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. 
I am thiking about using tomato juice instead of tomato sause? What would you suggest?
I prefer tomato sauce because it has richer flavor and if you use tomato juice, your chili will be much more watery.
Made this last night….it was so easy and fast. 🙂 I left out the pinto beans since we do not like a lot of beans in our chili, and I added some more cumin and chili powder. My picky husband loved it!! Thank you!
That’s so great! Thank you for the nice review Sharon and you are very welcome 😁.
Could this be cooked on high in the crock pot to reduce cook time? I’m inpatient :p
Hi Marisa, yes that would work fine! 🙂 2 hours on high heat should do it!
Hey Natasha! Is there any way this could be made on the stovetop without changing the recipe? Made this recipe multiple times in a crock pot and it’s bomb.com! Now wondering if I could make it on the stovetop since someone “borrowed” my crockpot for quite some time now and this 39 week belly be craving this amazing chili 🎉😂😭
Hi Angie, yes absolutely! You can actually make it a one-pot chili by cooking the meat in a pot then adding everything else to the pot, setting over medium/low heat and letting it cook until boiling hot, stirring occasionally. You can probably heat it over a higher heat but stir frequently so it doesn’t scorch to the bottom. Once it’s at a boil, reduce heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes. You don’t have to cook it long since all of the ingredients are “cooked” 🙂 but I would simmer at least 30 minutes to let the flavors meld. And you just gave me a really really great idea for a stove-top chili! Ha! thanks Angie 🙂
Can I substitute beef instead of turkey?
Yes, definitely! Ground pork would work well also.
This recipe was absolutely amazing… People here think I need to open a restaurant because of this, but it was all you!! Thank you for making me a great cook!! 😄😄😄
Geena, thank you so much for a great review and you are welcome 😀.
I have never made chili before so this was an experiment altogether for me!
I followed the recipe for the most part, I made sure all my ingredients were clean (the tomato sauce there is no way around but i did get the organic so it was as clean as possible) and I added 2 tablespoons of minced garlic to the spices when adding to the cooked turkey. The flavor was good, it just did not have enough spice for us, so we added a bit more of the cumin and chili powder 3 hours in and let it cook another 30 minutes on high (the first 3 hours were on low but I was hungry and impatient) and it was perfect! Thank you for such a quick and easy recipe that has great flavor!
Melissa, thank you for such a great review and nice job improvising 😀 .
What size crockpot does this recipe call for? I have a 6qt pot. Will this recipe fit or do I need to double it?
Christine, ours is about 6qt so it should fit 🙂 .
Just 2 thoughts to make a wonderful recipe even more amazing: instead of adding spices to meat after cooking, consider “toasting” the spices in the hot oil before adding the meat. Just for a minute–until you smell them; it only take a few moments. Your kitchen will automatically be aromatic heaven. Secondly: not very healthy perhaps, but I added chorizo to the ground turkey to amplify the flavor. Thanks for a lovely recipe.
I love your suggestions! Thank you for sharing :). That additional chorizo sounds amazing!
Hello Natasha and k.mf: I actually just did this last night when making a butternut squash soup! It called for curry powder but I didn’t have any so I googled the ingredients and made my own. Then just as the onions and garlic were softening, I added 2 tsp and let it cook for 1 minute. Then I added the roasted squash, peppers etc. This method truly enhances the flavour! Also, my kitchen still smells amazing today! Cheers,
Thank you so much for sharing that with us!!
Made this for dinner last night. Had to replace red beans for the pinto beans because I didn’t have any, and the chili turned out great. I heated up some tortilla chips for the top and everyone (including my 3 year old) ate it all up. Another great recipe!
Thank you Lisa-Marie, reading your comment is making me hungry for some chili :D.
Love this!! Super easy to make plus I froze the left overs to take for work lunches. Is there a calorie count listed somewhere I may be skipping over?
Hi Lyndsey! I’m so glad you like the chili. I don’t usually put up calorie counts, but when I need to research something, my best source: Caloriecount.com – sign in for free and then go to “tools” and then click “recipe analyzer” You can copy and paste your list of ingredients and it spits out the nutrition info. It’s a great tool.
This looks absolutely delicious! Really want to make – few questions.
1. You put makes 8-10 servings- how much is a serving though?
2. Do you have the calorie count for this?
Thank you
Hi Heather, I didn’t measure it exactly, but each serving is about 1 cup. I don’t usually put up calorie counts, but when I need to research something, my best source: Caloriecount.com – sign in for free and then go to “tools” and then click “recipe analyzer” You can copy and paste your list of ingredients and it spits out the nutrition info. It’s a great tool.
Thank you for great recipe, Natasha! I tried this once and now planning to do it again but want to cook my own beans: should the beans be slightly undercooked since I intend to cook them for an additional 3+ hours in crock pot? What is the ideal time for cooking the beans?
My beans were fully cooked for this. They won’t turn mushy or fall apart in the crock pot, don’t worry :). I’d recommend fully cooking them.
Made this today and it was delicious. I held the jalapeños and increased the amount of chili powder to about 3tbsp. I also held the corn water and the consistency was perfect, not runny at all. I was wasn’t sure my husband was going to like it but he inhaled 3 bowls!! Thank you for sharing!
I’m so happy to hear you loved it! Thank you so much for sharing your modifications and your awesome review! 🙂
Great recipe:) definitely will try making it soon! Thank you for sharing about canned foods not being BPA free.
You are welcome Sveta :). Let me know how it turns out.
Hi Natasha. I’ve noticed you said you cooked your own beans, can you give some specifics on how to do that? I want to do that myself because canned food is not as good as fresh obviously, but I’ve never done that before. And you also mentioned you’ll freeze them as well? Does that work well?
Thanks 😉
Olga.
Freezing them works wonderfully – that’s why I make big batches when I cook beans. Freeze in ziploc bags with their cooking juices and then thaw and drain (and rinse if needed) as you would with canned beans. Here is the method that I used to cook the beans. It takes some time but it’s easy to do: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-beans-on-the-stove-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-182717
Hi Natasha!
If I’m cooking the beans and not using canned, do I have to undercook them since they will be in a crockpot?
Mine were fully cooked when I made them at home. The slow cooker process will not make the mushy so go ahead and cook them fully.
A big hit with the family, loved it!!
That’s awesome! I’m so happy to hear that 🙂
Just shared this recipe with my sister. Her 3 older boys love chille and she never made it at home. So will see what she reports back!
Let me know! I hope they love it! 🙂
She just reported back lol. They loved it! It was a little spicy for her, but her boys were in heaven. Lol (she used beef instead of turkey and said it was awesome!)
This was my first time making this recipe. It was delicious, but very watery. The consistency never thickened the way I imagine Chili to be……
I think next time I will try modifying the following:
– use a mix of dark & light turkey meat, instead of just lean.
– drain the liquid in the beans & corn
– replace the Pinto Beans with Dark Red Kidney Beans for a darker, richer color.
– use an additional can of fire-smoked diced tomatoes instead of 2-cans of tomato sauce.
I love your ideas! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂