The BEST Healthy Turkey Chili recipe made with lean ground turkey, beans and veggies! Protein-packed, full of flavor and easy to make on the stove, in the slow cooker or Instant Pot.
This Healthy Turkey Chili recipe has been one of the most popular recipes on my site for the past 10+ years! I absolutely crave chili in the fall and this protein-packed recipe has always been a weekly staple in our home in the colder months. It also really comes in handy when meal planning during the week. Not only does this simple turkey chili recipe make a ton, but its full of veggies, lean turkey, tender beans and is packed with flavor. Great for those busy weeknights, cozy weekends and a great recipe for game day! Serve with my honey cornbread muffins and you’ve got the perfect meal!
Why You’ll Love This
- This hearty turkey chili recipe is thick and chunky with so much flavor!
- Healthy comfort food that is packed with protein and nutrition.
- Has just the right amount of spice that is cozy without being too hot.
- Can easily be made in your Instant Pot, slow cooker or right on the stove.
- Leftovers taste even better the next day!
What Makes this Turkey Chili Healthy?
This healthy turkey chili is made with lean ground turkey for plenty of protein without a lot of saturated fat, along with fiber-rich kidney beans and plenty of veggies. Each serving has about 35 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber for a hearty, filling meal that’s just 266 calories. It’s a lighter take on classic chili without sacrificing any of that thick, cozy texture or bold flavor.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- ground turkey – I used 2 pounds of ground turkey, but you could use ground beef for beef chili, ground chicken or even ground sausage. You could also swap out the meat for some extra beans, chickpeas or even lentils to make vegetarian chili or vegan meal.
- veggies – combination of yellow onion, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, and jalapeños for some spice, but you could also add in some chopped carrots, sweet potato or corn.
- beans – I used a can of kidney beans, but you could add black beans, pinto beans, white beans or simply leave them out altogether.
- tomatoes – I like to use a mixture of crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes, along with some tomato paste to thicken up the chili. You could also use tomato sauce.
- beef broth – I used a low sodium beef broth which adds depth of flavor and thins out the chili, but you could also use chicken broth, chicken stock or vegetable broth.
- garlic – this really punches up the flavor and is a must in this soup! Feel free to use garlic powder if that’s all you have on hand.
- hot sauce – gives this chili a kick of heat and more flavor depending on what spice level you want. A little bit goes a long way.
- sweetener – just a small amount helps balance the acidity of the tomatoes and rounds out the flavors of the chili. I like to use a little honey or maple syrup, but brown sugar, cane sugar or your favorite sweetener will work too. You can also leave it out altogether if you prefer.
- seasonings and spices – combination of chili powder, ground cumin, dried oregano, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Red pepper flakes make a great addition for a little kick of heat.
How to Make Healthy Turkey Chili
- Brown the turkey. In a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat, cook the ground turkey, crumbling with a wooden spoon, until browned. Drain off any excess liquid and transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.
- Sauté the veggies. Drizzle a little olive oil in the hot pan and add in the onion, bell peppers and jalapeños, cooking about 3 to 4 minutes on medium heat, until onion is translucent and peppers have softened. Stir in the garlic and sauté for an additional 30 seconds.
- Let the chili simmer. Add back in the cooked ground turkey, along with the remaining ingredients, and bring everything to a boil. Reduce the heat and cover, allowing the chili to simmer for about 30 minutes or up to an hour, stirring occasionally so the chili doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Add toppings. Ladle the chili into bowls, add your favorite toppings and enjoy! One of my favorite chili recipes!
Favorite Chili Toppings
There are so many fun toppings you can add to this easy turkey chili recipe, I mean the possibilities are endless! Here are just a few that we love:
- Avocado
- Cotija cheese or cheddar cheese
- A dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt
- Cilantro or parsley
- Red or green onions
- Sliced jalapeños
- Crumbled tortilla chips, Fritos or cornbread
Prepping and Storage
To Store: The best part about this turkey chili is that leftovers taste ever better the next day so this is great for meal prep! This chili will last up to a week stored in a sealed, airtight container in your refrigerator.
To Freeze: This chili freezes really well too! Let it cool completely and store in a freezer safe container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Let it thaw completely overnight in the fridge and reheat on the stove top or in your microwave.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Brown the ground turkey with the onion and garlic first, then transfer everything to your slow cooker along with the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or HIGH for 3 to 4 hours. This is a great option for busy weeknights or meal prep.
Absolutely. Using the Sauté function on your Instant Pot, cook the ground turkey, onion and garlic until the turkey is browned and cooked through. Add the remaining ingredients, stir everything together, then secure the lid and cook on High Pressure for 10 minutes. Allow the pressure to naturally release for about 10 minutes before carefully releasing the remaining pressure.
Yes! Ground chicken is an easy substitute that will keep this chili lean and high in protein. You can also use lean ground beef for a richer, more traditional chili flavor. Just be sure to drain off any excess grease before adding the remaining ingredients.
If you prefer a thicker chili, simply let it simmer uncovered a little longer so some of the liquid can cook off. You can also mash some of the beans against the side of the pot and stir them back into the chili. They’ll naturally thicken it without adding any extra ingredients.
Yes, this healthy turkey chili is perfect for meal prep because the flavors get even better as it sits. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze individual portions for up to 3 months. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave until warmed through, adding a splash of broth if needed.
More Chili and Soup Recipes
- Classic Beef Stew
- Crock Pot White Chicken Chili
- Crock Pot Butternut Squash Chili
- Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
Hope you all enjoy the BEST Turkey Chili recipe and if you love this as much as we do, please leave me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I love seeing all your delicious recreations!
The BEST Healthy Turkey Chili
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 lbs lean ground turkey
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 jalapeños, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (15 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 cup low sodium beef broth
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce, I used Texas Pete
- 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 packet Stevia
Instructions
- In a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat, cook the ground turkey, crumbling with a spoon, until browned. Drain off any excess liquid and transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.
- Drizzle a little olive oil in the hot pan and add in the onion, bell peppers and jalapeños, cooking about 3 to 4 minutes, until onion is translucent and peppers have softened. Stir in the garlic and sauté for an additional 30 seconds.
- Add back in the cooked ground turkey, along with the rest of the ingredients, and bring everything to a boil. Reduce the heat and cover, allowing the chili to simmer for about 30 minutes or up to an hour, stirring occasionally so the chili doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Ladle the chili into bowls, add your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this and it was delicious. Made exactly as the recipe except and it was delicious. Froze some for the colder months to come.
My husband loved this! Asked me to make it again as soon as the leftovers were gone!
This recipe is a 10 out of 10! It’s my family’s favorite AND I just won a chili cook-off at work with it 😊. There are minor tweaks I’ve made. I leave out the Stevia, substitute tomato sauce for the diced tomatoes (I don’t like chunky tomatoes in my chili), add a can of chili beans (in addition to the kidney beans) and I add more chili powder and cumin than called for. Thank you, Kelly, for the recipe!
Making this recipe for my Nutrition class to explain how we can make delicious foods that are healthier. Came out so yummy.
This recipe is fantastic. I added a splash of applecider vinegar and I used brown sugar, instead of Stevia, also better than boulion roasted beef base for my broth. My boys couldn’t get enough! I made it twice in one week!
This recipe was the best! I followed it to the letter which is unusual for recipes. The outcome was delicious homemade chili.
I’ve always made chili with beef instead of turkey since I enjoy the beef flavor more. However, the extra fat that comes with using beef has been an issue for me. So I set out to find a better tasting turkey chili and found it here. This recipe uses beef bouillon instead of chicken bouillon and that made all the difference for me. That simple change gave me a low fat chili that still has the beefy flavor. Better than Bouillon as my go to bouillon since I think it has more flavor than most others. For this recipe I omitted the Stevia since I don’t like sweeteners in general in my chili. I also omitted the hot sauce but added some serrano chilis to spice things up. Thank you Kelly for a great recipe!
I used this recipe (with a few tweaks) as the basis of my turkey chilli and it came out great! I’m going to list out the things that I did differently below and if you could please let me know if what I did was fine then that would be great!
1. In a pan I put olive oil, onion, garlic and jalapeño and I sautéed that for a few. I added the ground turkey after that and then cooked until it was brown.
2. Then I added seasonings such as cumin, chili powder, black pepper, one bay leaf, and Trader Joe’s Aglio Olio seasoning which is a lemony garlic herb seasoning.
3. Then I added canned tomato sauce, some water because I didn’t have broth, black beans and corn.
4. I let that cook for a little bit and then I ate it topped with sour cream, lime juice, and some shredded cheese.
The recipe was good, but I would skip the stevia as that ruined the flavor. I would also double the chili powder.
Why are there so many comments giving a high rating and yet to make the dish?
It’s so delicious and hearty. My favorite chili recipe.