Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Chili
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Warm up with a bowl of healthy and hearty Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Chili. Naturally sweet and creamy butternut squash, ground beef, and assorted beans, cooked low and slow to make a delicious chili-style stew. This easy chili recipe is packed with protein, vegetables and fiber!
During cold weather, I love making my favorite comfort foods in the Crockpot. What could be more comforting than a big bowl of homemade chili? This slow-cooker butternut squash chili showcases everything there is to love about beef-and-bean chili, plus sweet, creamy butternut squash.
This recipe is inspired by my friend Donna’s ground turkey chili. It’s truly the best, but my husband won’t touch ground turkey with a ten-foot pole, so beef it is. That said, if you’d like to use ground turkey instead of ground beef, go for it!
Are you ready to make the best butternut squash chili? Dust off the Crockpot, and let’s do it!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Fix it and forget it! Your slow cooker does most of the work for you.
- It’s rich in lean protein and fiber-rich beans and veggies.
- Beef and veggie chili is inherently gluten-free.
- It’s versatile and easy to put your spin on it.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Oil: You’ll need a small amount of oil to coat the pan and prevent sticking, like olive or avocado oil.
- Ground Beef: I like to use 92% lean ground beef. Feel free to use less lean ground beef if you’re okay with the extra fat and calories.
- Frozen Vegetable Seasoning Blend: I used a diced onion, celery, pepper, and parsley blend. Feel free to use a different mix as long as it contains peppers and onions.
- Garlic: intensifies the savory flavor.
- Butternut Squash: adds a heavy serving of nutrients. One cup has more potassium than a banana!
- Crushed Tomatoes: add volume to the chili’s broth base. I used Muir Glen organic fire-roasted tomatoes.
- Tomato Sauce: deepens the flavors and helps thicken.
- Beans: You’ll need 60 ounces (4 cans) total. The options are endless here. I did black beans, kidney beans, northern beans, and cannellini beans.
- Chili Spices: Chili wouldn’t be complete without lots of spice. Chili powder and cumin are the perfect combo of spicy and smoky flavor. Use more or less of each to your liking.
- Salt & Pepper: to balance the flavors.
How To Make Butternut Squash Chili In A Slowcooker
Step 1: Cook beef and vegetables. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the beef, frozen veggies, and garlic to the pan, and cook until the meat is no longer pink.
Step 2: Add to the slow cooker. Drain away any excess liquid and transfer the mixture to the slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients and give everything a good stir.
Step 3: Cook chili. Slow cook until the butternut squash is tender (about 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Instant Pot Instructions
Follow the instructions below for your Instant Pot pressure cooker:
- With the Instant Pot on SAUTE, heat the oil. Then, add the ground beef and garlic to the pot and saute until the meat is no longer pink.
- Add the frozen veggies and the remaining ingredients and cook on HIGH for 10 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually—season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe Tips
- Prepping the squash – Cutting butternut squash isn’t exactly simple, so I usually grab them pre-chopped from the store. However, if you want to take on the challenge, make sure you have a very sharp knife and check out this resource on cutting and peeling butternut squash.
Variations
Beans – Feel free to use a variety of delicious beans (red kidney beans, black beans, red beans, pinto beans, navy beans, Northern beans, cannellini beans, etc.)
Squash– Not feeling butternut squash? Feel free to swap the butternut with another variety, such as acorn, delicata (skin left intact), honeynut, kabocha, or cubed sweet potatoes. Keep in mind that each has a unique flavor.
Additional chili spices: Keep it simple with cumin and chili powder, or kick it up a notch with cayenne, smoked paprika, Aleppo pepper, sweet paprika, fennel, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Chili Topping Ideas
A bowl of homemade chili isn’t complete without the toppings. Serve your chili straight from the slow cooker alongside a chili toppings bar, including:
- Shredded Cheddar
- Sour Cream
- Jalapeno Slices
- Chopped Chives
- Tortilla Strips
- Crackers
- Diced Avocado
- Chopped Cilantro
- Diced Red Onion
- Cornbread
Storing & Freezing
Storing: After cooling to room temperature, store chili in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3 to 4 days.
Freezing: Chili is a great meal to make and freeze for later. You can freeze it in freezer-safe bags or containers for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating on the stove over medium heat or in the slow cooker over high heat.
Recipe FAQ
Browning the ground beef first allows the meat to caramelize in its juices and become more flavorful. For the best chili, you should always brown the meat first.
Butternut squash has a sweet, delicate flavor that pairs well with warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, as well as spicy seasonings like cayenne, chili, cumin, and paprika.
Look for squash that is a matte dark beige-rust-like color. If they are shiny, they aren’t ripe yet. If they’re blemished, they’re past their prime. I love using the already-peeled and chopped butternut squash sold in the produce section of the grocery store for convenience.
More Chili Recipes
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Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Chili
Ingredients
- 2 lbs lean ground beef 92%
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 lbs diced butternut squash fresh, not frozen (I love to buy this already peeled and chopped when available)
- 20 oz frozen vegetable seasoning blend (diced onion, celery, pepper, and parsley blend) 2 (10 oz) packages *see notes
- 28 oz can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes -do not drain
- 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can red kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can low-sodium northern beans drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can low-sodium cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 3 tbsp chili powder
- 4 tsp cumin
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- salt and pepper to taste (I use a tsp of salt and ½ tsp pepper)
- *optional garnishes: shredded sharp cheddar cheese and chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil.
- Add beef, frozen vegetable blend and garlic to the pan.
- Cook until the beef is cooked through and no longer pink (about 10 minutes), drain off the liquid in the pan, then pour the mixture into the slow cooker.
- Add all other ingredients and stir well to combine. The mixture will be thick.
- Cook 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low, until butternut squash is tender. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve.
Notes
- Serving size: This recipe is calculated for 12 servings. For 10 larger servings, the macros are: 424 calories, 35g protein, 59g carbs, 8g fat, and 19g fiber.
- Prepping the squash – Cutting butternut squash isn’t exactly simple, so I usually grab them pre-chopped from the store. However, if you want to take on the challenge, make sure you have a very sharp knife and check out this resource on cutting and peeling butternut squash.
- Ingredient tips – I use the Publix brand frozen vegetable seasoning blend. Pictsweet Farms and Great Value (Walmart brand) also make this particular vegetable blend. I get the 28-oz can of Muir Glen Organic crushed fire-roasted tomatoes from Publix, as well. Dei Fratelli and Take Root Organics also make the 28-oz can of crushed fire-roasted tomatoes if you cannot find the Muir Glen at a store near you.
- I highly recommend topping this bowl with shredded cheddar cheese! *not included in nutrition info
Nutrition
*This post was originally published October 25, 2015. It has been updated throughout.
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I love chili with winter squash! Yours looks wonderful!!
Thank you Susan!
Beautiful colors!
What a wonderful bowl of comfort!
I’m still laughing at your description of your husband and his lack of interest shall we say in ground turkey — mine is the same way! He calls my turkey meatballs “fowl balls”. What a beautiful, hearty AND healthy chili (beef or fowl) — I’ll be trying this!
I love it Bernie! “Fowl balls” lol!!
Yum! I need to find some time to make this gorgeous chili! I’m loving butternut squash in it!
Your chili looks terrific, Amee!!! Butternut squash is such a yummy addition!
I love the addition of squash to this recipe.
Thank you Wendy! I always like to sneak in extra veggies. 🙂
My husband doesn’t do ground turkey either. I bet this is great though! Love the sweet aspect of the butternut squash with the savory chili.
Thank you Wendy!
I adore squash at this time of year and love that you have added it to this chili, so comforting!
It’s a great flavor combo. Thank you Tara!
Oh this sounds great! I love mixing in sweet ingredients like butternut squash or sweet potatoes in with chili – it’s such a great flavor combo! Your husband sounds funny, at least he’s vocal about his pickiness and it’s not a surprise 🙂
He definitely speaks his mind, but I’m a big fan of honesty. Thank you Sam!