Obsessed with Trader Joe’s Harvest Chili? Looking to whip up a delicious family dinner on a budget? Make your own easy copycat crockpot Trader Joe’s harvest chili. (Say that three times fast!) This soup is vegetarian and so yummy.
A few weeks back we took the whole family to Trader Joe’s. My girls love trying all of the samples, and Scarlett practically jumped out of the cart when she saw they were handing out her favorite Trader Joe’s cornbread crisps. (I mean, have you had them? They’re unbelievable. Seriously, stock up while you can.) Anyhoo, they were actually serving the cornbread crisps with their Harvest Chili. I was blown away by that little sample of their Harvest Chili.
Trader Joe’s Vegetarian Harvest Chili
Packed with black beans, butternut squash, pumpkin, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes, this vegetarian chili was seriously good.
Now I’ll admit, I cringed a little at the $4.49 price tag for a little container of soup because that would feed mayyyybe one person, but I picked one up anyway, determined to figure out just how they made this ridiculously delicious soup.
You see, we eat A LOT of soup in our house, especially in fall and winter. Soup, in my mind, is the perfect family dinner. It’s inexpensive to make, easy to throw together, and everyone likes soup; a.k.a., it’s a total crowd-pleaser.
Copycat Crockpot Trader Joe’s Vegetarian Harvest Chili
Trader Joe’s always seems to nail it with the pumpkin products, and their Harvest Chili is no exception.
Described as a chili that’s made with black beans, butternut squash, cauliflower, sweet potatoes and simmered with pumpkin puree and chili spices, it tastes like a somewhat traditional vegetarian chili with a little hint of pumpkin. It’s really delicious, totally hearty, and like I said, I was determined to recreate it as an easy family meal.
And of course, every easy family meal – especially in this house – starts in a crockpot (or instant pot) or on a sheet pan! Easy dinners are the best. 🙌🏻
I’m SO excited with how our version of copycat Trader Joe’s vegetarian Harvest Chili turned out, and even better, it can be made in a crock pot or Instant Pot.* Easy family dinner for the win!
UPDATE, February 2022: Now that Trader’s Joe’s Harvest Chili is no longer available because it is a seasonal item (i.e., Trader Joe’s only seems to sell it in the fall months), I am SO happy to have this recipe because we can make it all year long!
A little about my instant pot/crockpot obsession:
*Ever since getting our Instant Pot, I’ve sort of fallen down the rabbit hole of Instant Pot and crock pot (a.k.a., slow cooker) recipes. (Psst … I have a bunch of Instant Pot and slow cooker favorites saved to this board on Pinterest.) I’m amazed at how many amazing things you can make in a slow cooker, all while doing very little work.
If you haven’t yet scooped up an Instant Pot of your very own, it’s time.
These things are all the rage for good reason. Sometimes, I’ll really get into a kick and serve our family dinner out of our Instant Pot for weeks at a time. I’m talking never-ending simple dinners. And the best part: not one complaint from the family. I actually think the crockpot meals are my girls’ favorite meals.
On this little Instant Pot dinner recipe journey of ours, I’ve discovered a few GREAT recipes that our whole family loves, including our picky four year-old. Like slow cooker chicken vegetable quinoa soup, easy crockpot tortilla-less creamy chicken enchilada soup, and 3-ingredient Trader Joe’s thai coconut curry chicken. And today, I’m sharing the latest hit in our house: this copycat Trader Joe’s vegetarian harvest chili.
But I digress …
Finding Your Perfect Copycat Crockpot Trader Joe’s Vegetarian Harvest Chili
This vegetarian harvest chili is hearty and filling, and so fragrant with all of those delicious chili spices. It’s easily a one-pot meal, and I tend to make A LOT to guarantee leftovers. Soup is one of those things that always tastes even better the next day.
The beauty of any chili, is you can really spice it to your liking. For instance, I love adding a little cinnamon and nutmeg to our chilis, but if that’s not your thing, skip it. If you like your chili a little spicier, add in a bit more chili powder and/or cayenne pepper. If you loathe cilantro, don’t even add it. Customize your chili to just the way you like it!
You can also control how broth-y (soup-y?) your chili is by adding additional broth if you like your chili to have a bit more liquid. Otherwise, if you want to keep this mostly chili-like, stick to the measurements in the recipe below.
Also, because this is a crock pot style soup, other than browning the first few veggies – i.e., a mirepoix, a.k.a., diced onion, carrot, and celery in a little bit of oil and garlic – all of the other ingredients are dumped into your crock pot, instant pot, or soup pot, and simmer away for hours until everything tastes like heaven in a bowl.
How to Make Copycat Crockpot Trader Joe’s Vegetarian Harvest Chili
Remember, you can always add more broth as your chili is cooking, if you prefer it a bit more soup-y. Optional: Top your harvest chili with diced avocado, cilantro, scallions, shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, cornbread crisps, etc. We also like to serve our chili with homemade cornbread.
Copycat Trader Joe's Vegetarian Harvest Chili
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Love this recipe for Copycat Trader Joe’s Vegetarian Harvest Chili? Head to our recipe page to check out what else we’re dreaming up in the kitchen! And if you’re looking for more delicious soups, perfect for this cold weather, we can’t stop making all of these delicious soups.
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Photos by Annie Timmons Photography for Glitter, Inc.
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This looks delicious… and healthy! I am so trying this recipe… and totally putting an Instant Pot on my Christmas list 😛
(1) It is soooo good – you’ll love it. (2) You must, must, must get an Instant Pot. They always have one on Amazon during Black Friday. I’ll be on the lookout and try to share it here! 😉
Pinned it to make later! This looks so delicious and would you believe, I have NEVER been to a Trader Joe’s. I am really excited to add this chili to our fam meal plan!
What?! I loooove TJ’s! Hope your family loves the chili!
Can’t wait to make this!!! Does the Red Quinoa need to be cooked first?
Nope! Just throw it in the crockpot and it will cook with everything. That’s part of what makes this dinner extra simple. 🙂
This Recipie is Fantastic! 😍 Love it!
Thank You!!
I’m definitely going to make this! Thank you for posting it. TJ’s version is good,but that container is much too small and I think it’s expensive, especially since your ingredients are not expensive. I’m thinking that the butternut squash pasta sauce might also work in this recipe. I will definitely post an update here once I try this. Thanks again!
Oh, that’s such a good idea! Let me know how it turns out. 🙂
Ok, I made this last night, and it is sooo good. I was shocked at how much it made. I had to freeze most of the leftovers. I did add a little extra broth. But my son and I really enjoyed it! My son actually said, “We don’t have to buy this at TJ ‘s anymore.” Do you have any other copycat recipes – TJ’s or otherwise?
Would the lentils cook if you throw it in the crockpot too? Or do I need to cook them first? (Unfortunately only have uncooked lentils)
Yes, just check them before serving to be sure they don’t need a little extra time. 🙂
Nope! It all cooks together! That’s the beauty of a crockpot dish. 🙂
Spot on! I’m addicted to Trader Joe’s chili. So happy to be able to make a big batch at home. I’ve made it with water and vegetable broth. Both are good but the broth makes it a clone of the store’s offering. I needed to up the liquid to 5 cups to get the consistency I liked but that’s just my preference ( or my slow cooker temp – ninja). Thanks for this recipe.
Awesome! I love hearing that!!
I’m so happy I found your Trader Joe’s Harvest Chile recipe. My husband loves it and is out of stock because it is considered a seasonal item. My only questions are – I have the 3 qt instant pot. (fairly new to instant pot cooking) Do I just cook it on the soup mode or the bean/chile mode? And can I use dried lentils rather than canned. Thanks.
If you use canned, the soup mode is perfect. If you use dried, I’d suspect the bean mode would help, though I’m not 100% sure since I’ve never used dried beans in this one. 🙂
I pre-cooked the black beans and lentils in the instant pot, set aside, then added. Less salt and cheaper!
Smart! Hope you enjoyed!
I made this earlier this week and followed the recipe very carefully but mine seemed to have come out extremely thick. Any tips for that? Can’t figure out where I went wrong
Any time soup starts to thicken up you can add a bit of water or broth (vegetable or chicken stock) to help thin it out. Hope you liked it!
Hi this recipe looks delicious! How long should I cook it in the instapot for and do I use low or high pressure?
I would cook it on low for about an hour. I haven’t tried it this way though, so it may need a bit of tweaking. Your best bet is to cook it for an hour, turn it off and taste it. If it needs a bit longer, you can always add more time. Hope you love it!
One person in our family is sensitive to lentils. If I omit the lentils from this recipe, what do you suggest I might add?
OR what might I use MORE of to take the place of the lentils?
I think white beans or chickpeas would work really well in this! I’d say two cans, rinsed and drained.
trying to make this in my Instant Pot using the Soup option and after about 5 minutes the “burn” alarm comes on. What am I doing wrong? Do we keep the vent open or closed on the IP?
Definitely keep the vent open. I’ll update the recipe to include that detail!
Help! Lol
I made the recipe as directed except TJ’s did not have the pumpkin purée- they said it was a seasonal item. The slow cooker is about 2 hours from being done, should I go buy the pumpkin purée and put it in?! It doesn’t taste as good as I would of hoped without that ingredient. Any other items or spices to add?!
hmm, I feel like I’ve seen pumpkin puree out of season. So sorry about that! You can definitely omit that ingredient, it just may not be as thick. Hope you enjoyed!
I tried the trader joes version and LOVED it so I had to find a copy cat recipe!!! thank you so much for this, it was absolutely delicious and made a lot of chili that I could also share with my neighbors – they loved it! Thank you!
I absolutely LOVE hearing that! It’s definitely a favorite of ours too!!