This vegetarian pumpkin chili is filled with flavor, texture, and just enough spice. (It’s actually vegan and gluten free, too!) Combining easy canned ingredients with a few fresh components, this quick one pan meal will warm you up during colder months. Meat eaters, myself included, enjoy it too!
I’m not a professional cook and I’m not vegetarian. But I’m REALLY good at pumpkin recipes and can say with 100% certainty that this pumpkin chili is absolute dynamite. My assistant, Hilari, doesn’t eat meat and loved it. And my husband, who does eat meat (but doesn’t really like pumpkin) had seconds.
This meatless chili is one of the best dinners I’ve made all year. Regardless of how you eat (vegetarian, vegan, meat, pumpkin, non-pumpkin, spicy, non-spicy), I’m confident you’ll enjoy this one pot meal. It joins my list of 30 delicious fall dinner recipes—and for good reason!
This is an everything-into-1-pot chili. There’s wiggle room with the ingredients, which I discuss below, but I recommend sticking to the base of this recipe including the delicious spices, herbs, and other key ingredients. This is excellent served with biscuits, ham and cheese scones, brown butter sage dinner rolls, asiago-crusted skillet bread, or whole wheat dinner rolls.
Key Ingredients in Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili
- Onion & Garlic: This duo creates a flavorful base for the pumpkin chili.
- Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, Cumin, & Chili Powder: You can play around with the amounts, but don’t be afraid to use a lot of each. This is a big batch of chili. And pumpkin, a main ingredient, is pretty bland without a lot of added flavorings. For best taste, stick with the amounts I recommend below.
- Cinnamon (I forgot it in the picture!): Where there’s pumpkin, there must be a pumpkin spice. Even though this is a savory pumpkin recipe, cinnamon is most welcome. Cinnamon is actually pretty common in chili recipes.
- Vegetable Broth: If you’re not vegetarian, you can use chicken or beef broth instead.
- Diced Tomatoes: I ended up using 3 (14 ounce) cans of diced tomatoes. The juicy bursts of tomato pair wonderfully with the beans, pumpkin, and bold flavors. Do not drain the canned diced tomatoes before adding.
- Pumpkin: I recommend using canned pumpkin puree over homemade in this recipe, though 2 cups of homemade would be fine.
Swap Your Add-Ins
I had a lot of fun testing this recipe because there are SO many add-ins to play with. Instead of pinto beans, feel free to use chick peas. In place of kidney beans, use more black beans. Instead of sweet potato, use butternut squash. If you only have 1 bell pepper, that’s cool! As long as you stick with the base of this chili including the spices, onion, garlic, broth, pumpkin, and diced tomatoes—you can really play around with the extras.
How Spicy Is This?
The vegetarian pumpkin chili as written is mildly spicy. In fact, as I ate my first bowl, I added another pinch of chili powder. (And I can’t tolerate super spicy food!) Feel free to adjust the chili powder based on your spice tolerance and you can leave out the jalapeño if desired. If removing some spice, however, keep in mind that some flavor will be lost. You can add a little more cumin, garlic, or onion powder in its place.
(This is Le Creuset Dutch Oven in the pretty Berry color and the orange pumpkin bowl above is from Pier 1!)
How to Make Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili
Put everything in the pot and cook it. It’s that easy. But if we’re getting technical here, sauté the onion and peppers first, then add the rest of the ingredients. Cook for about 30 minutes.
Slow Cooker Instructions: Place all of the ingredients in a 5 quart or larger slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Does this work in an Instant Pot? I don’t know, I don’t own one! Let me know if you try it.
If you eat meat, you’ll love my slow cooker chicken chili, sweet potato turkey chili, and cornbread chili casserole too!
More Meatless Dinner Recipes
And this sweet potato casserole is a favorite meatless side dish. Simple to prepare and an annual favorite on my Thanksgiving table—although we don’t limit it to the holidays!
Print
Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: serves 10-12 (1 heaping cup serving)
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Combining easy canned ingredients with a few fresh components, this vegetarian pumpkin chili is an easy and convenient one pan meal that will warm you up during colder months. Feel free to make substitutions based on what you enjoy.
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) olive oil
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion (1/2 of a large onion)
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 small jalapeño, minced (remove seeds and ribs)*
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 cups (480ml) vegetable broth
- 3 (14 ounce) cans petite diced tomatoes, do not drain
- 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed*
- 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed*
- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree*
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced (about 1 heaping cup)*
- optional: 1/2 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed*
Optional For Serving:
- chopped cilantro
- chopped red onion
- sliced avocado
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a 5 quart (or larger) pot or dutch oven. Add the onion, bell peppers, and jalapeño. Stir and cook for 5 minutes as the onion softens. Add garlic, salt, black pepper, cumin, chili powder, and onion powder. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients including black beans, if using.
- Place the lid on top, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Serve with any optional toppings. I strongly suggest cilantro for a little fresh kick. Yum!
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Chili freezes wonderfully for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then heat in a large pot on medium heat for 20-30 minutes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Large Pot or Dutch Oven (5 quarts or larger) | Wooden Spoon
- Spiciness: This chili, as written, is mildly spicy. Feel free to adjust the chili powder based on your spice tolerance. You can leave out the jalapeño if desired. If removing some spice, however, keep in mind that some flavor will be lost. You can add a little more cumin, garlic, or onion powder in its place.
- Beans: You can use any beans you enjoy. I found the textures of pinto, kidney, and black beans perfect for this chili. You can use light or dark kidney beans, whichever you prefer. I added 1/2 of a can of black beans at the last minute. They’re optional, but very tasty in this dish. Chick peas would be great here, so feel free to make a swap.
- Pumpkin: I recommend using canned pumpkin puree over homemade in this recipe, though 2 cups of homemade would be fine in a pinch.
- Sweet Potato: Feel free to substitute peeled and diced butternut squash.
- Slow Cooker Instructions: Place all of the ingredients in a 5 quart or larger slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Hi Sally,
I did use my IP to make this. I used the sauté function and followed step 1. Then I added all remaining ingredients omitting the beans. Set to manual for 10 minutes and then did a quick release. I then added the beans and brought to a boil again on sauté function. I didn’t want the canned beans to disintegrate into the chili.
Anyway it’s a great recipe, I love the canned pumpkin in there, especially since this time of year I open a can and use 1/2c-1cup for a recipe. This is a great way to use up the rest!
Hi Tara! Thanks for your tip on how you made this with the IP. It helped a lot!
This chili is fabulous
I made this the night before a camping trip. It was easy to pack up and reheat over the fire. Perfect for a crisp fall night under the stars!
I added extra sweet potatoes for more heartiness, and an extra can of beans, so I had to add in an extra cup of broth to it. Everyone loved it. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Made this the other day and turned out great! Doubled the recipe, have plenty left over to freeze for the cold fall/winter days!
I am excited to try this! I just had a question, can you double this recipe or would you recommend making it in two seperate batches? Thanks!
Hi Madison, As long as your pot is large enough you should be able to double this recipe. Enjoy!
Love this recipe! I opted for upping the spices a bit and it is delicious. I look forward to making it again and adding roasted zucchini and mushrooms.
Terrific combination of flavors, chili made lighter by the pumpkin and cinnamon flavors.
Just have to comment as I’ve finally gotten round to make this…must be because of all those canned goods I stocked thanks to . Lol!
Anyway, it’s super tasty and pairs really well with that delicious cornbread recipe of yours! 😉
I know your blog is about baking, but your savoury recipes are standouts!
Hi! I made this yesterday, so delicious! When I first saw the recipe I wondered if I could half it/ scale it down successfully and yes it’s so forgiving – I used my leftover 200g pumpkin purée, added some soy Protein mince, a full can of: cannellini beans, black beans and tomatoes and then all the other ingredients. It isn’t very spicy but easy to increase or decrease the heat level. Thank you Sally, I’ll be making some more once my freezer portions are depleted!
The kitchen smelled wonderful as this was cooking. You could smell the fall spices, but I didn’t taste pumpkin in the chili. A great cold weather meal!
Hi Sally! I made this chili for dinner! Amazing recipe, kids approved… thank you for your great recipes!
Veronica from Italy
This recipe was delicious!!! Such great flavors and so much fiber and veggies!! Looking forward to making it again already. Thanks Sally!!
I made this yesterday and all I can say is WOW ! Delicious ! We ate all of it but one small serving ! I didn’t have green bell pepper, so I substituted poblano pepper and instead of black beans ( I was out of them also) I substituted a bag of frozen corn. It was perfect ! Thank you for such great recipes !
OMG OMG OMG…SO I HAVE GONE PUMPKIN CRAZY…AND WHEN I SAW THIS…I THOUGHT I HAVE GOT TO TRY IT FOR HALLOWEEN NIGHT DINNER. I had sceptics at work when we talked about ingredients….minus the meat…I made it a day ahead of time to taste before my guests tasted on hallloween…Well…last night was the “big reveal”….EVERYONE I MEAN EVERYONE LOVED IT…..THIS IS FABULOUS AND SO HEARTY..I DID add more chili powder and cumin and salt..but other than that it was fabulous…sally…you are amazing!!!! have never tried a recipe of yours I have not loved….try this recipe…you will love it!
This is so delicious! I made it for a Halloween party for teen girls. Even though only one girl was a vegetarian, they all ate it and loved it! Thank you Sally!
I made this for dinner earlier this week. It was excellent and made enough to freeze some for a future meal. The only ingredient I did not have on hand was the jalapeño pepper so I used a small can of tomatoes containing green chilis and it added enough heat to the taste.
So easy to make and so tasty AND my 8 year old likes it too!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was delicious! We do not like pinto beans so I just used a whole can of black beans. I am excited for leftovers for lunch the next couple days.
I made this last Monday, it was so delicious! My 14 year-old son made it all by himself when I was at a meeting on Friday. We love it, it replaces our recipe that used Velveeta, which I don’t buy anymore.
This chili was so good. I made it in my slow cooker yesterday morning and we smelled it all day as we watched football! I had mine with a drop of sour cream and hubby had his with crackers. I never told him that it was vegetarian and he never missed it! It was thick, spicy and full of flavor! Looking forward to making this for my kids when they are home for the holidays! It will be so nice to have a dish we can all enjoy!
This was great! Could really taste the pumpkin. I added an extra teaspoon of chili powder and increased the sweet potato and black beans, but followed the recipe other than that. Thanks Sally!
This was wonderful! Such great flavor. Hearty and savory and a tiny bit spicy… will definitely be making this again!
I made this chili today for my mom. She is 87 and a vegetarian. I ”tweaked” it some. Here in Louisiana we like things spicy. She loved it and so did the rest of us non vegetarians.
Made this last night and it will definitely be part of our fall and winter rotation! Packed with veggies and flavor–you don’t really taste the pumpkin which helped for the kids, and my chili-loving fiancee was in heaven. The house smelled delicious and we served with cheese and cornbread. Filling and hearty and healthy–amazing.
This recipe was fantastic! Thanks for posting such a flavorful and filling vegetarian chili recipe! It was a hit with all (including kiddos) and will be in heavy rotation in our household!
Your recipes have never let me down since I started making your chocolate chip cookie recipe years ago!! Thanks!
Really enjoyed this …thanks sally!
actually its my favorite dish!
i never miss when my wife make the same dish for us.
thank you dear for sharing recipe details in good way.
I immediately went out and bought all of the ingredients for this and made it to prep my lunches for the week. LOVE it! Super easy and tasty.
I realize the point of this recipe is that it’s vegetarian, but I wonder how it would taste with the inclusion of browned ground turkey meat.
Would be excellent! You can brown the ground meat in the large pot before adding the rest of the ingredients.
Thank you for another great recipe- this turned out great, quite possibly the best chili I have ever made. So easy and so healthy.
Is a 5 qt dutch oven standard for most recipes or do you recommend a larger size… how large? I want to purchase Le Creuset dutch oven but want to buy the best size…Thank you.
Hi Brenda, I use my 5 at dutch oven for so many recipes. Soups, stews, chilis, no-knead bread, big batches of sauces, etc. It’s one of their most standard sizes.