I’m not going to lie, my chili looked nothing like this. I’ve never made a bowl out of a pumpkin, there’s no ginger in this recipe and I discourage croutons, but it’s a cool picture right!? That and I forgot to take a picture after I finished cooking.

That being said, chili is one of the easiest, super healthy and most versatile foods to make. You can use almost any kind of beans, vegetables or meat and you end up with a delicious meal that freezes well.

Pumpkin season is here so I had to make pumpkin chili. This is a large recipe because I really don’t like to cook all the time and wanted leftovers for us, some to share with my mom and even more to freeze for another day.

You can easily cut this recipe in half (or even a quarter of the size) if you want a smaller batch.

Several of the ingredients can also be subbed out if you want. I had farm scallions so used them instead of onion. We always like the dark red kidney beans in our chili but the other beans I use are a crapshoot, depending on what is in the cupboard.

All beans have been good in the chili so far, except for the garbanzo beans (to me anyway). You may like them in your chili.

You can also use dried beans, but they need to be soaked for several hours and rinsed before they’re ready to be cooked, and then be cooked before using in the chili. Again, I’ve been a little bit lazy here and have gone with the ease of the canned beans.

Whatever you decide to add, have fun with it and enjoy your easy, healthy, delicious meal.

Ingredients:

4 cups of crushed tomatoes
1.5 pounds of lean ground turkey
15 oz can plain pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
15.5 oz cans of each: dark red kidney beans (2 cans), pinto beans (1 can), black eyed peas (1 can) rinsed & drained
2 tsp olive oil
2 large or 4 small scallions, diced (use white and green parts of the scallion) or 1 onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium green bell pepper, chopped in small pieces
2 jalapeno peppers, diced with seeds removed (optional, you can add more or less depending on how hot you like your chili)
1 TBSP each: chili powder, cumin, dried oregano
2 tsp pumpkin spice
1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Set instant pot to saute and add olive oil.

2. Allow oil to heat for about 30 seconds, then add the scallions or onions and garlic

3. Sauté for approximately 2 minutes, then remove and set aside.

4. Add the ground turkey to the pot and continue to sauté until it is cooked through (no pink).

5. Drain the turkey fat out and add the scallion and garlic back into the pot with the turkey.

6. Add remaining ingredients (tomatoes, beans, peppers, spices) and stir well.

7. Cover and set the instant pot to high pressure cook for 20 minutes. Make sure to close the pressure release knob on the cover.

   Caution: When pressure cooking tomato-based meals in the instant pot, you will almost always get a “burn” notice. As the tomatoes heat up, they stick to the bottom of the pot. If this happens, you just need to release the pressure knob on the cover, take the cover off and stir everything in the pot until anything that feels like it was sticking to the bottom is mixed into your chili. Put the cover back on and reclose the pressure knob and you should be all set!

Final Notes: More than one of my clients has expressed concern about releasing the pressure once a meal is cooked. This is a valid concern because you could burn your hand with steam if you’re not careful.

An easy way to release the pressure knob safely (rather than waiting for the pressure to slow release, which takes about 10 minutes) is to cover the knob with a dish towel before turning the knob to the release position (which means turning the knob towards you).

You still have to be a little bit careful, meaning keep your hand away from the steam release area whether the dish towel is covering it or not.

If you don’t want to deal with the pressure release, just wait the extra 10 minutes and the instant pot will slow release on its own.