This healthy turkey chili recipe is easy to make and has no beans. This recipe can be easily made with leftover turkey and homemade chili spice mix, which will save you time. This is also very budget-friendly chilli, made with just a few pantry staples. Perfect for cold winter days.

Why make this recipe?

Easy to make
Mild chili (but can be made spicier)
No beans, which makes it easier to digest
Make today and freeze for later

Time saving tip

Double the quantities of this recipe, make it and then freeze, portioned up, for later. This is the best ‘instant’ homemade dinner you can possibly make.

This healthy turkey chili recipe with no beans is perfect to use with leftover turkey, which saves a lot of time, when you get to cook your chili. If your turkey is already cooked, reduce the time by half (both for browning the meat and then for simmering). You only need to cook through your onions, garlic and tomatoes or other vegetables that you might be using. Your meat is already cooked!

Ingredients & Possible Substitutions

1 pound turkey leftover turkey meat or fresh ground (minced) turkey or other turkey meat
2 tablespoons oil vegetable or sunflower
1/2 onion finelly chopped
1 1/2 cup canned tomatoes
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 cup turkey or chicken broth turkey or chicken stock or bouillon
1/2 cup water
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or use fresh garlic – 1-2 cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper ground

The method – Instructions

In a large saucepan or a frying pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
Add the chopped onion and garlic and sautee for a minute or so.
Add the turkey meat and cook until the meat changes the colour and browns a little or warm up through if using a leftover turkey. This can take about 5-10 minutes.
In another large saucepan or a pot, add the canned tomatoes, tomato paste, stock (broth) and all the spices.
Add the turkey to the tomatoes & spices pot and gradually bring to boil.
Once the pot is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot and simmer for another 30-40 minutes. The sauce can splatter a bit, so keep an eye on the pot and stir occasionally.
Taste the chili and adjust the flavours to your taste.
Serve with sour cream or cheese cream on swirled in and a side dish of cornbread, nachos or other bread of your choice.

How else you can make this turkey chili recipe?

There are so many ways you can make chili! You can easily make the chili less spicy by adding mild spices (or leaving them out). You can also go the other way and make your chili on a spicy side like my Southern Chili Recipe. You can also use different types of meats and add fresh chillies, peppers and different types of beans. Here are my favourite variations on this recipe:

Mild chili

Ease off on the chili spice or use very mild version
Use sweet paprika powder to add flavour
Add more meat, fresh red or green peppers (not spicy)

Chicken or Beef chili

Great way to use up your leftover roasted chicken is to make a chili. Just replace the amount of turkey meat in this recipe with chicken. Use chicken stock (broth) or a turkey one as they are similar in flavour.

Mixed meat chili

Use any type of ground (minced) meat you have at hand. This can be for example, sausage meat, pork, beef, turkey etc.

Beans chili

Add 1 cup of beans for every pound of meat you are using in your recipe. You can use any kind of beans, red or black beans or hominy.

Serving size & can I scale up or down this recipe?

This chili recipe is for 4 people, but you can easily double up the ingredients and make more. I often make large amount, because I want to freeze some of the chili for later. If you divide the chili into portions and freeze, you’ll have an instant dinner ready any time you want to!

How to serve this recipe

You can serve this chili recipe with light sour cream or light cheese cream swirled in and a side dish of cornbread, nachos or other bread of your choice. Fresh herbs such as parsley (cilantro) will also look and taste great.

If you want to keep the carbohydrates down with this meal, don’t add any bread to your plate or use simple crackers or nachos. For everyone else here are my favourite side bread dishes that work great with turkey chili.

Can chili be made in advance?

Yes, like many meat based dishes, this chili will actually improve with time. The flavour fully develops about 12-24 hrs after you’ve made it, so you can easily make it the day before you want to serve it, knowing it will taste delicious. Once made, cool it down and then store covered with a lid in the fridge to serve the next day.

You can also make the chili and freeze it on the same day.

How to store chili if you have any leftovers

Store the chili in a covered container in the fridge and eat within 1-2 days maximum. If you know you can’t finish the chili in that time, I’d recommend to freeze it (you can follow the same steps as for freezing gumbo leftovers.)

How to re-heat this recipe

If you are cooking for the whole family or large crowd, it’s probably easier to worm up the chili on a hob (stove) in a large saucepan or a pot.

If you are heating up just one or two smaller portions, microwave would be my preferred choice. 30 seconds at the time, with stiring in between, should do the trick.