Crock Pot Pumpkin Chili Recipe – No Beans, Whole30 Approved

This easy, crock pot pumpkin chili recipe is Whole30 compliant, and my kids love it.

It’s been a while since I have posted a recipe on here. I started doing The Whole30 program and needed to find some good recipes that I could make for my family that were also Whole30 compliant.

For Whole30, I am eliminating sweeteners, legumes, dairy, and grains. That’s a lot of food to eliminate for 30 days! Then I will reintroduce each food group to see how it affects my body.

This chili does not contain beans, which is why it is Whole30 compliant. You could certainly add beans if you are not doing Whole30, and you could also add more vegetables to this recipe. My parents always put celery in chili when I was a kid, but my husband doesn’t like the celery, so I don’t use it.

The idea of pumpkin in chili might sound strange. I live near a town that calls itself the Pumpkin Capital of the World. Each fall, during the Pumpkin Festival, you can find pumpkin chili, pumpkin pasta salad, pumpkin ice cream, and pumpkin donuts, among other pumpkin inspired foods. So basically the idea of pumpkin chili isn’t unusual around here.

This pumpkin chili recipe has proven to be a winner in my house. My kids both love it, and my youngest (5-year-old) even specifically asks me to make it when I don’t have a dinner plan.

Another thing I love about this recipe is that it so easy to throw together in the morning before I go to work. You do need to pre-cook the meat and onions, but I do that on a low enough heat that I can let them cook while I do other things to get ready for the day. Everything else is just dump and stir.

This recipe also does well with a long cooking time (8-10 hours) in a crock pot over low heat until my husband and I get home from work.

I should also mention, I got all of the ingredients from Aldi. You can get my actual grocery shopping list here, which includes mostly items from Aldi.

Crock Pot Pumpkin Chili - No Beans, Whole30 Approved

Dawn

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Ingredients

  

• 1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 can pumpkin puree
• 1 can diced tomatoes don't drain
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 can tomato paste
• 2.5 cups water divided
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tbsp paprika

Instructions

 

• Cook ground meat over low heat with chopped onion, drain, and pour into crock pot.
• Add pumpkin, diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce to crock pot.
• Mix tomato paste with 1.5 cups water in a glass measuring cup. Add seasonings, mix well, and pour into crock pot.
• Stir all ingredients in crock pot. If chili seems thick, add remaining 1 cup water.
• Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Enjoy!