Fall is in the air, and this Chorizo Chili with Roasted Tomatoes and Squash incorporates the harvest flavours into a delicious hearty meal.
Spicy chorizo sausage, white beans, diced tomatoes, and squash. The perfect comfort food. Great for batch cooking too.
With summer winding down, it’s time to get all the comfort food recipes lined up. I happen to think this is the most flavourful time of year.
RECIPE and INSTRUCTIONS for this chorizo sausage chili can be found at the bottom of this post.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a summer girl to the core. There is just something so satisfying with soups, chilis, and pumpkin lattes.
If you have a Farmer’s Market near you, now is the time to scoop up some great produce. Grab those fresh bushel baskets of produce while you can. One of my favorite things to make this time of year is roasted tomatoes. This freezer-friendly method is just what you need for great meals all year long.
Easy to make meals, hearty satisfying, and totally delicious. Wrapping your hands around big oversized mugs. Sitting by the fire. That is in store for the next few months.
What You Need For This Chorizo Chili Recipe
- Fresh Tomatoes – I like to use Roma, but all kinds will work here.
- Butternut Squash – you can really use any squash variety you like. This is the perfect time of year for finding them.
- Fresh Chorizo Sausage – not the cured variety.
- Poblano Pepper – easily found at the grocery store beside the other peppers.
- Onion – white, yellow, red, spanish, whatever you have on hand.
- Garlic – fresh is best, but dried cloves work well.
- White Kidney Beans – if don’t have them, you can use red kidney beans, or even chickpeas.
- Seasonings – salt, pepper, chili powder cumin, or even a Mexican blend will be delicious.
- Oil – olive or avocado. I also used some jalapeno flavoured oil for added heat.
- Lime and Cilantro – for garnish.
There is lots of wiggle room with this delicious chorizo recipe. Don’t fret if you are missing an ingredient. Swap it out for something else. I promise it will be delicious.
Making Spicy Chorizo Chili Is Easy
Who doesn’t love a big bowl of beef chili? Easy and satisfying is the name of the game. This recipe is just that. Everything you need to know is in the recipe card below. Here is a quick rundown:
First, you need to roast the tomatoes. Wash, cut, season with salt and pepper, coat in oil, and place in a baking dish. This will take about 50 minutes. While the tomatoes are roasting, you can work on the rest of the recipe.
In a large pot, cook the fresh chorizo along with the onions and garlic. I just cut the sausage into chunks. You can remove the casing if you like. Once cooked you will want to drain any excess fat from the pot.
Next, you will add the seasonings, diced squash, and flavoured oil if you are using it. Cook for about 15 minutes.
By this time, the tomatoes should be ready to come out of the oven. Let them cool for a bit and use a blender (regular or immersion) or potato masher to break them up slightly.
Add them to the pot, along with the beans. Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Ladle into bowls, garnish with a squeeze of lime and dig in. Serve it with chunks of homemade cornbread or tortilla chips.
Different Types Of Chorizo
This pork sausage is available in three forms:
- raw/fresh
- semi-cooked
- fully cooked
The very popular Spanish chorizo is readily found in the grocery store, in the cured meat section. Since it is fully cooked or cured, you can eat it like ham or salami.
Lots of paprika gives it a red colour. It has a smoky flavour and it can be spicy or mild. It works great in recipes like slow cooker spicy kale soup.
Mexican chorizo is usually raw/uncooked, seasoned with vinegar and chili peppers. Generally, it is less smoky in taste. Look for it in the fresh meat section near other sausages like Bratwurst, Italian, Andouille, and breakfast.
Substitutions
However you mix and match, it’s pretty hard to mess up a great chili recipe.
- Beans – Red kidney beans, chickpeas, Romano beans, and black beans are great choices.
- Seasonings – different types of chili powders and blends all work in this chili recipe.
- Squash – any variety will work. You an even use sweet potatoes.
- Sausage Meat – if you cannot find fresh chorizo, any fresh sausage will work. Spicy Italian is a great substitute.
- Onions – any variety works.
- Poblano Pepper – you can also use jalapeno (remove the seeds if you don’t want all the heat).
- Fresh Tomatoes – all kinds work.
This makes a nice big batch. I did manage to tuck some away in the freezer, although it was so good we wanted to eat all of it! Comfort food heaven.
More Great Comfort Foods
Looking to try more great Fall recipes? Here are a few of our favourites:
- Roasted Pumpkin Soup is made in the blender. Super easy!
- Roasted Cauliflower Soup uses spicy paprika to heat things up.
- Orange Cauliflower Soup combines curry for a nice satisfying main dish meal.
- Sausage and Apple Stuffed Squash is great on the Thanksgiving dinner table.
- Roasted Squash Slices only require 4 ingredients. The perfect fall side dish.
Chorizo Chili With Roasted Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 8 cups fresh Roma tomatoes (roughly cut)
- 4 cups butternut squash (cubed)
- 1 ½ pounds chorizo sausage (fresh not cured)
- 1 tablespoon poblano pepper (seeded and diced)
- 1 tablespoon onion (diced)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 19 ounces white kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1 ½ teaspoons jalapeno flavoured olive oil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (for roasting tomatoes)
- 1 teaspoon cumin (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- lime and cilantro (for garnish)
Instructions
For the Roasted Tomatoes:
- Preheat oven to 400º F. Wash and ¼ cut tomatoes. Place in a large baking dish. Coat with oil, and season with salt and pepper.
- Roast for approximately 50 minutes, turning every so often. When they are done, let cool slightly and blitz in blender to break them up.
While tomatoes are roasting:
- In a heavy bottomed pot, heat the olive oil. Add the diced onion and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes. While this is cooking cut up the sausage.
- Add the sausage to the onion/garlic mixture. Cook for 20 minutes. Drain any excess fat from the pot. Add the seasonings (chili powder, cumin).
- Add the diced squash and jalapeno oil. Cook for 15 minutes.
- Add the roasted/blitzed tomatoes and beans. Season with salt and pepper.
- Reduce heat to medium/low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Ladle into bowls. Garnish with a squeeze of lime and cilantro.
Jenni
This is seriously the perfect fall chili! Love the fact that you used chorizo! I bet its awesome!
Homemade & Yummy
It works really well in this recipe. Hope you give it a try.
Krissy Allori
Talk about the ultimate fall comfort food!
Homemade & Yummy
Yes is does have the flavours of the season in this tasty dish.
Megan @ Megunprocessed
Love the fall recipes!
Homemade & Yummy
Me too….comfort food season is so delicious.
Andrea
Oh man this looks amazing. I would totally love this for football sunday and to eat with paleo tortillas. I bet it gets better each day you warm it up again.
Homemade & Yummy
Yes it gets better the next day or two for sure.
Luci
So tasty. Perfect for the up coming cooler months.
Homemade & Yummy
Yes it is a comfort food winner for sure.
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes)
I love all the flavors of this dish!! It looks awesome!!
Homemade & Yummy
Yes, we love this one for sure.
Analida Braeger
I love a good Mexican fresh chorizo and the flavor it brings to a dish! I also hate winter but I love all the winter foods that are too hot to eat in the summer. I guess that is the trade off. Thanks for the great recipe!
Homemade & Yummy
Yes the comfort food is GREAT…the weather….not so great!!
Denise Wright
I’ve always want to go snow shoeing! I’ll have to check back and see how it went. 🙂 Everything about this recipes sounds delicious. I have a hard time finding chorizo but as soon as I do, I’m going to go crazy cooking it and I will try this one first. I think my hubby will love it too.
Homemade & Yummy
Well I am interested to see how the snow shoeing goes too…it will be an adventure. Hope you give this recipe a try….I would be happy to come home to this.
Lauren Gaskill
Love your combo of chorizo and butternut squash! Such a great balance of flavor!
Homemade & Yummy
Yes they pair well together for sure.ENJOY!!
Teri
I absolutely love this. I am a big fan of chorizo, and this combination is unique. Can’t wait to give this a try.
Homemade & Yummy
The flavours work so well together. This is a keeper for sure.
April
I’ll take a big ole bowl of this goodness! Sounds so comforting. I would sit in front of my fireplace on cold evening and relax.
Homemade & Yummy
This is the perfect cold weather food. I could eat it all season long.
Soniya
Oh what a delightful recipe!! I see my self making this a lot when the weather cools down out here in Virginia. Loved the addition of butternut squash.saving the recipe for later 🙂
Homemade & Yummy
This is a great recipe, and fun to adjust the heat level too.
Constance Smith
This looks fantastic! Chorizo adds so much flavor to pretty much anything you put it in!
Homemade & Yummy
Yes, chorizo is delicious for sure.
Daniela
Chorizo is one of my favorite things in the world, so this recipe is right up my alley. And what a great way to use butternut squash!
Homemade & Yummy
The flavours really work well together in this recipe.
Kylee from Kylee Cooks
I so wish I had a good Farmer’s Market nearby. I’m in Phoenix – so tomatoes, jalapenos and onions (plus some zucchini) are about the sum of what’s available.
I love new ways to use fresh produce – this looks absolutely delicious!!
Homemade & Yummy
Yes great fresh produce can be hard to get…especially in the winter months.