My thick, hearty, and easy Turkey Chili is perfect for using up leftover Thanksgiving turkey! This recipe has an incredible flavor (thanks to a sneaky key ingredient), cooks in one pot, and can be on your table in under an hour.
Leftover Turkey Chili
After spending Thanksgiving day chopping, roasting, baking, and simmering, you may find yourself avoiding the kitchen in the days after. Sure, leftovers are usually plentiful, but even those get old after a few days. If you’re looking to change things up from the typical Thanksgiving-leftover flavor profile, I think this turkey chili might be just the thing to spice up your dinner rotation.
Not only is this recipe extremely easy, but it also repurposes a lot of leftover turkey! I love recipes like this (you’ll also find me enjoying turkey pot pie and turkey chowder), because let’s be real, cold turkey sandwiches can only be enjoyed for so long…
Today’s turkey chili is similar to (and even easier than) my best chili recipe. There’s very minimal prep-work involved, and the hardest part is letting it simmer for 30 minutes.
The flavor is incredible too, with lots of spices (make it as hot or mild as you want), veggies, and beans. It’s a hearty dish that you’ll find yourself craving long after your Thanksgiving leftovers are gone!
What You Need
This turkey chili has a complex flavor, thanks in part to one important ingredient that may seem a bit unusual to you. Trust me though, it’s magical!
- Shredded turkey. Leftover Thanksgiving turkey works perfectly here! Just shred it up nicely like you would a rotisserie chicken. If you are making this outside of Thanksgiving, you could use 1 lb of cooked ground turkey instead.
- Fire roasted tomatoes. I love using these for a bit of extra flavor; they’re subtly smokey and just so good! If you can’t find them, regular diced canned tomatoes will work just fine.
- Chili powder. My preference is to use a combination of ancho chili powder and regular chili powder. Ancho chili powder is slightly sweet and smokey (if you’ve had my potato soup, you know it’s a key ingredient there!). It’s usually sold in the spice aisle of your grocery store. If you can’t find ancho or prefer to use all plain chili powder, that’s fine too.
- Cocoa powder. Yes, cocoa powder! This is our magical secret ingredient. Maybe you’ve seen it in chili before… It certainly isn’t my own invention (chocolate and chilis have been paired together for centuries), but it’s one I’ve grown very attached to. Either natural or dutch process cocoa will work here.
SAM’S TIP: You can make this chili as spicy or mild as you like; simply adjust the cayenne pepper to taste. I like to start out with just a pinch and go from there.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Leftover Turkey Chili
- Cook peppers and onions in melted butter over medium high heat until translucent, then add the garlic.
- Add the turkey and spices and stir until the turkey is well coated.
- Add the remaining ingredients, bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer for at least 30 minutes.
- Serve with desired toppings (sour cream and some crumbled corn chips are non-negotiable) and enjoy!
SAM’S TIP: Don’t forget the toppings! I love topping my turkey chili with diced avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream, and corn chips. You could also make tortilla strips at home from my chicken tortilla soup recipe and use them!
Frequently Asked Questions
Cocoa powder adds extra dimension to our chili and enhances the existing flavors. It adds body and a subtle depth of flavor. The bitterness of the cocoa also works to balance the acidity from the tomatoes.
What it doesn’t do is make your turkey chili taste like a pot of turkey brownies, I promise. While you will get an initial whiff of warm chocolate when you first add it to your pot, the distinct chocolate flavor will dissipate and there will be no lingering chocolate taste.
Yes! This leftover turkey chili can be frozen in an airtight container for up to three months.
While I certainly don’t promote this as a healthy turkey chili, it could be a bit more health conscious than a traditional beef chili. Turkey is lower in saturated fat than beef, so it’s a great substitute here. We’re also including two types of beans, which are high in fiber. So while this is comfort food, it does have some benefits too 😊. If you’re looking for another lighter option, check out my white chicken chili!
I like to serve my chili with a side of buttermilk cornbread, jalapeño cornbread, or biscuits. If you have any leftover crescent rolls from Thanksgiving, those would work too!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Leftover Turkey Chili
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 1 (155 g) red pepper diced (about 1 heaping cup)
- 1 (180 g) red onion diced (about 1 ½ cups)
- 3 cloves garlic minced (about 1 Tablespoon)
- 2 Tablespoon chili powder*
- 2 teaspoons light or dark brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder**
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper***
- 4 cups/1 lb (450 g) cooked shredded turkey meat (
- 2 cups (475 ml) beef, chicken, or turkey stock my preference is beef
- 28 oz (795 g) canned fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained if you can't find fire roasted, regular diced tomatoes will work instead
- ¼ cup (66 g) tomato paste
- 1 14 oz (397 g) can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 14 oz (397 g) can dark red kidney beans rinsed and drained
- 1 4 oz (113 g) can fire roasted chilis
- Your favorite toppings: Sour cream, broken corn chips, diced avocado, shredded cheese, etc.
Instructions
- Melt butter over medium/high heat in a large pot (I like to use a Dutch oven) until melted.3 Tablespoons butter
- Add onion and peppers and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent (about 5 minutes)1 (155 g) red pepper, 1 (180 g) red onion
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant.3 cloves garlic
- Add the turkey to your pot and then add chili powder, brown sugar, cocoa powder, smoked paprika, cumin, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.2 Tablespoon chili powder*, 2 teaspoons light or dark brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder**, 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika, 1 ½ teaspoons cumin, ¾ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoons ground black pepper, ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper***, 4 cups/1 lb (450 g) cooked shredded turkey meat (
- Stir ingredients well until turkey is covered with spices.
- Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to fully develop.2 cups (475 ml) beef, chicken, or turkey stock, 28 oz (795 g) canned fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained, ¼ cup (66 g) tomato paste, 1 14 oz (397 g) can black beans, 1 14 oz (397 g) can dark red kidney beans, 1 4 oz (113 g) can fire roasted chilis
- Serve, topped with sour cream, crushed corn chips, or your favorite toppings.Your favorite toppings:
Notes
*Chili powder
My personal preference is to use ancho chili powder, or a blend of the two, but regular chili powder will work. I prefer ancho chili powder which lends itself to a smokier, slightly sweeter turkey chili, but Zach thinks it’s too sweet and prefers regular chili powder.**Cocoa powder
Please see my post for more information on why we add cocoa powder (it’s not going to make your chili taste like chocolate, I promise!)***Cayenne pepper
This amount of cayenne pepper adds a very subtle heat to the chili. Feel free to increase this amount at your own discretion to suit your tastebuds.Storing
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. How long this will keep depends on the age of your turkey, fresher turkey will keep for 5 days, if your turkey is several days left over I wouldn’t keep for longer than 3 days. This recipe also freezes well.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Annette M Elmholt
This was really delicious! We had it for dinner this evening, and the remainder will be lunch tomorrow. I used chicken broth because I had a partially used container in the fridge, and increased the cayenne pepper to about 1/3 teaspoon. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. A definite repeater!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Annette! 🙂
Allie
Once again, Sam created a delicious recipe! Thanks, Sam!
I had several substitutions and still had a really great chili in the end. My substitutions were:
-Half lb cut fresh green beans for peppers (I don’t like peppers but still wanted veggies)
-14oz can of white beans for the turkey (We already finished our Thanksgiving leftovers)
– 2lb fresh diced tomatoes for canned (I live in a developing country that doesn’t have canned, but plenty of fresh!)
So good!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Allie! thank you for sharing your substitutions and for letting me know how everything turned out, I appreciate it! 🙂