Hearty and Healthy Turkey Chili is packed with so much flavor, it’s even better than beef! The whole family is going to love this cold-weather favorite chili!
We know, turkey gets a bad rap. You may wonder why you should bother with turkey when you could have beef or pork instead. The thing is, there are so many of you who are avoiding or limiting beef and pork for personal, dietary, and health reasons. We want to support you in that and give you an amazing chili recipe with a ton of flavor, without relying on beef and pork. We’re using ground turkey in this chili recipe, and to be honest, we don’t miss the red meat. It is hearty and flavorful and we know you’ll agree. So whether you are avoiding red meat or not, you really need to give this one a try!
Ground Turkey:
We tend to use 93% lean ground turkey, but you could use anything from 85-99% lean.
Spice Level of Hearty and Healthy Turkey Chili:
If you are sensitive to spice, you can go ahead and reduce the chili powder. We also recommend looking for cans of mild green chilis.
Bean Options:
We love the combination of cannellini and kidney beans, but you really can’t go wrong with beans in this recipe. Feel free to use your favorite style of beans.
Cooking Time:
We know how tempting it is to shortcut the simmer time, especially on a busy weeknight! But you really want to allow for the full time to ensure the best flavor.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
We love the ability to prep dinner in the morning, making the slow cooker our best friend. To make this in the slow cooker, you will still need to brown the turkey and sauté the onions and garlic on the stovetop. Once that is ready, go ahead and add it into your slow cooker along with the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low for 4-6 hours, or on high for 3 hours.
Instant Pot Instructions:
To make this chili in the instant pot, first brown your turkey on the sauté setting, and then add in the onions and garlic and sauté until tender. Once the onion is tender, add in the rest of the ingredients. Set the steam release valve to the sealed position and cook on high for 25 minutes. Let it do a natural release of pressure for 10 minutes before carefully turning the valve to venting to release the rest of the pressure.
Storage Instructions:
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheating in a saucepan on the stove over medium-low heat until warmed through.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious chili recipes:
Watch the video below where Caytlin will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Absolutely delicious. Perfect for this snowy day in North Carolina.
This was absolutely delicious-shared with daughter a couple days later and she loved it too! My husband always says he doesn’t like chili so I wouldn’t make it. He loved it and got to finish it off the next day. ( I only got a tiny bit I saved in the pan for me 😉 Adjustments: no tomato sauce so I used two small cans of V8 spicy veg. juice & only had a 1lb. pkg. of Jean-o ground turkey. Nevertheless, the flavor and sauciness was wonderful! P.S. is that you in the video?
This is my go-to chili recipe now! So so good!
This is the BEST ever chili! It even beats regular beef chili. It comes out great each and every time. Hubby loves it also. Thanks so much for this AB – FAB r
I prepare this in the crockpot. Easy and delicious.
I made this yesterday, almost the same . Two of us to enjoy it, both great grandparents. I added 1 tablespoon of sugar as i was cooking as thats what we usually do to cut the acid for us and had a larger can of organic tomatoes. Next time ill use less tukey, used 2lbs as we love the vegies so much and the flovor. Looking forward to having more today. Thank you. I have your coookbook too.
THANK YOU for creating wonderful, family friendly recipes and differentiating the cooking times for stove top, slow cooker, and Instant Pot! I so appreciate your efforts to meet everyone’s needs and preferences!!
Made the turkey chili for the family it took me less than 30 minutes And the family loved it another win for stay at home chef
This time of year, I decrease the chicken stock and add pumpkin purre for my Fall Pumpkin turkey Chili!!