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This Turkey Chili Recipe is a true 30 minute meal and is soon to be one of your favorites! Especially in the winter months, I love a good bowl of chili and this is the one I always make. You can slow cook it longer, but it’s delicious in just 30 minutes!
Best Turkey Chili Recipe
Luckily, chili is one of those dishes that is extremely quick and easy to make. It’s done on the stove top and has simple ingredients you already have. My husband loves chili and this is one of his favorites! I love making turkey chili but you can also swap out ground beef or ground chicken in this recipe.
Serve this with your favorite chili toppings and your family will love it. Plus, the leftovers of this are perfect for topping nachos or tater tots or on baked potatoes. I love cooking once and eating twice – makes my life so much easier.
Ingredients Needed
- Turkey: ground turkey is my go-to, but again, use any ground meat. I recommend something lean, like 93/7.
- Spices: Cumin, Salt, Chili Powder, Pepper, Garlic powder, Cayenne pepper
- Green chilis: I used canned diced green chilis for some spice.
- Canned tomatoes: Adding crushed tomatoes takes a lot of work out of the recipe. A large can means I don’t have to add extra tomato sauce.
- Canned black beans: You can also use pinto beans or kidney beans.
- Chicken stock: I prefer low sodium chicken broth
How to Make my Turkey Chili Recipe
- Cook ground turkey in a medium soup pot or dutch oven. Break it up into small bite-sized pieces.
- Add the diced onion and cook until the onion is almost translucent. Drain fat as needed.
- Add the spices to the turkey and onion mixture and stir it evenly, scraping all the little bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Add the diced green chilies, crushed tomatoes, beans with their liquid, and chicken stock. Stir everything together thoroughly.
- Cover and bring mixture to a boil. Cook the chili, stirring it often, until the mixture thickens and flavors meld together, about 15-20 minutes (longer if desired). It will start to look more like a chili and get thick when it’s about done.
- Add additional salt, black pepper and/or cayenne as desired.
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Expert Tips
- Add a small amount of cayenne and then add more to taste after it cooks a bit! It’ll get spicier as it cooks.
- It’s important to use chicken stock or broth for flavor – you can also use beef or vegetable stock. This gives it the all day flavor in just 30 minutes.
- Make sure to let the chili full thicken during cooking. Chili has always been more rich and hearty and less soupy. Letting it thicken and adding great flavors makes for a great chili. You can even simmer this longer than 20 minutes if you want a thicker chili. I’ve let it simmer up to 2 hrs.
- Store leftover chili in the refrigerator in an airtight container or store in the freezer for up to 1 month. Reheat in microwave.
FAQs
Store any leftover chili in the fridge in an airtight container. It should stay fresh for up to 4 days after.
Turkey Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 small or ½ medium onion diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼-½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 ounce can diced green chilies
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 15 ounce can black beans or pinto or kidney beans
- 15 ounce can corn drained (or equivalent frozen corn)
- 1 cup chicken stock
Instructions
- Add ground turkey to a medium soup pot or dutch oven. Break up into small pieces. Add the onion and cook over medium high heat until turkey is almost cooked through and onion is almost translucent (about 5-7 minutes). Drain fat if needed.
- Add the spices to the turkey and onion mixture; stir.
- Add diced green chilies, crushed tomatoes, beans with their liquid, corn, and chicken stock. Stir.
- Cover and bring mixture to a boil.
- Cook, stirring often, with pot partially covered, until mixture thickens and flavors meld, about 15-20 minutes (longer if desired).
- Add additional salt, pepper and/or cayenne as desired.
- Serve hot with chopped onions and cheddar cheese.
Recipe Notes
- Note: you can use ground beef if you prefer. Use any fat content, although I normally use 93% lean meat.
- Use any kind of beans – black beans are our favorite but pinto or kidney beans are great!
- Vegetable stock or beef stock can be used. We usually use low sodium stock.
Ok, this may seem odd, but is there any substitution available for the crushed tomatoes? My husband has a list of food restrictions – arm length – and skins and seeds are on it! Thus I have to either steer clear entirely, or substitute. I have to be SOOO CAREFUL, cause I kinda want to keep him around! 😉
Can he have tomato sauce? I haven’t ever made it with tomato sauce (the canned kind) but I think you could, you just might need to play with the ratio because usually the sauce is more concentrated than the crushed.
This chili looks so hearty and delicious Dorothy!! Perfect quarantine comfort dinner!
Yum! Pinning this now!
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