Healthy Turkey Chili {Slow Cooker}

Made with ground turkey, this healthy turkey chili still is a bowl full of comfort!  Best of all?  Make it in your slow cooker.  

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Looking for a twist on your chili?  Try Turkey Chili! This is a very fresh version of chili, which is one of the reasons I just love it!  I am kind of crazy for chili.  I love my staple recipes, yes, I said the plural, but I’m always game for a twist or to try out a new one.  If you’re cutting back on your red meat, this is a fabulous alternative.  Oh, and, do you need a little somethin’ for the big game?  This is your ticket.

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

The best part?  yep, make it in the Crock Pot. Oh how I love my Crock Pot, it’s simply the best!  A good Crock Pot is certainly worth the investment.  This is the one I use, and I’ve had it for years.  I’m getting off track, does anyone else think it’s fun to talk about kitchen appliances?  So, as I mentioned, this recipe is full of fresh ingredients, which makes it that much better!  I recommend cutting all your veggies the night before to make your morning or your meal prep that much smoother.  If you’re going to let this cook all day, this works great.  If you’ve got some time in the morning, certainly, this can be done then.

Beans, beans, the musical fruit…

I cannot believe I just said that.  Sometimes I’m so immature.  Anyway, a word about beans.  I use dried beans for any dish I make with beans.  I happen to know a local bean farmer.  So, when the harvest comes, I stock up.  Black beans, navy beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, great northern beans, cranberry beans… Now, you can use canned beans with this if you want. If you do, rinse them well.  As for my dried beans, that does mean you’ll need a little planning ahead.  You can’t put the dried beans in with all your chili ingredients, they won’t soften.  I speak from experience.  😉  What I typically do, is cook a whole bunch a beans in my crockpot, then I freeze them.  The don’t take long to thaw.  That’s what I’ve done here.

I also like using a variety of beans in the same chili recipe.  It adds color and texture.

Hot tip!

Did you know you can put the turkey in the slow cooker RAW??  Yes!  One less step to your masterpiece! Turkey is naturally quite lean and therefore doesn’t need to be drained.  Now, if you want to brown it ahead of time, feel free.  If not, just break the ground turkey up in the bottom of the crock and go from there. The full recipe is below.  If you do put it in raw, you will need to break it up a little before you serve it because it will try to stick together.

4.3 from 3 reviews

Healthy Turkey Chili {Slow Cooker}

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

6 hours

Total time

6 hours 15 mins

 

Ground turkey, fresh bell peppers, a variety of beans and delicious spices.

Author: Chellie

Recipe type: soup/chili

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 cup yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 cup orange pepper, chopped
• 1 cup red pepper, chopped
• 1 4oz can mild chopped green chilis
• 2 cups navy beans
• 2 cups pinto beans
• 2 cups kidney beans
• 2 cups Turkey broth (can use chicken or vegetable)
• 2 15 oz cans tomato sauce (all natural, no sugar)
• 1 Tbs chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• cheddar cheese, cilantro and sour cream for garnishing

Instructions

1. Saute onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. (Alternatively, you can just crumble the raw ground turkey in the bottom of the slow cooker, add the onions and garlic, stir, then go on to step 5.
2. Add ground turkey, and brown until cooked through.
3. Add garlic, stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
4. Transfer to slow cooker.
5. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
6. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.
7. Serve garnished with shredded cheese, cilantro and sour cream.

3.5.3208

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