Hearty & Healthy Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Chili with Chicken & Quinoa

This Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Chili is the epitome of comfort food, offering a rich, hearty, and incredibly flavorful experience. It’s designed for convenience, bringing together tender shredded chicken, soft, nutrient-dense vegetables, and wholesome quinoa, all simmered to perfection in your slow cooker. This recipe promises a satisfying meal that’s both easy to prepare and deeply nourishing, ideal for chilly evenings or meal prepping throughout the week.

Author’s Culinary Journey

Embrace the Warmth: The Ultimate Comfort in a Bowl!

The moment autumn leaves start to fall and the air gets crisp, my kitchen transforms into a chili haven. Chili isn’t just a meal; it’s a tradition, a delightful way to infuse my home with warmth and comforting aromas. It’s truly one of my favorite dishes, especially because it allows me to effortlessly pack in a wealth of nutritious ingredients like vibrant vegetables, hearty beans, and protein-rich quinoa.

What makes chili a true culinary MVP is its incredible versatility and practicality. It’s perfect for utilizing those odds and ends in your fridge, transforming them into a delicious, cohesive meal. Furthermore, chili excels at yielding generous portions, ensuring you have plenty of leftovers that somehow taste even better the next day. This makes it an excellent choice for busy weeknights or for delightful weekend meal prep. It’s wonderfully simple to prepare, incredibly adaptable to different tastes and dietary needs, and always delivers that satisfying feeling, especially when served with a warm, fluffy piece of cornbread for dipping.

My passion for chili runs deep, and over the years, I’ve experimented with countless variations. Here are a few beloved chili recipes from my collection, each offering a unique twist on this classic dish: Lean Turkey Chili, Creamy Chicken Enchilada Chili, Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili (a fantastic vegetarian option!), Southwest Quinoa Chili, Slow Cooker Creamy Taco Chicken Chili, Classic Crockpot Chili, and Crockpot White Chicken Chili. As you can see, I’m absolutely dedicated to crafting the perfect bowl of chili for every occasion!

The Magic of the Sauté: Why This Initial Step is Crucial for Flavor

While this recipe champions the ease of a slow cooker for our Butternut Squash Chili, I always advocate for a crucial preliminary step: a quick sauté of a few key ingredients. This isn’t just an extra step; it’s a fundamental technique that dramatically elevates the chili’s flavor and texture profile. If your slow cooker conveniently features a sauté setting, you’re in luck, as you won’t even need a separate pan, making the process even more streamlined.

Lightly cooking the aromatics like onion and garlic, along with the spices, tomato paste, and diced tomatoes, works wonders. This initial heat activates the spices, releasing their full aromatic potential. More importantly, it allows the onions to caramelize slightly and the tomato paste to deepen in flavor, creating a rich, sweet, and complex base. This process is often referred to as building layers of flavor, and it’s essential for a truly delicious chili. It also begins the softening process for the butternut squash, carrots, and onions, ensuring they reach that perfectly tender consistency by the time the slow cooker has finished its work. Skipping this vital step can result in vegetables that are still a bit firm, and a chili that lacks the profound depth of flavor we’re aiming for.

Essential Ingredients & Smart Substitutions for Your Chili

Crafting the perfect Butternut Squash Chili starts with selecting quality ingredients. Here’s a detailed look at what you’ll need and some flexible alternatives to suit your pantry or preferences.

Mastering Your Slow Cooker: Expert Tips for the Best Butternut Squash Chili

Achieving a perfectly cooked, flavorful butternut squash chili in your slow cooker is simple with these expert tips:

• Choose the Right Slow Cooker Size: This recipe yields a generous amount of chili, making a 6-quart (or larger) slow cooker ideal. This ensures all ingredients fit comfortably, allowing for even cooking and proper heat circulation. An overcrowded slow cooker can lead to unevenly cooked ingredients.
• Embrace High Heat: For this particular chili, cooking on the “high” setting is recommended. The higher temperature is crucial for the quinoa to “pop” and cook through properly, achieving its characteristic fluffy yet slightly chewy texture. While some slow cooker recipes do well on low, quinoa requires a bit more heat to hydrate and cook effectively.
• Uniform Chicken Chunks: Cut your chicken into relatively small, uniform chunks, about 2-inch pieces. This ensures that the chicken cooks at a similar rate to the vegetables and quinoa, preventing any dry or undercooked spots. Evenly sized pieces guarantee tender, succulent chicken throughout.
• Harness Fire-Roasted Tomatoes: Don’t underestimate the power of fire-roasted diced tomatoes. They introduce a deep, smoky complexity to the chili that regular diced tomatoes simply can’t replicate. This subtle smokiness elevates the overall flavor profile without requiring any extra effort on your part.
• Precisely Chop Squash: Consistency is key when it comes to vegetables. Chop your butternut squash into even cubes, ideally around ½ inch. This uniform size is vital for ensuring that all the squash pieces soften evenly in the slow cooker, becoming melt-in-your-mouth tender rather than some pieces being firm and others mushy.
• Don’t Forget to Rinse Quinoa: Always rinse your quinoa thoroughly under cold running water in a fine-mesh sieve before adding it to the slow cooker. This removes saponin, a natural coating that can give quinoa a bitter or soapy taste. A quick rinse makes a big difference in the final flavor of your chili.
• Stir Well for Even Cooking: After adding all ingredients to the slow cooker, give them a good stir. Ensure the chicken pieces are submerged in the liquid. This helps everything cook evenly and allows the flavors to meld together beautifully from the start.

Explore More Delicious Butternut Squash Recipes:

If you’ve fallen in love with the versatility and flavor of butternut squash in this chili, you’ll be thrilled to discover its potential in other dishes. Here are a few more butternut squash recipes to inspire your culinary adventures:

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4.88 from 31 votes

Butternut Squash Chili

By
Chelsea Lords

This nutritious Butternut Squash Chili is bursting with flavor and packed with healthy ingredients, including plenty of vegetables, tender shredded chicken, and superfood quinoa. It’s the perfect hearty meal for any day of the week, offering both comfort and wholesome goodness.

Prep Time:
15 minutes

Cook Time:
3 hours

Total Time:
3 hours 15 minutes

Servings:
6 servings

Equipment

• 6-quart Slow Cooker ensures ample space for all ingredients

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup diced yellow onion
• 1 cup diced carrot
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 cups butternut squash, peeled and chopped (see note 1)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 (1.25-ounce) packet mild chili seasoning mix (see note 2)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (16-ounce) can chili beans
• 1 (15.25-ounce) can corn, undrained
• 1 (15.25-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1-1/4 pounds chicken thighs or breasts (see note 3)
• 3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons lime juice (optional)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
• Toppings as desired (see note 4)

Instructions

• Spray a 6-quart slow cooker with nonstick spray. Trim any excess fat from the chicken and cut it into uniform 2-inch chunks. Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a fine-mesh sieve and set it aside.
• If your slow cooker is equipped with a sauté function, use it directly in the pot. Otherwise, heat the olive oil in a separate large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and sauté until it becomes golden and translucent, about 5–7 minutes. Next, add the minced garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds until fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste, chili seasoning blend, salt, and pepper. Continue to sauté for 1–2 minutes more, allowing the spices and tomato paste to become deeply aromatic.
• Pour in the fire-roasted diced tomatoes (do not drain), mixing well. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, incorporating them into the mixture for maximum flavor. Transfer this rich mixture into your slow cooker.
• To the slow cooker, add the chili beans, corn (undrained), black beans (drained and rinsed), chicken thighs or breasts, rinsed quinoa, and chicken stock. Stir all the ingredients thoroughly, ensuring that the chicken pieces are fully submerged in the liquid to cook evenly. Cover and cook on the HIGH setting for 3–4 hours, or until the chicken shreds easily with two forks and the quinoa is fully cooked (see note 5).
• Once the chili is cooked, carefully remove the chicken pieces from the slow cooker and place them in a separate bowl. Using two forks, shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces, then return it to the slow cooker and stir it back into the chili. For an even heartier and thicker texture, you can use a potato masher or the back of a spoon to gently mash some of the tender butternut squash against the side of the pot.
• Finally, stir in the fresh cilantro and lime juice (if using). Taste the chili and adjust the seasonings as needed, adding more salt, pepper, or a pinch of chili powder to suit your preference. Ladle the hot chili into individual bowls and customize each serving with your favorite toppings. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Note 1: This recipe typically requires about half of a medium-sized butternut squash. The key to tender squash is precise cutting: ensure all pieces are chopped into small, uniform ½-inch cubes so they cook evenly and soften perfectly within the recipe’s timeframe. For visual guidance on how to safely and efficiently cut your squash, refer to the pictures or video in our roasted butternut squash post.

Note 2: If you prefer to make your own chili seasoning blend from scratch, combine the following: 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste for heat), 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. This blend delivers a robust flavor that complements the squash beautifully.

Note 3: While boneless, skinless chicken breasts will work in this recipe, I highly recommend using boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Thigh meat contains more fat, which renders it exceptionally tender and moist when slow-cooked, making it incredibly easy to shred and infusing the chili with richer flavor.

Note 4: The right toppings can transform your chili experience! I love to elevate this chili with a dollop of cooling sour cream or Greek yogurt, a generous sprinkle of sharp Cheddar cheese, creamy diced avocado, a handful of fresh cilantro or chives, and a final squeeze of fresh lime juice for brightness.

Note 5: It is crucial that this recipe cooks on the “high” heat setting. The quinoa specifically needs consistent higher heat to “pop” and cook through properly, achieving its ideal texture. Cooking on low heat will not adequately cook the quinoa. Keep in mind that slow cooker cooking times can vary slightly depending on your specific appliance, so look for chicken that shreds easily, fully hydrated and cooked quinoa, and tender vegetables as indicators of readiness. The longer the chili simmers, the more liquid the quinoa will absorb, contributing to a thicker consistency.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving |
Calories: 711kcal |
Carbohydrates: 82g |
Protein: 38g |
Fat: 27g |
Saturated Fat: 6g |
Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g |
Monounsaturated Fat: 12g |
Trans Fat: 1g |
Cholesterol: 99mg |
Sodium: 1079mg |
Potassium: 1855mg |
Fiber: 19g |
Sugar: 15g |
Vitamin A: 17071IU |
Vitamin C: 26mg |
Calcium: 171mg |
Iron: 9mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation. Individual results may vary.

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