Meatless Monday: Butternut squash and white bean chili sticks to your ribs

Dinner gets infused with fall flavor in this easy, one-pot, meatless chili recipe. Comforting but healthy, it’s loaded with seasonal veggies and flavored with mild spices.

Butternut squash is cooked along with white beans, onions, garlic and tomatoes and seasoned with chili powder for a hearty vegetarian spin on chili. This is also a great meal for freezing, so make a double batch, and you’ll have next week’s dinner ready too.

Cornbread muffins are optional, but they sure are great for dipping.

One-pot butternut squash chili recipe

Serves 6-8

Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 45 minutes | Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

For the chili

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small sweet onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups diced butternut squash, fresh or frozen (thawed if using frozen)
• 1 (15 ounce) can white beans
• 1 cup corn kernels
• 2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 envelope chili seasoning mix
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Optional toppings

• Sour cream
• Thinly sliced green onions
• Fresh cilantro
• Grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. To a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil, sweet onions, bell peppers and garlic.
2. Cook the veggies for 4 to 5 minutes or until the onions and peppers become soft.
3. To the pot, add in the remaining chili ingredients, and stir well.
4. Cover the pot, and simmer the chili over medium-low heat for 35 to 40 minutes or until the butternut squash is nice and tender.
5. Spoon the chili into bowls, and top with sour cream, green onions and fresh cilantro.

More butternut squash recipes

Vegan brown rice and spinach-stuffed butternut squash
Butternut squash soup with carrots and potatoes
Caramelized butternut squash with bacon