Turkey Chili Recipe (Stove Top, Slow Cooker, Instant Pot)
Turkey Chili is a healthier version of the classic chili you already know and love. It’s an easy recipe that’s ready in about an hour and loaded with ground turkey meat, vegetables, beans, and spices. Instructions included for stove-top, Crockpot, and Instant Pot!
Table of contents
While the classic beef chili is a go-to for most people, personally, I love turkey chili even more because it’s a little healthier and lighter.
What everyone loves about MY turkey chili recipe:
- I like to have a more even ratio of vegetables, meat, and beans.
- I like my chili hearty and packed with protein, so I add extra meat. That way, we’re not just eating vegetables and beans.
- When I have an opportunity, I like to use a mixture of white and dark turkey meat. It adds more flavor and better texture.
PRO TIP: You can ask the butcher at your grocery store if they ground their own turkey meat and if it’s possible to get a combination of white and dark meat. Many of them will be able to do it for you.
How to Make Turkey Chili
- Prepare. This is a pretty fast moving recipe, so you’ll want everything ready to go before you start.
- Preheat the Dutch oven (or large pot) and sauté the onions and peppers into the pot and let them soften. Stir in the garlic and cook just until fragrant.
- Cook the turkey. Add the turkey to the pot and break it up as much as possible. Cover the pot with a lid and let it cook, opening the lid every few minutes to break up the meat as it cooks.
- Add more ingredients. Once the meat is fully cooked, stir in the canned tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce, broth and spices.
- Simmer. Once everything is stirred together pretty well, lower the heat to low and let the chili cook low and slow for about 30-40 minutes. The flavors really have time to develop this way.
- Add the final touches. Just before serving, stir in a squeeze of fresh lime juice and cilantro.
Recipe FAQs
Preheat a large pan over medium heat and add oil. Sauté the onions and peppers together until they start to soften and add garlic. Stir the veggies for a few seconds until the garlic is fragrant, then add the turkey. Break up the meat as much as you can, cover and cook until meat is just cooked through. Make sure to break up lumps of meat as much you can while it’s cooking.
Next, transfer the mixture into the Crockpot and mix in canned tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce, broth, and spices. Close the lid on the Crockpot and cook on HIGH for about 4 hours or on LOW for about 6 hours. Discard bay leaves.
Finally, stir in cilantro and lime juice right before serving.
Set Instant Pot to “sauté” setting and give it a couple of minutes to warm up. Add some oil to the pot and sauté the onions and bell peppers until softened. Stir in garlic and sauté it until fragrant. Add turkey meat into the pot and break it up as much as you can. Keep cooking and breaking up lumps every few minutes until the meat is just done.
Next, stir in canned tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce, broth, and spices. Close the lid and latch it. Make sure to turn the valve to “seal” and set pressure cooker to “beans/chili.” If your pressure cooker does not have that setting, set it to cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. Make sure to consult your pressure cooker’s manual for exact settings and safety instructions.
Let the pressure cooker do a natural release for about 10 minutes and then carefully do a quick release. Discard the bay leaves.
Some fresh options include sliced avocados, sliced jalapeños (seeded or not based on how spicy you prefer your chili), cilantro and green onions. You can also make it cheesy with some shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese. Go creamy with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.
Freezing Instructions
- Cool chili as quickly as possible if you plan to freeze it.
- Once it’s cooled, portion it into smaller freezer bags, let all the air out, and close it well. Remember to label and date.
- Lay the bags flat on the cutting board and freeze. Once frozen, it will be easy to stack bags of chili.
- To thaw, take the bag out of the freezer and into the refrigerator to slow-thaw it overnight.
How to Serve Turkey Chili
- Serve it with Buttermilk Cornbread or Jalapeño Cornbread.
- It’s also great with Buttermilk Biscuits and Jalapeño Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits.
- Turn this chili into a dip by serving it with tortilla chips, crackers or veggies!
- Serve turkey chili as a topping for nachos, tacos, eggs, baked potatoes and/or fries.
- Serve it over macaroni or other pasta.
More Chili Recipes To Try
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Turkey Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 1 large yellow onion
- 2 bell peppers
- 2 jalapenos
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2 lbs lean ground turkey
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 28 oz canned diced tomatoes
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 16 oz can red kidney beans drained
- 16 oz navy beans drained
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp chipotle chili powder
- 3 tsp paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp oregano
- 3 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp kosher salt more of less based on personal taste
- 2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
- 1 large lime juice only
Instructions
- Dice vegetables and prepare the ingredients before starting to cook.
- Preheat the Dutch oven (or another large soup pot) over medium heat and add oil.
- Saute onions and peppers together until it start to soften and add garlic. Stir and cook until garlic is fragrant.
- Add ground turkey and break up the meat as much as you can. Cover the pot with a lid and let it cook. Keep breaking up the lumps of meat with a wooden spoon every few minutes, as it cooks.
- When turkey meat is cooked through, add canned tomatoes, drained beans, tomato sauce, chicken broth, and spices.
- Carefully stir everything together, lower the heat to low, and let it simmer for 30-40 minutes.
- Discard the bay leaves.
- Stir in cilantro and lime juice and serve with your favorite toppings.
Video
Notes
- Make it more or less spicy: It’s very easy to adjust the spice level by adding or taking away a few ingredients. If you want your chili more spicy: choose older jalapeños with more veins on the skin, leave the jalapeño seeds in, and/or add more chili powder. To make the chili less spicy: choose younger jalapeños with smooth skin, discard the seeds, and don’t add extra chili powder.
- Storing: Cool chili to room temperature and store it in the refrigerator. You can store it in the same pot it was cooked in, covered with a lid, or transfer it into a food storage container with an airtight lid. Properly stored, turkey chili will last 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in January, 2018.
Categories:
Chili, Dinner, Fall Recipes, Gluten Free, Healthy Dishes, Instant Pot, Instant Pot Main Dishes, Slow Cooker, Super Bowl Recipes, Turkey,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
How much is a serving based on the nutrition facts listed?
My nutritional calculator doesn’t specify the serving size, so you’d need to divide it into 8 equal portions.
Easy & delicious
Perfect balance of ingredients
I am so glad to hear you liked the recipe!
This recipe is fantastic!. Everyone I’ve made it for loves it!! It’s not too spicy and not acidic. It a great balance and so tasty.
I love that everyone loves it! 🙂
I’m trying to slip my family into the habit of eating more healthy. I succeeded in reducing our red meat intake, thanks in large part to this recipe. I had to blend the vegetables up to appease my anti-vegetable eating husband, but none the less, this recipe did it! I have a HUGE smile now! 😉
I am so glad to hear this recipe has helped you and that you like it so much! 🙂
This is in fact the best Turkey Chili ever!! It’s spicy but not overbearing. I did however cut back on some of the Chipotle Chili powder. I only used 1 1/2 tablespoons. Next time I’ll probably just do one tablespoon.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m thrilled to hear that you consider it the best Turkey Chili recipe! Your adjustment with the Chipotle Chili powder is a great tip for those who prefer a milder spice level.
This was delicious! I would have given it 5 stars but as written, it is too spicy for me. But, I’m kind of a wimp. Next time I will use 1 Tbsp chili powder instead of 2 👍🏼
Oh, no! Sorry it was to spicy for your taste!
Made your recipe and it was delicious! Thanks for sharing!
You are so welcome! I am so pleased you liked it!
Made this tonight. We all loved it. Thank you.
So glad you all loved it, Sue!
Easy and delicious recipe, family approved!
I am so glad they liked it!
Excellent! My son said it’s the best chili he’s had.
Today felt like fall so I made this recipe and loved it! Both my husband and I thought it was so good. Tasted even better as leftovers. Will definitely make again.
I am so glad you liked it, Casey!
This is awesome. We will make it again. My family loved it
I am so glad your family liked it, Kathy!