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Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

Slow cooker turkey chili is an easy, comforting recipe that can be served year-round. Skip the red meat & make this turkey chili in your slow cooker or Instant Pot.

cooked turkey chili in a white bowl topped with cheese, green onion and sour cream with a silver spoon

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

Growing up whenever my Mother made chili, it was turkey chili. My father doesn’t eat red meat so rather than make a separate chili for him, we all got turkey chili. I’ve literally been eating turkey chili my entire life. I love it now as much as I did as a kid.

collage of ingredients for turkey chili

Ingredients For Turkey Chili

  • Ground turkey
  • Tomatoes
  • Kidney Beans
  • Seasonings
  • Onion
  • Bell Pepper
  • Garlic

uncooked turkey chili in a black slow cooker

How To Make Turkey Chili 

Making turkey chili is super easy, especially when you use the slow cooker or Instant Pot. 

Slow Cooker

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and cook until the meat is no longer pink. Crumbling the ground meat as it cooks. Drain excess grease and ground turkey to the slow cooker.
  2. Add all the other ingredients. Stir to mix well.
  3. Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.

Instant Pot

  1. Turn on the Instant Pot and select sauté. Once hot add oil, ground turkey, onion, and bell pepper to the pot. Cook 5-7 minutes, crumbling the turkey as it cooks. You might need to do this in batches. Drain fat excess grease.
  2. Stir in all remaining ingredients.
  3. Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure for 20 minutes. When cooking time is complete, let the pressure naturally release for 5 minutes then quick release any remaining pressure.

uncooked turkey chili in a black slow cooker

What Is Ground Turkey

This chili recipe is intended to be made with ground turkey. Ground turkey is literally ground up turkey meat. It’s a good low-fat alternative to ground red meat like ground beef. Ground turkey is commonly a combination of ground up dark turkey meat. Ground turkey made with turkey breast is also available; if you see extra-lean ground turkey at your local grocery, that’s usually made with white meat. It’s also usually more expensive. 

over head shot of turkey chili in a white bowl topped with cheese, green onion and sour cream with a silver spoon

Homemade Chili Seasoning 

You know I’m all about homemade seasonings. This recipe uses my go-to homemade chili seasoning blend. I pretty much use it or a version of it in all of my chili recipes. It includes common chili spices like chili powder, cumin, salt, paprika. 

The Beans

Do you put beans in your chili? I know that’s up for debate. This turkey chili calls for two cans of red kidney beans that are drained and rinsed. Black beans, pinto, garbanzo beans…you can substitute whichever beans you like in this case. Or can simply omit the beans all together. If you do omit the beans, this recipe is low-carb, paleo and whole30 compliant.

cooked turkey chili in a white bowl topped with cheese, green onion and sour cream with a silver spoon

What Type Of Tomatoes

For the tomatoes, I like to use a combination of crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes with green chiles. A good substitution for crushed tomatoes is canned diced tomatoes.

Chili Recipes

Chorizo & Beef Chili

Indian Spiced Chili

Pumpkin Chili

Old Fashioned Chili

Chunky Beef Chili

Bean-Free Chili

cooked turkey chili in a white bowl topped with cheese, green onion and sour cream with a silver spoon

Serving & Storing Chili

Topping suggestions for this chili include green onions, cheese, sour cream, and chopped herbs. To store the chili, let it cool before packing it away. Store the leftover chili in the frig for up to 3 days or the freezer for 4-6 months.

I used a 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot for this recipe.

 

Print
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cooked turkey chili in a white bowl topped with cheese, green onion and sour cream with a silver spoon

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 1 review

  • Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 pounds ground turkey, seasoned with salt & pepper
  • 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
  • 10 ounces diced tomatoes with green chiles
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 15ounce cans red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
  • 2 tablespoon chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon oil

Instructions

Slow Cooker

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and cook until the meat is no longer pink. Crumbling the ground meat as it cooks. Drain excess grease and ground turkey to the slow cooker.
  2. Add all the other ingredients. Stir to mix well.
  3. Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.

Instant Pot

  1. Turn on the Instant Pot and select sauté. Once hot add oil, ground turkey, onion, and bell pepper to the pot. Cook 5-7 minutes, crumbling the turkey as it cooks. You might need to do this in batches. Drain fat excess grease.
  2. Stir in all remaining ingredients.
  3. Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure for 20 minutes. When cooking time is complete, let the pressure naturally release for 5 minutes then quick release any remaining pressure.
  • Author: Shannon Epstein
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 4 hours

 

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Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

Jamie Harris

Wednesday 15th of January 2020

This looks hearty & delicious! I don't eat beef so I will try this one.