This turkey chili recipe has been on the regular rotation for years. It is hearty, meaty, and so easy! This chili can be made in 30 minutes on the stovetop or as a crockpot turkey chili.
Chilis are quite popular in our house like this easy beef chili or instant pot white chicken chili.
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Turkey Chili Recipe:
Turkey chili is loaded with lean ground turkey making it healthier than traditional chili but just as hearty and satisfying.
My friend Gina from nursing school, shared this award winning slow cooker chili recipe with me. She made it for a chili cook-off fundraiser and I couldn’t stop refilling my bowl. It’s delicious!
Chili Toppings!
Every good chili needs a “chili bar” to go long with it. We love all the fixings including:
- Shredded cheese (Mexican, cheddar, Colby Jack, etc)
- Sour Cream
- Sliced Avocados or Spicy Guacamole
- Cilantro sprigs or chopped cilantro
- Lime wedges to squeeze over chili
- Chopped green onion or diced red onion
- Sliced jalapeños (fresh or canned)
- Sliced olives
- Tortilla chips
Ingredients for Turkey Chili:
Since canned food are the largest source of BPA (here’s more info on that from Mayo Clinic) in people’s diets which is a big no-no for pregnancy and children so you can cook your own beans or look for canned foods specifically marked “BPA free.”
How to Make Turkey Chili:
Stovetop chili is the quickest and easiest way to make chili. It all comes together in one pot and the cooking time is minimal. We added Amazon affiliate links below to tools used to make this chili.
- In a pot or Dutch oven, saute ground turkey in 1 Tbsp olive oil 5 min, breaking it up with a spatula
- Add diced onion, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Saute 5 min until onions are soft.
- Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil then simmer* for 20 minutes.
*For a thicker chili, simmer uncovered. Cover with lid or partially cover to retain more of the liquid for a looser chili.
How to Make Crockpot Turkey Chili:
I love crockpot chili recipes; set ’em and forget ’em. I make this slow cooker turkey chili in the morning and it’s ready for my children to enjoy when they get home from school. Here are the steps to make this in a crockpot:
- Saute the ground meat and onion and seasonings as usual.
- Transfer ground turkey mixture to crockpot, add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
- Set on low for 3 to 4 hours until piping hot. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
Turkey Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground turkey
- 1 medium purple onion, diced
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt , or to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste
- 15 oz black beans, drained and lightly rinsed
- 15 oz pinto beans with juice
- 15 oz white beans with juice
- 2 oz jar of diced jalapeños or green chilis, or to taste
- 30 oz canned diced tomatoes, seasoned or plain
- 15 oz tomato sauce
- 15 oz corn, drained (or use 2 ears cooked corn)
Instructions
- In a 5 Qt pot or dutch oven over medium/high heat, add 1 Tbsp olive oil and sautee 1 lb ground turkey until cooked through (5 min).
- Add diced purple onion, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Saute 5 minutes or until onions are softened.
- Add drained and rinsed black beans, pinto beans with juice and white beans with juice. Also add diced jalapeños, canned diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, and drained corn.
- Stir to combine and bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer uncovered 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste towards the end of cooking (I like to add an extra 1/2 tsp salt).
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
This recipe was first published in 2014. We improved the recipe slightly and updated some of the text and photos in 2019. Here’s what it used to look like:
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Great recipe to bring into the fall weather. It doesn’t have the heaviness of a regular chili. The different type of beans and turkey makes it non greasy. Delicious! Paired this with Pone bread from Mountain cooking with Missy! So many good family chefs on FB & IG. These two are my go to cook books. Just acquired Ambitious Kitchen cookbook too. All 3 have great recipes that a cook appreciates.
I absolutely loved this! I am a big beef eater since I was a kid, but I’ve been trying to cutback on beef now that I’m in my mid sixties. 😕
I didn’t have everything in this recipe, but it was a recipe I could use to easily sub what I had on hand. Some turkey chili recipes I found were over the top with complicated with double the ingredients you really need for chili!
So, to start, I had the ground turkey. I subbed 3-10 oz cans of Rotel fire roasted tomatoes with chiles for the 30 oz can of diced tomatoes. No purple onion, only Vidalia. I subbed a jar of bruschetta sauce for the tomato sauce, and Italian seasoning for oregano. I had to go with what I had!
I did have all the other seasonings and it came out perfect.
I don’t usually rate recipes if I don’t follow them exactly, but I really believe what I got was solely because I used this recipe as a template and I’m so grateful I found it!
Thanks so much for this info. I’m glad that it was a success! We appreciate your review, Josephine.
I made this last night and it was AMAZING!
I don’t love corn but it was fine in there. Wondering if I could sub chickpeas instead.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, A!
This is soooo good and is a great way to use leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. The corn really adds a great flavor too. My husband says it is the best turkey chili he’s ever had. I used a can of Peruvian beans which also added a slightly sweet taste. Yummy
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Andrea!
Natasha, our family truly enjoyed this. We ate it with cornbread. Yummy! I doubled it so we can have it for dinner tomorrow! 🙂
Yummy indeed! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I’m cooking this again tonight! How do I order your cookbook?
Hi Kelly! You can click on Cookbook at the top of the page.
I am wondering if leftover Thanksgiving turkey can be used in this recipe? If so, when should it be added? Would about 2 cups cooked turkey sufficient?
Hi Deanna! I think you could make that work. I would add it toward the end. Without having tested it myself, I do not have an exact quantity but you can add it to your preference.
Deanna, you can make it with leftover turkey. First time I had turkey chili was in the Navy….I was hesitant, but it was pretty good. Just shred the meat by hand and add it. You won’t be disappointed.
I made two versions of this chili today for a group of 15 people for a long day of watching sports. One in the crockpot and one in dutch oven on stove top. Made 2 adjustments, 1/2 lb more of turkey and substituted 1/2 of tomato sauce for “el pato sauce” to add spice. I paired the turkey with Ina Garten jalapeño cheddar cornbread. The meal was a big hit but the stove top version received the better reviews. This recipe is a keeper for sure!
Nice! Thanks for sharing that with us, it is helpful and useful info!
I made two pots of this chili today for a whole day of watching sports( Baseball NCLS & Sunday NFL games) with a large group of people. One version in crockpot and one version in stove top in Dutch oven. Both were very good but the stove top version received the better reviews from other people. I made minimal adjustments to the recipe; added 1/2 lb more turkey, and substituted half of tomato sauce for el pato sauce to add some spice. I paired it with Ina Garten’s jalapeño cheddar cornbread… everyone loved the meal and asked for the turkey chili recipe!
8 servings is a lot for the two of us. Can I freeze half of it?
Thanks,
Andrée
Hi Andree, I haven’t tried freezing it, but the ingredients are pretty freezer friendly so I think it would work well. 🙂 Also, I recommend clicking “Jump to recipe” at the top of the post, it will take you to our printable recipe where you’ll have the option to change the number of servings. Hover over the number of servings highlighted in red and slide it to how many servings you would like to make. I hope that helps!
Hi Natasha!
Made your turkey chili today and loved it! The only change I made was using one can of diced tomatoes and one large can of crushed tomatoes because that’s what I had. The flavor was fabulous! Thanks for another great recipe!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Jennifer! I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
I’m so excited to try this but I only have beef not turkey 🙁 could I use that instead?
Hi Cecilia, I think the process will be very similar and it is doable. We have a stove top beef chili recipe here and the directions should be pretty similar.
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing and simple recipe! I nailed it the first time haha! planning to keep it as a go-to dish. Do you have any suggestions on how to ease the gassiness caused by the beans?
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Drain and Rinse all the beans – it forsure helps with that problem! If it gets too thick and needs more liquid, just add some broth or something
Hi sweetheart I know I’m not on the right recipe,it’s your meatloaf I was never crazy about meatloaf but after doing your recipe I’m hooked.so once a month my family wants me to do meatloaf 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰thank you Natasha I will send you a pic of my meatloaf next month…..
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review! It sounds like you have a new favorite!