Pumpkin Chili with Black Beans and Chickpeas is a great alternative to a regular chili! This healthy and gluten-free stew is a perfect family weeknight dinner for those cold days in the Fall.
What could be better than healthy comfort food on a cold night? This pumpkin chili is so good – it will disappear fast from your table. I am so happy to share this recipe because it is such a winner and is so different from a regular chili!
This recipe features black beans and garbanzo beans (chickpeas) instead of meat. However, you can add any type of cooked ground meat (beef, pork, or chicken) to this chili if you like. The recipe is super versatile. This pumpkin chili is healthy, vegetarian, and gluten-free. It’s great comfort food on a cold night in the fall or in the winter.
If you want to try other interesting versions of regular chili, check out butternut squash chili and pumpkin quinoa chili.
Pumpkin Chili – Savory Recipe
- This is definitely a SAVORY pumpkin chili, without any sweetness or spices that are usually associated with pumpkin.
- This is chili, first and foremost, so the only spices here are chili powder and cumin, just like in a regular chili.
- There is no cinnamon, no nutmeg, no pumpkin pie spices in this recipe.
Healthy and Gluten-Free
- This pumpkin chili is packed with fiber and protein and rich in nutrients.
- Garbanzo beans (or chickpeas) contain some key vitamins and nutrients, such as iron, zinc, phosphate, and vitamin K.
- Black beans are a source of manganese, zinc, copper, calcium, and magnesium.
- Tip: when buying beans, get the variety with no salt added to reduce your sodium intake.
Substitutions
- This recipe includes 2 types of beans: black beans and garbanzo beans. You can also use any other type of white beans instead of garbanzo beans.
- This recipe does not have meat, however, you can include any type of meat of your choice, such as cooked ground beef, chicken, turkey, or pork. You can also add finely shredded cooked beef, chicken or turkey.
Tips for making the best pumpkin chili
- Just like with any chili recipe, the spiciness is a very individual thing. This recipe provides the exact amount of spices to use, however, use your own taste as a guide. Add extra cumin or chili powder, depending on how spicy and flavorful you like your chili.
- Don’t add 2 tablespoons of chili powder all at once to the pumpkin chili. Add 1 tablespoon of chili powder first, taste the chili, and then proceed with the second tablespoon.
- Make sure to add salt at the same time when adding spices. This will help you to get the right amount of seasoning and spiciness.
- The recipe produces 4 medium-size servings. You might have to double the recipe if you plan to serve this for dinner as the only meal for 4 people.
Other Pumpkin Chili Recipes
What to serve with Pumpkin Chili?
- Garlic and Bacon Green Beans sautéed in olive oil and butter. These crunchy beans make a great holiday side dish! It’s a perfect recipe for Thanksgiving and Christmas!
- Roasted Butternut Squash and Brussels sprouts with Pecans and Cranberries will be a delicious addition to this chili. This recipe is healthy, gluten-free, vegetarian, and rich in fiber!
Pumpkin Chili with Black Beans and Chickpeas is a great alternative to a regular chili recipe! It makes a perfect Autumn recipe, especially during the holiday season. This healthy recipe is packed with fiber and protein. It makes an excellent recipe to make for Thanksgiving and Christmas!
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup pumpkin puree from the can or homemade
- 1 cup tomatoes from the can
- 1 cup vegetable stock or water
- 15 oz black beans (425 g), from the can
- 7.5 oz garbanzo beans (212 g), from the can
- 1 tablespoon cumin powder (start with half the amount, and add more, to taste)
- 2 tablespoons chili powder (start with 1 tablespoon, and add more, to taste)
- salt and pepper
In a large pot or skillet, cook chopped onion and minced garlic in olive oil for about 5 minutes on medium heat until soft.
Add pumpkin, canned tomatoes (chop them up into smaller chunks), vegetable stock (or water), black beans and garbanzo beans.
Add half the cumin and half the chili powder, stir everything well, and season with salt and pepper.
Taste your chili, season some more with salt and pepper if needed.
Add the remaining cumin (or more) and remaining chili powder (or more), if desired.
Bring to boil, make sure to stir all ingredients well together to combine flavors and spices.
Reduce to simmer and cook for 20 minutes on simmer.
Serve in soup bowls, garnished with chopped green onion.
Recipe Video
This recipe was originally published on November 4, 2013, and republished with updates in November 2019.
I was looking at this recipe and the pumpkin chili with beef. I see that the amounts of cumin and chili powder are in tablespoons for this one and only teaspoons on the chili with beef. Is there any particular reason they are so different? I am going to use Beyond Meat crumbles to see if hubby will eat it without saying much!
Those 2 recipes are similar – it’s up to you how much cumin and chili powder to use, 1 tablespoon or 1 teaspoon. In the case of this recipe (without beef), I felt like it needed stronger flavors, so I used more cumin and more chili than in the recipe with beef, but it’s ultimately up to your taste.
I just made this for a Fall Potluck. It tastes amazing and I can’t wait for my friends to try it. Have a feeling it’s gonna be a hit. Thank you for this amazing recipe! Super easy and inexpensive to make.
Sarah, thank you so much for taking your time and leaving such a nice comment! I really appreciate it. And, I am so glad you liked the recipe! I love chili with mashed pumpkin – it tastes so good in the Winter!
This is great! I tweaked the recipe to make it more “family friendly” in my house. I added 1 lb ground turkey, and I used the whole cans of garbanzo beans and tomatoes (petite diced, no salt) and it’s delicious! I used chicken base instead of broth and just threw in a tsp of base in with a cup of water. I ended up added some more water towards the end. It made a good hearty chunky filling chili.
Loved this dish!! Thank you would love to see more healthy vegan recipes
Confused I follow the directions exactly and it came out very Bland no flavor at all and I definitely couldn’t taste the pumpkin and it I don’t know how I would have done anything wrong I followed the directions exactly
Delicious!! Gorgeous, yummy! Thanks! I used dry beans, boiled them for a good while before adding them to the chili and then used the water from the boil pot to loosen up the chili too. Cuz it seemed a little thick. Get all the goodness out of the beans that way!
I have one vegetarian (well, pescaterian–spelling) coming to Thanksgiving dinner and wish to provide an alternative to turkey. This dish looks nice for that option. Do you know if it can be cooked and then freezed so that is a make ahead dish? Thank you.
I made a double batch to bring to my daughter’s teachers as a vegan option for lunch during conference week. I was short on time so I appreciated this quick, simple recipe. It’s delicious and hearty. And I just got an email asking for the recipe. Definitely a keeper! Thank you.
I made this last night and have found a keeper! I’m a vegetarian, and this may become a go-to recipe for chili for me.
This was SO amazing! I made it for dinner last night and I was shocked! We are trying to do the whole Meatless Monday thing and this recipe doesn’t even taste like there is no meat. So, I’m probably going to switch this recipe to a regular weeknight meal and choose another meatless meal for meatless mondays haha! Thanks for the recipe!