Vegan Pumpkin Chili {GF}

Vegan Pumpkin Chili made with kidney beans makes for a hearty and healthy plant based weeknight dinner. Serve over quinoa! 

I love to economize, but sometimes even I can acknowledge that I take things too far. And in retrospect seriously regret my decision.

Take our latest grocery store trip as an example. The store is either a bus or cab ride away and we were lucky enough to catch a ride there with a security guard for our development since he was heading that way.

Loaded with probably the equivalent of 50 pounds worth of food I thought we should try to take the bus back. The bus stop wasn’t directly in front of the store, and took us about 5-10 minutes to walk to in the sweltering Malaysian heat.

As my fingers started to lose circulation thanks to the plastic bags digging into my skin and my sunglass were slipping off my face thanks to my sweat that was pushing them down, I realized we should have just taken a cab from the beginning.

When we finally stopped at the bus stop, we both decided we should just hail one now. Naturally there wasn’t one in sight, until just a second before the bus pulled up. So since the bus was already there, might as well just take it and save a few dollars right?

Well we hadn’t really fractured in the small hill we would have to climb to get from the bus stop to the condo. Major oversight.

In the end we saved ourselves $3.50 and arrived exhausted. Definitely not the right decision.

So what’s this vegan pumpkin chili got to do with anything? Well after my glass of wine to bring myself back to life after the grueling shopping trip I made this with my newly fully stocked fridge and pantry. And it was probably that pumpkin I was dragging up the hill to make this vegan pumpkin chili that really exhausted me! Why are pumpkins so heavy?

For this vegan pumpkin chili you just need a handful of ingredients. We’re talking onions, garlic, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, cubed pumpkin — that’s the main players here! Sure spices and herb are a must as well.

I wanted to make my vegan pumpkin chili a bit thicker and less liquidy and I chose to serve mine over quinoa as more of a dry chili, but if you want you’re to be more traditional chili consistency feel free to add some vegetable broth as it’s cooking. Either way I know you’re going to love this plant based vegan pumpkin chili!

Trust me, you won’t even miss the meat.

5 from 1 vote

Print

Vegan Pumpkin Chili {GF}

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

45 mins

 

Vegan Pumpkin Chili is a twist on the regular chili with the addition of pumpkin and subtraction of the meat. Gluten free and vegan. Healthy and delicious!

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Healthy, Vegan

Servings: 3

Calories: 94 kcal

Author: Vicky

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 6 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4-1/2 pumpkin cubed
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can kidney beans rinses and drained
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or to taste
• salt to taste
• 1/2 - 1 cup water if needed

Instructions

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a pan. Add onion and cook for a couple minutes. Add squash and continue to cook, stirring frequently for 10-15 minutes.
2. Leave a small open spot in the pan and add the garlic, cooking it for 1-2 minutes until just aromatic on its own, before mixing with the squash onion mix. Add salt and red pepper flakes.
3. Add diced tomatoes (with juice) and continue to cook, until squash is cooked through. Add water if the mixture becomes too dry.
4. Add kidney beans and continue to cook for a few more minutes.
5. Serve over quinoa.

Recipe Notes

To make this vegan pumpkin chili more liquidy in consistency add 2 cups vegetable broth when cooking. 

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Pumpkin Chili {GF}

Amount Per Serving

Calories 94 Calories from Fat 36

% Daily Value*

Fat 4g6%

Sodium 4mg0%

Potassium 462mg13%

Carbohydrates 12g4%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 4g4%

Protein 1g2%

Vitamin A 9650IU193%

Vitamin C 14.8mg18%

Calcium 43mg4%

Iron 1.1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.