The Best Ground Turkey Chili Recipe. Learn how to make turkey chili that’s healthy & delicious in your crockpot, instant pot, or on the stove!
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There is just something cozy and comforting about a warm bowl of chili in the fall and winter months whether it’s a lighter white chicken chili, hearty beef sweet potato chili, or this delicious ground turkey chili!
Made with primarily pantry staples, this chili is easy to make on your stove, in the crockpot, or instant pot and can be made in about an hour.
The ground turkey in this chili is way lighter than beef chili, making this the perfect protein and veggie packed dinner! Your family is totally going to love it.Â
Why we love this recipe for Turkey Chili:
There is a lot to love about this healthy turkey chili recipe!
- Lots of flavor – Common spices like paprika, chili powder, and cumin give this chili a rich flavor!
- Budget-friendly – You can make this chili with basic pantry/fridge staples for an affordable meal.
- Delicious – This chili really is just so incredibly delicious. It’s sure to be one of your family’s favorites!Â
- PACKED with protein – This chili has 45 grams of protein per serving!
Turkey Chili Recipe Ingredients:
To make this ground turkey chili you’ll need:
- olive oil
- ground turkey
- onion, garlic
- crushed tomatoes
- paprika, red pepper flakes, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper
- black beans
- frozen corn
- chicken broth
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded box.
How to make Turkey Chili on the stove:
Here are the stovetop directions for this chili. The directions for the slow cooker and instant pot are below.
- Heat oil in a pan. Cook turkey over medium-high heat until browned, approximately 10 minutes. Add onions & garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- While the turkey is browning, prepare spices.Â
- Add crushed tomatoes, spice, beans, corn, and chicken broth to the pot. Stir together.
- Bring chili to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and cook over medium heat for 2 hours on low-medium heat, stirring every 20 minutes.
- Serve over rice with your favorite chili toppings!
How to serve this Turkey Chili Recipe with Beans:
- Over rice or quinoa:Â Our favorite way to serve this is over white or brown rice
- Other things to serve this chili over: cauliflower rice, Crispy Sheet Pan Roasted Potatoes, or with your own homemade roasted plantains
- With Green Beans Almondine or Garlic Brussels Spouts
- With a kale salad
- Toppings: Guacamole, avocado, and chopped onion are all great paleo toppings for this recipe. If you’re not strict paleo you could add cheddar cheese or crushed tortilla chips.
Substitutions for this Ground Turkey Chili Recipe:
Olive Oil: You can use any oil you like in this recipe. Olive oil, refined coconut oil, avocado oil, butter or ghee will all work.
Ground Turkey: You can substitute ground turkey with ground beef or ground chicken. We also have a Vegetarian Chili.
Crushed Tomatoes: If you can’t find crushed tomatoes, you can use whole tomatoes that have been pulsed in a food processor or blender.
Spices: Feel free to add more/fewer spices depending on your tastes. You could also add chopped, de-seeded jalapeno to the crockpot for more spice!
Broth: Any broth or stock (broth and stock are the same) can be used in any soup recipe. Beef Broth, Chicken Broth, or vegetable broth all work interchangeably. I always use low or no salt broth.
Beans: We highly recommend using no salt added or low salt beans. Any beans will work in this recipe. You can use black beans, kidney beans, navy beans or pinto beans. If you prefer a no beans recipe, we love this Paleo Turkey Chili.
Veggies: You can use more or less of any veggies you want in this recipe. It’s a pretty flexible recipe.
Corn: Feel free to omit corn from this recipe
Pumpkin: If you are looking to add pumpkin to your chili, we love this Pumpkin Chili recipe and just substitute ground turkey for ground beef.
What toppings are good on chili?
Here are some of our favorite toppings for chili:
- guacamole/avocado
- chopped onion
- cheddar cheese
- crushed tortilla chips
- nonfat greek yogurt/sour cream
How to store Turkey Chili:
Refrigerator: Leftover Ground Turkey Chili is good for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. You can freeze it before then if you don’t plan on eating it.
Does turkey chili freeze well? Yes! You can freeze this chili! This chili freezes very well. In fact, I love these containers for freezing chili. They’re portioned silicone molds that make freezing so easy!
Then, when you’re ready to enjoy, you can take a container out of the freezer and heat it over the stove or in the microwave. It’s great for a quick meal!
How do you reheat leftover chili? I usually reheat chili in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes. You could also reheat chili in a pan on the stove.
Ground Turkey Chili FAQ
It’s best to eat turkey within 2 days after you’ve cooked it, but it can last up to 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
Using a homemade broth gives your chili a delicious, secret flavor!
The key to super flavorful chili is the spices! This recipe has paprika, red pepper flakes, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.
Our favorite way to thicken chili is to allow it to reduce by simmering nice and low! Some people use a cornstarch slurry, but we don’t prefer that.
More Healthy Chili Recipes:
Are you looking for other chili recipes? Check out some of our other delicious recipes:
Ground Turkey Chili
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 lbs ground turkey
- 1 cup onion minced
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes with low salt if necessary
- 1 tablespoons paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (omit for less spicy
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 15 oz can black beans rinsed & drained
- 1 cup frozen corn defrosted
- 1 cup chicken broth
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan. Cook turkey over medium high heat until browned, approximately 10 minutes. Add onions & garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- While turkey is browning, prepare spices.
- Add crushed tomatoes, spice, beans, corn and chicken broth to the pot. Stir together.
- Bring chili to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and cook over medium heat for at least an hour on low-medium heat, stirring every 20 minutes. Cooking for 2-4 hours is best!
- Serve over rice with your favorite chili toppings!
Crockpot Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan. Cook turkey over medium high heat until browned, approximately 10 minutes. Add onions & garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- While turkey is browning, chop all vegetables + prepare spices.
- Add browned turkey + all ingredients to the crockpot.
- Stir all of the ingredients together in the crockpot until thoroughly mixed
- Cook on low for 6 hours.
- Serve over rice with your favorite chili toppings!
Instant Pot Instructions
- *Warning* The instant pot Is very finicky. We do not recommend making this chili in it unless you must as it may give you a burn notice. This chili tastes much better and is easier to make in your crockpot or on the stove.
- Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode for 15 minutes. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Chop onion & garlic.
- Sauté turkey, onion & garlic for 10 minutes, until mostly browned.
- Important: Make sure to scrape off any pieces of food on the bottom of the Instant Pot or you will get a burn notice during cooking.
- Add crushed tomatoes, spice, beans, corn and chicken broth. Stir together.
- Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook for 10 minutes on high pressure. Make sure the pressure release is set to sealing (on older models). When finished cooking, allow pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then release any remaining pressure.
- Serve over rice with your favorite chili toppings!
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