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This chipotle ground turkey chili is full of healthy deliciousness with just a touch of chipotle pepper heat. It’s super simple to make and ready in just over an hour!
If you ask me what one of my favorite parts of winter is, I’ll say the same thing every single time – soup season.
There is nothing more comforting than soup. And I’m not picky. I will take any soup you offer me. Making a big pot of Instant Pot Pumpkin Beef Stew? I’ll take a bowl. Maybe you’re whipping up a batch of Creamy Red Lentil Carrot Soup. Yeah, I want a bowl. You get it. I’m a soup girlie.
Here is the thing about soup and why I love it so much. Flavor. You can pack so much flavor into one bowl of hearty deliciousness, and it only keeps tasting better the longer it sits.
That is why I love chili so much. Especially when it is packed with lean ground turkey, tons of spices, and spicy, smokey chipotle chiles. Can it get any better?
This chipotle ground turkey chili is so delicious and straightforward that it whips up in just over an hour. It is excellent when topped with a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt, cilantro, green onions, and a little shredded cheese – sheer chili perfection.
And, if you’re like me, you’ll use eating chili as an excuse to eat an ungodly amount of corn chips. Corn chips are chilis, BFF. Trust me.
Ingredients for ground turkey chili
- Olive oil
- Yellow onion
- Green bell pepper
- Ground turkey
- Garlic
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- Spices
- Chicken stock
- Fire roasted tomatoes
- Black beans
- Red kidney beans
- Diced green chiles
- Corn
How to make
Sometimes, I like to cook my chili low and slow; other times, I want to whip it up quickly whenever the mood strikes. This chili is not a low and slow batch she is already in just over an hour batch! With most of that time spent letting it simmer so it’s still easy and relatively handsoff.
- Add olive oil to a pan, let it get hot, add the onions and green bell peppers, and saute until tender and translucent.
- Add in the ground turkey, garlic, chipotle peppers, and spices. Break up and cook until the meat is browned.
- Pour in chicken stock, tomatoes with their juices, beans, diced green chiles, and frozen corn.
- Simmer gently for about 35 minutes or until the chili reaches your desired thickness.
- Serve hot with toppings of your choice.
My Pro Tips
Recipe Tips
- You can freeze this chili for up to 3 months. Store it in a freezer-safe container. I like to use leftover Chinese soup containers.
- This ground turkey chili is best topped with sour cream, plain Greek yogurt, shredded cheese, green onions, minced cilantro, and corn chips.
- Serve it alongside Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread, Sweet Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins, or homemade crackers.
Substitutions and adaptations
- Use ground chicken in place of ground turkey.
- You can substitute two teaspoons of dried chipotle chili powder if you can’t find chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.
- Canned corn or fresh cut-off cob corn is an acceptable replacement for frozen corn kernels.
- Any combination of beans will work for this soup. I’m using red kidney beans and black beans, but pinto beans, light red kidney beans, red beans, or even navy beans will work well here.
More chili recipes
Chipotle Ground Turkey Chili
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cups diced green bell pepper
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2 whole chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, seeded and minced
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 32 ounces chicken stock
- 2 (14 ounce) cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
- 2 cups frozen sweet corn kernels
- For topping – shredded cheese, Greek yogurt, minced cilantro or tortilla chips
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a 5-quart soup pot and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the diced onion and bell pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the onion starts to turn translucent.
- Add in the ground turkey, garlic cloves, minced chipotle peppers, chili powder, ground cumin, smoked paprika and dried oregano. Break down the turkey with a spatula into small pieces and stir to combine to make sure the spices are equally coating the meat and vegetables. Cook for about 10 minutes to help brown the meat.
- Add in the chicken stock, diced tomatoes with their juice, black beans, red kidney beans, diced green chiles and corn kernels. Stir to combine.
- Let simmer over medium heat for about 35 minutes or until thick and flavorful.
- If desired, top with shredded cheese, sour cream, Greek yogurt, minced cilantro and tortilla chips.
Notes
- Topping ideas: shredded cheese, sour cream, Greek yogurt, green onions, diced yellow onion, or tortilla chips.
- Use ground chicken in place of ground turkey.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love that this chili is turkey based! Hello next game day chili!
This looks like exactly what I need on this cold day! Yum!!
So excited something this full of flavor takes only an hour! Also love that heat!
I could go for a big bowl of this chili right now!
What a great hearty meal to start the new year off right!
This is such a great idea to use turkey for chili!
Chili! The perfect dish for this cold weather!
thank you for this recipe. love chili and love to see new versions, at least to me, haven’t made a chipotle version before, love all of the other ingredients too, and all of these other bowl recipes too (love sweet potatoes!)
I made this recently and the flavor was good, but I would definitely call it a soup and not a chili. Traditional chili in Texas (my home) is quite thick. I removed about 2 cups of liquid to get the consistency I wanted. Next time I will just reduce the broth. Great recipe though and it made enough to eat for lunches for the week!
This was easy to make and very delicious. 5 stars