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Healthy Turkey Chili with Chicken

A healthy turkey loaded with flavor and chicken! Amp up the protein but cut down the fat! Plus it’s a crockpot fave!

Turchicken Chili-011 PInterest

It’s time for Football Sunday season…and frankly, I. Don’t. Care.  I will be honest.  I don’t watch the games, EVER.  I definitely lift my head to glance at the commercials.  And I most definitely enjoy making the game day snacks.  But I am not much of the sporty gal.  But I do love the chili and this one is perfection.

Chili…as American as Apple Pie…Mac and Cheese and Chicken Noodle Soup…Craved by some loved by many, this perfect meal can be the cure for the common cold, the next day hangover, the winter blues or dozens of other common ailments. And as many cures as it boasts that’s how many different varieties and recipes there are all over the country. The history of chili is still a bit unknown but the one common fact that is known is that it was NOT born south of our borders.

The most common tales speak of hungry cowboys with not much meat or desirable meat parts to spare. Being so close to the southern border plenty of spices and chilies were available to cook down the stringy and scarce meets down to a delicious and hearty stew. The name chili came from the use of different chilies used as flavorings in the beanless stew. That’s right…beanless…a true Texan chili is without beans or tomatoes. In fact it’s essentially a spicy stew…and by the way did you know that the national state food of Texas is chili? So do not go around Texas hoping to find yourself a nice bowl of chili with beans and tomatoes…most likely you will be laughed at by a cowboy hat clad Texan and gently ushered out of the state. No one really knows – while there are a lot of controversial stories – of where and when the beans came into the picture, I will loudly proclaim (Texans please spare me) that I love a nice chili with BEANS!

That being said…I have spent years trying out a variety of chili recipes…with peppers and without…with tomato sauce and without…with searing the meat and without…you will notice that this is the first and only chili recipe I have posted – with darn good reason. I never found a recipe before that I wanted to stamp my name on. Until my most recent attempt. Being a hard core proteinarian these days I need to shove as much healthy protein into my shrinking body as possible.  So I started looking for a way to pack more protein and flavor punch into my chili… I came across thousands of chili recipes on the net and in all my cookbooks, none of which really excited me. I wanted a chili that I would crave day after day…I wanted a chili that made me cry out “ye-haw!’ while waving my cowboy hat in the air! (yes I have one…don’t judge) And by some streak of dumb luck and laziness…I did it…I created the perfect chili for me.

It was healthy, it had a killer protein punch and it was delicious. The perfect combination of flavors in this chili is thanks to the use of both chicken and turkey (get it- turchicken chili?) With tons of lean mean and beans this chili will prove to be the perfect dinner for any health nut… or rural cowboy. So get the crockpots out…put on your cowboy hats and scream “YAHAWWWWWW” this chili is here to stay!

First we brown our ground turkey.  Make sure you season it well with salt and pepper.

I actually used ground turkey thighs this time.  By the way I have this AWESOME crockpot (which just happens to be on a great sale) that is very roomy and you can go from stove, to oven, to crockpot.  Totally worth it!

Turchicken Chili-005 In the meantime get your veggies nice and chopped up.

There isn’t much. Dice up your onion.

First slice into it like this IMG_3547Then like this.

IMG_3535

Do the same with your jalapeno.  First like this.

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 Then dice them up.  Depending how hot you want the chili you can either remove the white membrane or leave it. Contrary to popular belief, the heat is in the membrane, NOT the seeds.

By the way…I love this scooper thingy.  It can be used to cut up dough OR to scoop up your veggies after you are done cutting them.

Turchicken Chili-002This looks ready.

Turchicken Chili-005

Strain the liquid out of the beans and add to meat.  Add the tomatoes, the onion, jalapeno, garlic, half of the chili seasoning packet and the garlic and onion powders.  Close with lid and cook for 4 hours on low.

Turchicken Chili-002

After 4 hours.  Add in the chicken thighs, mix to combine and cook for another 2 hours.Turchicken Chili-002

Shred the chicken with two forks inside the crock pot.  Fill up a bowl, sprinkle some cheddar and green onions and get ready to scream, “Go [so and so] Team!”  But eat fast because those non-watchers like me, will gobble this all up.  If by any chance you do have leftovers, this chili freezes beautifully.  So do yourself a favor and make a double batch to freeze for a rainy day.

Turchicken Chili-002

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Turchicken Chili-011 PInterest

Turchicken Chili


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 Pound of 97% Lean Ground Turkey
  • 1/2 Pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
  • 1 15 Oz Can Diced Tomatoes with Jalapeno (or similar, Oregano and Onion)
  • 1 15 Oz Can Diced Tomatoes with Italian Seasoning
  • 1 15 Oz Can Chili Style Beans
  • 1 15 Oz Can Kidney Beans (rinsed and drained)
  • 1 Spanish Onion (Diced)
  • 1 Jalapeno (Seeded, Minced)
  • 4 Garlic Cloves (Slicd)
  • 1 Packet of Chili or Taco Seasoning
  • Sour cream (sliced scallions and shredded cheese to be used for garnish)
  • Olive Oil

Instructions

  1. Coat a pan with olive oil and sear the ground turkey until golden brown; about 10 minutes.
  2. While turkey is cooking chop up your onions, jalapeno and garlic.
  3. 2. Add all the ingredients and HALF of the seasoning packet into a crockpot.
  4. Cook on low for 6 hours.
  5. 3. After the first 2 hours, remove the chicken thighs and shred with two forks. Add back into the crockpot and continue to cook.
  6. 4. Taste for seasoning; if you need more seasoning add in the remaining seasoning packet, tasting as you go as to not to over season.

 

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Turchicken Chili-011 PInterest

Turchicken Chili


  • Author: Mila Furman
  • Total Time: 375 minutes

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 Pound of 97% Lean Ground Turkey
  • 1/2 Pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
  • 1 15 Oz Can Diced Tomatoes with Jalapeno (or similar, Oregano and Onion)
  • 1 15 Oz Can Diced Tomatoes with Italian Seasoning
  • 1 15 Oz Can Chili Style Beans
  • 1 15 Oz Can Kidney Beans (rinsed and drained)
  • 1 Spanish Onion (Diced)
  • 1 Jalapeno (Seeded, Minced)
  • 4 Garlic Cloves (Slicd)
  • 1 Packet of Chili or Taco Seasoning
  • Sour cream (sliced scallions and shredded cheese to be used for garnish)
  • Olive Oil

Instructions

  1. Coat a pan with olive oil and sear the ground turkey until golden brown; about 10 minutes.
  2. While turkey is cooking chop up your onions, jalapeno and garlic.
  3. Add all the ingredients and HALF of the seasoning packet into a crockpot.
  4. Cook on low for 4 hours.
  5. After the first 4 hours, Add in the chicken thighs, mix to combine and cook for another 2 hours. remove the chicken thighs and shred with two forks. Add back into the crockpot and continue to cook.
  6. After 6 hours, shred the chicken with two forks.
  7. Taste for seasoning; if you need more seasoning add in the remaining seasoning packet, tasting as you go as to not to over season.
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 360 minutes

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