Pumpkin Chili Recipe To Feed Your Big Family


Ahhh autumn.  Pumpkin decorations, pumpkin spice and pumpkin chili! This family favorite recipe has become my go to Wednesday night crowd pleaser. I can prepare it easily the night before by chucking everything into the crockpot then simply turn it on in the morning.  This is a budget friendly, versatile, gluten & dairy free recipe that feeds 10-12 easily. Adding pumpkin is a simple way to add more bulk to this tasty home cooked meal which feeds more mouths while keeping it budget friendly.

If you decorate your home or porch with some pretty pumpkins in the fall, consider re-purposing them into a delicious, versatile ingredient that you can add to this chili recipe and others such as pumpkin pie loaf, crustless pumpkin pie or pumpkin muffins. You could buy store bought pumpkin puree or, if you are feeling industrious, budget conscious or creative consider making your own. It’s simple, fun to do with the kids or on your own and pays off handsomely. Here’s how I do it:

Once the squirrels start to nibble on my decorative porch pumpkins or the weather is about to freeze, I bring them inside and let them hit room temperature (unless you enjoy sticking your hands in cold, wet, slippery pumpkin guts), then open them up.  Scrape out the seeds (and roast those yummy nutritious seeds if you are so inclined), cut the pumpkin into pieces approximately 6 x 6 inches, spray them with some baking oil, arrange them higgledy-piggledy (yes, I said higgledy-piggledy) on a cookie sheet and poke them a few times with a fork. Roast them at 375 Celcius for one hour or until a fork poked through them goes through without resistance. Let them cool then scrape the roasted pumpkin pulp into a large bowl. To get puree quality I run the pumpkin through my food processor to get it nice and smooth. It makes a lovely baby food you can freeze in ice cube trays. I save it in cottage cheese containers that hold about 2 cups easily.  You can use freezer bags as they freeze & stack nicely, but I prefer containers with lids that I re-use over again for stock, cooked beans and the rare leftovers. 

Follow the recipe on my recipe card below and make yourself this super fun and easy chili. Another time saver trick is to use a bulk spice instead of opening and closing (and then re-filling!) all those little spice bottles. Once every few months, I use this recipe to mix a 1L glass jar of Chili Spice Mix that I can sprinkle liberally into my crockpot and adjust to the heat we like.

If you do happen to have enough leftovers (we rarely do in our big family with eleven children!) you can save some for chili dogs the next day and get two meals out of one. Another fun variation is Volcano Potatoes when you only have a moderate amount of chili leftover. Bake or microwave potatoes for your crew, slice them in half then serve a scoop of chili on top. Your family can add their own toppings such as sour cream, grated cheese, green onions or hot sauce and enjoy the fun DIY big family meal.  

I’d love to hear if you try this Pumpkin Chili recipe  in your own big family home and how you enjoyed it! Feel free to join my Big Family Mom community here or if you’re already in there, share a fun post with a pic (love to see those smiles!) 

 

Pumpkin Chili

Delightful big family chili that saves times & money.

  • Crockpot
  • 1 large onion or 2 TB dried minced onion
  • 1 680mL can tomato sauce
  • 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 1 pound ground beef or pork
  • 1 19 oz can kidney or black beans
  • 1-2 c pumpkin puree
  • ½ c frozen corn
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ¾ tsp pink Himalayan salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ tsp crushed chili pepper flakes

Optional extras

  • zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, different beans

SHORT DIRECTIONS

  1. Brown the meat, dice the onion, throw it all a 8 quart crockpot for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Done!

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Brown your meat in a frying pan making sure to break it up so it's crumbly. Drain the fat then add to the crockpot.
  2. Dice the onion and add to crockpot.
  3. Add all other ingredients to your crockpot. Keep it under 1 inch from the top to avoid bubbling over.
  4. Turn on low for 8 hours or high for 4.
  5. Serve into bowls with optional side of rice, corn cake, bread. Nice toppings can be grated cheese, sour cream or greek yogurt, hot sauce, green onions or just enjoy it plain!

TIME SAVER TIPS

  1. Prep this the night before and refrigerate
  2. Use 2-3 TB Chili Spice Mix (see blog post for a handy link) to save time opening and closing all the spice bottles.

 

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