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This Turkey and White Bean Chili is hearty, healthy, simple to make and packed with flavor!!
Here is one of those simple weeknight dinners to make that the entire family will devour and everyone will leave the table satisfied. It’s so cozy and so easy to make. While it does need some time to simmer, the recipe is mostly hands-off and all made in one pot.
Ground turkey is definitely the star in this recipe, which is such a great, lean, high-protein staple that I love to incorporate in meals throughout the week. I also love to incorporate boneless turkey breast when possible as it is one of the leanest meats available with one of the highest amounts of protein (a 4-ounce serving contains 26 grams of protein, about 1 gram of fat and 0 grams of saturated fat!) — 12 percent MORE protein than the same serving size of boneless skinless chicken breast! When choosing turkey, I love Honeysuckle White® Lean Ground Turkey because of the high-quality product that they produce, raised without growth-promoting antibiotics by independent family farmers.
Without compromising quality and taste, turkey is such a versatile protein and Honeysuckle White® has a wide variety of products — ground turkey, meatballs, patties and breasts — to make your weekly meal planning easier and more exciting!
If you are like me and are looking to incorporate more turkey into your 2021 diet, definitely kick it off with this easy White Bean and Turkey Chili! It’s so perfect to make on Sunday and enjoy the leftovers throughout the week for lunch because the flavor just keeps getting better with time! Enjoy!
Turkey and White Bean Chili
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 cups diced yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 pounds Honeysuckle White Lean Ground Turkey
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 [4-ounce] cans mild diced green chiles undrained
- 2 [15-ounce] cans cannellini or great northern beans undrained
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
Optional Toppings:
- Shredded monterey jack cheese
- Pico de gallo
- Pickled jalapenos
- Fresh cilantro leaves
- Sour cream
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the ground turkey, salt, and pepper and cook, breaking up the meat with the edge of a spoon into smaller pieces and the turkey is cooked through, or no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
- Add the cumin, coriander, chili powder, oregano, cayenne tossing until the spices are well combined with the meat. Cook, toasting the spices, for about 2 more minutes.
- Add the green chiles, beans, broth and bay leaves and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, lightly simmering, uncovered, and stirring occasionally to allow the flavors to meld and the chili to thicken, about 25 minutes.
- Ladle the chili into bowls and top with desired toppings! Enjoy!
Food Photography and Styling by Modern Food Stories.
46 Comments
Helen
January 16, 2023 at 6:40 pmI add cream of chicken soup to thicken it. And anahe8m chili’s instead of canned. My family loves this chili!!!
Emily k
October 18, 2022 at 1:43 amSo easy and delish! My whole family loved
sue costanzo
February 8, 2022 at 7:32 pmHi Alex….I really want to make this for our chil cookoff party in a few days, can I use my slow cooker? 6 hours appropriate? or too long? I can also start high and adjust to low after a couple of hours, please let me know….I am so excited to try it and share with all our neighbors!! (p.s. I’ll let you know if your recipe wins the cook off) haha.
Alex
February 8, 2022 at 8:41 pmHi!! I would just keep it on low for 6 to 8 hours!! will be great! But I will say– if you want to win a chili cookoff- my classic chili is better in my opinion!! 🙂
https://thedefineddish.com/beef-chili-with-beans/
Jane
January 21, 2022 at 10:56 pmLove this! I am making it again this week! The white chili is always bland when I make, but not this one! I also soaked my beans and sprouted them and cooked them in Olive oil and garlic and oregano, so they were a nice flavor and addition – nice layering with the Chili flavors. Thanks!
Kairle Oaks
January 4, 2022 at 12:54 amI think this is probably my first time making white chili, but it definitely won’t be my last. What great flavors! Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Catherine
January 16, 2022 at 3:13 amSuper yummy! I left the cayenne on the side and all my kiddos loved it!
Katie
November 15, 2021 at 12:33 amAnother winner! I’m not the biggest fan of chili but I’ve loved everything Alex creates so figured I’d give this a try. I followed the recipe except didn’t have coriander so added another TSP of cumin. Turned out delicious and satisfying. Will be making again for sure
DAVID WISSINGER II
January 13, 2022 at 5:12 pmI used a turkey breast diced up, but was fantastic!
Diana
October 19, 2021 at 11:07 pmMade this tonight as a practice run for our church chili cook off!! DELICIOUSLY AMAZING!!! My 4 yr old and 16 month old loved it, too!!
It was perfection but I have one question. How would I make it thicker?
Janet Medlin
January 3, 2022 at 12:39 amAdd shredded Monterey Jacki cheese to the recipe to make it thicker and creamier!
Cynthia
October 19, 2021 at 5:26 pmOh WOW!!! This chili is DELISH!! And the garnishes take it to the next level! Loved it! Yet another DD recipe that will be added to my rotation! Thank you, Alex!
(For those asking about WW – I used extra lean ground turkey at it was 6 pts on Green).
Lisa
September 6, 2021 at 9:06 pmJust made this and it’s so good…I didn’t have any Cayenne pepper still so good!!
Kendalyn
August 28, 2021 at 5:26 pmHi! Any recommendations for freezing/reheating this? Thanks!
Dawn
June 13, 2021 at 1:05 amThis was so delicious and easy to make!
Kate
June 8, 2021 at 2:12 pmWe love love this chili! Just wondering if you have any recommendations to make it a bit more friendly for a Midwestern palate? Asking for a friend…;) Thanks, Alex!
Alex
June 11, 2021 at 12:17 pmhaha, meaning it’s too spicy?
Bill
April 24, 2021 at 10:58 pmMade this for the third time. It’s the best chili I ever made. I use the hit instead of mild hatch Chili’s. Love this!
Erin
March 23, 2021 at 3:02 amSuper delicious!!! It was a hit for my whole family. Definitely going to keep this recipe in the rotation. Thank you!
Cristina F
March 18, 2021 at 2:34 amThe easiest and most delicious turkey chili! Already looking forward to making this again!
Melissa
March 15, 2021 at 6:13 pmThis is soo good! I made it exactly the way written here the first time (halving the recipe because I’m one person). The second time I subbed ground chicken and added two small diced zucchini. This is such a delicious, solid recipe. I also like to stir in greek yogurt upon serving.
Princy Gobran
March 3, 2021 at 11:44 pmMade it in the instant pot because I had soaked dry northern beans. Turned out excellent!
KJ
February 20, 2021 at 10:43 pmI can’t wait to make this! Is there anything I could substitute for the coriander? Seems to be the one spice I don’t have in my pantry 😆
Alex
February 21, 2021 at 1:39 pmYou can omit and sub in an extra dash of cumin
Carolyn
October 30, 2021 at 4:08 pmThank you! I too have no coriander!
Jamie Martin
January 2, 2022 at 2:24 amThis is my go to white chili! I have made it countless times, and is also great for meal train/food drop offs for friends! Why I love this:
1) it has so much flavor, so delicious!
2) browning ground turkey is so much quicker and easier than cubing and cooking chicken!
Love, love, love! Everyone in my house loves as well! Thank you Alex!
Lindsey S
February 15, 2021 at 6:51 pmWOW. I first tried this chili on Super Bowl Sunday and couldn’t get over how delicious it was. I mashed one of the cans of beans to make it a little thicker, and loved how that turned out. I’m making my third batch now and love eating it for lunch or dinner on chilly days!
Rachel Mahan
February 10, 2021 at 11:01 pmWOW! My first defined dish recipe and I’m hooked! I can’t believe how delicious this chili is – thanks for such a great recipel. Looking forward to trying others!
Stephanie
February 9, 2021 at 7:52 pmSo good! Used hot green chiles instead of mild, and a squeeze of lime at the end really made the dish.
Alan
February 9, 2021 at 1:33 amI was also inspired by your Instagram post . Made this for dinner tonight and it was a huge success. So simple and so delicious! Thanks for all your great recipes.
Alan
February 9, 2021 at 1:35 amForgot to give this a star rating. Five stars, of course!
Catherine
February 9, 2021 at 12:47 amDelicious!! It almost seems creamy without any cream. I get worried that ground Turkey will end up dry but this was perfect. Thanks for another delicious, healthy and relatively simple meal!
Adrienne
February 8, 2021 at 2:10 pmHi Alex! So excited to try this recipe, I’ve been looking for a great white bean chili recipe and was pumped when you posted this. I’m hoping to do this in a slow cooker instead, any tips for adjusting the cooking instructions?
Nicole
February 7, 2021 at 3:02 pmMy favorite chili I’ve ever had! And such a simple recipe. Was hoping for leftovers but the pot was licked clean!
Lauren
August 25, 2021 at 11:52 pmThis had great flavor! It was simple to bring together and serves well with chips and cheese. I am going to take the advice of another commenter and mash one can of beans next times to make it creamier!
Amanda
February 7, 2021 at 2:39 amI’m not a big fan of traditional chili but my husband is. I decided to compromise and make this for both of us. So glad I did. It’s delicious! I only had hot green chilis, so I halved the portion and used mild green enchilada sauce for the other half. Worked like a charm and now my kids can eat it. Lol. I also shredded a zucchini for a little bump of veggie. Topped with cilantro, avocado, and lime. This is a winner! Thanks, Alex!
Sue
February 7, 2021 at 1:34 amDelicious- and I usually don’t like ground turkey ! Do you post the nutritional info? We are on weight watchers and I would like to enter into their app.
Alex
February 7, 2021 at 7:54 pmGlad you enjoyed it! I do not calculate the nutrition on any of my recipes but someone else may have. You can often search on My Fitness Pal as well.
Rachel J
February 24, 2021 at 10:20 pmI’d love this info
Too! Same WW ☺️
Emily
February 5, 2021 at 5:27 pmThis is so very good. Simple, few ingredients but lots of GREAT flavor!
MellieMariee
February 5, 2021 at 5:18 amHoly moly, love ittt.
I took the liberty of switching out the ground Turkey for ground Lamb & that was awesome! Also, used Whole Fat Greek Yogurt instead of Sour Cream because I’m not a fan of Sour Cream and I thought Yogurt went well with the Lamb. & without cilantro on hand, I used parsley! (Still felt like the same recipe to me!)
Stoked on this super easy pantry/fridge foraging recipe! I had all ingredients on hand! As always, you killed it Alex!
Brooke
February 5, 2021 at 1:28 amAs soon as I saw this posted on your Instagram, I KNEW I needed to make it ASAP! Just had it for dinner, PHENOMENAL! So flavorful and filling! I loved your suggestion of adding jalapeno/cilantro! Chef’s kiss perfection! Thanks Alex!
Alex
February 5, 2021 at 12:18 pmThank you, Brooke!
Linda Letlow
February 5, 2021 at 12:20 amThis was DELICIOUS! My whole family loved it. This recipe is a keeper!
Randi
February 4, 2021 at 10:28 pmOMG! I’m not a big soup/chili person and let me tell you.. Alex knocked it out of the park! I mean all of her recipes are incredible… so I knew this one would be worth it! It’s the most delicious chili I’ve ever had! I love that not only is it delicious, it’s healthy and has clean ingredients which is most important. Do yourself a favor and RUN to the store to get what you need to whip this up! 🤍 Thank you Alex for sharing another incredible recipe!
Alex
February 4, 2021 at 10:54 pmThank you so much for the love, Randi! Glad it was a hit xoxo