This Turkey Chili is savory, spicy, delicious, and beyond healthy – because it’s made with lean, ground turkey and is completely homemade!
I love using ground turkey for certain recipes, especially Tex-Mex inspirations. That’s because this highly absorbent, low-fat, high-protein ground turkey takes the sauces and chili spices right up into the meat, making every bite a flavor explosion, spoon after spoon.
This chili is made especially delicious with garlic, red bell pepper, onion, crushed tomatoes, ground turkey, my homemade chili seasoning and two different kinds of beans to give it ultimate flavor and hunger-fighting powers. The recipe uses not just the traditional kidney beans, but also black beans, which have a rich, umami flavor that they bring to the dish. My girls call black beans “make-me-pretty beans” ever since I tried to explain that they should like black beans (which they weren’t crazy about until this little lesson) because eating them would make them even more beautiful. Black beans are rich in sulphur, which they tell us is a beauty mineral because it helps fight acne. Together with the turkey, these beans make this a very satisfying and filling chili that will warm you up in the coldest winters and satisfy hungry swimmers in the summer, too.
Delicious Chili “Hacks” to Help You Make a Supremely Good Pot of Chili
I like chili cookoffs more for the learning than I do the winning. Talking to all the other sage chefs gives me so much knowledge about food and the way it behaves. These professional chili chefs have taught me so much about using liquor and beer to enhance the flavor of chili and how to use cocoa to deepen its flavor as well. They’ve also taught me everything I know about canned tomatoes (as they say, San Marzano, local and organic, homegrown, or nothing!) and how to mix my own spices for the ultimate in healthy chili creation with zero preservatives.
These are the three most useful chili-making tips I learned from them:
That liquid created by turkey as it cooks off is a perfect vehicle for flavor. Drizzle in some soy sauce and watch that turkey transform from bland to WOW.
Chili, like marinara sauce, goes from a wallflower to a dancing diva with the addition of alcohol, which cooks off so don’t worry about really creating a “drunk chili.” Although alcohol can be a danger in candy creations like bourbon balls, no one is getting drunk on food that simmers. It is, after all, the alcohol cooking off and leaving behind its sugars that creates the flavor – and FLAVOR it does create. Try adding a little red wine, effervescent beer, or vodka to your bubbling brew after you add the tomatoes. If you make a point of tasting your chili before and after you let it cook some time with this new addition, I think you’ll become a quick convert.
Cocoa powder’s dark, savory, bitter, sweet flavor gives chili an equally complex flavor as it cooks off. Try adding a bit of dry cocoa powder to your chicken broth and tomato mixture and let it bubble away. Soon, your chili will be a powerhouse of flavor like you’ve never tasted.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
Prep time – 15 minutes
Cooking time – 45 minutes
Yields – 6 servings
Step 1: Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
Step 2: Add ground turkey and cook until browned, breaking it apart with a spoon.
Step 3: Stir in onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Step 4: Add minced garlic and red bell pepper, cooking for another 2 minutes.
Step 5: Mix in kidney beans, black beans, crushed tomatoes, and chicken broth.
Step 6: Season with chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper.
Step 7: Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 8: Adjust seasonings to taste and serve hot with your choice of toppings.
FAQs & Tips
How to Make Ahead and Store
This turkey chili is especially freezer friendly. So make two batches, one to eat off this week, and one for a future date. You can refrigerate turkey chili for 1 week and freeze it for up to 3 months.
Can I Substitute Another Meat for the Turkey?
Certainly! You can use everything from traditional ground turkey to ground venison, shredded pork, ground chicken, ground pork, a sausage-beef mixture -even lamb!
How Would You Make This Vegan?
Simple, just take out the turkey and add more beans. All the other ingredients are vegan here. You could add more kidney beans, black beans, or both! My best vegan cookbooks advise to substitute two 15-ounce cans for every pound of meat.
Serving Suggestions
I love serving chili with hot dogs and cornbread or hot dog cornbread! Try this Easy Jalapeño Skillet Cornbread or these Mini Corn Dog Muffins with Dill Relish for accompaniment ideas that satisfy!
Or for something a little lighter and crispier on the side, try homemade Peppered Cheese Crackers. They’re deliciously cheesy and crunchy! For dessert, how about something light, creamy, sweet, and fruity to end this spicy, savory meal, like Pineapple Coconut Homemade Ice Cream? It’s divine!
Turkey Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 can 15 ounces kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 can 15 ounces black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 can 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add ground turkey and cook until browned, breaking it apart with a spoon.
- Stir in onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add minced garlic and red bell pepper, cooking for another 2 minutes.
- Mix in kidney beans, black beans, crushed tomatoes, and chicken broth.
- Season with chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Adjust seasonings to taste and serve hot with your choice of toppings.
Leave a Comment