A delicious and mildly spicy chili perfect for the Fall and football season. White bean pumpkin chili is an easy recipe for a tasty meal. Share it with friends and family and serve it with tortilla chips or cornbread!
Stay warm with more Fall recipes like EASY Chicken Farro Soup or Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup with Sausage.
Looking for more one-pot meals? Try our Italian Wedding Soup or Pasta Fagioli with Spinach.
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Why This Chili
This white bean pumpkin chili is definitely a change-up from your typical family chili recipe. It has all of those Fall flavors mixed with savory and spice. It's perfect to dip your chips in or to top with sour cream and cheese. As far as Fall recipes go, it rivals our Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts.
Chili is quite an unbelievable food because everyone makes "the best" chili but no one uses a recipe. This easy white bean pumpkin chili gives you an easy-to-follow recipe with a delicious but unique final product. Serve it on a Sunday during a football game with some Bourbon Candied Pecans or Spinach and Artichoke Dip with No Mayo as an appetizer.
Substitutions and Ingredient Notes
Beans. Obviously, you need white beans for this chili, but you can also add in kidney beans like we did. Or you can just double up on the white beans.
Ground beef. You can substitute ground turkey or venison for the ground beef and the recipe will be just as delicious. I use 80/20 ground beef when I make chili.
Pumpkin ale. You can substitute a regular lager or ale if you don't have a pumpkin beer on hand.
Spice. Temper the spiciness by decreasing the cayenne pepper or omitting the jalapeno.
*Please see the recipe card below for more information on ingredients.
How to Make White Bean Pumpkin Chili
Step 1: In the dutch oven on medium-high heat, place your ground beef and break it up as much as you can. Season it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder. Brown the ground beef for about 6-8 minutes or until you no longer see any pink. Drain the beef and set it aside.
Step 2: Add some olive oil to the pot. Saute the carrots, celery, and onion for about 8 minutes or until they begin to soften.
Step 3: Season with ¼ of your seasoning mix. Combine well and then add the garlic to saute for another minute.
Step 4: Add the tomato paste and allow it to caramelize for 4-5 minutes, mixing it through all the vegetables. Cooking the tomato paste before adding your liquids allows it to caramelize which will help the flavor develop a richer tomato base.
Step 5: Mix in your chicken broth, roasted tomatoes with chiles, Worcestershire, and pumpkin ale and bring it to a boil. Layer in some more of your seasonings.
Step 6: Once the chili reaches a boil, add in the cacao powder and ground beef. Stir well.
Step 7: Then stir in the red peppers, jalapeno peppers, pumpkin puree, white beans, and kidney beans.
Step 8: Return it to a simmer and cover but leave a little crack in the pot to let the steam out. This will help the chili cook down so it isn't too saucy. Simmer the chili for about 1 hour or until it reaches the desired texture.
Serve your white bean pumpkin chili along with some cornbread or tortilla chips. Keep the pumpkin theme going for the night with some Pumpkin Butter Blondies with Maple Glaze or Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Pro-Tip
- Layering your seasonings is the most important piece when it comes to making chili. It is the difference between throwing everything in a crock pot and a good chili.
- Caramelize the tomato paste before adding your liquids to the pot. This will intensify the tomato flavor and give your chili more depth.
Recipe FAQs
Make an amazing cornbread to go along with your white bean pumpkin chili.
The cacao powder helps balance out the acidity of the tomatoes and increases the savory taste of the dish.
Yes. You'll have to brown the ground beef first. Then add all your ingredients to the crockpot and cook for 4 hours on high. The recipe will come out different because you're not layering the flavors in the same way.
More Dutch Oven Recipes
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📖 Recipe
White Bean Pumpkin Chili
Equipment
- 1 dutch oven or large pot
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Ground Beef 85% fat
- 3 Medium Carrots Chopped
- 1 Medium Onion Chopped
- 3 Celery Stalks Chopped
- 5 Cloves of Garlic Minced
- 1 Red Pepper Chopped
- 1 Jalapeno Chopped
- 6 Oz Tomato Paste
- 2 14 oz Cans Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Chiles
- 1 Cup Chicken Broth
- 1 12 oz Pumpkin Brown ale
- 1 Cans White Northern Beans Rinsed
- 1 Can Kidney Beans Rinsed
- ½ Cup Pumpkin Puree
- 1 teaspoon 100% Cacao Powder
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
Chili Seasoning
- 2 teaspoon Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoon Cumin
- ½ Tsp Ground White Pepper
- 1 Tsp Cayenne pepper
- 1 Tsp Nutmeg
- 2 Tsp Cinnamon
Ground beef Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
Instructions
- Brown your ground beef in the dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add in seasonings for ground beef once you have ground all the beef in the pot and it is starting to brown. Mix in until combined. Remove ground beef from pot an set aside
- Combine the chili seasonings in a bowl.
- In a large pot, heat up olive oil on medium-high heat. Sauté your carrots, onions, and celery until they begin to soften, stirring often. Layer in a quarter of your chili seasoning.
- Once softened, add in your minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Now add in your tomato paste. Allow it to cook for 5 minutes and combine well with vegetables.
- Next, mix in your pumpkin ale, chicken broth, fire-roasted tomatoes, and more seasoning,
- Once boiling, add in your red pepper, jalapenos, and ground beef. Then stir in your pumpkin puree, Worcestershire, cacao powder, and beans. Stir in the remaining seasoning.
- Return the pot to a simmer and cover leaving an opening for steam to escape. simmer for 1 hour or until it reaches the desired texture.
Notes
- Layer in the seasoning throughout the cooking process for the best results.
- Cooking your tomato paste like this brings out a richer flavor and it is highly recommended to add it in the way described to have a deeper and richer flavor.
Vinny
This is such a uniquely flavored chili and I hope you find it as delicious as we do!