Recipe: Turkey Chili

Good Morning and Happy Thursday! I'm sorry for the silence yesterday - I didn't have time to finish taking pictures of this amazing recipe I have to share with you and I didn't want to leave you hanging without a shot of the finished product. My first two days of officially teaching have gone so unbelievably well - the kids are smart and respectful and so full of energy - even if they are 15 year olds who may not consider my pre-lunch US history class their favorite place to be. But as well as it's going, and it is going so so well, I am exhausted. I think it's the physical toll my general anxiety/nervousness/stress is taking on me, but whatever it is, I'm not sure I've ever been so tired - like going to bed at 9 pm tired. Can I tell you something though? It is 100% worth it - I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Anyway, what does this have to do with turkey chili, you're wondering? Everything. This weekend, knowing how crazy this week would be, I developed this recipe and cooked a huge batch of this amazing chili on Sunday afternoon and I've been taking it for lunch (and eating it for dinner) and it has been the perfect meal.

This turkey chili has a whole lot of ingredients...



1 tbsp olive oil 4 bell peppers (1 red, 1 orange, 1 yellow and 1 green), finely chopped 1/2 large red onion, chopped 3 stalks of celery, chopped 2 lbs of ground turkey 4 serrano chile peppers, diced 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped 1 4.5 oz can diced green chiles 2 10 oz. cans of diced tomatoes (regular or spiced) 2 6 oz. cans tomato paste 2 12 oz. cans of kidney beans (I used one dark and one light red, but you can use 2 of the same) 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 tbsp chili powder 3 tsp cumin 1 tsp worcestshire sauce 1 tsp oregano
Phew. Like I said, it's a long list - and couldn't even fit in one picture. But it's pretty easy to put together - and I promise the flavors won't disappoint. So, here we go, step by step...
First, get all of your ingredients together and make sure they're all ready to go - this means chopping, dicing, etc. It will go much more smoothly if you do this all before you start.


Then, heat your olive oil over medium heat in a large stockpot. Add your garlic to the pot and saute until beginning to lightly brown.

Add in your red onion, and then your peppers and celery. Mix together and cook until tender.




Meanwhile, in a separate pan, cook your turkey until evenly browned over medium heat. Once done, drain the grease and set aside.
Next, add your remaining ingredients to the pot one at a time, mixing each ingredient in thoroughly as you go. 

Chopped Serranos and Finely Chopped Jalapeno

Diced Green Chiles

Kidney Beans

Diced Tomatoes from Whole Foods with Jalapenos and Cilantro

Tomato Paste

Chili Powder, Cumin, Oregano & Worcestshire Sauce

Then, after you've thoroughly mixed in all of these ingredients, add your cooked turkey to the pot.

Mix this all together, and cover. Simmer for three hours over low heat, stirring once an hour to make sure all of the flavors combine.


After 3 hours, remove from the heat and you can enjoy! You can also cook for less than 3 hours, but I think the flavors hit an awesome place at 3 hours so that's what I tend to work with. To serve, layer with a bit of cheddar cheese, add a dollop of sour cream and enjoy! 


Mmm... delicious! I love chili and I am so glad I took the time to put this recipe together - it's my new favorite hearty cold weather dish! Do you like chili? Do you have a favorite go to recipe? I'd love to hear about it!