Spicy Turkey Chili is thick and robust, with an amazing flavor. This easy chili recipe brings together healthy ground turkey with spicy tomatoes, onions, garlic, and black beans with a perfect blend of seasonings. Serve this Spicy Turkey Chili with corn bread, tortilla chips, and your favorite toppings for a perfect one-dish meal.
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Ingredients: Here’s What You’ll Need
- Ground Turkey: Since this is turkey chili, you shouldn’t be surprised that I used ground turkey! Specifically, I used 93% lean ground turkey for a low fat chili.
- The Vegetables: Adding flavor to the chili were onions, garlic, and black beans. I could have substituted pinto beans or kidney beans for the black beans.
- The Tomatoes: For the tomatoes, I used Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chiles along with tomato sauce.
- The Seasonings: I used traditional chili seasonings in this recipe including chili powder, ground cumin, dried oregano, Kosher salt, and black pepper to add a depth of flavor.
- The Thickener: I like my chili on the thick side. Therefore, I included some all-purpose flour that served as a thickener.
Here Are The Steps In Making This Chili
- I started by browning the ground turkey in a Dutch oven over medium heat. I could have also used a large skillet.
Once the turkey was browned, I dumped it into a colander dumped it onto a colander, and ran it under hot water. Even though the ground turkey is quite lean (I used 93% lean), I routinely rinse the cooked turkey until the liquid runs clean. You may think this odd. However, the real flavor of the chili comes from the other ingredients that are added.
After it cooled a bit, I like to crumble turkey with my hands.
- Next, I added a bit of olive oil to the same Dutch oven that was used for the turkey. Then, I added the onions and sautéd them over medium heat for about five minutes or until they were tender but not browned.
- Then I added the minced garlic and continued sautéing the mixture until the garlic was fragrant. This took about 30 seconds.
Once the garlic was fragrant, I returned the crumbled turkey to the Dutch oven and added the flour. I stirred everything together and let the mixture cook for a minute or so.
- After that, I added the chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper. I stirred to combine everything.
- Once everything was well combined, I added the Rotel tomatoes and the tomato sauce. After stirring everything together, I thought that the mixture was a bit too thick, so I added a second can of tomato sauce. I could have also added some low sodium chicken broth.
- I stirred the Spicy Turkey Chili and heated it to a boil. Then, I covered the pan, reduced the heat to medium-low, and cooked the chili covered for about an hour.
- While the turkey chili was cooking, I poured two cans of beans into a strainer and rinsed the black beans well.
After the chili had cooked for about an hour, I added the black beans to the chili. I gave the mixture a good stir and again covered the pan; I cooked the chili for an additional 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, I removed the lid from the Dutch oven and gave the mixture a stir. I tasted the chili to see if it needed any additional seasonings. It was perfect!
For dinner, I served the Spicy Turkey Chili with my favorite chili toppings – some shredded colby jack cheese, sour cream, and chopped green onion tops. On the side, I served some Fritos Scoops and a green salad.
What we didn’t eat went into the freezer for another delicious meal. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can substitute ground beef in this recipe for the ground turkey. Just proceed as above.
Because I drain and rinse the cooked turkey, it really doesn’t matter whether you use 93% lean ground turkey or 85% lean ground turkey.
To make it in a slow cooker, simply follow the recipe up to and including the step where you add Rotel tomatoes and tomato sauce. Once that step is complete, transfer everything over to a slow cooker and cook on low for about five hours. Then add the black beans and cook for an additional hour.
I like to add shredded cheese, sour cream, and sliced green onion tops to this chili. You can also add minced or sliced jalapeños, crushed tortilla chips, chopped tomatoes, green onions, green pepper, chopped onions, or chopped or sliced avocados.
One of my favorite things to serve with this chili is cornbread. You could also serve breadsticks, quesadillas, grilled cheese sandwiches, salad, coleslaw, or hot dogs.
This healthy turkey chili recipe is even better the next day. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Other Southwestern-Style Recipes
If you’re a fan of chili, you should check out these amazing Southwestern-style recipes.
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Spicy Turkey Chili
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ pounds lean ground turkey (See Tips 1 and 2)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste (about ¼ teaspoon
- 20 ounces (2 10-ounce cans) Rotel Original diced tomatoes & green chilies
- 16 ounces tomato sauce
- 16 ounces (16-ounce can) black beans drained and rinsed well
- Shredded Colby jack or cheddar cheese
- Sour Cream
- Chopped green onions or chives for garnish if desired
- Tortilla chips to serve on the side
Instructions
- Cook and crumble ground turkey in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until browned. Pour into colander and rinse with hot water until water runs clean. Take handfuls and rub between hands to crumble into fine pieces. Rinse again.
- Heat olive oil in the same Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic; sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add browned turkey, flour, chili powder, cumin, salt, freshly ground black pepper, and oregano. Stir to mix well. Add Rotel tomatoes & green chilies, and tomato sauce; mix well. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 hour. Add black beans; cover and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
- Serve Chili in bowls topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, and chopped green onion tops. Serve Fritos scoops or tortilla chips on the side. (See Tip 3)
- Yield: 6 servings. (See Tip 4)
Tips/Notes
- I used 93% lean ground turkey.
- May also use ground beef in place of turkey.
- For a variation, serve warm chili on a bed of shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes to make a taco salad. Garnish with chopped onions, crushed tortilla chips, and shredded cheese.
- The leftovers, if any can be refrigerated for several days and reheated. Leftovers can also be frozen for later use.
