21 Day Fix Turkey Chili

I love when the weather gets cold and it’s time to bring out the comfort food recipes. Soups, stews, chili, casseroles… Mmmmmm.

This year is only slightly different than the years past because we are focusing more on the food we put in our bodies. I still want to make all my favorites, but I want to make them healthy and clean! I found a chili recipe that I adapted from the Team Beachbody Blog and it’s the recipe that has officially kicked off Chili Season.

My family loved it so much, I made a double batch and we still went through it in a couple of days!

The recipe calls for ground turkey, but really, you can use your choice of lean protein. Extra lean ground beef would be good. For the bell peppers you can do whatever colors you want. I like the combo of 1/2 red bell pepper and 1/2 green bell pepper but orange or yellow peppers would be amazing to change it up. It has a can of puréed pumpkin, which I know sounds weird, but adds amazing flavor and creates a nice velvety texture. Just make sure you don’t buy pumpkin pie filling. You want plain pumpkin! I add a little water to my recipe to thin it out just a bit, because my family likes a little thinner chili so you can adjust the liquid level based on your families liking. And lastly, the agave! I used a dark agave that has a maple flavor. Whenever I use canned tomatoes, whether it’s chili or spaghetti sauce, I usually add a little sugar to cut the acidity and tinny flavor of the canned tomatoes. Instead of sugar, I substituted the agave and it was perfect. It was a nice sweet, smoky chili!

21 Day Fix Turkey Chili

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can low sodium petite diced tomatoes
1 large can of low sodium crushed tomatoes
1 can chili beans
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen sweet corn
1 15oz can puréed pumpkin (not pie filling!!)
2 tbsp chili powder (more/less to your taste)
2 tsp cumin (more/less to your taste)
2 tsp paprika or smoked paprika
1 tsp sea salt or pink Himalayan salt
1-2 tbs dark agave, optional (adds a nice maple flavor)
Fresh ground black pepper
1/2 – 1 cup water (if needed to make chili your desired consistency)

In large soup pot, cook turkey until no longer pink. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook until they start to soften. Add the garlic and cook additional 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, beans, corn and seasonings and stir well to combine. Add pumpkin and mix in well. Adjust seasonings to your liking and add agave a little at a time until you’ve reached desired sweetness level. Add water as needed.

Heat to a low boil over medium heat, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 15-20 minutes.

Serve with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, onion and plain Greek yogurt if desired.

*This can also be prepared in the crock pot: Brown turkey in sauté pan. Add cooked turkey and rest of ingredients (minus the agave) to crock pot. Cook on low heat for 4-6 hours. Add agave to your liking during last half hour of cooking.*