Turkey Chili
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Turkey Chili is a healthy, flavorful recipe that’s it’s easy to throw together and everyone loves it! It’s just one of those family friendly dinners that everyone can agree on. This chili has deliciously seasoned, well balanced flavor and it’s the perfect pick me up on a cold day.
Healthy Ground Turkey Chili
This time around, I decided to lighten things up and went with ground turkey instead of ground beef and we could hardly tell the difference between the two in this turkey chili recipe.
Who doesn’t love when you can lighten things up without losing flavor? It’s still delicious comfort food and you’ll be wanting to make this easy turkey chili all the time during the fall and winter seasons!
It’s full of veggies (/fruit if you want to get technical with the tomatoes) and it’s packed with protein thanks to the turkey and a generous amount of kidney beans.
It’s a hearty, delicious, guilt free-chili and easily the best turkey chili recipe around! Now bring on those toppings.
Photo Credit: Jess Larson
Turkey Chili Ingredients You’ll Need
This easy turkey chili requires surprisingly few ingredients to achieve an amazing flavor.
- Olive oil
- Veggies including bell pepper, yellow onion, garlic
- Lean ground turkey
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Diced tomatoes with green chilies
- Canned tomato sauce
- Low sodium chicken broth
- Spices including chili powder, ancho chili powder, cumin, paprika and coriander
- Canned red kidney beans (I used 1 can light 1 can dark)
How to Make Turkey Chili
- Saute the veggies and brown some ground turkey.
- Then you add in some canned diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth and spices.
- Now let it simmer for 20 minutes, which will really brighten up those flavors and allow them to blend together as well.
- Stir in the kidney beans. And you’ve got yourself a delicious, simple, healthy chili that everyone will enjoy!
Can I Use Ground Beef Instead of Ground Turkey in This Chili?
Yes. Ground beef, ground chicken or even ground pork will work here.
Chili Toppings to Try
What’s a bowl of chili without a handful of flavorful toppings? A few of our favorite chili toppings are:
- Cheddar cheese
- Sour cream
- Chopped red or green onions
- Avocado
- Cayenne pepper or sliced jalapeños
How to Freeze Soup for Later
Turkey chili freezes incredibly well and is easily reheated. To freeze this easy turkey chili, first let it cool a bit, no more than one hour at room temperature (or wait to freeze it until the next day after it’s been in your fridge and cooled).
Then, ladle the chili into freezer-safe containers or jars and freeze. When you’re ready to reheat the chili, place it in the fridge to thaw overnight and then reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
More Chili Recipes You’ll Love:
Be sure to check out the other chili recipes I have posted:
- Vegetable Chili
- Quinoa Chili {Vegetarian}
- Slow Cooker Chili
- Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili
- Instant Pot Chili
- White Chicken Chili
Follow Cooking Classy
Turkey Chili
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 green bell pepper , choppped (1 1/2 cups)
- 1 medium yellow onion , chopped (1 1/2 cups)
- 3 cloves garlic , minced (1 Tbsp)
- 20 oz 93% lean ground turkey
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
- 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth , then another 1/2 cup if desired
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 Tbsp ancho chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 (14.5 oz) cans red kidney beans (I used 1 can light 1 can dark), drained and rinsed
For serving:
- Low-fat cheddar cheese, light sour cream, chopped green onions, cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pot set over medium heat. Add bell pepper and onion and saute 3 minutes, then add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer. Pour mixture onto a plate.
- Heat remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil in pot over medium-high heat. Add turkey, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up turkey until cooked through. Drain off rendered fat.
- Return veggies to pan with turkey, then add tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, chili powder, ancho chili powder, cumin, paprika and coriander and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and simmer stirring occasionally 20 minutes.
- Stir in kidney beans and more chicken broth to thin if desired and heat through, about 2 minutes. Serve warm with desired toppings.