With hearty, flavourful ingredients (like ground turkey, quinoa, black beans, bell peppers, corn and sweet potato), this turkey chili recipe is incredibly filling and delicious! It’s super thick and so satisfying on a cold day. Garnish a big bowl of this homemade turkey quinoa chili to your heart’s content with your favourite chili toppings or enjoy as is.

Bowl of turkey quinoa chili garnished with toppings.

I really love chili (and I hope you do too)!

Seriously, I could go for a bowl of homemade chili any day of the week, but especially now as it’s starting to get cold here in Newfoundland. I love when it’s so thick the spoon stands up, ya know? Nice and hearty!

I enjoy all varieties of chili (like white chicken chili and three bean chili), but a particular favourite is this ground turkey chili recipe. It’s packed, and I mean packed, with so many delicious ingredients.

It’s just the kinda thing I want after being outside on a cold day. Grab a big bowl of turkey chili, load it up with toppings (and lots of them!), curl up with a good book and way to go. Pure heaven, I tells ya!

Side note, are you like me and want a copious amount of toppings on your chili? I think I have just as much toppings as I do chili. Okay, not quite that much but a lot. What can I say? I love them! Plus, it’s such a fun (and tasty) way to customize each bowl!

How To Make Turkey Quinoa Chili

Full details are in the recipe card below, but here are the basics:

Heat olive oil in a large pot, then add onion and cook until softened. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant.
Add ground turkey, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally and breaking the turkey up into crumbles as it cooks.
Stir in tomato paste and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and cook for just a bit to get the flavours going and to coat the turkey mixture.
Stir in tomatoes, chicken broth, brown sugar, bell peppers, and some more salt and pepper. Cover with the lid slightly ajar and cook.
Stir in sweet potato and black beans, cover with the lid slightly ajar and cook until the sweet potato is tender.
Stir in corn and cooked quinoa and cook to heat through.

Collage of steps to make homemade turkey quinoa chili.

Can I Omit the Beans?

Yes! If you aren’t a fan of beans, it’s okay to omit them. With everything else that’s in this turkey chili recipe, it’s still super hearty.

Pot of chili with a ladle resting in it.

Tips and Variations

Enjoy things a little spicier? Add more chipotle peppers, ground cayenne pepper or some of your favourite hot sauce to taste. Alternatively, reduce the spicy ingredients if you aren’t a fan. For me, though, I didn’t find this turkey quinoa chili recipe overly spicy.
Don’t have chipotle peppers on hand? Sub with 2 teaspoons (or to taste) of smoked paprika.
I love chili thick (and this one is). If you like things a little looser (thinner), add a little more broth.
Not a fan of ground turkey? Ground chicken would work lovely instead!
Instead of canned black beans, sub with white kidney beans or pinto beans (or use a mixture of your favourites).

Two bowls of chili, each garnished with toppings, next to chips, lime and chili toppings.

Serving and Garnish Ideas

To make things more substantial, serve chili with cornbread or tortilla chips for dunking. A simple side salad would be awesome to go alongside too. And, of course, a generous squeeze of fresh lime juice is a must (for me, at least) squeezed over top of chili.

To garnish, I love any of the these:

Sliced or diced avocado
Thinly sliced green onion
Chopped fresh red onion or pickled red onion
Sliced hot peppers
Diced tomato
Dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream
Chopped cilantro
Shredded cheddar cheese
Hot sauce

Hand holding a tortilla chip, dipping it into a bowl of chili.

Ways To Enjoy

Aside from devouring the chili from a bowl as is, the possibilities are pretty much endless. If you’re a chili fan (like me), then chances are you’ll probably enjoy chili in any of these fun ways too:

Chili cheese dog
Nachos
Chili cheese fries
Stir some into scrambled eggs
Stir some into queso dip and serve with tortilla chips

More Ground Turkey Recipes

If you make this turkey quinoa chili, be sure to leave a comment below!

This ground turkey chili recipe was originally published November 7, 2018 but has been updated.

Turkey Quinoa Chili Recipe

Dawn | Girl Heart Food

With hearty, flavourful ingredients (like ground turkey, quinoa, black beans, bell peppers, corn and sweet potato), this turkey chili recipe is incredibly filling and delicious! It's super thick and so satisfying on a cold day. Garnish a big bowl of this turkey quinoa chili to your heart's content with your favourite chili toppings or enjoy as is.

5 from 7 votes

Print Recipe Save Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 20

Course Main Course

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

⅓ cup quinoa, about 1 cup of quinoa after cooking
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground turkey
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 chipotle peppers (in adobo sauce), minced (or to taste)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 bell peppers, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 (19-ounce) can no salt added black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn kernels, or rinsed and drained canned corn kernels

Instructions

Cook quinoa according to package instructions and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large enameled cast-iron Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Add ground turkey, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking the turkey up into crumbles as it cooks.
Stir in tomato paste and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in tomatoes, chicken broth, brown sugar, bell peppers, remaining ½ teaspoon of salt and remaining ½ teaspoon of black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer (you want a gentle bubbling), cover with the lid slightly ajar and cook for 10 minutes.
Add sweet potato and black beans, stirring in, cover with the lid slightly ajar and cook for 15 minutes or until sweet potato is tender.
Add corn and cooked quinoa. Stir to combine and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add additional salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
To serve, divide the chili into bowls. Garnish with your favourite chili toppings (if desired) or enjoy as is.

Notes

This recipe calls for 1 cup of cooked quinoa. Before cooking, that’s about ⅓ cup of uncooked quinoa.
I love chili thick (and this one is). If you like things a little looser (thinner), add a little more broth or water.

A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.

Keyword ground turkey recipe, turkey chili

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