This Pumpkin Turkey Chili is pure comfort in a bowl. The sauce is packed with nutrition from lots of veggies, so it’s an all in one dish.
Have you ever tried adding pumpkin to chili? I’ve seen recipes with pumpkin stirred in but had never gotten around to trying it. Lately, I’ve been trying to repurpose sauces from recipes and turn them into a new dish. This is a great example of how I did this recently.
Typically, when I make chili, I saute onions, celery and garlic before browning the meat, but since I had some of my Super Vegetable Blend-In Sauce leftover in my fridge, I simply poured this into the pot after browning the ground turkey, no need to chop up any more vegetables. Also, remember the Chicken Tinga Tacos  I made last week? The tomatoey sauce with oregano and chipotle was perfect for this chili since it already had most of the flavors I normally would add to chili.  A can of pureed pumpkin went right into the pot, sneaking in even more veggies into this chili.
I love how many vegetables there are in this chili – no one will ever know. It is packed with flavor and hearty. Add your favorite toppings and you’re in business.
Super Healthy Pumpkin Turkey Chili
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 3 cups Chicken Tinga Sauce
- 1 cup Super Vegetable Blend-In Sauce
- 1 15- ounce can pumpkin puree
- 3 cups cooked beans your choice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
- salt to taste
Instructions
-
Heat oil and brown turkey. Add Chicken Tinga Sauce, Super Vegetable Sauce, pumpkin puree, beans and chili powder. Season to taste with salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 30 minutes.
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I love how veggie-stuffed this is! And how it is basically made from leftovers. Great way to repurpose that sauce!
Joanne – I’m all about using up as much of what I’ve got in my fridge lately…and sneaking in veggies where ever I can ;).
Ah, the super vegetable Blend-In Sauce and the Chicken Tinga Sauce!!! Love it!! and yes I love pumpkin in savory dishes like this! looks so good!!
Alice – yup, using up all the sauces I can – I hate to waste food. And the pumpkin was a nice addition.
Jeanette – this chili looks so so hearty – and I gotta agree with Joanne and Alice – wonderful use of leftovers!
Thanks Shashi – it’s always rewarding when I can make use of leftovers 🙂
I’m pretty sure pumpkin was MADE for chilis 😉
Love all of the veggies in this chili especially the pumpkin!
Love the packed-in veges too…pumpkin in chili sounds wonderful!
So easy and so beautiful. There’s never too many pumpkin recipes to share as far as I’m concerned! Pinning NOW 🙂
This looks so comforting and delicious. I love all the sneaky veggies in this chill and what a great way to repurpose those sauces!
That cheese on top…perfect. I could go a bowl of this now!
I have been adding squash to chili but haven’t tried pumpkin yet – I really like the idea of pairing it with turkey!
Sounds great but not sure I understand the recipe. Why would I make a chicken dish and then put it into a turkey chili?
Sasha, this recipe came about because I had leftover sauce from a chicken dish (Chicken Tinga) I made. I didn’t want to throw away the tasty sauce, so I used it in this chili recipe. The idea in this post is to repurpose extra sauces from meals where there’s already a lot of flavor built in.
You read my mind Sasha! Looks delicious, but also like I’d need to essentially cook two meals to make it! Maybe next time!