The Best Healthy Turkey Chili Recipe: Easy & Low Carb

November 4, 2023
Gianna Ferrini

I don’t know about you, but the second September 1st rolls around every year, I’m immediately catapulted into soup season.

Making every kind of soup known to man is what I’m known to do, and a lot of the time, those soups include chili.

I have been a major fan of chili ever since I was a kid.

It’s my favorite comfort food, and something I could eat every single day during the cooler months.

I mean really, think about it.

Who doesn’t love ground beef, diced tomatoes and all of your favorite toppings in a chunky tomato sauce?

It’s like the best meat sauce you could ever eat in your life.

Plus, leftover chili keeps so well in the fridge and makes for a wonderful meal prep dish for the whole family.

But my favorite thing about this healthy turkey recipe is the fact that it’s so good for you.

It’s packed with tons of nutritious vegetables, seasonings, beans, and meat, keeping the net carbs of the entire dish as a whole lower, as this dish doesn’t use anything like rice, pasta, or even quinoa to keep this dish friendly to a ketogenic diet.

Best of all, it tastes almost identical to any of the traditional chili recipes that I grew up eating, all while being suitable for weight loss.

A win in my book!

You’ll Need:

Lean Ground Turkey: Of course, you can substitute this with ground beef if that’s all you have. It’ll taste just as good. But in my opinion, you can hardly taste the difference once the ingredients are all incorporated.

White Onions: I used two in this, but you can use more if you’d like. Whatever you’d like to do, do that.

Garlic: Lots of garlic here! I minced about four cloves when I made this.

Bell Pepper: This one is totally optional. Sometimes I use it, and sometimes I don’t. But whenever I have one on hand, I always like chopping it up and sauteeing it with the onions and garlic.

Jalapeño: Another one that is totally optional, but I always think is worth adding.

Chilies: I love green chilies. I use two four ounce cans, and they make this entire chili taste delicious.

Beans: Any kind of beans you want to use is fair game. I used a can of kidney beans and a can of black beans, but white beans of any kind would taste just as well with this.

Corn: This is totally optional, but I find that corn adds a whole other layer of flavor that you weren’t expecting to your turkey chili.

Crushed Tomatoes: I’ve seen people use a tomato paste and diced tomato combo to keep the chili thicker, and to that, I say do whatever you prefer. But I find that crushed tomatoes bring this dish together just a little bit better, and might even taste better too.

Chicken Broth: Use your favorite kind, but to make it as healthy as possible, I like to use low sodium chicken broth.

Spices: The key to a good chili is the spices! For mine, I always use salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, paprika, chili powder, cumin, cilantro, elote seasoning, and a little bit of oregano. It all works together to transform the dish entirely.

Olive Oil: Come on, I will almost never write a recipe that doesn’t include olive oil. You should know this by now.

Toppings: You can top this with whatever you’d like, but I love adding cheddar cheese, greek yogurt, and a few crushed tortilla chips on top of mine. It always tastes great.

Directions:

@gianna_ferrini
Every autumn I break this recipe out of its archives and hyperfixate on it for a month and eat it 3x a day 7 days a week until I get bored of it and never make it again until the next year, when the cycle repeats itself. But I promise its delicious, which is why I was happy to re imagine it for work. Search for the full recipe on mortadellahead.com ! #turkeychilirecipe #turkeychili #chilirecipe #healthychili

♬ original sound – Gianna!!!

In a large stockpot, heat up about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add your onions and peppers, and stir until they become fragrant and translucent. Add your garlic, and keep stirring.

Add your turkey to the onions, peppers, and garlic. Keep stirring until the turkey mixture cooks.

Once the turkey seems about ready, add in your chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, corn, beans, chilies, and bring your mixture to a boil. Bring it down to a simmer and add your seasonings.

Let the chili simmer for 1-3 hours, stirring occasionally so the bottom doesn’t burn. Taste periodically for seasoning. Serve with cheddar cheese, greek yogurt, and crushed tortilla chips.

Turkey Chili FAQs:

Q: What kind of turkey do you use?

A: For a healthy turkey chili, I like to use 90% lean 10% fat. It’s a perfect ratio for this. If you don’t have turkey, ground beef could work, and so could ground chicken.

Q: How should I store leftover chili?

A: This is good in the refrigerator for up to five days, and is perfect for meal prep. You could store this in an airtight container and spoon out what you need, or put it into a bunch of smaller containers so they’re ready to go for the week. You can also place the pot directly inside of the refrigerator if you’d like.

Q: What are some of your favorite toppings for this turkey chili?

A: One of my favorite things about chili is the toppings. You can use green onions, avocado, cheddar cheese, sour cream, greek yogurt, chives, bacon… anything your heart desires!

Q: Could I make this in the crock pot?

A: Absolutely! Toss everything in and put it on low heat for 6-8 hours. You’ll love it.

What To Serve With Turkey Chili

Appetizer: I recommend taking some of your leftover ingredients, piling them onto a bed of tortilla chips, and making a hearty plate of nachos, especially if you want to get your carb fix in. If you prefer to keep the entire dish low carb or if you’re sticking to a keto diet, chop up a green bell pepper into inch thick slices, put the toppings over those, and make pepper nachos. They’ll be delicious!

Side Dish: To me, you can never go wrong with fresh cornbread with chili. It’ll always be good. If you want to keep your dish low carb, however, you could try using some sweet potatoes and making some sweet potato fries, and season them with cinnamon and sugar to get your sweet fix in. They’ll be delicious!

Wine: With any hearty red sauce based dish, I always recommend a red wine. A nice glass of nero d’avola would be perfect!

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