Description
You will love how hearty, yet light this chili is. Turkey pumpkin chili is bursting with pumpkin, lean ground turkey, white beans, and veggies. Top it with with cheese, crushed tortilla chips, and green onions. It’s warming, and cozy – the perfect healthy meal for fall and winter.
Ingredients
Turkey Pumpkin Chili
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or light olive oil, divided
- 1 pound lean ground turkey (can sub ground chicken, or lean ground beef)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (I use Morton) – If using table salt, reduce to 1/4 teaspoon
- 1 yellow, or white onion, chopped
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1.5 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 2 15 ounce cans diced fire roasted tomatoes
- 2 to 3 teaspoons kosher salt (I use Morton) – If using table salt, reduce to 1 to 2 teaspoons
- 2 15 ounce cans cannellini beans/white kidney beans, Navy beans, or Great Northern beans (see notes)
- 3 to 4 ribs of celery, chopped
- 2 to 3 cups kale, stems removed and finely chopped
Optional Toppings
- Monterey jack cheese
- crushed tortilla chips
- green onion, chopped
- sour cream
Instructions
- Prep – Prepare the onion and garlic, as instructed above. Also measure out the chili powder, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg and place them into a small bowl.
- Cook the turkey and onion – Heat a large dutch oven, or stock pot over medium heat, once heated add the avocado oil. Once the oil shimmers, add the ground turkey. Use a meat chopper, or wooden spoon to break up the ground turkey into crumbles. Add the onion and garlic, along with the 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt – sauté until the onions are tender, and the turkey is fully cooked – about 5 minutes. If there happens to be a lot of grease from the turkey, remove most of it.
- Cook the spices – To the turkey mixture, add the chili powder, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg and cook 1 more minute, stirring constantly.
- Simmer – Add the chicken broth and use your wooden spoon to scrape along the bottom of the pan to deglaze it. Add the cans of fire roasted tomatoes, and pumpkin puree – along with the 2 teaspoons kosher salt. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. While the chili is simmering, prepare your kale, and drain and rinse your cans of beans.
- Add the remaining ingredients – Stir in the drained, white beans, celery, and kale. Allow the chili to simmer for 5 to 8 minutes, covered. Or until the celery is tender, but still a little crunchy, and the kale has wilted and is tender. Taste and adjust seasonings at this time, adding the remaining teaspoon of kosher salt, if needed.
- Serve – Serve the chili with bowls filled with shredded Monterrey jack cheese, sour cream, crushed tortilla chips, and green onions for people to top their chili with as they desire. NOTE: I like to serve this with a simple side salad sometimes to round out the meal.
- Store leftovers – This recipe makes a lot of leftovers, which is a good thing because it is delicious re-heated. Allow the chili to mostly cool before transferring to air tight containers. It will last in your fridge for up to 1 week.
Notes
Bean options – Originally when I published this recipe in 2018 it called for black beans. Since making it in the years since I originally published the recipe we found that we prefer using one of the variety of white beans – they are more mellow in taste and allow the pumpkin flavor to shine through. However, if you love black beans, feel free to still use 2 cans of black beans in this recipe instead of the white beans- they are often paired with pumpkin and other squash flavors, so they are still a good choice.
Dairy free – To keep this recipe dairy free simply use a dairy free sour cream and dairy free cheese for the toppings, or omit the sour cream and cheese completely.
Side salad for serving – I sometimes will serve this chili with a simple side salad to stretch out the meal, and to easily add even more veggies to the meal.
