This Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chili is so easy to make, and the perfect way to warm up on a cold day. No one will ever guess your secret ingredient is pumpkin!
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chili
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I know what you’re thinking… Pumpkin? In chili? It does sound a little strange… It adds some richness to the chili flavor, without a lot of pumpkiny flavor. And, by the way, it’s an extra vegetable!
I adapted this recipe a little from one I found in “Slow Cooking All Year ‘Round” by Gooseberry Patch.
This chili has a little bit of heat to it. I’m not usually a fan of spicy foods, but a little sour cream mixed into my bowl cut the heat, and the flavor was delicious. If you want your chili a little less spicy, you can use diced tomatoes without chilis (or use one can with chilis and one can without).
There is also a little bit of cumin in this recipe. Cumin is a little bit of an acquired taste, and not everyone is crazy about it. It goes with the pumpkin flavor really well. But if you aren’t sure about it, you don’t like it, or you just plain don’t have any, you can leave it out.
For chili recipes, I usually pick a ground beef that has a little higher fat percentage. This means I’ll drain the ground beef before I add it to the slow cooker. And it also means that the ground beef won’t crumble into teeny-tiny pieces. The ground beef stays in bite-size pieces, even when it cooks for a few hours in the slow cooker.
Enjoy!
Free Printable Ground Beef Buyer’s Guide
Have you ever gotten confused at the grocery store when you’re trying to pick out ground beef for tonight’s dinner? We can help! This Ground Beef Buyer’s Guide has everything you need to know about buying ground beef, plus you can download a free printable cheat sheet to keep handy in your kitchen or your purse!
Tools for Cooking with Ground Beef
Every kitchen needs a few basic tools… These are ones that I use all the time when I’m cooking with ground beef!
- 5-Quart Saute Pan
- Mix and Chop
- 6-Quart Slow Cooker
- Instant-Read Digital Thermometer
- Probe-Style Digital Thermometer
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Printable Recipe Card for Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chili
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chili
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2, 10- ounce cans diced tomatoes with chilis
- 2-15 ounce cans black beans drained and rinsed
- 15- ounce can pumpkin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1-1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chicken broth
- Optional for toppings: sour cream, shredded cheese, sliced green onion, chopped tomato, crackers, or cornbread
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add onion and garlic, cook until onion is translucent. Transfer onion mixture to a 6-quart slow cooker.
- In the same skillet, brown the ground beef. Drain if needed, and transfer cooked beef to your slow cooker.
- Stir in tomatoes with juice, beans (drained and rinsed), pumpkin, chili powder, dried parsley, dried oregano, cumin, paprika, salt, and chicken broth. Mix well to combine.
- Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
- Serve individual servings with favorite chili toppings.
I had pumpkin chili for the first time this past fall. It was delish! And you are so right, if you don’t know it’s pumpkin you probably won’t even notice it’s in there!