• 3 pounds ground beef
  • 3 onions chopped
  • 1 can pumpkin
  • 2 16 oz jars diced tomatoes
  • 1 16 oz jar smoked tomatoes
  • 3 tablespoons cumin
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Do you have plans, things you want to do, ideas that sit in the back of your head that never materialize quite in time? Well, that’s the story of this chili…

And before I get started if you’re thinking… pumpkin in chili??? Heck yes, It adds a depth of flavor and changes the texture in a very delicious way.

Before Halloween we bought a bunch of sugar pie pumpkins(or something similar to that). They sat out front on the stoop waiting to be carved which never quite happened because right before Halloween for the second time in two years we were walloped by a hurricane. The damage wasn’t terrible for us(thank goodness we were lucky), but… The distraction of prepping for the storm, losing power, school closures, etc., was.

Needless to say the pumpkins did not get carved. No problem I thought. I envisioned baking them, scraping them out and making all sorts of pumpkin perfection… Bars, cookies, ice creams, chili… Mind you, I have never baked a pumpkin in my life but given my new focus over the past year on minimizing food waste I figured I would give it a try…

I finally went to the store last week to get some ground beef since we are out from our cow share. I got home all set to begin my pumpkin pursuits and found this….

The squirrels had gotten my pumpkins. They had eaten huge chunks of them. I was kind of happy to know my little patch on the porch was offering an early winter snack so… I left them there. I grabbed a can of pumpkin from the pantry and made my chili the easy way…

Pumpkin chili

  • Chop your onions
  • brown the beef and onions with the cumin and cinnamon in a large stock pot or skillet(if transferring to crockpot) over medium/high heat
  • After the meat is cooked through add your pumpkin
  • Pour in all three containers of tomatoes including the juice(please note I got my urban homesteader on this fall and canned a bunch of tomatoes and even smoked some before canning them. These are what I used this time, Storebought canned variety would work just lovely as well)
  • Stir completely
  • If the chili appears thicker than you like add a cup or two of liquid(I used beef broth)
  • If cooking in stock pot bring to a boil then turn down to low and heat until ready to eat. If cooking in crockpot(the best chili method in my mind), cook on low for 4 or more hours.

Why do I love chili? It’s easy, it’s tasty, and the leftovers taste a little better each day they’re in the fridge(until 5 or so days then you shouldn’t eat them…)