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Fall Harvest Vegetarian Chili with butternut squash, sweet potato, and black beans and kale. A delicious meal that’s loaded with nutrients for celebrating fall!
You guys, I’ve made a discovery that I deem to be very pertinent and crucial to your life. Ready for it?
Apples in your chili. For real. Add a legit apple to your chili foods. It will make your taste buds swoon slash sing. In vibrato.
Also pertinent and crucial to your life: butternut squash, sweet potatoes, kale, and black beans.
For the love of Jiminy Cricket, this freshly harvested vegetarian chili will dishevel your gizzard like a flock of wild wombats.
This autumn chili is packed with nutrients from the vegetables, some plant-based protein from the beans, and tastes like a fall explosion in your mouth.
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients!
Fall Harvest Chili Ingredients:
Fresh Produce: Yellow onion, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, celery, apple, and kale. This combination of fresh vegetables and fruit yields a naturally sweet flavor, lots of Vitamins and minerals, and plenty of complex carbohydrates and fiber.
Seasonings: Chili powder, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, and sea salt are the simple seasonings needed in this healthy chili recipe. This combination of warm spices brings warm flavor to the harvest chili, making it taste like autumn!
Liquid: Add vegetable broth or chicken broth to your desired consistency. We also need a splash of apple cider vinegar to bring some tangy flavor to offset some of the sweetness.
Beans: Add a can of black beans, or any kind of beans you like! Garbanzo beans, white beans, kidney beans and pinto beans all work here. You can also add an extra can or two of beans if you’d like.
Recipe Customizations:
- While this recipe is vegetarian, you can absolutely add your choice of animal protein to it.
- I’ve tried this exact recipe using chicken broth (instead of vegetable broth) and ground bison, and it turned out marvelously.
- You can also use ground turkey or beef, shredded chicken, or tofu.
- Add a can of diced tomatoes if that’s your jam!
Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients, let’s make this easy chili recipe!
How to Make Fall Harvest Chili:
- Add the first 6 ingredients to a large stock pot and heat to medium heat. This means the avocado oil, onion, butternut squash, sweet potato, apple, and celery. Sauté, stirring frequently, until mixture is very fragrant and veggies begin to soften, about 10 minutes.
- Add the next 5 ingredients (chili powder, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, and sea salt), and continue sautéing for 2 minutes.
- Add the last four ingredients (chicken broth, cider vinegar, kale leaves, and black beans) and stir well. Cover pot and bring to a boil.
- Lower the heat to a simmer and continue to cook at a gentle boil for 20 to 30 minutes, or until vegetables have softened to your desired doneness.
- Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream and fresh cilantro.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
The next time you’re craving a delicious fall recipe or a hearty vegetarian chili, whip up this harvest chili recipe! Feel free to customize it to your liking with other kinds of fall produce or protein.
Fall harvest autumn chili! It’s the apple of your eye!
Harvest Vegetarian Chili Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Fall Harvest Vegan Chili:
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil , or olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced
- ½ small butternut squash, (3 cups), peeled and chopped
- ½ medium sweet potato, chopped (1.5 cups)
- 1 honeycrisp apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp kosher salt, to taste
- 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth*
- 1 Tbsp cider vinegar
- 4 cups kale leaves, tightly packed
- 1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
For Serving:
- Sour cream/plain yogurt
- Fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Add the first 6 ingredients to a large stock pot and heat to medium heat. This means the avocado oil, onion, butternut squash, sweet potato, apple, and celery. Sauté, stirring frequently, until mixture is very fragrant and veggies begin to soften, about 10 minutes.
- Add the next 5 ingredients (chili powder, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, and sea salt), and continue sautéing for 2 minutes.
- Add the last four ingredients (chicken broth, cider vinegar, kale leaves, and black beans) and stir well. Cover pot and bring to a boil.
- Lower the heat to a simmer and continue to cook at a gentle boil for 20 to 30 minutes, or until vegetables have softened to your desired doneness.
- Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream and fresh cilantro.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!
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I’ve made this several times before and it’s DELISH but I’m trying to up my protein intake. I bought some ground turkey to add to the recipe but I’m wondering at what point should I throw it in? (After I brown it of course)
I love the idea of adding ground turkey! If it were me, I would brown it with the onion first, then add the other ingredients (butternut squash, sweet potato, etc) to sauté. I hope you love it with the meaty version! Let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Can something else be substituted for Kale if you either do not care for it or cannot find it at your store? I often have spinach (either fresh or frozen) accessable.
Absolutely! You can definitely swap the kale for spinach, rainbow chard or your favorite hearty leafy green. You can also leave it out too if you prefer 🙂 xo
How many portions? Nutrition facts?
How many servings does this make? # of cups ?
Thank you
I WOULD sing vibrato for this. No one would be happy about it (least of all my neighbors), but I would do it.
It is totally chili seaso here….100% full blown chilly/chili season. This looks like my kind of dinner!
I keep seeing on the news that various parts of the country are fuh-reeeeezing and states are getting snow while we’re sitting here sunny and 70 degrees. Stay warm, lady!
Apples in my chili?! You just blew my mind in the best way possible. Pinning this to try soon!
Oh gaaaaw yes! Hope you enjoy, sister!
Julia: I just got back from west coast. So running in a tank top…totally understandable. We’ve been in chili weather for months now. Loving this!
Yummy- this looks delicious! I never see black soy beans- I’m excited that they have them canned!
Adding apples to chili is a brilliant idea! Plus with the butternut squash..mmm..mmmhhh, this looks good, sister!
And I’m so jealous of your tan! It’s been warm here too but I’m locked inside all day so my skin tone has more of a Casper look to it. Seexxxay.
I may have exaggerated a liiiitle, cause when I said, “tan,” what I really meant was “a little less white than a sheet of paper.” So essentially you’ve got nothing to be jelly about 😉 So happy you like the apples + bns idea!
This can’t possibly be better than your Sweet Potato, Black Bean and Quinoa Chili (my favorite) – or can it? I can’t wait to try.
yummm chili! Sadly, it’s still pretty warm where I am. I’m hoping for cooler temps soon.
Say what? Apples in chili? It’s one of those brilliant, but why haven’t I thought of it before kind of ideas! This chili just looks soo comforting!
Apples in my chili? You have a TAN?! This is all ridiculous. But also looks insanely delicious. I need this because it’s going to SNOW here next week!
Gaaaah I’m so jealous of your snow! We’ve got nothing but sun in the forecast. Mondo sad face over here…mondo sad face. Although I guess I shouldn’t complain, because: tan. 😉
Looks scrummy. Trying this one night this week.
Awesome! Let me know how you like it, Gina!
This looks super delicious and I need to try those black soy beans – they’re just so pretty!!
They’ll real cute, aren’t they? So glad you’re digging the chili! 😀
Quit bragging about your tan!! Ha ha – just kidding. I’m sooooo jealous! Love love love this soup!
I’d take a 10-foot snow storm over my golden goddessness any day 😉 Let’s hunker down in a snowstorm and make heaping pots of veggie chili!