Drunken Pumpkin Chicken Chili

Sometimes I make posts and I say to myself, “Ok this is my favorite post I’ve ever done.” It happens at least once a week. But this week, THIS POST, I really really mean it 🙂 This past Wednesday was the first day of fall. Google made it official by changing their logo to be letter shaped squash. There was outrage in the foodie community because no one could identify the purple “e” squash. The horror!

Wednesday also happened to be my birthday!! Woot woot!! More to come about the fun festivities, but I will say this. Thirty (30, thir-tee, three zero) feels good. I used to be a 20-something that had her life (half) together. Now I’m just a standard thirty year old and I kind of love it.

So, fall is upon us. The crisp air. The leaves. The football (or so they tell me). The pumpkin beer. For me, the moment I begin to feel the seasons change, I just want to crawl up on my couch with a warm bowl of chili. The craving struck so I went for it.

This is a seriously delicious bowl of chili. There are so many things to love about this dish – the roasted butternut squash, the shredded chicken, the spicy warm food hug it gives you. But what I love the most is that you can taste the pumpkin beer flavor current running throughout the dish. It combines two of the things I love most about fall, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.

#Sorrynotsorry for the excessive amount of pictures. I really had fun with this post! So, here’s how you make Drunken Pumpkin Chicken Chili:

In a large bowl, toss the butternut squash, half of your chopped onion, and the chopped poblano pepper with some olive oil.

Put your veggies on a lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, I broiled mine on high for 2 minutes just to brown them a bit.

While your veggies are roasting, pour your beer in a large sauce pan with a lid. I used DuClaw’s 31 Pumpkin Spiced Lager. It’s medium bodied and has those fall spices that lend itself perfectly to this chili.

Why is there an extra beer when the recipe only calls for one?! Because this happened:

Jaryd and I celebrating the silence of our children napping. Let’s take a moment to thank the napping gods. Ok, now let’s thank the beer gods.

Jaryd is drinking DuClaw’s 62 Imperial Pumpkin Ale which is also highly recommended. Pinkies up! Someone likes to drink his beer with his eyes closed.

Ok, back to business. In the sauce pan, add the chicken breasts, chicken broth, remaining half of the chopped onion, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves.

Bring it to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 10-12 minutes.

Transfer the contents of the saucepan to the crock pot bowl. I shredded the chicken directly in the crock pot bowl, but you could use a separate large bowl if you’re afraid of damaging your crock pot.

Using two forks, shred the chicken. Thank you to my lovely hand model for the demonstration. Honey, if you’re reading this, you’re a rockstar. But seriously, if you use the last of the shampoo can you please remove the bottle from the shower and place it in the recycling bin? K, thanks.

Once the chicken is shredded, add the roasted veggies, fire roasted tomatoes, corn, and jalapeño.

Finally, add the remaining spices (chipotle chili powder, cinnamon, and sea salt). Turn your crock pot on high and cook it for at least 3 hours. If you notice it’s not thickening as quickly as you want, you may want to consider keeping the lid off to rid the excess moisture.

I don’t do much crock potting, but when I do, I do it right. The house smells heavenly. You spend the whole day thinking about that moment you take off the lid and take your first bite. It’s like the ultimate delayed gratification. It’s amazing.

I served mine with avocado and cheddar cheese. Jaryd put some sour cream on his. This, my friends, is what fall is all about.

Did you make this? Leave a review below and tag me on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!

Recipe

Drunken Pumpkin Chicken Chili

Recipe by:Lindsay Grimes

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Prep: 30Cook: 180Total: 210

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Ingredients

• 1 medium butternut squash (mine was 1 lb. 11oz), cut in cubes
• 1 yellow onion, chopped (we will use half of this at a time)
• 1 poblano pepper, chopped
• 2 T. olive oil
• 3 chicken breasts
• 12 oz. DuClaw 31 Pumpkin Spiced Lager
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. nutmeg
• 1/8 t. ground cloves
• 14.5 oz. fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup corn (frozen works nicely)
• 1 jalapeño, chopped
• 1/4 t. chipotle chili powder
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. sea salt

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. In a large bowl, toss the butternut squash, half your chopped onion, and chopped poblano pepper with 2 T. olive oil.
3. Transfer veggies to a lined baking pan and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
4. After the 20 minutes, broil on high for 2 minutes to brown them a bit.
5. Pour your beer into a large sauce pan with a lid.
6. Add the chicken breasts, chicken broth, remaining half chopped onion, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves to the saucepan.
7. Bring the saucepan contents to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to a simmer.
8. Simmer for 10-12 minutes.
9. Transfer the contents of the saucepan to crock pot bowl. I shredded the chicken directly in the crock pot bowl, but you could use a separate large bowl.
10. Once the chicken is shredded, add the roasted veggies, fire roasted tomatoes, corn and jalapeño.
11. Finally, add the remaining spices (chipotle chili powder, cinnamon, and sea salt).
12. Turn your crock pot on high and cook it for at least 3 hours. If you notice it’s not thickening as quickly as you would like, you may want to consider keeping the lid off to rid the excess moisture.

Tips

• Serve with avocado, cheddar cheese, sour cream, nacho chips, etc. If you can dream it, you can do it!

Nutrition Info:

• Serving Size: 6

© The Toasted Pine Nut

What did I do with my leftovers, you ask? I put it in a quesadilla and it was AMAZING!!

Enjoy! xo

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 Thank you to DuClaw for making delicious beer and for sponsoring this post.