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Easy Turkey Kielbasa Chili (Gluten Free and Lower Fat!)

Easy Turkey Kielbasa Chili is a deliciously different twist on your usual chili recipes. Naturally gluten free, and lower fat than beef chili — but with all the chili flavor you’d expect!

I have a confession to make, you guys. I cheated on ALDI last week! In my own defense, however, I was able to pick up a couple of packs of turkey kielbasa at another local grocery store for a buck each after a sale + coupons. Never fear: The next time I make this Easy Turkey Kielbasa Chili — and oh, there will be a next time! — it may instead feature ALDI’s Fit & Active brand of turkey sausage, because that is also darn tasty. (And $1.99 at my store at the time I wrote this post, but up to $2.49 a little over a year later!)

Butterball turkey polksa kielbasa

So anyway, that’s all of course a little tongue-in-cheek, but today’s kielbasa chili recipe was indeed inspired by these two packs of Butterball turkey kielbasa staring at me every time I opened the fridge (along with one sad, lonely, starting-to-wrinkle orange bell pepper). I wasn’t in the mood for the usual sausage, peppers, and onions thing, though (although some of that flavor does shine through), and I didn’t feel sausage, peppers, and onions frittata-ish today, so decided to roll with our depressingly cold and rainy weather here and throw together a comforting pot full of turkey kielbasa chili.

Try this Easy Turkey Kielbasa Chili (Gluten Free and Lower Fat!) the next time you're looking for a different comfort food twist on your usual chili recipes. Doing a smoked sausage chili gives you a flavor reminiscent of sausage, peppers, and onions -- but with a definite chili kick.

If you don’t care for turkey kielbasa, you can of course use regular kielbasa — or, an andouille smoked sausage chili would also probably be a pretty good and spicier twist. That’s the best thing about chili, right? Just like soup, it’s forgiving, and it’s customizable to your own tastes and what you have on hand.

But, here’s how I cooked up today’s batch of turkey sausage chili…

Easy Turkey Kielbasa Chili

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil (see Note)
Two 13-14 oz turkey kielbasa dinner sausages, halved lengthwise then sliced into half moons
6 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 Tbsp)
1/2 of a medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 medium sweet bell pepper (red, orange, or yellow), roughly chopped
14.5 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1.5 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 Tbsp cumin
1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne (omit if you are sensitive to heat)

Directions

sausage, peppers, and onions

Chop your vegetables and cut up the sausage. When those are ready, heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering, then add the sausage, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Saute for 15 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion and pepper begin to soften.

drained beans in a strainer

While your sausage/pepper/onion mixture is cooking, open up all your cans and rinse and drain the beans. Once the vegetables are softened, stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, and spices. Reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.

Try this Easy Turkey Kielbasa Chili (Gluten Free and Lower Fat!) the next time you're looking for a different comfort food twist on your usual chili recipes. Doing a smoked sausage chili gives you a flavor reminiscent of sausage, peppers, and onions -- but with a definite chili kick.

Serve hot. One optional serving suggestion: Serve over cooked rice topped with shredded cheddar cheese and/or sour cream.

Note: If you’re using regular rather than turkey kielbasa, you might reduce the olive oil to 1 Tbsp. Note also that turkey kielbasa doesn’t brown up as much as regular, but will still be darn tasty in the final chili.

That’s a different spin on chili!

Try this Easy Turkey Kielbasa Chili (Gluten Free and Lower Fat!) the next time you're looking for a different comfort food twist on your usual chili recipes. Doing a smoked sausage chili gives you a flavor reminiscent of sausage, peppers, and onions -- but with a definite chili kick.

This chili recipe is a nice change from your normal ground beef or ground turkey, and while it’s definitely a chili, the final result would also be good mixed into rice. Whether you serve yours with rice, potatoes, corn bread, or just as-is, however, you end up with a big pot of family-friendly comfort food that’s chock-full of flavor! The cayenne adds just a slight underlying kick here — it’s not overly spicy, but if you or your kids are sensitive to heat, just omit the cayenne for a milder version.

Easy turkey kielbasa chili is naturally gluten free, as long as the sausage you use is, and (even with a full 26-28 oz of kielbasa in here) it’s much lower in fat than traditional ground beef chili, for those of you watching that.

Easy Turkey Kielbasa Chili, printable recipe

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5 from 3 votes

Easy Turkey Kielbasa Chili

Easy turkey kielbasa chili is naturally gluten free, as long as the sausage you use is, and (even with a full 26-28 oz of kielbasa in here) it’s much lower in fat than traditional ground beef chili.
Course dinner
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil (see Note)
  • Two 13-14 oz turkey kielbasa dinner sausage, halved lengthwise then sliced into half moons
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 Tbsp)
  • 1/2 of a medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 medium sweet bell pepper (red, orange, or yellow, roughly chopped)
  • 14.5 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies
  • 8 oz can tomato sauce
  • 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1.5 Tbsp chili powder
  • 1/2 Tbsp cumin
  • 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne (omit if you are sensitive to heat)

Instructions

  • Chop your vegetables and cut up the sausage. When those are ready, heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering, then add the sausage, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. 
  • Saute for 15 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion and pepper begin to soften.
  • While your sausage/pepper/onion mixture is cooking, open up all your cans and rinse and drain the beans. 
  • Once the vegetables are softened, stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, and spices. Reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.
  • Serve hot. One optional serving suggestion: Serve over cooked rice topped with shredded cheddar cheese and/or sour cream.

Notes

If you’re using regular rather than turkey kielbasa, you might reduce the olive oil to 1 Tbsp. Note also that turkey kielbasa doesn’t brown up as much as regular, but will still be darn tasty in the final chili.

Recipes in the real world

weekly ALDI meal plans from Mashup Mom -- six complete dinners for four, $60 out the door! MashupMom.com, every Wednesday.

Be sure not to miss the free ALDI meal plans, which show you how to use these easy family recipes to meal plan affordably and realistically for your family. Or, find more recipe ideas with the Recipe Search!

Be sure not to miss the free ALDI meal plans, which show you how to use these easy family recipes to meal plan affordably and realistically for your family. Or, find more recipe ideas with the Recipe Search!

Recipe Rating




Jenna

Thursday 17th of September 2020

The weird thing is, I'm staring at almost the exact same thing in my fridge, except the orange bell pepper has a wrinkly red sibling as well. While I like the kielbasa & peppers I often do, the idea of doing the same thing I did last week was making me hide in my office, dreading the moment my husband asks "Hey, love? What's the plan for dinner?" and having not a single clue in my empty brain (it's been a day. Last week it was in the 90's, last night my open windows meant a 37 degree wind and fog just slide into my bedroom. I think my brain still hasn't thawed.) This looks amazing and perfect for what I have on hand. Even went to Aldi's yesterday and it looks like several of my 'the pantry might be missing this, I'm here and this week I can afford a few extras from the list' are dead on the requirements. I will now stop babbling and head off to the kitchen to make dinner. Thanks so much!

Vanessa

Monday 9th of March 2020

So easy. So tasty and filling. My picky toddler even ate it. We're a family of three and got three lunches worth of leftovers from it. Super excited to eat it through the week.

rachel

Monday 9th of March 2020

Picky toddler approved is really the highest praise you can get, I'll take it! :)

Jessica

Monday 9th of July 2018

I made this just as directed, and served with rice, shredded cheese and sour cream. Delicious! It was a hit with my husband and two toddlers!