Instant Pot Turkey Chili
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Instant Pot turkey chili is the perfect meal for cold nights when you want something hot, savory, and satisfying. This is the best kind of easy weeknight Instant Pot dinner, too, because so little of the time is hands on. This recipe can be traditional with beans (a THM E) or you can make it low carb with some delicious tweaks (low carb, THM S).
Hearty, classic chili is a family favorite around here. So is our vegetarian Quinoa Lentil Chili. But sometimes you want to enjoy a meaty chili with a little less fat. Enter: Instant Pot Turkey Chili.
Ingredients and instructions are included for both traditional turkey chili and low carb turkey chili!
Grab your favorite pressure cooker and let’s get cooking!
Ingredients For This Instant Pot Turkey Chili Recipe
This recipe is a low fat, healthy, nourishing meal. If you’re a THM, this would be an “E”.
So what do you need to make this flavorful, yet totally easy turkey chili recipe in your pressure cooker?
- Olive Oil
- Onion (yellow or white)
- Minced Garlic
- Celery
- Ground Turkey (or see notes for leftover turkey)
- Carrots
- Bell Peppers (red and green ideally)
- Crushed Tomatoes
- Canned Chili Beans (or Kidney beans)
- Rotel (or a can of diced tomatoes for less spice)
- Chili Seasoning
- Liquid Smoke (optional)
Next up is about 15 minutes of hands on prep time and then you let your Instant Pot work its magic.
How Do You Make Low Carb Turkey Chili?
If you want to make this a low carb meal, simply skip adding the beans. You can also leave out some of the onion and all of the carrot, if you prefer.
It’s really easy to skip the carbs, but not the flavor in this meal! Simply follow the modified ingredient list and the original instructions.
Ingredients For Low Carb Turkey Chili In The Instant Pot
- Olive Oil
- Onion (yellow or white)
- Minced Garlic
- Celery
- Ground Turkey (or see notes for leftover turkey)
- Ground Turkey Sausage (an equal amount to the ground turkey used)
- Turkey Bacon (optional, 1 package)
- Bell Pepper (diced green bell pepper)
- Crushed Tomatoes
- Rotel (or a can of diced tomatoes for less spice)
- Chili Seasoning
- Liquid Smoke (optional)
How To Make Your Turkey Chili
One of the things that’s so great about using your Instant Pot is that it makes dinner a one pot affair. Don’t you just love that?
The first step is to heat your Instant Pot on sauté with a drizzle of olive oil in the bottom.
Next, add your diced onions and celery and cook until the onion is translucent. Add in the minced garlic and cook until golden brown.
Sprinkle on your grated carrots (this adds a hint of sweetness to balance the acidity of the tomatoes and the spice from the chili seasoning and peppers) and stir in with the other veggies for about one minute.
Now it’s time to brown your ground turkey. Add it to the Instant Pot and stir until crumbly. Because it’s low fat, you shouldn’t have anything to drain when it’s done.
Next, turn off the sauté setting and dump in the rest of the ingredients. Give them a stir to combine them before sealing your lid and cooking.
Can I Make Turkey Chili With Leftover Turkey Instead?
Absolutely!
The texture changes a bit, but the flavor is excellent. Just shred or chop up your leftover meat and add it to the Instant Pot after you sauté the aromatics. Sauté it for just a moment before continuing on with the recipe.
If you want to make sure you still get a thick chili that’s more like stew than soup, you can add 1-2 TB of tomato paste to the mix to thicken it, since you’ll have bites of turkey instead of crumbles. This is actually quite a yummy way to serve it.
When we cook it this way in our home, we also like to add a can of drained corn (or any Thanksgiving leftover corn).
How To Serve Turkey Chili
This meal is a fantastic stand alone, but is also delicious served over rice or paired with your favorite cornbread recipe. Another way to enjoy it is with your favorite crusty bread or crackers.
A side salad is a fabulous pairing, as well, offering a cool contrast to the hot chili. Sometimes we like to do a tossed salad and other times a pasta salad.
Another fun way to dress up turkey chili is by what you sprinkle on top when you serve it (check out the ideas below for fun toppings).
Toppings For Your Chili
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
- Black olives
- Green onions
- Chopped white onion (or purple onion for color and sweetness)
- Diced avocado
- Turkey bacon crumbles
- Fresh cilantro (or parsley)
- Tortilla chip crumbles or tortilla strips
- Oyster crackers
- Corn
- Diced jalapeno
Instant Pot Turkey Chili
This easy, versatile Instant Pot turkey chili recipe is delightful. It can be either low fat and low carb or you can include beans and more healthy veggies for a simple, healthy version. Ingredients for both low carb and traditional are included.
Ingredients
- For TRADITIONAL CHILI:
- Drizzle of Olive Oil
- 1 diced sweet onion
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2 carrots, grated
- 2 bell peppers diced, 1 red and 1 green (or your choice)
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 can chili beans (or kidney beans)
- 1 can Rotel (or a can of diced tomatoes for less spice)
- 1 packet chili seasoning
- 1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
- FOR LOW CARB CHILI:
- 1 tsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 lb ground turkey sausage
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
- 1 can Rotel
- 1 packet chili seasoning (or 3 TB)
- 1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
- Optional: chop up 1 lb of turkey bacon and add it to the meat when cooking or cook and serve crumbled on top.
Instructions
Heat your Instant Pot on sauté with a drizzle of olive oil in the bottom.
Add your diced onions and celery and cook until the onion is translucent.
Add in the minced garlic and cook until golden brown.
Sprinkle on your grated carrots and stir in with the other veggies for about one minute.
Add meat to the Instant Pot and stir until crumbly. Because it’s low fat, you shouldn’t have anything to drain when it’s done.
Turn off the sauté setting.
Drain and rinse off your kidney beans before adding (unless you are using chili beans). If you are using corn or additional beans, drain and rinse those as well.
Dump in the rest of the ingredients.
Give them a stir to combine them before sealing your lid and cooking.
Cook on manual for 30 minutes and let the pressure release for an additonal 12 before releasing.
Carefully open the open the lid set it aside, and stir your chili.
Allow the chili to rest with the lid opened for an additional 10 minutes before serving to let it thicken, if needed.
Notes
Nutritonal information is calculated for the low carb version of this recipe.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 359Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 125mgSodium: 966mgCarbohydrates: 10gNet Carbohydrates: 7gFiber: 3gSugar: 3gProtein: 33g
This information is provided as a courtesy and is calculated by Nutritionix. Please confirm all information for yourself for health reasons. Please note that toppings, optional ingredients, and recipe variations are not accounted for.
