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This turkey apple chili is a delicious and comforting Fall chili recipe made with ground turkey, diced apples, carrots and sweet potatoes. It is seasoned with sage, cinnamon and chili powder, and is the perfect lunch or dinner.
When ground turkey is combined with sage and apples, wonderful things happen. And when they are used to create a chili, it’s AMAZING. It makes your turkey apple chili, a little sweet, a little spicy and so incredibly comforting.
I love how apples add a great crunch and sweetness to recipes. Try my roasted chicken with apples or my cran-apple sauce recipes if you also like cooking with apples.
Table of Contents
What makes this recipe great
- It’s a wonderful autumn chili recipe where you can use Fall flavors like apple, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a savory way.
- It is naturally dairy-free and gluten-free.
- If you omit the beans, this recipe is Paleo and Whole30 compliant.
Recipe ingredients
- Onion powder and garlic powder– these season the ground turkey to add a savory flavor to the chili.
- Apples– any kind of apple works for this recipe.
- Carrots and sweet potatoes– these add a nice crunch and veggies to the dish.
- Rubbed sage– this seasoning works well with ground turkey.
- Cinnamon and nutmeg– these Fall spices compliment the apple well without being overpowering.
- Ground turkey– this meat is lighter meat to use in chili, and it is delicious! I like using regular ground turkey over lean ground turkey because it has more flavor.
- Tomato paste– this helps season the chili.
- Chili powder– this spice is what makes this dish “chili”.
- Crushed tomatoes and strained tomatoes– these provide the sauce and base for the chili.
- Kidney beans and black beans– you can omit the beans to make this recipe Paleo or Whole30.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Step by step instructions
Step 1: Cook the diced apples, sliced carrots and sliced sweet potatoes with some spices for a few minutes.
Step 2: Add the ground turkey to the pot and cook it until browned.
Step 3: Add the add tomato paste, more seasoning, crushed and strained tomatoes to the pot.
Step 4: Cook for 20-30 minutes, until all the veggies are cooked through.
Step 5: Add the beans.
Expert tips
- Make sure the sweet potatoes are sliced and quartered, and that they are sliced thin enough. This ensures they will be cooked through in time.
- If you don’t have strained tomatoes, you can use marinara.
How to serve this chili
- With avocado on top.
- With plantain chips. I love crushing up a bunch of plantain chips and covering my chili with them.
- With some shredded lettuce.
- With diced raw apples added to the bowl (this adds great crunch!)
- With cheddar cheese on top.
- Add it on top of eggs.
Other Chili recipes you’ll love:
Did you try this recipe? Please leave me a ⭐ review below!
Turkey Apple Chili
Ingredients
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 2 cups sliced carrots
- 2 cups sliced sweet potatoes, halved and quartered
- 2 cups diced apple
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp rubbed sage, divided
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- a sprinkle nutmeg
- 2 lbs ground lean turkey
- 3 Tbs tomato paste
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 3 cups crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups strained tomatoes, (or a Paleo marinara sauce)
- 1-2 cans kidney beans
Instructions
- Put 1 Tbs of olive oil into a large pot and turn the stove top up to medium heat.
- Add the diced apples, sliced sweet potatoes, and sliced carrots to the pan. Top with onion powder, garlic powder, 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp of rubbed sage, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, and a sprinkle nutmeg. Mix with a spatula and cook for 5 minutes, mixing every now and then.
- Add the ground turkey meat, and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, 2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp sage and 1 tsp salt to the mixture and mix until the tomato paste is evenly distributed.
- Then add the crushed tomatoes and strained tomatoes to the pot, and mix.
- Reduce the heat to low-medium and cook for 20-30 minutes. If you are adding kidney beans, add them at the end.
Notes
- Make sure the sweet potatoes are sliced and quartered, and that they are sliced thin enough. This ensures they will be cooked through in time.
- If you don’t have strained tomatoes, you can use marinara.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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