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This slow cooker pumpkin chili is packed full of pumpkin puree, spicy Italian sausage, and lots of beans and vegetables. This hearty soup is perfect for cold winter nights.
Sometimes I go to write a post and my brain goes blank.
Should I just talk about the dish? Should I talk about my day? Should I make up some totally amazing story just because I have nothing to write about?
I just tried asking my husband what to write about and he responded with this “The peanut. It’s neither a pea nor a nut.”
Well, that was helpful. Thanks.
I guess today we will go with talking about the dish.
I hope you’re not sick of pumpkin just yet because if you were it would be awkward to explain that this dish does, in fact, contain pumpkin.
I know it might sound odd to add pureed pumpkin to your chili but I swear it’s delicious! It brings a nice punch of nutrients and squashy flavor.
Squashy flavor. That’s a thing…right?
Instead of your typical beef chili, I opted to instead use spicy Italian sausage. Mostly because I love sausage but also because I love the spiciness.
If you’re not a fan of heat you could easily use sweet Italian sausage or any other (non-breakfast style) flavored sausage.
Oh, and if you want it more spicy load this baby up with as much heat as you crave. I may or may not have drizzled my bowl with a little sriracha.
Oh, and this delicious slow cooker pumpkin chili is made in the slow cooker. Hello, easy!
More chili recipes
- Craving an easy and fast chili? Try my Instant Pot Ground Chicken Chili.
- Want your chili and cornbread all in one? Try my Buttermilk Cornbread Topped Chili.
- Need a little spice in your life? Try my Chipotle Ground Turkey Chili.
- Is slow cooking your thing? Try my Slow Cooker Beef Chorizo Taco Chili.
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chili
Ingredients
- 1 pound spicy Italian sausage
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15 ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- 1 14.5 ounce diced tomatoes with chiles
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- Shredded cheese, for topping
- Chopped cilantro, for topping
- Corn chips, for topping
Instructions
- Remove sausage from its casing and brown in a skillet over medium heat.
- Add browned sausage to a 6-quart slow cooker with onion, bell peppers, garlic, black beans, kidney beans, pumpkin puree, diced tomatoes, beef stock, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, allspice, chipotle chile powder, and salt.
- Stir to combine and cook on high for 4 hours and low for 6-8 hours.
- If desired, serve with a sprinkling of cheese, cilantro, and corn chips.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delish soup and gorgeous photos…I’m ready to nose dive into this chili!!
Say nothing. Nothing! This chili truly speaks for itself. And it’s a slow cooker recipe, so I’m totally down with it.
Can’t get enough chili! Love this and love your frito topping 😉
I try to ask the.boy what to write about all the time and he is totally useless! He really thinks the weather or football are reasonable topics of blog conversation.
I don’t think I could ever tire of pumpkin, so I’m right there with you with this chili!
I love this! Beautiful chili and love the addition of pumpkin!
This may be a silly question…. But after you cook the sausage, do you need to slice it? Or does removing it from its casing make it crumble while you cook? Clearly I rarely cook with sausage haha
Hi Chelsea, Not a silly question at all! Yes, when you remove the casing and saute you should break it down as though you were browning ground beef. Just break it up with your spatula as it cooks. No need to slice 🙂 Hope you enjoy the chili!
This recipe is fantastic! I tried pumpkin chili once before (different recipe) and was not impressed, but the spicy sausage combined with this being a crockpot meal prompted me to try it again… and I’m so glad I did. I followed this recipe to the T and everyone loved it. Perfect fall recipe, thank you for sharing!
Hi Jillian! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know you enjoyed the recipe! This recipe is a big time favorite around my house and I’m so glad everyone loved it in your house too. Happy fall!
A very nice recipe, thank you, I just saw this on a recent foodiecrush post featuring notable chili recipes and I see why this was included, even thought this was published in 2014 I still haven’t seen pumpkin chili recipes, so very nice and great flavor for a slow cooker!
Does it need to be cooked for 4 hours on high and 6-8 hours on low, for a total time of 10-12 hours? Or can it be one or the other?
I have a question- can you cook this on the stove top? If so, what time should you let it simmer.
Thanks!
Hi Lauren! Yes, you can totally give this a good simmer on the stove. I would say for full flavor give it at least 4 hours on medium low heat.