Turkey & Quinoa Chili | Healthy Slow Cooker Meals
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Chili is a relatively new favorite food of mine - mostly because it's super simple to make in a crock pot. I didn't know how much I enjoyed chili until recently when I was able to experiment with my own recipes, including using bison meat instead of beef. But I've made bison chili plenty of times; this round, I went for turkey.
The greatest part about this recipe is there is very little prep time other than opening a few cans and roughly chopping onions, peppers, and mushrooms. I also added some frozen corn, not pictured above (oops, this recipe was on-the-fly!) to add some sweetness and quinoa, instead of beans, for texture.
This recipe is pretty healthy for you too, made with lean meat and packed with veggies - and what's better, it's totally a "set it and forget" meal.
Seriously, I didn't even brown the turkey. I tossed everything in my crock pot in the morning when I woke up, snapped a few quick pics, then set the temperature to low and left it all day.
I stirred every couple hours, then cranked the heat to high for the last hour. I believe my total cooking time was six and a half hours. By the end of the day, the whole apartment complex smelled so delicious, bringing my puppy Theo back inside from a potty break made my stomach growl with hunger.
The quinoa worked perfectly in this recipe because it gave the turkey meat a much needed texture. As someone who doesn't prefer beans in my chili, the quinoa made for a great replacement. An added bonus: there's enough here to feed Nick and myself for the entire week - hooray!
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Turkey & Quinoa Chili
- Number of Servings: 6
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 32 oz ground turkey
- 2 cups turkey OR chicken broth
- 2 cups quinoa
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 4 tbsp chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- ¼ cup celery, chopped
- ¼ cup red onion, chopped
- ¼ cup red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 tbsp garlic, minced
- 5 white mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 10 cherry tomatoes, whole
- 2 tbsp chili pepper
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- salt & pepper, to taste
- ricotta cheese, for topping
Mouth Feel
SaltyInstructions
- Add all of the ingredients, execept ricotta cheese, to a crock pot.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours with last hour on high before serving OR on high for 4-5 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Serve hot on a cold day, top with a dollop of ricotta cheese, and enjoy!
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