This Butternut Squash Chilli with Rice recipe is inspired by a Tesco Community Cookery School by Jamie Oliver recipe I was given a few weeks ago! It lacked a bit of oomph and needed a bit of sprucing up, but I am really happy with the result below now! This Butternut Squash Chilli is perfect for a healthy, student- and budget-friendly weeknight dinner, the recipe is highly adaptable and any leftovers can be kept in the fridge for a few days or be frozen! This chilli recipe is a true all-rounder
Variations of this Butternut Squash Chilli
This Butternut Squash Chilli is extremely versatile! You can substitute a few of the ingredients in this recipe and use up whatever you have in your cupboard! This recipe uses mostly Student Store Cupboard Ingredients anyway, so I’m sure you’ll find something 😊.
I added a diced pepper to the chilli and used butternut squash as the main vegetable to bulk it up! You can however add other veggies like courgette, and also a different root vegetable of your choosing. Sweet potato, carrot or pumpkin would also be a good choice, so just use whatever is available or in season. You can also mix things up in terms of the beans you use. I opted for a tin of black beans and a tin of black beans, but butter, cannellini or pinto beans could be a good choice as well! Again, just use whatever you like most!
Serving Suggestions for this Butternut Squash Chilli
Rice is obviously a fantastic choice for serving with this Butternut Squash Chilli, and there are plenty of different ones to choose from! You can serve this with some sticky Basmati rice or long-grain rice, or choose the healthier option (as suggested below) of brown rice. Whatever you choose, check out this Cooking Basics post to find out how to cook rice perfectly every time!
You can also choose to serve this Chilli with other things, such as pasta (check out the Cooking Basics post for that here) or crispy potato wedges. Also, these 2-Ingredient Naan Breads are perfect for dunking into this chilli and are perfectly quick and easy to make whilst you are waiting for the chilli to cook!
Finally, I’d highly recommend serving the Butternut Squash Chilli with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and some fresh chopped coriander!
More Student-friendly Recipes
If you’re looking for more recipes, I have loads of student-friendly recipes on my blog for you to try! You can see all of them here, but make sure to check out some of my favourites listed below:
- Vegan Mixed Bean Chilli
- Chicken, Chickpea and Spinach Curry
- Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Pilaf
- Spaghetti with Meatballs and Tomato Sauce
- Red Lentil Dhal with Crispy Aubergine
- Chicken Supreme | Creamy Chicken Sauce with Rice
- Homemade Falafel
- Kidney Bean and Sweet Corn Salad
- Salmon in Vegetable Cream Sauce
- Butternut Squash Tomato Sauce with Tagliatelle
- Chickpea and Spinach Curry
- Bulgur, Chicken and Veggies
- Easy Student-friendly Lasagne
- Pasta with Cheese Sauce and Crispy Bacon
- Chicken and Chorizo Jambalaya
Butternut Squash Chilli with Rice | Student- and Budget-friendly
Recipe
Ingredients (serves 4):
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 2 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 red chilli, finely sliced
- 1 red pepper (or 1 courgette), diced
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tsp chilli powder (use less if you don’t want it as spicy)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 500g butternut squash (or other root veg, e.g. sweet potato, carrot, pumpkin, or a mixture), peeled and cut into 2cm chunks
- 2 x 400g tins of beans (e.g. kidney, butter, black, pinto or cannellini beans), drained
- 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 300g brown rice
- 2 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt (optional)
- fresh coriander, roughly chopped (optional)
Method:
- Place a large pan over a medium heat and add 1-2 tbsp of oil.
- Add the onion and pepper and cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the garlic and chilli and cook for a further minute.
- Squeeze in the tomato purée and season with the chilli powder, ground cumin and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
- Next, add the chunks of root vegetable to the pan and stir until fully coated in the onion mix and spices. Cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour in the tin of chopped tomatoes, followed by the beans and stir until fully combined. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil, then put the lid on the pan and cook for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, bring a pot of water to the boil and dissolve the stock cube in it. Cook the rice according to packet instructions, for brown rice this will be around 25 minutes. For more tips on cooking rice, check out my student cooking basics post here.
- Remove the lid from the chilli and cook for a final 10 minutes, or until all the veg is soft, adding a splash of water if it gets too thick. Taste the chilli and season with more salt and pepper, if necessary.
- Serve the chilli with the rice, scatter over the fresh chopped coriander and top with an optional spoonful of yoghurt. Enjoy!
