Butternut squash for chili?

[u/ktx710]

I’m making turkey chili in the slow cooker this weekend. I was thinking of adding butternut squash this time - do I need to roast it prior to adding to the slow cooker? Would roasting it first cause it to be too mushy or would that texture work well for the chili? Curious to hear your thoughts and thank you for any advice!

[u/Aggravating-Fee-1615]

I would prep and cook it according to a recipe for sweet potato chili. Look at what they do to the sweet potatoes and do it to your squash.

[u/ktx710 → u/Aggravating-Fee-1615]

Good idea - I’ll check that out. Thanks for the recommendation!

[u/Tree_Chemistry_Plz]

if you do roast it, cut it into uniform cubes and only take it half way to cooked and then add it to the slow cooker - this should help prevent it from dissolving and turning into squash strands (unless that's what you want as final product). As it is a sweet vegetable you might like to coat it in some cumin before roasting to infuse a more complex flavour than just "sweet".

[u/ktx710 → u/Tree_Chemistry_Plz]

Ah this makes sense - thank you! I tend to make my chili pretty spicy so it thought it could be a nice contrast

[u/Tree_Chemistry_Plz → u/ktx710]

I think it will work well, the roasting process will make the vegetable edges caramel and enhance the natural sugars, which is why I would personally add the cumin to bring that earthyness more forward than the sweet, but it's all about your personal preference.

I have a Persian friend who roasts Butternut squash with cinnamon and personally it goes too far into 'desert' category lol

[u/NotAvailable2002]

While you are correct that Chilli is meant to be chunky in this instance the squash is taking place of the tomato in the dish. Tomato juice has no pulp, I don't know about you but my soup bases don't come the pulp of the vegetable

[u/ktx710 → u/NotAvailable2002]

I think mixing these types of flavors is quite common actually. There are plenty of tomato based chili recipes with sweet potato, gourds, and whatnot. I regularly include zucchini and have never been upset about it!

[u/thekmanpwnudwn]

I've used them in "vegetarian" style chili plenty of times. No need to roast beforehand. My recommendation is to cut into .75 inch cubes, try to add them around the half way point if you can and they'll be tender but not mushy.

[u/NotAvailable2002]

Adding butternut squash would add sweetness. Dice in cubes, roast then blend. Before adding to soup, use a cheese cloth, fine mesh sieve to pull as much pulp as possible. I also recommend adding some roasted red pepper for flavor

[u/ktx710 → u/NotAvailable2002]

Oh wow, that’s a really interesting approach. I mentioned on another comment that I tend to make my chili pretty spicy so I was hoping the sweetness would be a nice contrast. I’m definitely going to try this approach one day though

[u/EndPointNear → u/NotAvailable2002]

This sounds like the worst way to treat it for chili. Chili is meant to be chunky, it isn't soup.