Between chilly afternoons, football games, and cozy Sunday evenings with the family you're going to need some comfort food recipes in your back pocket! This Creamy Pumpkin Chili is so tasty, and healthy, AND done in 30 minutes.
I amped up the comfort factor and poured it over baked sweet potatoes and topped with cheese.
Pumpkin in Chili
You may think this is an odd combination, but by adding the pumpkin into this recipe you make it thick, creamy, and a bit more nutritious. It actually compliments the tomatoes and beans in flavor and texture.
Pumpkin is also a quintessential fall ingredient however it has little to no flavor on its own. So it really lends itself well as an ingredient in chili where there are tons of bold flavors.
I added a pinch of cinnamon to the chili to make it extra warming and really drive home that pumpkin flavor!
The other ingredients in this chili include crushed tomatoes, beans, ground beef, and peppers!
Dairy Free Creamy Chili
I have a couple of secret weapons when it comes to making things creamy, yet dairy free. For this Creamy pumpkin chili we are using 1/4 cup of JOI.
JOI is a creamy nut milk base that can be blended into water to create your own almond or cashew milk! However if you mix the base straight into the soup or pasta it totally replaces heavy cream or milk.
I use this trick in my Dairy Free Skinny Vodka Sauce! It's the ultimate comfort pasta dish and you'd never know it was healthy!
My other secret to creating creamy soups, chilis, and stews without milk is blending a can of white beans and then stirring it into the soup! Like in my Skinny White Chicken Chili recipe.
So you can use either trick in this soup recipe!
Stretch Your Chili Recipe Farther
Needing to serve a crowd of people for game day or just a large family weeknight dinner? Bake a few sweet potatoes and pour this creamy pumpkin chili right over!
By adding that sweet potato underneath you won't need to serve as much chili and the sweetness in the potato really adds to the experience of this pumpkin chili recipe.
Creamy Pumpkin Chili
Ingredients
- 1/2 white onion diced
- 1 bell pepper any color, diced
- 1 can white northern beans or 2 cans if you choose to use this to make the soup creamy instead of JOI
- 1 can kidney beans
- 1 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 14 oz can of chicken stock
- 1/4 cup JOI base OR extra can of white northern beans mentioned above
- 1 14 oz can pureed pumpkin
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 lb ground beef
- 3 sweet potatoes
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 3 tsp salt
- drizzle of olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Poke the sweet potatoes with a fork all over to create tiny holes. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes or until tender.
- While those cook, sauté the diced onion and peppers in olive oil for 3 minutes until the onion is translucent.
- Then add in the oregano, cumin, and cinnamon to warm them. It should start to smell really good!
- Add in the crushed tomatoes, can of chicken stock, can of pumpkin, the kidney beans and 1 can of white beans as well as 2 tsp salt and 2 tsp pepper. Stir to combine.
- While that comes to a simmer, in a separate pan brown the ground beef and add in 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp of cinnamon.
- Once that is cooked, drain and add to the chili.
- Now if you are using the JOI to make it creamy, go ahead and add that in and stir. If using an extra can of white beans, toss the beans plus the liquid into a blender and blend until smooth. Stir it into the chili.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
- If serving with the baked sweet potatoes, cut each sweet potato in half. 1/2 sweet potato per serving.
- Serve the chili over the sweet potatoes when they are finished baking.
- Enjoy!