This healthy paleo Turkey Chili recipe is a fantastic way to use up leftover turkey. We love making it with our Thanksgiving leftovers, but Turkey Chili is so incredibly easy to make and scrumptiously satisfying that we make it all year round!
If you open your fridge the day after Thanksgiving and find a pile of cooked turkey, this easy paleo recipe will come to the rescue. Even if you’re exhausted from cooking up a huge Thanksgiving feast, you need not worry. This Turkey Chili is an easy crockpot recipe that requires little to no effort. It’s truly the perfect paleo dinner recipe for Thanksgiving leftovers!
Turkey Chili
Ingredients
- Leftover turkey meat, white and/or dark
- 4-6 roasted poblano chili peppers
- 2 quarts Chicken Stock , vegetable stock, or Kettle & Fire Bone Broth
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 3 carrots, diced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
Instructions
- In a large crockpot , combine turkey, poblanos, stock, onions, and carrots
- Allow to cook several hours or overnight
- Add cumin, oregano, and salt
- In a small bowl, combine arrowroot and water to make a slurry
- Stir into crockpot and cook for another 1 hour or until thick
- Garnish with cilantro
- Serve
Equipment
You can use any type of chili peppers that you wish in this easy paleo Turkey Chili recipe, though beware, I would not recommend anything that’s too hot. If you’re curious about my use of arrowroot in this paleo chili recipe, I use it to thicken the soup. Feel free to experiment and make this chili without it, or experiment with another thickener of your choosing.
I finished using up all of my turkey today, Monday. How long do you keep your cooked turkey meat in the fridge after Thanksgiving? How long do you think turkey will safely keep? Today was definitely the last day for me and that was stretching it by probably a day.
Here are some of my other easy paleo recipes to help you use up leftover turkey!
Kathy says
Elana, for the peppers, after roasting, do you slice to add to soup or add whole? Everything else in the crockpot ready to go!
Elana says
Kathy, I leave them whole :-)
~M says
Hi Elana! Today at work someone had egg drop soup from the local fast food eatery and I kept thinking that there must be a way to Elana-ify egg drop soup. :) I remembered this chili recipe and was thinking that it might work to simmer chicken broth, make an arrowroot slurry and add it, and then add the scrambled egg mixture and maybe some scallions (basically, just follow a generic egg drop soup recipe). Does that sound like it would work? It’d be a great appetizer to an Asian meal or stir fry. Best to you and your family from Chicago!
~M says
By the way, homemade, grain-free egg drop soup turns out great. I follow Garrett’s guest post from Simply recipes, though I’m sure you could Elanify it further by subbing something for soy sauce (what’s your usual sub? fish sauce? ume vinegar?) and using arrowroot for cornstarch (I still have a bit left that I’m trying to use up; then it’s arrowroot for me).
Penny says
Elana,
I neglected to post to let you know that I prepared the cranberry pumpkin upside down cake for our Thanksgiving dessert and it eclipsed all the pies at my sister’s house. It was absolutely fantastic! Thanks for your great site. I visit often.
Elana says
You’re welcome!
Kelly says
Hi Elana!
This is just what I’ve been needing! I don’t actually like old holiday turkey bird – I think it’s the texture. But leftovers, like turkey sandwiches made with lots of Vegenaise, lettuce and tomato are what I much prefer. And there’s nothing like soup, especially made in the crock pot, to tenderize the meat. Oh how I love soup. This is turkey leftovers I could really enjoy! Thanks!
-Kelly
Elana says
You’re welcome :-)