turkey and white bean chili

There are recipes that I try to feed my family pretty regularly. This turkey and white bean chili is one of them. When I first started making this, I was convinced that the kids would never want to eat it. They hate Mac and Cheese (say it ain’t so!), anything with sauce (bye bye spaghetti sauce, lasagna, and anything Italian), or things that “look weird”.

I’ve had to make a few changes to this recipe to keep them eating it, but I’m giving my original recipe and you can tweak it if your kids don’t like seeing tomatoes in their food. Mine are weird. They’ll eat pizza with tomato sauce, but balk at eating spaghetti with tomato sauce. Aliens. All of them.

I also love that this has a good amount of chili powder in it. Sometimes chili recipes use a teaspoon or two and I can barely taste it. I made a really good pumpkin turkey chili one time, but the recipe called for just a couple teaspoons of chili powder and I swore I’d make it again and use a couple tablespoons instead.

I know what you’re thinking. Two tablespoons? And actually, I use almost four in this recipe! Gah. I know. And it’s not even hot. My mom stopped in one time when I had just made this and I remembered a comment she made that she didn’t think she would like the taste of so much chili powder. I didn’t tell her how much was in it – and she LOVED it. You’ll also love the unexpected combination of chili and cocoa powders!

And the perfect way to wrap up this meal is with these hazelnut espresso cookies.

I think I make this turkey chili at least two times a month. Maybe even more. And no one complains. I like to serve either homemade tortilla chips or corn muffins. There are never any leftovers! (As a bonus – I’ve included the recipe for the corn muffins I always make!)

Can I just add how adorable are these Staub mini cocottes? I splurged and bought myself some this Christmas because they were on sale. I also bought a large Staub cocotte that I cooked the turkey and white bean chili in.

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turkey and white bean chili

• Author: heidi | fig+fork

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried cumin
• 2 pounds ground turkey
• scant 4 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
• 3 15-ounce cans white beans, rinsed and drained

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Instructions

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onions and saute until tender. Add oregano and cumin and mix.
2. Add turkey and cook until no longer pink. Stir in chili powder, cocoa powder, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Stir in tomatoes with juices, chicken stock, and tomato sauce.
4. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes.
5. Add drained beans and cook another 10 minutes.

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Notes

I love to garnish with a tablespoon of sour cream, fresh lime, cilantro, and jack cheese.

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Ok – don’t freak out. I had to move the recipe for corn muffins to a separate post. Google has trouble locating recipes when there is more than one recipe on a single post. So – check it out here!