Pumpkin chili has all the flavors of chili you love with a hint of pumpkin mixed in. Make this autumn-inspired chili in your slow cooker or Instant Pot.

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Updated Oct 2019 with Instant Pot instructions
I LOVE chili. As you can probably tell from all chili recipes I have on this blog. I eat it year-round even when if it’s 90 degrees outside (like now). As I’ve said over and over, chili is the perfect slow cooker recipe. It’s easy to make, hard to mess up and the low-and-slow cooking really brings out the different flavors.

before (slow cooker)
What Ground Meat To Use
As with most of my recipes, you can your preferred ground meat whether it be ground beef, turkey, pork, or chicken. I uses 2 pounds of Felton Angus ground beef but I have also made this using ground chicken. One pound ground beef and one pound ground sausage would be a nice combo as well.

before (slow cooker)
Other chili recipes you might enjoy:
Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Indian Chili (Paleo, Whole30)
Slow Cooker Chunky Beef Chili (Paleo, Whole30)
Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Bean-Free Chili (Low-Carb, Paleo, Whole30)

after (slow cooker)
Potatoes Instead Of Beans
I know there’s a debate around whether or not beans belong in chili. Personally I like beans in my chili but I wanted this recipe to be paleo and whole30. I made a version of this bean-free but it felt like was missing something so I added potatoes. Sweet potatoes to be exact. What you see in the pics and video here are white sweet potatoes. You can use your preferred potato whether it be russet or regular sweet potatoes. Or you can simply omit them all together. If you are looking to use beans (not paleo or whole3) instead of potatoes in this recipe, I would recommend 15 ounces of red kidney beans (drained & rinsed if using canned).
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chili VIDEO:
Is the pumpkin in this chili overpowering? No, not at all. You can even add a cup of additional pumpkin if you like.
Print
{VIDEO} Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Pumpkin Chili (Paleo, Whole30)
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 10 mins
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground meat of your choice or 1 lb ground meat and 1 lb ground sausage
- 1 lb sweet potatoes or potatoes, peeled & diced
- 28 ounces diced tomatoes
- 15 ounces broth (beef broth if using ground beef, chicken broth if using ground chicken or turkey)
- 15 ounces pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 large bell pepper, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp oil (for pressure cooker)
Instructions
Slow Cooker
- Add all ingredients to the slow cooker. Stir to mix well.
- Cook HIGH 3-4 or LOW 6-8.
Instant Pot
- Set Instant Pot to the high saute setting. Once hot, add oil.
- Add ground meat and cook until browned, 3-5 minutes, crumbling the meat as it cooks. You might need to do this in batches. Remove meat from pressure cooker and drain the grease if needed.
- Add bell pepper, garlic and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in diced tomatoes, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in ground meat and all remaining ingredients, close and seal vent.
- Select manual setting, medium or high pressure and set time for 20 minutes. Quick-release pressure when cook time is completed.
You will need a large 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot for this recipe.

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So delicious! I made this today and I just love it. I cut the recipe in half since I had 1/2 a can of pumpkin and 1/2 a can of brief broth in my refrigerator. I had no bell pepper on hand so I used two 10 ounce cans of Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chilies). I am sure I will make this fantastic recipe again and again! Thank you!
★★★★★
Thank you, I hope you try the recipe!
Fall is here. Looks like dinner to me!
For this recipe, do need to add in any water?
I didn’t use any water. I’f wait until you see the final consistency before adding any in. For me, the tomatoes & pumpkin cooked down enough. BUT I could see how maybe someone would think it was too think. If you end up adding water, it won’t be much maybe 1/4 cup max. The pics you see here are from no water used. Let me know how it turns out!
This looks AMAZING there’s not a thing I don’t like about this recipe: sweet potatos and pumpkin are two of my favourite thing, I only wish I had a slow cooker 🙁 But I’ll try this anyway 😀 So tasty
Fall is here, no doubt! Im going to make this, and then freeze it for days when I dont want to cook. Great suggestion!
I love chili, but I don’t think I ever had it with pumpkin. Will give this recipe a try soon, looks delicious!
This sounds fantastic! I wonder if I could get my picky kids to try it!
One question – I eat vegetarian – could this be done without beef or any kind of meat?
This looks absolutely wonderful! my family would love it!
This looks so delicious, I am gonna try this recipe. We love eating chili as well.