Butternut Squash Chili with Cauliflower Pearls
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This Whole30-Compliant Butternut Squash Chili is made with butternut squash and ground turkey and placed on top of cauliflower pearls for extra veggies!
You knew this was coming… a Whole30 recipe! Because if doing the Whole30 diet taught me one thing, it’s that Whole30 recipes do not have to be bland and boring—quite the opposite, actually. This butternut squash chili is full of flavor and obviously filling because chili is always filling, or at least I think so. Plus, chili is so comforting, and January is the just the month for comforting yet healthy recipes.
This butternut squash chili is whole30 compliant and filled with ground turkey, peppers, tomatoes, and avocado all atop Taylor Farms cauliflower pearls, aka cauliflower rice! Miguel and I have been obsessed with the Taylor Farms salad kits—we typically buy 1-2 bags each week—and recently we’ve also been obsessed with their pre-cut veggies and now their cauliflower pearls! They steam in the bag, which is incredibly convenient, and they’re an awesome way to squeeze even more veggies into this chili recipe.
I typically make chili in my slow cooker, but I opted to make this recipe over the stovetop simply because I wasn’t in the mood to wait four hours for the chili to be done. Cooking it over the stove means it’ll be done in about 45 minutes, and it doesn’t require much attention at all; just chop your veggies, place them in the skillet, along with the meat, and then let the chili simmer away while you twiddle your thumbs/text your friends /watch TV/etc. Easy peasy!
So what’s all in this chili recipe? Well, there’s onion, garlic, ground turkey, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, green pepper, butternut squash, avocado, and plenty of spices of course. And cauliflower pearls! It’s filling, tasty, it’s tasty fresh or as leftovers, it’s gluten free, dairy free, Whole30, and just plain GOOD!
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Taylor Farms. As always, as opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support this site!
Butternut Squash Chili with Cauliflower Pearls
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb. lean ground turkey
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 green pepper, chopped with seeds removed
- 2 cans, 14 oz. each diced tomatoes*
- 2 cans, 6 oz. each tomato paste
- 3 cups water
- 4 cups Taylor Farms Cubed Butternut Squash
- Optional: avocado for topping
- For the cauliflower pearls:
- 1 bag Taylor Farms Cauliflower Pearls
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Optional: pinch of red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a skillet and then add garlic and onion, stirring for about 3 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Next, add the turkey meat and stir until no longer pink; then, add the spices along with the chopped green pepper and stir for an additional 3 minutes or so.
- Next, add the canned tomatoes and tomato paste and stir until everything is combined.
- Last, add the water and chopped butternut squash; reduce heat to a simmer, place lid over the skillet and cook chili until squash is soft, about 20-25 minutes.
- Once the chili has been cooking for 15 minutes, cook the cauliflower pearls by following the cooking instructions on the package. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, then add garlic and cook until garlic is fragrant and golden in color. Pour cooked garlic and oil into cooked cauliflower and stir to combine, which will give the cauliflower a garlicky flavor.
- Pour the garlicky cauliflower into bowls, top it with the chili and an avocado and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
I made this today for lunch! I’m new to eating many veggies (I’ve always had texture issues with fruit and vegetables), but I’m learning to cook them in new ways. I enjoyed this. I used fresh cauliflower and just looked up how to cook it as rice (I sautéed in olive oil and garlic, S&P). I drizzled a little extra oil over it snd done like juice. I will be making this again.
Will this freeze well??
I’m so glad you liked it! Yes, I think it should freeze just fine — I’d omit the cauliflower rice though and add it in before you’re ready to eat it (it might get too mushy in the freezer).
This sounds & looks like an awesome recipe! Quick question … if I sub fresh butternut squash will it need to be cooked first before being added? Or could I just cube it up and add directly?
Whether you buy a full butternut squash or pre-cut butternut squash, you can just add it directly to the pan and it’ll cook with the chili–no need to cook it beforehand!