A delicious and mildly spicy chili perfect for the Fall and football season. White bean pumpkin chili is an easy recipe for a tasty meal. Share it with friends and family and serve it with tortilla chips or cornbread!

Stay warm with more Fall recipes like EASY Chicken Farro SouporRustic Italian Tortellini Soup with Sausage.

Looking for more one-pot meals? Try ourItalian Wedding SouporPasta Fagioli with Spinach.

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Why This Chili

This white bean pumpkin chili is definitely a change-up from your typical family chili recipe. It has all of those Fall flavors mixed with savory and spice. It's perfect to dip your chips in or to top with sour cream and cheese. As far as Fall recipes go, it rivals our Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts.

Chili is quite an unbelievable food because everyone makes "the best" chili but no one uses a recipe. This easy white bean pumpkin chili gives you an easy-to-follow recipe with a delicious but unique final product. Serve it on a Sunday during a football game with some Bourbon Candied PecansorSpinach and Artichoke Dip with No Mayo as an appetizer.

Substitutions and Ingredient Notes

Beans. Obviously, you need white beans for this chili, but you can also add in kidney beans like we did. Or you can just double up on the white beans.

Ground beef. You can substitute ground turkey or venison for the ground beef and the recipe will be just as delicious. I use 80/20 ground beef when I make chili.

Pumpkin ale. You can substitute a regular lager or ale if you don't have a pumpkin beer on hand.

Spice. Temper the spiciness by decreasing the cayenne pepper or omitting the jalapeno.

*Please see the recipe card below for more information on ingredients.

How to Make White Bean Pumpkin Chili

Step 1: In the dutch oven on medium-high heat, place your ground beef and break it up as much as you can. Season it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder. Brown the ground beef for about 6-8 minutes or until you no longer see any pink. Drain the beef and set it aside.

Sauteing the celery, onions, and carrots in a dutch oven.

Step 2: Add some olive oil to the pot. Saute the carrots, celery, and onion for about 8 minutes or until they begin to soften.

Seasoning added to the vegetables in the dutch oven.

Step 3: Season with ¼ of your seasoning mix. Combine well and then add the garlic to saute for another minute.

Tomato paste caramelizing with vegetables in dutch oven.

Step 4: Add the tomato paste and allow it to caramelize for 4-5 minutes, mixing it through all the vegetables. Cooking the tomato paste before adding your liquids allows it to caramelize which will help the flavor develop a richer tomato base.

Pumpkin beer and chicken broth added to dutch oven.

Step 5: Mix in your chicken broth, roasted tomatoes with chiles, Worcestershire, and pumpkin ale and bring it to a boil. Layer in some more of your seasonings.

Diced tomatoes with chilis and ground beef added to the dutch oven.

Step 6: Once the chili reaches a boil, add in the cacao powder and ground beef. Stir well.

Beans, peppers, and pumpkin puree added to the chili in the dutch oven.

Step 7: Then stir in the red peppers, jalapeno peppers, pumpkin puree, white beans, and kidney beans.

Step 8: Return it to a simmer and cover but leave a little crack in the pot to let the steam out. This will help the chili cook down so it isn't too saucy. Simmer the chili for about 1 hour or until it reaches the desired texture.

Serve your white bean pumpkin chili along with some cornbread or tortilla chips. Keep the pumpkin theme going for the night with somePumpkin Butter Blondies with Maple GlazeorChewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Pro-Tip

Layering your seasonings is the most important piece when it comes to making chili. It is the difference between throwing everything in a crock pot and a good chili.
Caramelize the tomato paste before adding your liquids to the pot. This will intensify the tomato flavor and give your chili more depth.

Recipe FAQs

What to Serve with White Bean Pumpkin Chili?

Make an amazing cornbread to go along with your white bean pumpkin chili.

Why do you put cacao powder or chocolate in chili?

The cacao powder helps balance out the acidity of the tomatoes and increases the savory taste of the dish.

Can you make it in a crockpot?

Yes. You'll have to brown the ground beef first. Then add all your ingredients to the crockpot and cook for 4 hours on high. The recipe will come out different because you're not layering the flavors in the same way.