Some nights call for a damned good bowl of chili, the thick, brick-red kind crowded with kidney beans and sweet corn, ready to ladle out of the slow cooker whenever everybody finally wanders into the kitchen, then buried under sharp cheddar with a sleeve of crackers on the side. This one uses a single pound of lean ground turkey and still feeds eight.
Ten minutes at the stove adds depth that a slow cooker can’t build alone (and it’s the one step most people skip). Browning the turkey with the onion in a skillet before it ever touches the crock gives lean meat the savory, browned edge it can’t build sitting in liquid for eight hours, and the garlic goes in after the browning so it never scorches. Then the spices get stirred straight through the meat and vegetables before any broth is added, so two full tablespoons each of cumin and chili powder coat everything instead of floating on top.
🔪 Ingredients for slow cooker turkey chili
Full amounts live in the recipe card below. 👇 Here is what to grab and why it matters.
- Lean ground turkey, one pound. Lean means there is almost no fat to render out, so nothing needs draining before it goes into the crock.
- A little neutral oil. Lean turkey has nothing to brown in on its own, and a tablespoon in the skillet keeps it from sticking and steaming.
- White or yellow onion, browned right alongside the turkey so it softens and sweetens before the long cook.
- Half a red and half a green bell pepper. The red brings sweetness, the green brings that grassy bite, and together they hold their shape through the cook.
- Minced garlic, stirred in after the turkey browns so it never has a chance to burn in the skillet.
- Canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed, and canned corn, drained. Rinsing the beans clears off the starchy canning liquid so the chili tastes like chili, not like the can.
- Canned diced tomatoes with their juice. Do not drain these. That juice is part of the cooking liquid.
- Chicken broth and tomato paste. The broth keeps everything loose over eight hours, and the paste gives the pot its body and that deep red color.
- The spice blend: ground cumin, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, salt and black pepper. Two tablespoons each of cumin and chili powder is a bold hand on purpose, because a pound of turkey and three cans of vegetables need it.
- Shredded cheddar for the top, and crackers if you want them. Both go on at the bowl, never in the pot.
Equipment
- Large skillet, for browning the turkey and onion before anything goes into the crock.
- Slow cooker, where the chili spends six to eight hours on low.
- Ladle, for serving straight from the crock.
📝 How to make slow cooker turkey chili
- Brown the turkey and onion. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the ground turkey and diced onion and cook, breaking the meat up as it goes, until no pink remains and the onion has softened, about 7 minutes.
- Add the garlic. Stir the minced garlic into the hot turkey and cook just until you can smell it, about 30 seconds.
- Move the turkey mixture into the slow cooker.
- Layer the red and green bell peppers, kidney beans, corn, and diced tomatoes with their juice on top of the turkey.
- Season before the liquid goes in. Add the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt, black pepper, and cayenne, then stir until every bit of meat and vegetable is coated red.
- Pour in the chicken broth, add the tomato paste and stir until the paste dissolves into the liquid with no streaks left.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours, until the peppers are soft and the chili has thickened.
- Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheddar, with crackers on the side.
🔄 Substitutions
- Ground chicken for the turkey. Lean, mild, and it cooks the same way with no changes to the method.
- Ground beef or ground pork for the turkey. Both bring more flavor and more fat. Spoon off the rendered fat in the skillet before the meat goes into the slow cooker, or it pools on top of the chili.
🥩 Meat Nerd Tips
- Brown it, do not dump it. Raw ground turkey dropped straight into a slow cooker turns gray and clumpy. Seven minutes in a hot skillet builds the browned flavor lean meat can’t develop in liquid.
- Cook the turkey all the way through first. Brown it until no pink remains. Ground poultry is safe at 165°F per USDA, and hours in the crock carry it well past that.
- Spices before broth. Stirring the dry spices through the meat and vegetables first means they cling to everything. Add them after the broth and they float on top.
- Keep the cheese out of the pot. Cheddar left in a slow cooker for hours turns greasy and grainy. It goes on the bowl at serving time.
🍽️ What to serve with slow cooker turkey chili
- Cornbread, for dragging through the bottom of the bowl.
- Buttermilk biscuits, split and buttered, for soaking up every last bit.
- A crisp side salad or a pile of steamed vegetables to keep the table balanced.
- Crackers, crumbled right over the cheddar.
- Spooned over a split campfire baked potato or piled onto cast iron french fries with chili when there are leftovers to stretch.
🧊 Leftovers and storage
- Cool the chili, then store it in airtight containers in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, per USDA leftover guidance.
- Freeze it in portioned containers or flat freezer bags for 3 to 4 months for best quality. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
- Reheat in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until it bubbles and reaches 165°F. Add a splash of chicken broth if it has thickened too much in the fridge.
Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
Recommended Equipment
- large skillet
- Ladle
Ingredients
For the Chili
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil avocado or your favorite cooking oil
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1/2 cup white or yellow onion diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper diced
- 1/2 green bell pepper diced
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- 15 oz can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can diced tomatoes undrained
- 15 oz can corn drained
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
Spices
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
For Serving
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- Crackers optional
Instructions
Brown the Turkey:
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turkey and onion and cook, breaking up the meat, until no pink remains, about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 30 seconds.
Load the Slow Cooker:
- Transfer the turkey mixture to the slow cooker. Layer the bell peppers, beans, corn and tomatoes with their juice on top.
Season:
- Add the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt, pepper and cayenne. Stir until everything is coated.
Add the Liquid:
- Stir in the chicken broth and tomato paste until no streaks of paste remain.
Slow Cook:
- Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours or high 3 to 4 hours, until the peppers are soft and the chili has thickened.
Serve:
- Ladle into bowls and top with cheddar. Serve with crackers.
Notes
- Swap in ground chicken, beef or pork. With beef or pork, spoon off the rendered fat before it goes into the slow cooker.
- Serve with cornbread, buttermilk biscuits, a side salad or steamed vegetables.
- Refrigerate in airtight containers up to 4 days or freeze up to 4 months. Reheat in a saucepan to 165°F.
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Nutrition
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Quick Summary
This slow cooker turkey chili turns one pound of lean ground turkey, kidney beans, corn, peppers and tomatoes into eight servings with ten minutes of work at the stove. Brown the turkey and onion in oil first, add the garlic after, and stir the spices through everything before the broth goes in. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours and finish each bowl with cheddar.
❓ FAQs
You can, but it cooks into gray clumps and never picks up any browned flavor. Ten minutes in a skillet with the onion first makes a far better pot of chili.
Plan on 6 to 8 hours on low or 3 to 4 hours on high. It is ready when the bell peppers are soft and the chili has thickened.
No. Drain and rinse the kidney beans and drain the corn, but add the diced tomatoes with all their juice. That juice is part of the cooking liquid along with the chicken broth.
Yes. Freeze it in portioned containers for 3 to 4 months for best quality, thaw it overnight in the fridge, then reheat it in a saucepan until it reaches 165°F.
📚 Keep reading
- Turkey apple chili with chipotle and cinnamon, a smoky, sweet-hot turn on ground turkey chili
- Turkey chili with quinoa, for a heartier bowl that stretches even further
- Crock pot beef chili, the big-batch beef version for feeding a crowd
- Slow cooker turkey tacos, the same hands-off approach headed for tortillas
- Every slow cooker recipe on Girl Carnivore
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This is in my slow cooker right now. One thing I noticed is that the recipe calls for chicken broth and diced tomatoes, but those ingredients aren’t included in the instructions.
This looks interesting … I need to get ideas for the upcoming chili cook-off at work. I can with all modesty brag that I have won it every year since I’ve been there: that would be one year.
I have only ever made one kind of chili, my dad’s (with the exception of white chili but that’s a whole different animal). I really want to brand out this fall! I like that you added bread to this and dark beans. And of course anything slow cooker rocks.