Pumpkin Chilli Dip Recipe | Strictly Seasonal 2.0

I had an experience recently where I ordered chilli from the small plates menu, and it turned out that from the small plates menu that meant I was getting a large pot of warm chilli dip with tortilla chips. Not exactly what I thought I was getting, but it was exactly what I needed and I’ve been a little bit obsessed with chilli dip since. And I thought pumpkin would be the perfect seasonal addition to this dish. This pumpkin chilli dip recipe is warming, with a hint of sweetness, perfect as a snack or a light meal/ small plate.  

Further Reading: What’s in Season in October?

Nutritional Information  

An eighth of this recipe contains 95 calories, 4g of fibre and 4g of protein per serving. Each serving also contains 45% of your daily vitamin C and a third of the RDA of vitamin A, as well as a quarter of your daily B1 and 10% of both B2 and B6.  

Substitutions  

Okay, I hear you. This recipe is great, but it takes a long time for just a dip. I get it. As the pumpkin isn’t in whole chunks when you eat it, you can sub the pumpkin for canned pumpkin if you want to reduce the cooking time there. And for the ultimate lazy kitchen hack, you can also remove just about every other ingredient, other than the beans, and substitute it for a large jar of salsa.  

Add your cooked pumpkin/ canned pumpkin to a pan on low-medium heat along with the jar of salsa and drained beans and cook for 5-10 minutes until warmed through and serve.  

Cheese?  

A lot of chilli dips out there are chilli cheese dips. That wasn’t exactly my plan here. But if you want a hint of cheesy flavour, there is an option to add a little bit of vegan cheese as the final step in this process. But you’re not missing out if you opt to skip it. For reference, there was no cheese used in the batch shown in the photos in this post.  

How to store and reheat/ does it keep?  

You can keep this dish in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. And you can serve it cold or reheat it when you’re ready for more. The best way to reheat this dish is on the hob for 5 minutes or so to warm through, adding a few splashes of water as you go, if it’s getting too dry.  

Pumpkin Chilli Dip Recipe 

Vegan pumpkin chilli dip recipe – a filling dip with lots of fibre and seasonal ingredients.  

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free and vegan friendly.  

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Pumpkin Chilli Dip Recipe

Vegan pumpkin chilli dip recipe – a filling dip with lots of fibre and seasonal ingredients.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword Chilli Dip

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 8

Calories 95 kcal

Ingredients

Pumpkin Prep

• 1 small pumpkin peeled and cubed
• 1 tbsp vegan liquid sweetener I used date syrup
• 1 tsp sunflower oil
• Pinch of salt

Pan

• 1 tsp sunflower oil
• 1 small red onion diced
• 1 medium pepper red, yellow or orange, diced
• 1 tbsp smoked sweet paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp chilli powder add more to taste
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 can pinto beans drained and rinsed
• 30 g vegan cheese optional

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 190°c.

2. Add the ingredients from the pumpkin list to a bowl and toss the pumpkin in the oil and syrup to evenly coat. Transfer to a baking tray and place in the centre of the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the pumpkin is fully cooked, softened, but the outsides are not crispy.
3. While the pumpkin is cooking, add a pan to a medium heat, add the oil to heat, then add the chopped onion and pepper, and cook for 6-8 minutes until softened. Add the spices and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until the vegetables are evenly coated.
4. Add the tomatoes and reduce to a low heat. Cook for a further 10 minutes, then add the pinto beans and continue to cook on a low heat for 15-20 minutes. Once the pumpkin is ready, add the cooked pumpkin to the pan and stir to combine. Cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring often. In this time the chilli dip should have fully thickened and the pumpkin will start to fall apart and blend with the sauce. The beans should have softened to a point where they also fall apart if you hit them with your spoon. I opted to leave mine slightly chunky, but you can also blend your dip at this stage if you want it to be smooth.
5. If you wish to use cheese, add it as the final step before removing your dip from the heat. Add it to the pan and stir for 2-3 minutes until it’s fully melted and combined.
6. Remove from the heat and transfer to a dish to serve in. This batch makes enough to fill four dip bowls the size of the one shown in this post.

Serve and enjoy!

Until next time, 

Sophie 

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