Crockpot chili for the season with pumpkin, chicken, corn and chickpeas.
Pumpkin is a unique and unlooked for ingredient in savory cooking due to its popularity in desserts. The pumpkin elevates an everyday, mundane chili into something exciting!
I know pumpkin sounds a little strange for chili but it ends up being mild in flavor, adding an underlying earthiness that is right at home with the smoky heat of chipotle chiles, chile powder, cumin and the nuttiness of the chickpeas.
The pumpkin has no problem at all fitting right in as if it belonged there all along!
I love this recipe because you can throw everything into your crockpot lickety-split and dinner is taken care of. You’re free to go about your day knowing you have this bubbling pot of hearty chili to greet you when you get home.
The wonderfully spicy aroma will smack you in the face the moment you open the door and immediately beckon you to the table.
That’s seriously the best thing ever. Ever.
Crockpot chili with pumpkin, chicken, corn and chickpeas.
Ingredients
- 1 can (14 ounce) diced tomatoes
- 1 can (14 ounce) pumpkin puree
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 large onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon chile powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 heaping teaspoon dried oregano, crushed between fingertips
- 1 teaspoon sea or kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, seeds removed, minced, optional
- 1 + 1/2 pounds chicken breasts or cutlets, skin and visible fat removed
- 1 heaping cup dried chickpeas or 2 cans (14 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup corn kernels, if frozen, thawed
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- sour cream, shredded cheddar, guacamole/avocado, green onions and/or tortilla chips, for serving
Instructions
- To a 4 or 5 quart crockpot add tomatoes, chicken broth and pumpkin. Whisk until well combined; add onion, garlic, chile powder, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and chipotles; combine well. Add chicken, chickpeas and corn. Cook 4-5 hours on high or 6-8 on low.
- When ready to serve remove chicken and chop into bite-size pieces or shred with two forks. Add back to pot, stir in cilantro and serve with sour cream, shredded cheddar, green onions, guacamole and/or tortilla chips.
Delicious! I really enjoyed it the first time. And I am making it again a week later! Now I know how great it is so it is harder to wait!
Thanks for making the chili! Happy to hear you like it as much as I did!
I even delivered a frozen bowl of chili with multigrain chips and a Wholly Guacamole single serve pack to a friend for V-day! And a little chocolate too :)
Aww. That was a sweet thing to do!
I really like the flavor of this chili a lot. I did add a little frozen spinach because it seemed an easy way to slip in a little more veg. It cooked on high for about 4.5 hours. I added the chicken about an hour into the cooking time because I used pretty thin frozen chicken breast fillets from CostCo. Thanks for the recipe!