This is the chili that shows up every fall and reminds everyone why chili season is worth getting excited about. Three meats, three kinds of beans, sweet potatoes, a bottle of pumpkin beer, and a bold chili spice blend that gets seasoned twice and simmers for hours until the whole pot becomes something deeply rich and specifically fall-flavored in a way that a standard beef chili just isn’t. It feeds a crowd, it makes incredible leftovers, and the pumpkin beer in the broth is the detail that makes everyone ask what’s different about this one before they can quite put their finger on it.

A large pot of chili with beans, vegetables, and meat simmers on a stove, partially covered by a lid.

A Quick Look At The Recipe

Recipe Name: Sweet Potato Pumpkin Beer Chili
Main Ingredients: The Aromatics, butter, yellow onion, bunch green onions, yellow bell pepper, orange bell pepper, garlic, The Meats
Why You'll Love It: This sweet potato pumpkin beer chili combines three meats with sweet potatoes, three kinds of beans, pumpkin beer, and a bold chili spice blend for a rich hearty fall chili that gets better the longer it simmers.

The Applegate Chicken Apple Sausage is the quiet star. It adds a subtle sweetness and a slightly smoky character that weaves through every spoonful and makes the three-meat base taste more complex and more interesting than ground beef alone ever could.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Three meats and three kinds of beans produce a chili that is hearty, deeply flavorful, and satisfying in a way that a single-protein chili can’t quite match.
Pumpkin beer in the broth adds a malty, slightly sweet, warm depth that makes this taste specifically like a fall chili rather than just a regular chili made in October.
Sweet potatoes cook down into the chili and add a natural sweetness and a slightly creamy element that balances the heat of the chili spices and the bitterness of the beer beautifully.
This feeds 8 to 10 people from one pot and gets better every day it sits in the refrigerator which makes it one of the best big-batch fall cooking projects you can take on.

Ingredients Needed to Make Pumpkin Chili

The Aromatics

Butter sautéed with yellow onion, green onions, yellow and orange bell peppers, and minced garlic builds the sweet, savory aromatic foundation that every great chili starts with.

The Three-Meat Base

Applegate Chicken Apple Sausage sliced and cooked with the aromatics adds a slightly sweet, smoky depth. Ground turkey adds lean protein and a mild base. 100% grass-fed ground beef adds a rich, deeply beefy backbone. Together they produce a meat base with more complexity and more character than any single protein would.

The Chili Base

Chili-ready diced tomatoes go in with the sweet potatoes for the initial cook-down. Three kinds of beans add different textures and flavors throughout. Sweet potatoes become tender and slightly creamy after the long simmer and add a natural sweetness that makes this specifically a fall chili.

The Liquid and Seasoning

Pumpkin beer adds the malty, slightly spiced depth that defines this recipe. Chicken broth provides the main liquid base. The chili mix seasoning layered in twice during cooking produces a bold, well-developed spice profile that tastes like it simmered all day.

How to Make Sweet Potato Pumpkin Beer Chili

1

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the yellow onion, green onions, bell peppers, and garlic and sauté until softened and fragrant.

2

Add all three proteins. Season generously with the chili mix seasoning. Cook breaking the ground meats apart until everything is fully cooked through.

3

Add the diced tomatoes and cubed sweet potatoes. Stir to combine and cook for a few minutes.

4

Add the chili beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, chicken broth, and pumpkin beer. Season again to taste. Stir everything together, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 2 to 3 hours until the sweet potatoes are completely tender and the chili has thickened and deepened.

5

Adjust seasoning one final time before ladling into bowls.

Storing and Reheating

Store in a sealed airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This chili genuinely improves overnight as the flavors meld and deepen. Reheat on the stovetop over medium heat stirring occasionally or microwave on medium power in 60-second intervals. This chili also freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Cool completely before transferring to freezer-safe containers.

Sweet Potato Pumpkin Beer Chili

This sweet potato pumpkin beer chili combines three meats with sweet potatoes, three kinds of beans, pumpkin beer, and a bold chili spice blend for a rich hearty fall chili that gets better the longer it simmers.

Print Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 2

Servings:

Ingredients

The Aromatics

1/2 stick butter
1 yellow onion diced
1 bunch green onions diced
1 yellow bell pepper diced
1 orange bell pepper diced
4 cloves garlic minced

The Meats

1 package Applegate Chicken Apple Sausage sliced
1 lb ground turkey
1 lb 100% grass fed ground beef

The Chili

2 sweet potatoes peeled and cubed
1 can chili ready diced tomatoes
1 can chili beans
1 can pinto beans drained
1 can red kidney beans drained
1 bottle pumpkin beer 12 oz
1 carton chicken broth 32 oz

The Chili Mix Seasoning

Chili powder to taste
Garlic powder to taste
Oregano to taste
Cumin to taste
Onion powder to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Red chili flakes optional

Instructions

In a large pot or Dutch oven melt the butter over medium heat. Add the yellow onion, green onions, bell peppers, and minced garlic. Sauté until softened and fragrant.
Add the sliced chicken apple sausage, ground turkey, and ground beef. Season generously with the chili mix seasoning. Cook breaking the ground meats apart until everything is cooked through.
Add the diced tomatoes and cubed sweet potatoes. Stir to combine and let cook down for a few minutes.
Add the chili beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, chicken broth, pumpkin beer, and another round of seasoning to taste. Stir everything together. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 2 to 3 hours stirring occasionally until the sweet potatoes are tender and the chili has thickened and deepened in flavor.
Taste and adjust seasoning before serving.

Notes

Season in layers. Add seasoning when the meat goes in and again when the liquid goes in. Chili that gets all its seasoning at once at the beginning tastes flat. Layering builds depth.
The pumpkin beer is the ingredient that makes this chili specifically memorable. It adds a slightly malty, slightly sweet, warm depth that makes the broth taste more complex than a standard beer chili. Use a seasonal pumpkin beer for the most pronounced effect.
Don’t rush the simmer. The 2 to 3 hour cook is what allows the sweet potatoes to become completely tender, the beans to absorb the seasoned broth, and the whole pot to develop the deep, unified flavor that makes this chili taste like it took serious effort.
The three-meat combination is what gives this chili its depth and its heartiness. The chicken apple sausage adds a slight sweetness, the turkey adds a lean protein base, and the grass-fed beef adds a rich, deeply savory backbone.