Who said chili needs beef? This spicy pumpkin chili will surprise and delight even the most committed of carnivores and may even turn a pumpkin skeptic!
Quick & Easy Pumpkin Chili.
It does feel great to be posting recipes from our garden again. This pumpkin chili recipe is definitely a winter warming favourite in our household.
A really quick and simple meal that can be on your table in 40 minutes and 10 minutes of that is preparation time.
Another 20 minutes is allowing it to bubble and simmer away.
It is full of all the flavours you associate with a good ol’ tex mex chili. Flavours like cumin, tomato, beans and of course chili but the sweet earthiness of the pumpkin still stands up and remains the star of the show.
Of course, this is no better, or indeed worse than a beef or pork chili.
It is different and when I am cooking food sans meat I like to celebrate the difference rather than turn the key ingredients into meat substitutes.
My Approach To Vegetarian Recipes…
I make pumpkin chili recipe because I want pumpkin chili. Not because I want something to replace beef!
I think that mindset very much defines my approach to the vegetarian cooking that I do.
As a meat eater and my self-confessed ambivalence towards diet-based eating my vegetarian meals are born of the love of the ingredients. Not the avoidance of ingredients.
So this easy pumpkin chili, like my pumpkin curry or pumpkin lasagne are all about the joy of pumpkin.
Likewise, my bubble and squeak and grilled cabbage hearts are a celebration of cabbage.
Changing Seasons.
It is odd cooking for my little corner of the internet at this time of year. All summer I have been playing around on and off with darker photographs to break up the brightness.
Now I find myself almost exclusively taking photographs against a darker background.
Of course, this is due to the fact that it is now dark when I cook and take my pictures. We live right on the Eastern edge of the of the Central European Time Zone.
So as I write this in the middle of November the sunsets at around 4:40, however by the time we get to midwinter that will be closer to 3:45!
I see lots of chatter on the interweb from folk that get terribly sad because the nights draw in.
I personally love it, there is something very satisfying about ‘closing up shop’ at 4pm.
Then making a cuppa from the kettle that permanently sits on top of our wood burning stove (unless that spot is taken by mulled wine). Before heading into the kitchen to make something warming like pumpkin chili.
Quick and Easy Pumpkin Chili
Ingredients
- 25 g Butter
- 100 g Onion Cut into a medium dice
- 1 Chili Finely Sliced, I used a whole fresh cayenne pepper
- 2 Cloves Garlic Mashed into a puree
- 250 g Pumpkin 25mm Dice
- 1 Tsp Ground Coriander
- 1 Tsp Ground Cumin
- 1/2 Tbsp Tomato Puree
- 200 g Tomato Passata Tomato Sauce in the US
- 1/2 Tsp Sweet Paprika
- 1/8 Tsp Cacao Powder
- 1/2 Tsp Dried Oregano
- 100 g Kidney Beans Cooked
- 1 Tsp Honey
- 1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
- Generous grind of black pepper
Instructions
- Melt the butter over a medium heat and when melted add the onion and chili then cook for 5 minutes until translucent
- Add the Garlic and cook for a further minute
- Add the pumpkin, coriander and cumin and stir and allow to cook for 2 minutes
- Stir in the tomato puree, tomato passata, paprika, cacoa powder, oregano, kidney beans, salt, pepper and honey, cover with a lid and allow to simmer on low for 15-20 minutes
Notes
Yum! I love how thick this recipe is and you can pair it with brown rice. Well done!
Thanks Amanda
YUM! Pumpkin is such a nice addition to this recipe. It snowed here again today so a bowl of chili sounds delightful!
Thanks Julie
Thank you for sharing this recipe, we are always looking vegetarian recipe for Fridays and this Pumpkin Chili is perfect.
Thanks Melve.
Never would have come up with something like this myself. And of course, it looks fabulous.
Thank you, a favourite of ours!
I have GOT to try this – love the idea of using seasonal ingredients.
It’s a good un, my wifes favourite at the moment… I try and stick to seasonal ingredients, primarily because they are free and I am tight 😉
Sounds delicious! like that the pumpkin is so well seasoned as I’m a fan of strong flavors in my comfort food (usually)
Thanks Mary, I love big and strong flavours too 🙂
I am NOT a big pumpkin fan, but I could get behind this one, Brian! Looks lovely.
I was never on the Pumpkin bandwagon until last year and now I can’t get enough!
This is an awesome idea! I can’t wait to try it! 🙂
Thank you, it is really tasty.
Wow! And I thought our days were short! 3:45… yuck! Anyways, this chili looks diving. I’m sure the pumpkin adds an awesome flavor and texture!
Thank you, I quite like the early nights… We fire up the log burner curl up on the sofa with a glass of something nice and relax, it does get a bit taxing by the end of winter though.
I adore chili…any kind of chili! And this pumpkin chili looks completely amazing – can’t wait to give this a try … especially with it being pumpkin season here!
Same here on both loving chili and it being pumpkin season… When life gives you lemons and all that 😉
I haven’t tried pumpkin chili yet, but I definitely want to try it after seeing your recipe. This looks so delicious and the photos are beautiful!!
Thank you Sherri, I love pumpkin chili a wonderful quick solution to needing a bit of spice.
Your post and photos convince me to try vegetarian dishes, and to be more adventurous with pumpkin, which is my childhood nemesis….chili is definitely the way to go!
Cheers Ange… Despite being a committed carnivore I cook loads of vegetarian food, it is typically cheap (even cheaper now I grow it all) and usually pretty quick and easy to cook… I have a recipe for a beef chili that takes 6-8 hours to cook this is done and dusted and on the table in 40 or so minutes 🙂
Pumpkin anything is delicious! I pinned this one… Thanks Brian!
Thanks Tamara, I hope it lives up to expectations… Let me know how you get on 🙂
That looks like a delicious bowl of comfort food for this time of year
Cheers Paul… It certainly works for us, glad we have loads of Pumpkin this year, we are gonna be making this a lot!
This looks heavenly! What a perfect comforting dinner!
Tank you Annie,it certainly is one of those homely warming dishes 🙂
LOL, pumpkin and sweet paprika – this chili has traveled! And sounds delicious… That will be a very nice Something Different to do with my red beans…
Haha Anne… Just like me 😉
Pumpkin is awesome…it can be used in both savoury and sweet. Works well in this dish….lots of flavour and good for you too!!
It certainly is Gloria, however I have never eaten pumpkin in anything sweet… It seems to be very common on the other side of the pond but not something I have experienced here in Europe.
We eat chili over rice, as well! The flavours in this dish are on point. Perfect for the cold front we are currently facing.
Thank you Jacqueline, rice with chili was just the way it was served when I was growing up and it is such a favourite I rarel waiver, buzt I do like whole grain rice over white due to the nutty flavour it has.
I love this idea! I can’t wait to give this a shot sometime. Great photos, as well! I love the color pop and the styling.
Thanks Dana, glad you like the recipe… Looking forward to see how you get on with it 🙂
Oh my, this is not only super flavorful with pumpkin but spicy, too – love it, Brian! The ingredients are so enticing and love that you included a little honey. I don’t eat much pumpkin during this pumpkin mania time but I will gobble this down in a heartbeat! Thanks for a great recipe 🙂
Thank you very much Robyn, it is definitely a corker in many ways I prefer this to a traditional beef chili… It is fresh and simple but full of bucket loads of flavour 🙂
Ooh, I love a veggie chilli and this one looks delicious! I like that you’ve used big chunks of pumpkin. This will be great now that the nights are drawing in 🙂
Thanks Helen, it certainly is a big bowl of warming joy and I love a pumpkin chili… Ah heck I just love pumpkin 😀
Yum, I’m loving this recipe. I’m always after vegetarian meal ideas and this is a good one.
Thanks Cristie, we love this one… So much so that my wife demand I post the recipe ahead of schedule so that she can make it and it is not just stuck in my head 😀
I have Hawaiian friends who eat rice with EVERYthing and they totally turned me on to serving chili over rice. Love it!
Thank Meaghan, I was always bought up with chili and rice either that or smothered over a baked potato but I figured rice for this as baked potato and pumpkin was not the nest idea 😉