I love butternut squash. I once embarrassed my boyfriend in the produce section of the grocery store by dancing around with a beautiful butternut and singing an improvised butternut song. Besides being my muse, it’s low in fat and high in fiber, and packed with vitamin C and carotenoids. Plus, it’s tasty! As a vegetarian, I use this squash all the time because of its hearty, creamy texture and mildly sweet, nutty flavor.
My cooking go-to is usually to look up a recipe for either a butternut squash chili or a stew. However, the chili sometimes lacks flavor and my favorite stew requires a ton of different ingredients and a really long prep time. After many trials of my own recipe, I came up with a happy butternut squash medium – a spicy, hearty chili that won’t use up everything in the pantry:
Spicy & Hearty Butternut Chili Recipe!
2 tbsp olive oil (or enough to coat the bottom of your pot)
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes (this is the most arduous part, so I usually peel and cube my squash the day before – it will keep cut up in the fridge for about a week)
1/2 white onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup white wine
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
salt and pepper to taste
Heat olive oil in a large pot on medium-high. When the oil is ready, add the butternut squash, onion and celery. Sautee these vegetables for about 4 minutes. Then add garlic, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, coriander, cardamom and cinnamon. Stir to coat the veggies with this spice blend. Then add vegetable broth, apple cider vinegar, white wine and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to medium. Simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally, and then add corn, black beans, kidney beans and salt and pepper. Turn down to medium-low and simmer for at least another hour, giving it a stir every once in a while. The squash should be very soft, falling apart when you prod it with your spoon, and most of the liquid should be absorbed.
To serve, I like to top my chili with shredded cheese and a dollop of plain yogurt (as a substitute for sour cream). I also chop some fresh cilantro if I have it, and garnish the chili with that.
I hope you like it! Leave a comment to let us know how your recipe turned out!