Leftover Turkey Chili

Cold weather gluten free comfort food at its finest: Leftover Turkey Chili is an easy & delicious leftover Thanksgiving turkey recipe. Make yours into something completely new! 

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Happy almost Thanksgiving! It may not be sneaking up on you as quickly it has been sneaking up on me, but either way, we’ll all soon be in need of ways to use up leftover turkey. So here’s one. How about… Leftover Turkey Chili, starring in today’s cold weather comfort food Sunday Scratchups recipe.

In this week’s easy recipe from scratch around sales + affordable ingredients, we make use of one of life’s most affordable: Leftover turkey! This year, why not throw some of yours together with a few pantry staples to create something entirely new.

Leftover Turkey Chili

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 Tbsp minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne
32 oz turkey or chicken broth
4 cups leftover cooked turkey, chopped
2 14.5 oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
6 oz can tomato paste
4 oz can chopped green chiles
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
Sea salt, to taste
1 bay leaf

Directions

Chop onion and garlic.

Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and saute for five minutes.

While onion is sauteing, chop your turkey.

After the onion begins to brown and soften, stir in the garlic and saute briefly. Reduce the heat under your pot to medium-low, then stir in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, cayenne, and cinnamon. Saute for another minute.

Stir in the broth, turkey, fire roasted tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped green chiles, beans, and bay leaf. Add sea salt to taste.

Simmer for 30 minutes to blend the flavors, stirring occasionally. Remove the bay leaf.

Serve your big pot of leftover turkey chili topped with shredded cheddar, sour cream, green onions, and/or other chili toppings of choice.

Note: I used a mixture of white and dark meat in today’s turkey chili recipe, which is on the milder side. Kick yours up with additional cayenne or add in a diced jalapeño or two while sauteing the onion, if you prefer yours spicy. If you prefer a thicker chili, simply use less broth. (It’s your chili; have fun with it!)

An easy leftover Thanksgiving turkey chili recipe…

That’s it! This flavorful yet mild leftover turkey chili recipe is just. that. easy. to throw together, which is exactly the sort of thing we really need after a big holiday, right?

Leftover turkey chili is naturally gluten free, and a lovely cold weather comfort food recipe. (I threw a little chipotle hot sauce into my bowl to spice it up further, and it’s easy to customize the spice level by adding heat at the end this way as people prefer.)

Turkey chili, turkey soup, turkey tacos, turkey…

If you’re not in a chili mood today, or if you just have a lot of leftover turkey to use up, try one of these instead: 

• Leftover turkey soup with rice & spinach
• 20 minute leftover turkey tacos
• Leftover turkey fried rice (substitute it for the chicken!)

So many different ways and flavors to enjoy leftover turkey.

Leftover Turkey Chili, printable recipe

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Leftover Turkey Chili

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Leftover Turkey Chili is an easy cold weather comfort food recipe that makes great use of some leftover Thanksgiving turkey!

Course dinner

Cuisine chili

Keyword chili, leftover turkey, leftovers, turkey, turkey chili

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion chopped
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic about 6 cloves
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 32 oz turkey or chicken broth
• 4 cups leftover cooked turkey chopped
• 2 14.5 oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 4 oz can chopped green chiles
• 1 can kidney beans rinsed and drained
• 1 can Great Northern beans rinsed and drained
• Sea salt to taste
• 1 bay leaf

Instructions

• Chop onion and garlic.
• Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and saute for five minutes.
• While onion is sauteing, chop your turkey.
• After the onion begins to brown and soften, stir in the garlic and saute briefly. Reduce the heat under your pot to medium-low, then stir in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, cayenne, and cinnamon. Saute for another minute.
• Stir in the broth, turkey, fire roasted tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped green chiles, beans, and bay leaf. Add sea salt to taste. 
• Simmer for 30 minutes to blend the flavors, stirring occasionally. Remove the bay leaf.
• Serve your big pot of leftover turkey chili topped with shredded cheddar, sour cream, green onions, and/or other chili toppings of choice.

Notes

I used a mixture of white and dark meat in today’s turkey chili recipe, which is on the milder side. Kick yours up with additional cayenne or add in a diced jalapeño or two while sauteing the onion, if you prefer yours spicy. If you prefer a thicker chili, simply use less broth. (It’s your chili; have fun with it!)

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