I don’t know how it happened but my life has suddenly gotten very busy this fall — in a good way. Busy at work, a bustling social calendar, new hobbies… it’s eating up my time in a way I haven’t lived since college, but it feels pretty awesome.

As a result I of course am leaning on my no-time no-fuss eat-something-for-a-week crutch: the crock pot. This pumpkin chili is quite different than my usual version, adding tons of beans, spice, and leaving out meat altogether. The idea of canned pumpkin in a chili is the thing that drew me to this recipe more than any other (it seems to be quite en vogue this fall on the blogs) and it really does add this great layer of flavor. My friend Sara made this recipe first and lamented the lack of strong pumpkin flavor at the end so I fixed that by stirring in an extra can of pumpkin. It not only thickens the entire batch but really helps the sweet heat flavor. And since I believe stirring a tablespoon of honey into everything makes it better (and it does for this!), I went ahead and added that as well. Sweet heat is one of the best things for fall and this chili does it just right.

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Pumpkin Chili

Makes 8 hearty servings.

The list of garnishes below is optional except for sour cream – I really, really strongly recommend it. It just balances the chili perfectly so please use it!

Based on the recipe from Tasty Eats at Home.

Ingredients

• 1½ lbs dried beans of your choice (I used red kidney and great white northern beans)
• 2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes
• 2 15-oz. cans pumpkin puree
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 3 chipotle chiles in adobo, minced
• 6 cups chicken broth or stock (or veggie stock)
• 1½ cups chopped yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1½ Tbsp. ground cumin
• ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. celery salt
• 2 tsp. ground coriander
• 2 tsp. kosher salt plus more to taste
• 2 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. honey

Garnish with: Sour cream, cilantro, jack cheese, etc.

Directions

1.) Place the beans in a colander and rinse very well. Pick out any broken beans or skins you find and place beans in the slow cooker crock. Cover with water and be sure there is at least 6 inches covering the beans. Soak overnight.

2.) Once ready, drain the beans and rinse again. Place beans back in the crock pot and add diced tomatoes, 1 can of the pumpkin puree, jalapeno, chipotle, chicken broth, onion, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, celery salt, coriander, kosher salt, and chili powder. Give everything a good stir and cook on low 8-10 hours or until beans are tender. Once read, stir in remaining can of pumpkin and 1 Tbsp. honey. Taste for seasoning and heat and adjust as necessary. Serve with garnish of your choice and some good crusty bread.

(Per serving: 355 calories, 1 g fat, 22 g protein, 66 g carbs, 14 g fiber 12 g sugar)

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