Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

By Maria Lichty

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Quick Summary

This healthy Slow Cooker Turkey Chili is loaded with beans, veggies, and lean turkey. It’s the perfect meal for game day, a cold day, or any day! And the best part? The crockpot does most of the work. It’s such an easy and delicious recipe!

Turkey chili in a bowl with toppings and cornbread on a plate.

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili is the perfect meal for a cold day, game day, busy day, or any day. It is hearty, satisfying, and healthy.

This is the best turkey chili recipe because it’s full of flavor AND made in the crockpot. Throw all of the ingredients into the slow cooker in the morning, let it simmer all day, and you will have a delicious dinner waiting for you.

Serve with your favorite chili toppings and make sure you have a big piece of easy cornbread on the side. Chili and cornbread are a match made in heaven.

Healthy & Delicious

This chili recipe uses lean ground turkey, which is a healthier alternative to the typical beef or sausage chili. It also has black beans and red kidney beans. This chili is a protein powerhouse! 

And I promise the chili isn’t lacking any flavor because it also has onion, tomatoes, peppers, corn, and lots of spices. You get a well-rounded meal in one bowl. 

turkey chili ingredients in crockpot.

Chili Ingredients

  • Olive oil
  • Ground turkey– you can use ground chicken or ground beef if you wish.
  • Onion
  • Bell peppers– I use red and yellow, they are nice and sweet. Orange peppers are also a good option.
  • Tomato sauce
  • Diced tomatoes
  • Beans– black beans and red kidney beans
  • Deli-sliced tamed jalapeño peppers– the peppers aren’t spicy, they have a little heat, but add GREAT flavor. Look for them in the pickle aisle. Pickled jalapeños also work.
  • Corn– I use frozen corn because I always have it in the freezer.
  • Spices– chili powder and cumin
turkey chili in crockpot.

How to Make Turkey Chili

This is a REALLY simple recipe–you just have to brown the turkey, chop the onion and peppers, and toss everything into the slow cooker. We use a 6-quart slow cooker and it works perfectly!

  • Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place turkey in the skillet, and cook until brown. Pour turkey into slow cooker.
  • Add the onion, peppers, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, beans, jalapeños, corn, chili powder, and cumin. Stir and season with salt and pepper.
  • Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or Low for 6 hours.
turkey chili in bowl with toppings.

Chili Toppings

What’s chili without toppings?! It’s the best part! Set out a variety of toppings and everyone can customize their bowls.

  • Shredded cheese
  • Chopped green onions
  • Avocado or Guacamole
  • Cilantro
  • Plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
  • Jalapeño slices
  • Radishes
  • Tortilla chips or crackers

More Chili Recipes

turkey chili in bowl with toppings and a spoon.
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Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

This slow cooker turkey chili recipe is easy to make and healthy too! It is great for an easy weeknight dinner or for entertaining on game day!
4.67 from 142 votes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 lb 99% lean ground turkey
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 red pepper, seeded, stemmed, and chopped
  • 1 yellow pepper, chopped
  • 30 ounces tomato sauce
  • 30 ounces petite diced tomatoes
  • 30 ounces canned black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 30 ounces canned red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 16 ounce jar deli-sliced tamed jalapeno peppers, drained
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • Salt and black pepper, to taste
  • Optional toppings: green onions, shredded cheese, avocado, sour cream/Greek yogurt

Instructions
 

  • Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place turkey in the skillet, and cook until brown. Pour turkey into slow cooker.
  • Add the onion, peppers, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, beans, jalapeños, corn, chili powder, and cumin. Stir and season with salt and pepper.
  • Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. Serve with toppings, if desired.

Notes

We use a 6 quart slow cooker.
You can use ground chicken or ground beef for this recipe. 

Nutrition

Calories: 321kcal, Carbohydrates: 47g, Protein: 22g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 34mg, Sodium: 923mg, Potassium: 1355mg, Fiber: 16g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 2238IU, Vitamin C: 60mg, Calcium: 131mg, Iron: 7mg
Keywords turkey chili

Have you tried this recipe?

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Photos updated by Growing Up Cali

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Maria

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!
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4.67 from 142 votes (82 ratings without comment)

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  1. This is my go to chili recipe. I make a few adjustments. I use poblano pepper instead of jalapeno and add in cayenne for some more heat. I also add in 2-3 cloves garlic and canned corn instead of frozen.

    1. 5 stars
      Iโ€™ve been making this for a few years, but we use 2# of turkey. It makes right at 5 quarts which is 160 Oz. This recipe says 10 servings, so that makes a serving 2 cups. I added up all the macros from the ingredients and got the following: 351 Cal, 29P/38C/9F. (Again, these are the macros for using 2# of turkey)

      Hope that helps.

  2. 5 stars
    I happened upon this turkey chili recipe on Pinterest around 9 years ago. I wanted a hearty, warm but easy for dinner on a busy Halloween with a 1 year old. I showed this to my husband and he agreed to it. We leave the jalapeรฑos out and on the side for those who like spicy. Other than that I have never changed one other thing about this recipe and it is the only chili recipe I have used ever since that day. Everyone I have ever shared it with falls in love with it too. Thank you for sharing and I just came back again to double check the ingredients to make this tomorrow. I have the website memorized, itโ€™s such a witty name! Made me realize I should explore and try more of your recipes as well so Iโ€™ll be doing that this year. Much love and thank you for sharing your passion with us!

  3. I see the calorie break down but how big of a serving is that reflecting? Iโ€™m guessing one cup but does anyone know?

  4. 4 stars
    I like this recipe but I like more turkey in my chilli. I felt like there was no turkey in the chilli, I almost used 2 lbs of turkey but decided not to, will definitely do that next time. Also, I will as a little bit less of tomato sauce maybe just once can. Other than that I like this recipe.

  5. 5 stars
    Try this- switch out one 15oz can of pumpkin (yes you read that right), for one of the 15oz cans of tomato sauce. its not a big difference, but just a slight twist. and i prefer to use not-tamed jalapenos, and one sliced fresh jalapeno. i like it spicier than this.

  6. 5 stars
    I made this for Super Bowl Sunday today. Delicious recipe! My grocery store was sold out of the tamed jalapeรฑo peppers so I used a combination of hot and banana peppers. Just enough heat for my family. Thanks for a great chili recipe!

  7. delicious results! I made some modifications: sauteed onions, garlic and bell peppers before adding. I added canned green chilis and a blitzed can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce to add some dimension. I added some chicken broth to loosen it up, and chopped up some kale really finely to add some vitamins.

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