Comfort food for chilly winter nights, made easy with the Instant Pot. Make this delicious and filling Instant Pot Vegetarian Butternut Squash Kidney Beans Chili with a secret ingredient that will not make you miss the meat!
When I was pregnant with S and had gestational diabetes the last few months, I was on a high protein low card diet. Among the many many things I bought, experimented and ate during those months, one was this high protein vegetarian burger from Trader Joe's. And, as with all the things I ate in excess during those months, I got tired of eating them and really can't even look at them these days, now, at 4 months postpartum.
I still had those protein burgers in the freezer and wanted to use them up before it was too late.
I decided to try an experiment and use them instead of meat in my chili recipe. I am generally not the biggest fan of chili and when I make it, it is usually the meat one for the boys.
But this time, I made my chili recipe with the protein burgers and made it a vegetarian chili in the Instant Pot. The meat eater in the family (aka the husband) did not miss the meat in this, at all!
What other vegetable can I use in this vegetarian chili recipe?
The butternut squash in the chili is the perfect seasonal ingredient to add to this, around this time of the year but you can add a variety of vegetables to it, like, zucchini, carrots, sweet potatoes etc.
What kind of beans can be used to make a vegetarian chili?
You can always add any other beans instead of the kidney beans. I have tried black beans and a combination of black and pinto beans before. But, butternut squash and kidney beans combo in this Instant Pot chili is my favorite.
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Vegetarian Butternut Squash and Kidney Beans Chili
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoon avocado oil
- ½ onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ green bell pepper chopped
- 1 jalapeno chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
- 2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 15 oz can red kidney beans
- 2 vegetarian protein burgers crumbled
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 ½ cup cubed butternut squash
- salt to taste
Don't forget to check out Step-by-step instructions with photos in the body of the post above
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to saute. Once it shows hot, add the oil to the inner lining of the pot.
- Add the onion, garlic, jalapenos and bell pepper. Saute for a minute for it just get hot.
- Crumble the vegetarian protein burgers and add to the pot.
- Add the spices and the cocoa powder and mix well.
- Drain and rinse the kidney beans and add to this.
- Add the tomatoes to this and give a quick mix.
- Next goes the vegetable stock.
- And finally, the cubed butternut squash. Stir well and close the lid of the Instant Pot. Cancel the saute option. Press Chili / Beans button and adjust the time to 15 mins. Keep the seal on the lid to sealing position.
- Once done and the count down starts with the keep warm button on, wait for pressure to release naturally ( wait for the little metal pin near the seal to go down). Open once pressure is all released. Mix well. Top with garnishes and enjoy right away.
Notes
- cilantro
- lime
- sour cream
- avocado
- tortilla chips
- grated pepper jack cheese
- jalapenos
- chopped scallions
Nutrition
Looking for more Instant Pot recipes? Here are a few favorites
Instant Pot Steel Cut Oatmeal
Instant Pot Apple Butter
Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Also check out our popular recipes with butternut squash
Butternut Squash Goat Cheese Galette
Butternut Squash and Cherry Tomatoes Orzo
Apple Ginger Butternut Squash Soup
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