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.
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.
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.
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).
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
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
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
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.
Tried this recipe?
If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!
Valentina
This popped out at me on Instagram. Looks amazing and I love the idea of dipping chips into it. Comforting and hearty! 🙂 ~Valentina
Monica | Nourish + Fete
Girl this looks incredible! I absolutely love quinoa in chili, it adds the greatest texture, and the idea of pairing it with turkey sounds SO delicious. Making this on a cold day ASAP!
David @ Spiced
I’m a huge fan of chipotle, so this chili definitely needs to go on the list! I don’t know what it is, but chipotle flavors just go so well in soups/stews/chilis. Perfect for cold winter days! And I hear ya on wanting that spoon to stand up straight in the bowl…that’s how I like my chili, too!
Girl Heart Food
Same here! Love it! And you can’t go wrong with hearty chili on a cold day 🙂
Miriam
This recipe has so many things going for it – healthy, full of flavour and I love that you can freeze it as well. Those are my favourite recipes 🙂 A little bit of spice is great for this time of the year, warming you up from inside out. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend, Dawn ♡
Girl Heart Food
So true! Thanks Miriam! Hope you had a lovely weekend too 🙂
Marissa
Literally just made a shopping list to make this, Dawn! LOVE everything about it!! It’s exactly the kind of meal I’m craving right now!
Girl Heart Food
Yay! Hope you love it, Marissa 🙂 Thanks so much!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers
Loving this chili! Delicious with lots of goodness, too 🙂
Girl Heart Food
Thanks so much Jennifer 🙂
Karen @ Seasonal Cravings
I love putting quinoa in my chili! More protein! This looks like the perfect bowl of goodness for a fall evening.
Girl Heart Food
Totally! Thanks Karen 🙂
Kelly | Foodtasia
Dawn, you have so much yummy in this chili! I’ve made a big pot of chili two weeks in a row and have eaten it every day for lunch. It’s so healthy and so satisfying. I love how you added sweet potato and corn! The sweet must make a lovely contrast to the spicy and smoky peppers. I’ll have to give the quinoa a try. It looks like it makes the chili nice and thick.
Girl Heart Food
Thanks Kelly! The quinoa really does make the chili nice and thick – super hearty for a cold day 🙂
Mary Ann | The Beach House Kitchen
This looks so totally delicious Dawn! So perfect for the winter season ahead. And I love that it’s healthier than the regular chili. I’ll be trying this soon!
Girl Heart Food
Thanks Mary Ann! Enjoy 🙂
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen
It’s finally getting (sort of ) cold here and I’m craving comfort foods–this sounds perfect. I love the addition of quinoa! And I love all your garnish suggestions; any time a dish calls for garnishes like avocado and jalapeños you can be sure my bowl will be filled with mostly garnish and just a little of the actual food :). Have a great weekend, Dawn!
Girl Heart Food
Lol! Love garnish too! Thanks Kelsie 🙂 Hope you had a great weekend too!
Leanne | Crumb Top Baking
I love my chili thick too Dawn! And a clean eating chili recipe is just my thing! I really enjoy the thickness that quinoa adds to this recipe and the sweet potato is a nice touch. We are definitely going to need all the warm, comfort food this fall in Newfoundland!
Kevin | Kevin Is Cooking
This looks delish Dawn and thanks for the mention here my dear! Been loving the comfort food soups, stews and chili season lately. 🙂
Girl Heart Food
Thanks Kevin! It was my pleasure! Love all kinds of comfort food this time of year 🙂