Fall is officially here. The weather in the Midwest the past week has been chilly and rainy with highs only into the upper 50’s and lower 60’s. You know what this means…Winter is right around the corner. As much as I don’t want to say that, it is the truth people!! But we don’t have to hate everything about Winter. Instead, we can be excited for the first snowfall (only because it looks pretty from inside our warm offices and homes), the holidays, family time, and amazing comfort foods and soups. I don’t know about you, but when I think of Fall and Winter I always think of chili.
I love a delicious traditional vegetarian chili. You know the drill- beans, onions, peppers, tomatoes, chili seasoning… it’s all good. But sometimes I like to mix things up a bit. I love adding soyrizo to my chili to make it spicy, and I love adding in tons of seasonal vegetables to bulk it up. One of my current favorite vegetables this year has been squash, specifically butternut squash. The sweetness of this vegetable is super tasty. I am also completely hooked on one of my favorite fruits: apples. Apples have been so perfectly sweet lately and you can’t beat the prices now that they are in season. So when I decided that I wanted to cook up my first batch of chili for the season, I knew that I wanted it to be a bit different…a bit sweeter, perhaps. Enter: butternut squash and apples!
Slow Cooker Butternut Squash and Apple Chili
Servings: 4-6
Ingredients
1 yellow onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (I used half of a red and half of a yellow)
4 cups butternut squash, cubed (you can find pre-cut at Trader Joe’s and Walmart)
1 zucchini, diced
2 apples, peeled and chopped (I used Jonathan)
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 packet chili seasoning (look for low sodium and the fewest ingredients, or make your own)
16 oz tomato juice
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 tsp cinnamon
black pepper, to taste
Directions
1. Add all ingredients to the slow cooker.
2. Stir the ingredients until they are well-combined.
3. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or until all ingredients are cooked through.
4. Fill up a big bowl with the chili.
5. Go back for seconds ;).
Ahh, the colors of Fall. They make me so happy…and hungry!
Let’s face it. Chili is good. And if you don’t think so…well, you sure are missing out! I love traditional chili, I love spicy chili, and now I love sweet and spicy chili. Slow Cooker Butternut Squash and Apple Chili is flavorful, comforting, and oh so cozy. If cooler Fall and Winter weather means that I get to eat food that is this good, then maybe I won’t complain as much…maybe ;).
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Oh my goodness this looks so delicious! Your pictures look fabulous and I love that you used the crockpot. It’s been pinned and will be made VERY soon!
Awesome! Thanks so much :). Please let me know when you make it! And yes, using the slow cooker makes it SO much easier..which I love :).
Perfection! Seriously this sounds like the perfect fall soup!
Thanks so much! It does kind of scream “Fall,” doesn’t it? 😉
Yummmm! I just bought some squash and now I’m thinking it needs to go in this chili 🙂
Good idea!! 🙂 Let me know if you try it out!
Oh this sounds so good! And you are right, all this chilly weather is making me want chili so bad. I’m always on the lookout for new recipes and ingredients to incorporate. Your post also made me think about adding chorizo (soyrizo) to chili – what a good idea!
Adding soyrizo or chorizo is awesome because it makes the chilly a bit spicy! I love it!
Thank you for giving me yet another reason to invest in a slow cooker AND a way to use up the frozen butternut cubes that aren’t good for roasting 😕 I love the idea of pairing butternut with apples — two fall favourites for sure!
You don’t have a slow cooker?? Um, you NEED to buy one! You would love making applesauce in it too!!
It’s supposed to snow TOMORROW in Michigan. Seriously not fair to get half an afternoon of fall before being thrown into winter 🙁 I’m excited for a slow cooker recipe! I’ve been making my breakfasts overnight in mine, but it’d be a ridiculously day if I just wiped it out and threw this chili in before I left for work
Aren’t slow cookers the absolute best?? I seriously love them! And snow ALREADY?? That is just wrong!
It’s getting so cold here and I need this chili in my life!!! I love when the directions say “throw everything in the slow cooker and cook”. So low maintainence!
I love it, too, especially because it makes writing up the recipe post SO easy! 😉
Yay! I was so excited for this recipe! I adore chili this time of year and can’t wait to try this one! I really like that it’s in the crockpot too!
Crockpot soup recipes are the best!! Please let me know if you try it out!
I love anything in the crockpot. This looks awesome!
Thank you!! Let me know if you give it a try!
Mmmmm apple, zucchini and squash OH MY!! Trader Joe’s pre-cut squash is my BFF. It seriously took forever to chop one up this weekend! I have to share this recipe with you because you would adore it….I made it yesterday and it’s already half gone. It’s SO good and SO easy: http://www.eatliverun.com/curried-butternut-and-red-lentil-soup/
You are right. That soup totally sounds like me! 😉 I’ll have to try it out!
The Philly weather has been about the same, it is brisk outside, especially in the mornings…and I LOVE it. Your chili sounds awesome, never would have thought to include apples. I may have to adapt your recipe for a carnivore version 🙂
Please let me know if you do! Trust me, the added apple flavor is delicious!
YES to this! I really need to give butternut squash another chance. The one time I had it, it was hard and just not amazing – but I bet it’d be good in soup!
Oh, you definitely need to try it again then! It is REALLY good, especially in soup!
I think I would love winter if there was snow but all we get is rain! I only got to enjoy the snow a few times in my life when we go up to Lake Tahoe for a mini vacation. I will need to try a sweet chili, I have only tried the hearty kind. Cheers!
That must be a bummer to not have ANY snow. I certainly don’t love it, but it is nice around the holidays!
Oh this sounds good! I love all types of soups and chili. I love adding veggies to chili and often add pumpkin purée but I have never tried adding other kinds of squash. I need to do that!
I need to add pumpkin to mine! I’ve seen a few recipes for it and they all sound SO good!
love the idea of squash and apple in chili, so creative!
It was a tasty combination…let me know if you try it out!
Love how delicious and warming this looks! Even though it is spring here it has been cold wet and raining perfect weather for chilli like this 🙂
I am guilty of making chili in 80 degree weather..oops! 😉
Original combination! I’m very curious about it, must try it!
Please let me know if you do! It is a unique combo, but a good one!
Love the pictures- so colorful and hearty!
Thank you!! I am not the greatest at taking soup pictures, but I was pretty happy with how these ones turned out :).
Girlfriend I was wondering where you’ve been! You haven’t been coming up in my bloglovin’ feed!! I double checked and the last post to come up was on October 11- I will unfollow and refollow to see if that fixes it
Hmm…thanks for letting me know. I just switched to self-hosted so I am guessing that is why. I will have to look into that!
YEAHH For slow cooker ideas! I am determined to use mine a lot more this year and I’m always trying to squeeze the most veggies in to any meal.
I love my slow cooker, but I definitely need to use it more often. I hope to use it a lot this Winter, too! And yes, the more veggies the better!
This looks really tasty!! Perfect for this time of year 🙂
Thanks so much! It definitely screams Fall/Winter, doesn’t it??
Wow how did I miss this?! I love squash and apple together <3 Looks delicious 🙂
Thanks!! It is tasty and SO easy to make! Let me know if you try it out!
I would love this. I love roasting apples and butternut squash together.
They make for such a great combo, don’t they??
This looks so good – I love that apple is an ingredient!
I actually just made a butternut squash and bean chili this past week and plan to share the recipe next week 🙂 chili is so perfect for this time of year, especially when it’s made in the slow-cooker!