Turkey Chilli Con Carne

Turkey Chilli Con Carne is a healthy version of a traditional beef chilli con carne. Perfect for dinner this is a family favourites recipe resulting in perfect chilli con carne!

What I love about this dish is that it is PACKED with textures and flavours. If you remember from the Moroccan Lamb Couscous, we pretty much threw everything into our french pan. This recipe is very similar to that as we are going to follow the same techniques.

Is there any thing better than a hot bowl of chilli con carne with toasted corn chips to the side?

This really is a simple turkey chili that you can make again and again!

What is Turkey Chilli Con Carne

Turkey Chilli Con Carne is a dish made with turkey mince or ground turkey and a chilli sauce.

I like to pack lots of flavour and texture into the dish and serve it with greek yoghurt, fresh lime juice and hot corn chips.

You can make it on the stove or in a wok, there are a few different options. The process I am sharing with you in this recipe is how to make turkey chilli con carne on the stove.

This is a colourful dish, making it all the more enjoyable as you can see what is in it!

The trick is to get all of the flavours in there with the taste of chilli but no 'too spicy or hot' sensation.

How do you make turkey chilli con carne

You have come to the right place to make chilli con carne! Here is how to make it in step by step details.

This turkey chilli con carne is not only easy to make. It is also a quick recipe getting dinner on the table fast. 

For this recipe I have used my french pan, you can use a regular fry pan if you like. Mine is not non stick, so I have to add olive oil from the start. If using a non stick pan, you will need less or none of this. A little spray oil always helps though.

We start with basic ingredients. Classic with a twist.

The photo below shows you our turkey chilli con carne ingredients set out:

1. turkey mince (ground turkey)
2. chilli flakes
3. beans (you can substitute black beans)
4. condensed tomato soup
5. crushed tomatoes
6. carrot
7. corn
8. fresh minced chilli
9. dried onion
10. garlic
11. salt
12. pepper
13. olive oil

The beans and corn are tinned, they need to be drained and rinsed, no chopping or dicing for them!

With all of the ingredients at hand, you are ready to give this recipe a go. Let's do it!

Step by step to make turkey chilli con carne

The photo below shows you the 1st 4 steps we take to start the dish.

Slicing the garlic and carrot is probably the 'hardest' thing we do to make our chill con carne and those 2 things are really quick!

As you can see these are basic steps and one after the other gets it done easily.

1. slice garlic (I use a sharp knife for this)
2. thinly slice carrots (I use a small mandolin for this)
3. add olive oil to pan
4. add garlic

Once your pan is on at a medium heat, the garlic will start to sizzle as it cooks (it will smell amazing at this point!) 

To follow the above steps, we brown our mince

Let's look at the next photo to see how we achieve this.

You can see that we essentially:

• add turkey mince to pan
• season with dried onion
• and salt, pepper, dried chilli flakes

The above steps are to ensure that there is a lot of flavour in the dish. These are quick steps and won't take long to complete.

How to cook turkey chilli con carne

By now, your kitchen will be filled with the delicious aroma of garlic, onion and the turkey mince, don't be suprised if your family come and ask you what you are cooking!

To cook our chilli con carne, we ensure the turkey mince is browned, then we add our chilli sauce ingredients.

These steps are shown in the photo below.

As you can see the method here is:

• brown the mince
• add the fresh minced chilli
• pour in the crushed tomatoes
• add the tomato soup

Give the dish a stir at this point and it will all come together nicely.

When making turkey chilli con carne

I like to add beans and corn to this dish.

These steps are shown in the photo below.

1. add rinsed red kidney beans (or black beans)
2. sprinkle in corn kernels
3. add carrot slices
4. stir to combine

The beans, corn and carrot don't take very long to cook. This is more about adding colour and texture to the dish, cooking till just right (less than 3 mins) then stirring our pot of chilli.

Healthy turkey chilli

If you are keen to try this recipe and make it as healthy as it can be, then load up on the vegetables!

I have added corn and carrots in this recipe, but there is also room to add more veggies should you wish.

You can try using fresh tomatoes, adding capsicum, double the corn, or you can serve with with corn cobs on the side!

For a simple turkey chili recipe that you want to make every week, try it as a turkey chili with black beans. Or double the beans for a hearty turkey chili!

The beans are a great addition to the dish as they add taste and flavour and are also so good for you!

Can I freeze turkey chilli con carne

Yes! This recipe freezes extremely well.

I recommend that you make a batch, wait for it to cool and then freeze it. 

The greek yoghurt and limes are best served on fresh on top of the dish, so I wouldn't freeze those.

To reheat, you can either leave in the fridge or on the bench to defrost or microwave from frozen.

The corn chips are best served hot and fresh at the time of eating as well.

Turkey Chill Con Carne questions answered:

About the recipe:

• this recipe uses turkey mince (ground turkey)
• we use both chilli flakes and fresh minced chilli
• even though we have 2 types of chilli, it is not overly spicy or 'too hot'
• you can use black beans instead of red kidney beans
• this is a one pot recipe
• plain hot corn chips are best (toasted for a few minutes in the oven) 

Your quick questions answered:

1. the whole dish will take about 30 mins to bring together
2. the chilli con carne freezes and reheats very well
3. add greek yoghurt and lime to serve
4. this will keep for a few days in the fridge
5. This is an EASY recipe

This simple turkey chili is a great dish for quick dinner at night, you can make it in advance and have a few nights off cooking!

How to serve turkey chilli con carne

To serve this dish, I recommend bowls and soup spoons.

Low fat greek yoghurt is my favourite, another option is the traditional dollops of sour cream.

Squeeze the juice from ½ a lime all over the chilli before eating. This adds freshness and flavour! 

How to make the best hearty turkey chili

All you need to do is think maximum vegetables and swap the corn chips for healthy baked wholemeal pita chips.

They are quick to cut into triangles, spray with a little cooking oil and add salt to for a great healthier 'chip' to scoop and dunk into your bowl of chilli!

Sometimes you will want corn chips and at other times you may want to try the toasted pita chips as an option. Do whichever floats your boat in the moment.

Whilst there is a time and a place for cheese flavoured corn chips or more exotic 'mexican flavours' or similar styles, I think the chilli works best with plain chips.

There is a delicious amount of flavour to each mouthful and this is well balanced with hot freshly toasted chips.

You will love dunking and scooping your chips in the chilli as it is the best of both worlds!!

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