Who’s in the mood for a hearty batch of chili featuring ground turkey and two kinds of beans? This easy Chipotle Turkey Chili hits the spot, and is so full of flavor that even MashupDad (the avowed ground turkey hater) said he couldn’t tell it wasn’t beef! Heh. Now I can mess with him…
Ground turkey has been on sale recently (and will actually be on sale again at ALDI this week), so enjoy this filling turkey chili recipe in your July 9, 2017 edition of Sunday Scratchups: Your weekly recipe from scratch around ingredients that are either on sale or generally affordable.
The chipotles in adobo here just add enough smoky spice to balance out the blander ground turkey, but your chili doesn’t end up overly spicy. (If you’re very sensitive to spice, though, just use 2-3 chipotle peppers rather than the four I used here.)
Easy Chipotle Turkey Chili
Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 lb ground turkey
4 chipotle peppers (from a can of chipotles in adobo), chopped
1 Tbsp of the adobo sauce
Two 14.5 oz cans fire roasted diced (and/or crushed) tomatoes*
1 can black beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 cup water
1/2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Sea salt, to taste
Directions
Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, then add onion, garlic, chili powder, oregano, and cumin. Saute for about five minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened. Add turkey, chipotles, and adobo sauce and continue to cook over medium-high heat, breaking up the turkey as you go, until turkey is cooked through.
Stir in tomatoes, beans, water, cocoa powder, and sea salt, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer partly covered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with your favorite chili toppings!
* Note: I used one can of crushed tomatoes and one can of diced; for a more soupy chili you could instead use one can of diced tomatoes and one can of sauce. I also used my little Ninja food chopper to chop the onions, garlic, and chipotles (separately) — it’s quicker and much less messy than trying to chop the peppers by hand.
That’s a 45 minute pot of turkey chili
How easy is that? The chipotles alone do half the work of spicing up the chili for you here — I swear, they’re nothing short of a miracle ingredient sometimes.
I just topped my easy turkey chili with some shredded cheese and chopped green onion, but you could also do sour cream, avocado, crushed tortilla chips, or other chili toppings of choice. Chipotle turkey chili is naturally gluten free — and any leftover chili is great on baked potatoes, nachos, and more.
Easy Chipotle Turkey Chili, printable recipe
This easy Chipotle Turkey Chili hits the spot, and is so full of flavor that even dh (the avowed ground turkey hater) said he couldn't tell it wasn't beef!
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 4 chipotle peppers (from a can of chipotles in adobo), chopped
- 1 Tbsp of the adobo sauce
- 2 14.5 oz cans fire roasted diced and/or crushed tomatoes
- 1 can black beans, drained
- 1 can kidney beans, drained
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- Sea salt, to taste
-
Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, then add onion, garlic, chili powder, oregano, and cumin. Saute for about five minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened. Add turkey, chipotles, and adobo sauce and continue to cook over medium-high heat, breaking up the turkey as you go, until turkey is cooked through.
-
Stir in tomatoes, beans, water, cocoa powder, and sea salt, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer partly covered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with your favorite chili toppings!
I used one can of crushed tomatoes and one can of diced; for a more soupy chili you could instead use one can of diced tomatoes and one can of sauce. I also used my little Ninja food chopper to chop the onions, garlic, and chipotles (separately) -- it's quicker and much less messy than trying to chop the peppers by hand. This chili isn't very spicy, but if you are very sensitive to spice try using 2-3 chipotle peppers rather than the four I used here.
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Neal says
July 19, 2017 at 4:08 pmI was just wondering how spicy it is,
thanks
Neal
rachel says
July 19, 2017 at 4:09 pmIt’s not super spicy. If you are very sensitive to spice, you can cut down to 2-3 peppers rather than the four I used, however.
kelsey says
November 30, 2017 at 12:36 pmHello! Could you make this with leftover Thanksgiving turkey?
rachel says
November 30, 2017 at 2:32 pmI’ve never tried, but in that case I’d just stir in the chipotles, broth, etc right after sauteing the onion and garlic, then add chopped cooked turkey in at the end after everything simmers and just cook until heated through. Let me know if you try it, how it turns out. 🙂
Lindsay says
October 18, 2019 at 9:18 pmMade this and really liked it – especially enjoyed that unique chipotle flavor coming through.
Question: is there any reason you couldn’t do this as a slow cooker recipe?
rachel says
October 19, 2019 at 10:41 amSure — although it’s a 30 minute recipe so I’ve never tried. You’d want to still pre-saute the onion and brown the ground turkey, though.