Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili is hearty and filling, made with ground turkey, bell peppers, onions, beans, and a blend of spices. The perfect simple recipe for meal prep or an easy dinner on busy days!

Try serving this next to a Baked Potato Bar for a party! You can also check out my other Slow Cooker Recipes like Crockpot Cabbage Rolls and Slow Cooker Chicken and Potatoes. 

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili is one of my favorite slow cooker recipes, made with simple ingredients and minimal prep time! If you’re not a turkey fan, you can swap out the turkey for ground beef or pork and just follow the same recipe.

This slow cooker chili recipe is not too spicy, but you can add more heat with cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes. If you’re looking for a dinner party idea, try setting out a chili bar with bowls of toppings, chips, rice, or baked potatoes! This is one of my favorite recipes because it’s so versatile and easy to feed a large crowd on the weekend or even game day!

Ingredients You’ll Need

Olive oil. A small amount of extra virgin olive oil helps add some flavor to the dish, and helps keep the turkey and onion from sticking to the pan. 

Onion. White onion, yellow onion, or Vidalia onion would all work well in this chili. A large to medium onion would work. 

Ground Turkey. I like to use 80% lean ground turkey. It’s more lean than beef, but still has some fat to add flavor to the chili. It’s important to sauté the ground turkey before adding to the slow cooker, because the meat will develop a better flavor during the browning process than if it was added to the crockpot directly. And chili is all about those layers of flavor!

Bell Peppers. I’m using frozen bell peppers, because they’re a complete time-saver. You can also use fresh bell peppers, any color, and cut them up yourself. If you’d like some more spicey notes, use a mixture of bell peppers and poblano peppers. Poblano peppers are a mild heat, more than bell peppers but less than jalapeno peppers. Add a few extra jalapeños along with the bell peppers for more heat.

Tomatoes. For this recipe you want to use both canned crushed tomatoes to create the chili base, and tomato paste to help thicken the chili. Mix everything together well before cooking.

Beans. I like to use canned red kidney beans, but you can also use canned black beans or white beans for this recipe. 

Vinegar. Just a tablespoon or two of white vinegar will help bring out the flavor of the other ingredients in this crockpot turkey chili. This recipe uses white vinegar, but you can also use apple cider vinegar.

Hot Sauce. This is entirely optional, but a small amount of your favorite hot sauce will add a nice flavor and some heat to the chili. 

Spices. Chili seasonings can vary depending on your personal taste, but I always use my own blend of dried oregano, chili powder, ground cumin, garlic powder, kosher salt, and black pepper for this recipe. We’re adding four tablespoons chili powder. Don’t be afraid to add seasonings here!

How to Make Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

1. Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and chopped onion. When onion softens, about 3-5 minutes, add turkey, stirring to break meat up into pieces.
2. When turkey is almost cooked through, about 5-10 minutes, remove from heat and add to the slow cooker. Add peppers, crushed tomatoes, beans, tomato paste, vinegar, hot sauce, and spices.
3. Stir until all of the ingredients are well-mixed together.
4. Set slow cooker on HIGH for 4 hours, or on LOW for 8 hours. Once done, stir everything together one more time. Serve with tortilla chips, chopped fresh cilantro, sour cream, and shredded cheese on the side. 

Frequently Asked Questions

More Chili Recipes

• Slow Cooker Black Bean Chili
• Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
• Dutch Oven Chili
• Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili

Storage

Refrigerate crockpot turkey chili in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

Freeze leftover turkey chili in an airtight container for 3-4 months. I like to wrap the container in an extra layer of aluminum foil to help prevent freezer burn. 

Recipe Variations

• Add other vegetables like zucchini, spinach, carrots, or corn.
• If you want a vegetarian chili, just add more veggies and leave out the meat entirely. Make sure the veggies are drained first, or quickly cook them in a saute pan to prevent the chili from being too thin or watery. You can also add additional diced tomatoes. 
• For more heat, add 2-3 diced jalapeños, and replace some of the bell peppers with poblano peppers. You can also add additional hot sauce or a small amount of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes.
• For a higher protein topping, swap the sour cream with plain greek yogurt instead. 
• This recipe uses red kidney beans, but you can also use black beans, pinto beans, or white beans. 
• You can also use this same recipe with ground chicken or ground beef for beef chili. 
• Add leftover chili to Gluten Free Mac & Cheese for an easy chili mac recipe!
• Add a small amount of cocoa powder to the spice blend to help bring out the flavors of the spices!
• If you don’t have crushed tomatoes, you can use regular tomato sauce. Just make sure it’s plain tomato sauce without Italian seasoning. 
• This recipe was made for the crock pot, but you can also make it in a dutch oven or regular pot. Caramelize the onions and brown the ground turkey, then add all other ingredients and stir together. Once everything is added, let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes before serving. If you cook it on low, increase the cooking time. 

Cooking Tips

• Serve this with your favorite chili toppings, gluten free corn chips, or over rice. You can also set toppings out for your guests to choose from, like sour cream, green onions or chives, lime wedges, pickled jalapeños, shredded cheddar cheese or pepper jack cheese, and fresh cilantro. 
• Browning the meat and caramelizing the onions adds another layer of flavor to the chili, so try not to skip this step. 
• If your chili is too spicy, add a small amount of sugar to help balance out the flavors. Do this a little at a time, to avoid adding too much!
• If your chili is too thick, you can add a small amount of water or chicken broth to help thin it out. Let it cook after adding the broth. 

If you loved this recipe, be sure to leave a 5 Star review below, and tag me with a photo of your finished recipe on Instagram @Jacqui_DishingDelish!

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