Everyone knows the feeling of having endless amounts of leftovers the week after a big holiday meal. Although delicious, by day three people are definitely tired of eating the same plate of food. Side dishes are normally finished, but there still seems to be a few servings of turkey left in the fridge. Instead of making the family have the same meal three days in a row, I really wanted to do something different with our leftovers. I don’t think any of us expected how glorious this one pot meal would be. I will go out on a limb and say it might be one of the best dishes we have had all year!
Get ready for one of the easiest and best recipes you will ever make. Although it is made traditionally made with your leftover turkey from the holiday season, it can easily be made throughout the year with a store bought rotisserie chicken that is equally delicious. We have no doubt that this dish will make it to your dinner table multiple times in the year and each time you have it, you will wonder why you don’t make it even more!
White Turkey Chili Ingredients
- Turkey- Roughly chop or shred leftover turkey. You can also use a rotisserie chicken throughout the year.
- Vegetables- Green pepper, onion, garlic, and green chilis for classic flavors.
- Turkey or Chicken Stock- You can also use bone broth for an even richer flavor.
- Taco Seasoning- Premade taco seasoning is the easiest option, but this it typically just a simple blend of cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and paprika. If you can’t find a high quality taco seasoning, use 1/4 teaspoon of each for this recipe.
- Cream Cheese- room temperature or cold
- Heavy Cream- useful fat coconut milk for a dairy free dish
White Turkey Chili Cooking Methods
As written, this white turkey chili recipe only takes less than 20 minutes to prepare but you do have to stir and add ingredients during that time. To make things even easier or to prepare the meal ahead of time, you can also use your crock pot or Instant Pot.
Slow Cooker White Turkey Chili
First saute your onions, pepper, jalapeno, and garlic in one tablespoon of olive oil until slightly tender. Then add them and all remaining ingredients to your crock pot. Stir and let cook on low heat for 8 hours or high heat for 3 hours.
Instant Pot White Turkey Chili
With your Instant Pot set to SAUTE +5 minutes, cook your green pepper, onions, jalapeno, and garlic until fragrant and slightly tender. Turn Instant Pot OFF, then add your spices, green chilis, turkey, chicken broth, and cream cheese. Stir well to combine. Replace lid, then turn Instant Pot to MANUAL +10 minutes, close valve. Carefully release pressure and remove lid. Stir in heavy cream and serve.
How to Make White Turkey Chili
Saute Vegetables
Cook onion, pepper, jalapeno, and garlic in 1 tablespoon of avocado oil in a large pot until fragrant and slightly tender.
Cook
Add all remaining ingredients to your pot and stir well to combine. Let chili come to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes until vegetables are completely tender and mixture has thickened.
Serve
Serve chili with sliced avocado, sour cream, fresh lime, and any other Tex-Mex toppings you prefer.
White Turkey Chili FAQs
Can I add flavor to white turkey chili?
Using taco seasoning will add a ton of flavor to your turkey! It will also be a nice change from the traditional holiday flavors. Letting the turkey soak up the spices and cook in the broth will also bring back a lot of moisture the turkey may have lost being sliced and stored in the fridge.
What’s the difference between white chili and regular chili?
Traditional chili is typically made with tomatoes and white chili is not. The spices and flavors are very similar, but the texture will be completely different as well. Chili is also usually a much thicker consistency, while this healthy white turkey chili is more similar to a hearty soup.
Creamy White Turkey Chili
Use up all of that leftover Turkey and cozy up to a big bowl of this white turkey chili! The best part? The best part? It takes less than 20 minutes to prepare, but it tastes like you’ve been cooking it for hours!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pound shredded or roughly chopped leftover turkey meat
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 medium onion (sliced)
- 1 green pepper (sliced)
- 1 jalapeno (minced and seeds removed)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 8 ounces diced green chilis
- 4 cups turkey or chicken broth
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
Toppings:
- Avocado
- Cilantro
- Sour Cream
- Diced tomatoes
- Jalapeno
- Lime Juice
Instructions
- In a large pot, add avocado oil and cook bell peppers, jalapeno, and garlic. Saute under low-medium heat until slightly tender.
- Stir in meat, green chilis, and all seasonings.
- Pour in stock and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in cream cheese and heavy cream. Simmer for 15 minutes until thick and creamy.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 295
- Fat: 25g
- Carbohydrates: 6g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 14g
Keywords: white turkey chili
Hi. Thanks for the recipe. It looks delicious. Can you help me understand the nutrients? How many calories per serving? How many net carbs per serving? It says that there are 388 calories from fat. Presumably there are other calories as well. Is the data there for the entire recipe or for one of the 5 servings?
Thanks!
Amy
Hi Amy, there are 388 calories per serving and this recipe makes 5 total servings. There are about 2g net carbs per serving with 5.5g total carbs.
I am assuming when you use heavy cream the calories for this is not the same as coconut milk? I used heavy cream, entered this recipe into MyFitnessPal, and it’s telling me 1206 calories per serving. Does that sound correct? It’s amazing by the way, but a lot of calories using heavy cream.
Hi Amie, 2 cups of full fat coconut milk has about 960 calories whereas 2 cups of heavy cream has about 1,640 calories so yes the calories will be more when using heavy cream.
Hello, I just started Keto 3 days ago, so please forgive me if the question seems like I don’t know what I’m talking about, which I don’t! Is it possible to use regular ground meat? Why use the turkey since we are trying to eat lots of fat. Thanks for your response.
Hi! Yes, you can totally use regular ground meat! This is just one recipe out of many for some people who may prefer turkey over red meat. But you are totally right and can definitely use red meat!
Where does the mustard come in? I don’t see instructions for that in the recipe.
Sorry about that Ravyn. You can add it in when adding the coconut milk! 🙂
How much is a serving?
Hi Kitti, 1/5 of the entire batch would be 1 serving.
I is kind of hard to eye ball 1/5 of the batch. Is there a measurement, like 1 cup, that I can use?
I am wondering the same thing! Guess you’d have to measure the whole batch then divide it by 5. But it would be nice to know without having to do all that lol
I made this for dinner tonight – I had to add a can of tomatoes with green chiles, salsa and sour cream plus I used Southwest Salt free seasoning – this was the only way to make it edible… the seasoning called for in this recipe are so bland… chili is supposed to have a kick! Deleting from my recipe file
You mention 1 tsp of: salt, black pepper, thyme, celery salt, garlic powder
is that 1 tsp of each or do you mean in total only 1tsp of the combined?
Hello Sophie. Yes 1 tsp of each.
I thought this was chili. I guess you can’t add beans to it?? An I like regular ground turkey will that be ok to use? Thankyou
Just made this recipe and forgot to add the mustard and it’s still delicious!! So easy and filling!!
★★★★★
I made the recipe and added turmeric, cardamom and Thai basil. I used basil mustard and served over zucchini noodles. Delicious. This is a good base to use w/a variety of spices. I’d use cream instead of coconut milk if you are shooting for an Italian or Mexican flair. I’ll make it again and try it with Italian spices and serve over spaghetti squash.
My husband and I had this for the 1st time. Yummmy! I added cumin and fresh celery. It’s a keeper!
★★★★★
This sounds amazing, can’t wait to make it, thank you so much!
★★★★★
Excellent recipe. Does this call for liquid mustard or mustard seed (dry)? If liquid mustard, is a certain mustard recommended (yellow, dijon, grain etc.)?
★★★★★
Is lactose free milk ok as a normal milk substitute? I really can’t stand coconut in and have tried every shape, size and form of coconut, be it water, milk, cream, butter, oil.
Been on lactose free dairy for a long time as lactose makes me bloated. Is lactose free ok on Keto diet?
Hi Jan! Maybe this article can help answer your question: http://perfectketo.com/low-carb-milk-substitutes/ 🙂
I am the only one on keto in my family, but this is a new family favorite. It is hard to stick to just one serving! The phrase “comfort food” comes to mind. Thank you!
★★★★★
I the serving size 1 cup of chili this is what gets me messed up or 2 cups per serving?
It says the recipe (X1) yields 5 servings. Just divide the whole meal by that number.
Recipe states to add in riced cauliflower. Is this referring to the fully cooked cauliflower rice or the raw, grated cauliflower? Your help is much appreciated.
I think it is the raw one. If it’s still uncooked after completing the recipe, you can leave it on fire for another 5-8mins.
Dry mustArd or prepared mustard????
it’s prepared mustard 🙂