking the ground beef in the bottom of a large pot. Drain out all the grease. Add the garlic, onion, and green pepper to the pot and let them cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft.
Add in the pureed pumpkin, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, and kidney beans. Then add in all the spices, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper, and cayenne pepper. Stir it all together.
Lower the temperature to medium low and let the chili simmer until it thickens slightly and the flavors have all mixed together nicely.
Enjoy a big hearty bowl topped with all your favorite toppings.
Tips for making the best Pumpkin Chili:
- Just like with any chili recipe, you can customize the seasonings to your taste. You can decide how spicy you want it, by adding extra chili powder, or cayenne pepper to give it an extra kick.
- My husband grew up with his mom serving chili in a pumpkin. How fun would it to be to serve this pumpkin chili in individual pumpkin bowls (scrape out the filling and seeds from small pumpkins, so everyone can have their own).
- Substitute ground turkey, or ground chicken instead of the ground beef as called for in the recipe to make it a little lighter, if desired.
- You can also make this chili vegetarian, but skipping the beef all together, or adding some extra beans (black beans, pinto beans, or chick peas would be great), or add some “meat” crumbles.
What to put on top of Pumpkin Chili?
I like serving my pumpkin chili like most other chili recipes – here are some of my favorites:
- tortilla strips
- tortilla chips
- shredded cheddar cheese
- sour cream
- diced avocado
- diced jalapeno
- green onion
What to serve with Pumpkin Chili?
I love enjoying this chili served with some corn bread, pumpkin corn bread, fresh bread or rolls, or tortilla chips.
This pumpkin chili is so comforting and heartwarming. It’s bursting with flavor, and is the perfect fall dinner that you’ll love to enjoy on a cold day!
More Soup Recipes:
- Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
- Peanut Butter Ice Cream
- Chocolate Covered Oreos
- Cookies and Cream Cookies
- Mint Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
- Cookies and Cream Fudge
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Pumpkin Chili
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 TBS minced garlic
- 1 cup diced green peppers
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
- 15 oz kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
- 15 oz diced tomatoes
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 1 TBS chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper (to taste)
- 1/4 tsp red cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Add the ground beef to a large pot and brown it over medium heat. Drain out the extra grease.
- Add the garlic and let it cook with the beef for about 2 minutes.
- Add in the pepper and onion and cook for another 5 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Stir occasionally.
- Add the pumpkin, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce.
- Add in the chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Stir it all together.
- Reduce the heat to medium low. Let the chili continue to cook for at least 20 minutes, to 40 minutes, to let the flavors meld together nicely.
Nutrition
This pumpkin chili was first posted on October 13, 2013. The photos and text were updated for clarity on September 13, 2021.
Giftbasketworldwide says
Great job. Your post is very informative.
Autumn Brooke says
What a wonderful twist to a classic recipe. I don’t think I would have ever thought to add pumpkin but I bet it tastes great! I’ll keep that in mind next time I make chili. Thank you for sharing.
peacelovenwhiskers says
Interesting.. never thought to add pumpkin to chili. Thanks for sharing.