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Break out your soup pot, because you’ll want to make a batch of this delicious, hearty meatless vegetarian pumpkin chili recipe today!
Hearty Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili Recipe
Hearty Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili RecipePacked with vegetables, beans, pumpkin puree, beans and tons of flavor, then served with cheese, tortillas, avocado and all the yummy toppings. More of my favorite Fall hearty chili recipes you make like Turkey Pumpkin Chili, No Bean Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili, Buffalo Chicken and Bean Chili, Turkey Chili Taco Soup and Turkey Chili Stuffed Acorn Squash.
This recipe makes a lot, perfect for two nights. Leftovers freeze and reheat well, perfect for packing lunch for work.
There’s lots of spices and vegetables in this hearty chili, but trust me I wouldn’t change a thing. Prep all your ingredients before you start cooking, then once you sauté all your vegetables the rest of the time it’s pretty hands off while it simmers.
To Freeze Leftover Pumpkin Chili
Let the chili cool completely then refrigerate 4 to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat frozen chili, transfer to the refrigerator the night before.
More Chili Recipes
Hearty Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili
Break out your soup pot, you'll want to make a batch of this delicious, hearty meatless vegetarian pumpkin chili today! Packed with vegetables, beans, pumpkin puree, beans and tons of flavor, then served with cheese, tortillas, avocado and all the yummy toppings.
Yield: 10 servings
Serving Size: 1 cup plus toppings*
Ingredients
- For seasoning mix:
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoons ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- For chili:
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely minced
- 1 jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed, minced
- 2 medium carrots, diced into ½-inch cubes
- 4 large Portobello mushrooms, stemmed, wiped clean and cubed
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 1 28-ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 15-ounce can pureed pumpkin
- 1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups unsalted vegetable stock
- For toppings:
- 1 extra-large or 2 small avocado, cubed
- 5 green onions, sliced
- 10 tablespoons reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
- 5 tablespoons light sour cream
- 2 ounces baked tortilla chips, crushed
- chopped cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine everything in the seasoning mix. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and jalapeño and sauté until vegetables are soft, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the carrots and mushrooms and cook until carrots start to brown and mushrooms release some of their liquid, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes.
- Add the seasoning mix and stir to evenly coat.
- Add the corn, tomatoes, pumpkin, beans and stock and mix well.
- Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 45 to 50 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When carrots are fork tender, remove from heat, serve 1 cup of chili and top with desired toppings.
Last Step:
Please leave a rating and comment letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business to thrive and continue providing free, high-quality recipes for you.Nutrition
Serving: 1 cup plus toppings*, Calories: 232 kcal, Carbohydrates: 35 g, Protein: 7 g, Fat: 7 g, Cholesterol: 19 mg, Sodium: 674 mg, Fiber: 9 g, Sugar: 8 g
Categories:
*Nutrition info for toppings includes ½ a green onion, 1 ounce avocado, 1 tablespoon cheese, ½ tablespoon sour cream and 1 tablespoon crushed tortilla chips (per serving).
I’ve made this several times over the years, it’s a personal favorite of mine. Filling yet light. I’ve made minimal adjustments to the recipe as written; I double the spices for a bit more kick and flavor. In the latest round I just made, I sped up the cook time by omitting the carrots and it was still great! {let simmer about 25 min}
Other tips: add spcies and coat, then add corn and toss and let sautee about 1-2 min, then do the same with the black beans, then again with tomatoes, then again with pumpkin before mixing in broth – helps deepen the flavors.
I prefer it with only the green onion and cheddar (my 2 faves).
Just made this today for tomorrow’s dinner (Mondays are busy)! It tastes delicious… cannot wait to serve this healthy meal to my family! Thank you!!!
I want to preface this by saying I own all of Gina’s cookbooks and have followed this blog religiously for many years. I absolutely love most of her recipes and use at least one every week. I don’t think I’ve ever left a negative review … but y’all … I do not understand these high ratings for this soup. It is one of the most unpalatable things I have ever made. I may try tomato base and remove the pumpkin spices, I won’t ever make it again with pumpkin. 🤢
I made this exactly as written. It was delicious. I do not recommend making it in an enameled cast iron Dutch oven. The initial mixture of onions, ginger, garlic, jalapeño left a brown burnt film in bottom. I switched to nonstick pot and rest of it cooked up fine. The cinnamon and clove taste was interesting with the hot jalapeño. Excellent recipe.
I’m getting ready to make this. I don’t have portobello mushrooms. Any other suggestions for replacement?
Tihs was AMAZING! I cooked this recipe for the first time for my hostel mates for our supper club. As a frequent utilizer of Gina’s recipes I knew it would be good but WOW. I doubled the recipe as called and added a few more spices; i usually add about 1.5X the normal amount. All of the guys went back for seconds and a few had me forward them the recipe. What was for 20 served about 13 as we crushed it! I found all of the ingredients in my local german supermarkets in Berlin – Rewe and Lidl.
Thank you Gina!!!!!
This is my favorite chili recipe. I love the portabella and pumpkin together. The seasonings are delicious.
This was a great recipe! We are changing our diets to plant based with 3 children under 10 and this was a hit! Everyone even asked for seconds! I did half the ginger and garlic along with left out the jalapeño due to the spice! Definitely a keeper!
I’m not going to lie, I was very leery about the spice mixture in this recipe, as it isn’t what I would typically do for something like this at all. My 16 year old son kept smelling it while it was cooking, and said he wanted to try it. I didn’t change anything in the spices for this recipe, and I’m pleased to say, these flavors are spot on!!! Even my 16 year old son raved about it. He kept thanking me for such an awesome dinner! Thank you Gina!!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This was amazing! It’s the perfect fall recipe!
This is one of my favorite recipes. So, so good.
I modified this a bit based on what I had available but man the seasonings are perfect! Thanks Gina! Another favorite!
This is so good! My 4 year old gobbled it up. I added a little cumin and smoked paprika as well as some extra chili powder. I had some dried chanterelle mushrooms on hand which added a nice flavor and texture. The blend of sweet, spicy, and smoky was amazing. Thank you for posting this. I’m not vegetarian but have been trying to cook more vegetarian dishes, and this one is truly satisfying
Just made this for dinner. It was utterly fantastic. Didn’t have any cayenne so I added an extra jalapeno. Delicious. You certainly don’t miss meat. Will definately make it again.
Wow! I made this recipe exactly as written and it was sooooo delicious! I wasn’t sure how it would all come together but it was amazing. Definitely will be making this again in the future.
I made this for dinner tonight and my family loved it! Thank you!
Made this tonight with three smaller portobellos and about a cup of diced leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, tastes great! The pumpkin makes it very thick but it’s hearty and tastes great!
Oh so good! Never would have thought spicy with pumpkin sweetness and the savory toppings would go together so wonderfully! I found it a bit spicy, but my kids didn’t think so – though they had more cheese and sour cream on theirs 😉
Another keeper, whole family approved. Very easy, soooo many fresh veggies, I think these recipes are protecting us from the seasonal viruses!
Fantastic recipe and very adaptable! days before thanksgiving, the supermarket had no pumpkin puree so I substituted with butternut squash (in pieces). We don’t have cayenne pepper at home so we added chipotle powder. We loved every piece of it and will definitely make again!!
This is delicious! I added just a little cumin because I like the extra smokiness, and used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. My husband and I both loved it!
I’m guessing the oil needs to be added to the heating/hot pot before the vegetables, in step 2 or 3? The oil isn’t addressed anywhere in the directions.
Yes! Thank you, just corrected this.
I know this is an old post but I really need to know how to change it for the crockpot? Thanks
I kind of did crockpot today – I started it in a pan to sautee everything last night and refrigerated it overnight. Today I moved it to crockpot for 4 hrs on high. Based on the results, I’d say you could just do the whole thing in the crockpot without any change in results.
This was really delicious!! Love the added thickness from the pumpkin. Thanks Gina!
I made this today as it looked amazing. I have been cooking a lot of vegetarian and vegan foods since I am vegetarian and now my 1 son is as well. I freeze food for both my sons as they like home food, I am always looking for healthy recipes I can freeze. This turned out fantastic with just a couple of minor modifications. I used small green chilis rather than jalapenos as I did not have the jalapeno. I also added more veg broth and some quinoa. Cant wait to have for dinner tonight.
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I made this tonight for a ladies’ night potluck. It was a big hit! Great flavours with just enough heat. My husband loved it too. It reminded him of a traditional Greek bean dish that his mother makes.
I made this in my Instant Pot. This is definitely a “do over” recipe.
This soup was so delicious! I am eating a leftover bowl for lunch. It is so hearty and filling, you definitely don’t miss the meat. Great recipe!
My family LOVES this recipe! Just curious how long leftovers will keep in the fridge? Thanks for the help!
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Hi Gina,
Would you have a salad recommendation to go with this soup? It looks wonderful!
Is there an Instant Pot version? Thank you!
I made this tonight in the instant pot. I sautéed all the ingredients as instructed using then put it on manual for 10 minutes. Came out great!
Delicious!!! Can’t tell there is mushrooms in this!!
Pressure Cooker version? Just saute veggies in pot then simmer for half the time, you think?
Hi Gina, do you know what the calories are for 1 cup without the toppings? Thanks!
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What a great recipe. Made this last night even though I’m not usually a fan of ginger, cloves, cinnamon in my entrees. But I’ve really enjoyed every Skinnytaste recipe I’ve tried so far, so I gave it a go. Also made your corn casserole with a Trader Joe’s GF mix. My dinner guests loved it – and I did too. Was great to have a hearty vegetarian, GF meal that was so good. Really great flavor. I loved it with the toppings, my husband thought the chili itself was so good that he didn’t want to dilute it with the other flavors. Thanks so much for all the work you put into your recipes. I really love that I can always count on them to come out so well and appeal to all sorts of eaters (all while watching my smartpoints!)
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!
There was an odd flavor that I couldn’t quite identify that I wasn’t a huge fan of… I’m thinking it was the fire-roasted tomatoes, since I have never used these before.
Next time, I will probably use regular diced tomatoes.
Other than that, I thought it was really delicious! I also added some cavatelli noodles to make it even heartier, but of course, that adds to the points value if you are following WW.
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Was wondering what the crockpot version would be or if it would work in the crockpot?
Hi:
If I wanted to add in some turkey meat, how would I go about that? At which part?
Brown it first, set it aside and add it with the liquid.
Wonderful!! I will definitely make this again! Love the layers of flavor and the pumpkin was a nice flavor (not overpowering).
Has anyone tried this in a crock pot? Aside from the adding liquid comment below, any other suggestions? Considering making Wednesday morning on the stove and leaving in the crock pot on warm to bring to a dinner that night.
Did you ever make it in a crockpot?
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I am new to your site and this is the second time I am following your recipe. This one is just delicious! Thank you!
Hi Gina, I see this in the Freezer Friendly category. Do you recommend freezing the uncooked ingredients or the cooked chili?
Thanks
Cooked.
Thank you Gina for another awesome recipe! This chili is so tasty and I loved the spicy kick it gave. To cool the spiciness just a tad, I topped it with a teaspoon of light sour cream and a little shredded mozzarella. I also used salted vegetable stock. A perfect comfort food for a cold January day.
Wow! We made this for dinner last night! It was DELICIOUS! The spices were so unexpected. It was comforting and rich, without feeling heavy. This will be a repeat in my house. Thank you, Gina!
Made this tonight – wow is it delicious! The pumpkin adds richness along with the mushrooms. It was a little spicy (I like that), but if you didn't you could leave out the cayenne and maybe use half the jalapeño.
There does not appear to be a saturated fat count to calculate smart points. When I put in fat, and the same # for saturated fat, it comes out to 9 SP. Is there no saturated fat???
I know this comment is super old but I thought I’d reply anyway. You can’t calculate the SP value of a recipe using the calculator because the nutritional values include all the vegetables. WW doesn’t count the points for “free” vegetables in recipes, it only looks at the foods worth points, so you have to put it in the recipe builder. I did this to see the SP value without toppings and I believe it is 2SP per cup 🙂 because the only things in the recipe with points are the beans, corn, and oil if you use any to saute your vegetables.
I want to try this WITH meat and without corn…to make it paleo 🙂 I'll let you know how it comes out! Maybe I'll sub potatoes and ground turkey. Thanks Gina!!
How did this work out? I want to try with meat… 😉
Sorry, but I made this and did not care for it….just didn't have That 'chili' taste.
Just made this…didn't have black beans but used navy…..its great…..i love the texture of the pumpkin…..thanks….
This was wonderful! I have had a different version of pumpkin chili and this particular recipe is my favorite. Love it. I didn't buy enough ginger so only used one TBS but I don't think it as a problem.
I made this for my work potluck and everyone loved it! It's different from your usual chili, but in a good way. The two vegetarians who tried it were especially pleased. They said they've had a lot of veggie chili in their lives, so they were pleasantly surprised that it was a little bit different and delicious! Thank you!
Looking forward to making this tonight! headed to the grocery store now!
Hi Gina, I'm a big fan! Last night I made this pumpkin chili and think it's great, except that the chili powder was overpowering. Are you sure it's 1 tablespoon? We like spicy food, so it's not that it was too hot, but too strong. Maybe it was the medium-hot chili powder blend we use? (It's from a high-quality, boutique store, the Geneva Spice House.) I just want to check with you before we share your delicious recipe. Thanks!
BTW, to tone down the chili powder, we steamed some sweet potato chunks and added. Seemed to really help.
Next time you make it start with 1t and add to taste, glad you liked it!
This was dinner tonight. I wondered about the spice mixture, but it worked beautifully. Exceptional chili. Thanks for another great recipe.
We made this last night, and it was awesome! I was curious how my meat-loving husband would receive it, but he enthusiastically went for seconds and was looking forward to having it for lunch today. I didn't have fire-roasted tomatoes (just regular), but I didn't feel like it was missing the them. Had a nice kick to it, but not too much for my wimpy taste bugs. Tortilla chips on top totally made it. Will save this one!
I just made this and it is marvelous!
Initially, I tried the recipe exactly as stated and I thought the flavor was a little one note. I added some heat using my favorite habenero hot sauce (Torchy's Diablo sauce from Austin, TX), which added greater depth of flavor and more heat (which I thought it really needed… it is chili after all!). I thought, in general, it was underseasoned as well. So I salted and peppered to my taste. I'm looking forward to having it tomorrow night, after the flavors have melded a bit more. I think I'll squeeze a bit of lime in to add another dimension of flavor.
This was amazing! Trader Joe's makes pumpkin tortilla chips which made this chili even better! My family is afraid we are going to turn orange with all the pumpkin we've been eating! Thanks for keeping meal planning fun and healthy!
Hi Gina – this looks so great! I love fall because I love incorporating pumpkin into most of my meals. This looks like it'll make a great lunch to take. I see a lot of other commenters concerned about the mushrooms and thinking about adding more beans – but wouldn't that be too bean-y? If we have to skip the mushrooms, do we even need a substitute?
Vegetarian AND Chili? Couldn't love this more!!
Gina, I am not a fan of pumpkin. Do you think butternut squash or sweet potato puree would work in this recipe instead of the pumpkin?
I used canned organic butternut squash and it works perfectly.
that seems so healthy
Would love to know a good substitute for the mushrooms. Like another poster, my husband unfortunately won't touch mushrooms with a 10-foot pole. The rest of the recipe sounds great, though!
I was just about to say you lost me at mushrooms. Maybe potatoes?
Maybe some white beans (Navy or Great Northern)?
You can leave them out.
Would eggplant work as a good substitute?
How about diced zucchini?
Would like to try this, but the spice mixture sounds very "pumpkin pie". Like, lots of cloves. Anyone have thoughts on that? Thanks
I was thinking the same thing. I personally am not a huge fan of those flavors except in a sweet/dessert dish. I am planning to try this recipe with half the amount of cinnamon and no nutmeg or clove and see how it turns out. Might add some extra cayenne and possibly some cumin to make up for the omission of the other spices. Nothing wrong with tweaking recipes to your own taste 🙂
I have now answered my own question. I made this today exactly as written since I didn't want to change it without at least trying it. Gina knows what she's doing! The chili is just delicious and NO it doesn't taste like pumpkin pie. It's just savory and spicy. Perfect for a cold fall day.
I thought the same thing, that the spices would be too sweet. They blend right in and add to the richness. No pie taste at all.
We thought the cloves overwhelmed the chili. I added three more tablespoons of chili powder and a tablespoon of sugar. We sampled it before adding the toppings and I thought it might end up getting tossed out. However, the addition of the avocado, sour cream, shredded Mexican style cheese and crushed tortilla chips (I used Mission chips) made it a lovely dish!
Next time I would leave out the cloves or just add a "pinch".
This is not sweet at all, does not taste like pie and once you put it all together, with the toppings, trust me it works! But you can omit if you wish!
Made this tonight exactly as is and added 3/4 cup quinoa and 2 extra cups of broth. Turned out really delicious! I'm sure it will be even better tomorrow!
Oh I’m going to add quinoa! That sounds delicious
If I wanted to make this but my husband refuses to eat mushrooms in any form, what would you suggest I use to replace them? I was thinking lentils but curious if you had any recommendations.
Maybe some white beans (Navy or Great Northern)?
You can leave them out.
I cut the mushrooms into small pieces and they blended in with all the other ingredients. We couldn't even tell they were there.
I’m highly allergic to mushrooms. I leave them out or double the onions.
Looks great! Any chance you have the crockpot version?
I usually just add 2-3 c. of liquid to recipes to make them in the crock pot!
I would like to start a recipe box with this recipe but I don't see how I do that?? Thanks- Greg
Sorry that feature no longer works, for now pinning it to a Pinterest board is the easiest option.
OK- really like your cookbook – just got it and discovered you – a little late to that party 🙂 – also got your meal planner – helping me reach WW goal – it is in sight- thanks for all the hard work on cookbook 2! I will be looking for it – new fan – Greg
Looks amazing. I know what's on my menu for next Meatless Monday!
Sounds delicious! I love the sweet and spicy combo.
Would you have a salad recommendation to go with this soup?