• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to header navigation
  • Skip to footer top navigation
  • Skip to footer bottom navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Skinny & Fit is Always Delicious
Display Search Bar
Follow me on Facebook! Follow me on Twitter! Follow me on Pinterest! Follow me on Instagram! Follow me on YouTube! Contact Cart
  • Client Login

Skinny Fitalicious®

Because skinny & fit always tastes delicious

  • Weight Loss Coaching
  • Weight Loss Coaching
    • Coaching / Free Consult
    • Client Testimonials
  • Free Class
  • Podcast
  • Blog
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Best Calorie Calculator
    • Megan Recommends
    • Meal Plans
  • Podcast
  • Cookbook
  • About
    • About Megan
    • Policies
    • Contact

BONUS!

3 Smart Strategies To Stop Cravings So You Can Lose Weight!

Healthy Crockpot Turkey Chili {Low Cal, GF}

October 5, 2020

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate I earn qualifying purchases. Click here for more about this policy.

Healthy Crockpot Turkey Chili is a low calorie chili recipe made lower in fat with tons of flavor. Easy to make thanks to the slow cooker! Low Calorie + Gluten Free

Healthy Crockpot Turkey Chili is a low calorie chili recipe made lower in fat with tons of flavor. Easy to make thanks to the slow cooker! Low Calorie + Gluten Free

I grew up eating a lot of chili and it’s always been my go-to recipe during the fall and winter. You can never go wrong with a bowl of thick, hearty chili. It’s a meal in a bowl that’s packed with healthy ingredients and it’s incredibly easy to make.

What Makes This Turkey Chili Recipe Healthy

This healthy chili recipe has the right balance of each macronutrient in it. Macronutrients are the protein, fat and carbohydrates in your diet. The body needs all three macronutrients to feel its best and even to lose weight!

Most chili recipes are not well balanced. They have too much fat and too many carbohydrates making it not an ideal recipe for weight loss. Too many starches and fats together can be a problem for losing weight.

This healthy chili recipe is lower in fat by swapping beef that’s higher in fat for lean turkey and is lower in carbohydrates by adding the right amount of beans. It’s still high fiber (15 grams per serving!) yet lower in fat, lower carbs and lower in calories. It’s a much better balanced healthy chili recipe.

chili in a slow cooker

What You Need to Make Turkey Chili in a Slow Cooker

  • Slow Cooker
  • Ground Turkey, 99% lean
  • Tomato Sauce, canned
  • Fire Roasted Tomatoes, canned
  • Green Chiles, canned
  • Kidney Beans, canned
  • Chili Powder
  • Smoked Paprika
  • Cumin
  • Zucchini
  • Red Onion
  • Garlic
  • Salt, Pepper
chili in a white bowl

How To Make Turkey Chili in a Slow Cooker

It’s simple to make turkey chili in a crockpot! Many chili recipes will have you brown the meat and veggies in a skillet before adding them to a slow cooker. This is unnecessary. The crockpot will do the work for you!

First step to making turkey chili is to add all the ingredients to the crockpot except the beans. Then cover and cook four hours.

Second step is to drain and rinse the beans then add the beans to the slow cooker and cook another 30 minutes. Serve your chili!

Note of caution….NEVER cook dry beans in a slow cooker. They can release toxins into the recipe you’re making. If you choose to use dry beans, cook them separately in a pot, drain, rinse then add them to your chili later.

chili in a slow cooker

Can You Make Turkey Chili in an Instant Pot

Yes you can make turkey chili in an Instant Pot! Start by adding all ingredients to your Instant Pot except the beans and set the pot to pressure cook 30 minutes. Cover and set the valve to sealing. Note it will take time for the pot to pressurize.

Next manually release the valve and carefully remove the lid. Stir in the beans and let them sit 5 minutes to warm. Serve your chili!

Tips for Making the BEST Turkey Chili

Here’s a few pointers for making the BEST healthy turkey chili recipe in a slow cooker.

  • Spices – Spices are key to making the BEST tasting chili particularly the smoked paprika. Smoked paprika is much more flavorful than plain paprika. Also, check the date of your spices. If they’re more than 2 years old, it’s time to toss and replace them. Old spices will always be less flavorful.
  • Vegetables – Chilis and soups are the best places to add vegetables because you can easily add them without affecting the flavor. In fact, vegetables add a TON of flavor without adding calories and you can sneak them by picky eaters. Zucchini and onions are in this recipe, but bell peppers or cauliflower rice could easily be added to this recipe!
  • Slow Cooker – You can make turkey chili on the stovetop or in a slow cooker, but in my experience slow cooking chili is the best tasting chili ever!
  • Toppings – Greek yogurt, sliced jalapeños and avocado with diced red onions are great toppings to add to your chili recipe. I love using Greek yogurt for extra protein, but sour cream could be used instead.
chili with beans in a white bowl

Substitutions for Turkey Chili

  • Turkey – If you’re not a turkey lover, then you could try ground chicken breast or do ground grass-fed beef. We use ButcherBox for our meat delivery and love it! If you do swap the lean turkey for ground beef, then I recommend reducing to one can of beans to balance the fat and carbohydrate content better.
  • Beans – Don’t love kidney beans? Try black beans, white beans or lentils! Remember to never add dry beans to a slow cooker – see note above. If you don’t like beans, you can omit them like I did in this recipe or you can substitute quinoa or brown rice.
  • Vegetables – Don’t love zucchini? Try bell peppers, cauliflower rice or summer squash.
turkey chili with greek yogurt in white bowl

Hungry for More? Subscribe to get insider tips delivered to your inbox! And be sure to stay in touch on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

Healthy Crockpot Turkey Chili

Healthy Crockpot Turkey Chili is a low calorie chili recipe made lower in fat with tons of flavor. Easy to make thanks to the slow cooker! Low Calorie + Gluten Free

Author Skinny Fitalicious
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 45 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 346 kcal
turkey chili with greek yogurt in white bowl
5 from 2 votes
Print

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground turkey 99% lean
  • 2/3 cup red onion diced
  • 2 cups zucchini skin on, diced
  • 2 tbsp garlic minced
  • 30 oz tomato sauce canned
  • 14 oz fire roasted tomatoes canned
  • 4 oz diced green chiles canned
  • 3 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 29 oz kidney beans in a can
US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  1. Place all the ingredients except the beans in a slow cooker. Cover and cook 4 hours on high.

  2. After 4 hours, remove the cover and use a wooden spoon to break up the meat. It should already be broken apart or break apart easily. Add the beans, cover and cook another 30 minutes.

  3. Serve immediately with desired toppings. Greek yogurt is a great topping and adds more protein!

  4. Store in the refrigerator up to 7 days or in the freezer up to 60 days.

Recipe Notes

  • Each serving is about 1 2/3 cups.
  • My Amazon shop has more products similar to those used for this recipe and that I recommend to my weight loss clients.
  • If you love this recipe, check out my cookbook for more delicious recipes!
Course Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine American
Keyword chili, crockpot, gluten free, ground turkey, healthy, kidney bean, low calorie, low fat, slow cooker
Nutrition facts per serving (1serving)
Calories 346 kcal
Fat 3 g
Saturated Fat 1 g
Cholesterol 42 mg
Sodium 1135 mg
Potassium 1514 mg
Carbohydrates 49 g
Fiber 15 g
Sugar 10 g
Protein 34 g
Vitamin A 2367 %
Vitamin C 29 %
Calcium 124 %
Iron 8 %

Love my recipes?

Check out my cookbook!

Learn More

What I Used For The Recipe

Healthy Crockpot Turkey Chili is a low calorie chili recipe made lower in fat with tons of flavor. Easy to make thanks to the slow cooker! Low Calorie + Gluten Free
Healthy Crockpot Turkey Chili is a low calorie chili recipe made lower in fat with tons of flavor. Easy to make thanks to the slow cooker! Low Calorie + Gluten Free

About Megan

Megan is a certified nutrition practitioner, author, freelance food photographer and fitness instructor living in Phoenix, Arizona. On her blog, Skinny Fitalicious she shares EASY, gluten free recipes for weight loss. Follow Megan on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates.

< Previous Post
Next Post >
6046 shares
  • Share49
  • Tweet

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment

    Leave a Comment Cancel reply

    Recipe Rating




  1. Laura says

    January 9, 2021 at 12:32 pm

    Uh oh, I added the kidney beans to everything. Will it be okay cooking for 4 hours?

    Reply
    • Megan says

      January 10, 2021 at 2:22 pm

      It will be fine. The beans will just be mushier.

      Reply
  2. Amy Johnson says

    January 15, 2021 at 10:27 am

    Cook on low?

    Reply
    • Megan says

      January 15, 2021 at 1:55 pm

      On high – thanks for that catch!

      Reply
  3. Kelly says

    September 28, 2021 at 5:32 pm

    This is probably a stupid question but how much is a serving size? 1 cup, 2 cups etc?

    Reply
    • Megan says

      September 29, 2021 at 7:25 am

      That info is listed for you under the NOTES section which is directly under the step-by-step instructions.

      Reply
  4. Destiny says

    December 1, 2021 at 1:22 pm

    Could you use frozen or does the meat have to be thawed?

    Reply
    • Megan says

      December 2, 2021 at 9:03 am

      Frozen meat does not reliably heat up to safe temperatures in a slow cooker so as a general rule of thumb when slow cooking you never want to use frozen meat. If you need to thaw your meat, you can do it quickly by placing packaged meat in a bowl of warm water.

      Reply
  5. Vanessa says

    February 5, 2022 at 1:02 pm

    My family loves this recipe. I’m already making it for a second time.

    Reply
    • Megan says

      February 6, 2022 at 7:23 am

      Fantastic to hear!

      Reply
  6. Katie says

    February 15, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    Do you what the time would be for an instant pot?

    Reply
    • Megan says

      February 16, 2022 at 4:06 pm

      You can do it in the Instant Pot, but just know it may give you a burn notice and I personally have found it doesn’t turn out as good. Sauté the meat first using the sauté function, then pressure cook everything except the beans on high for 10 minutes. Naturally release for 5 minutes then add the canned beans and let them sit in the pot for 5 minutes to warm.

      Reply
  7. Kristy says

    March 12, 2022 at 11:35 am

    Do you rinse your beans?

    Reply
    • Megan says

      March 13, 2022 at 7:19 am

      No canned beans are used for this recipe so you don’t need to rinse them.

      Reply
  8. Waluigi says

    October 7, 2022 at 11:06 am

    Love the recipe! I’ve made it twice in three months. I had extra jalapenos so I used those instead of the canned chiles, which turned out great.

    In my latest version, I added canned corn for color/texture. Takes longer to cook, but I like the crunch it adds. If you like it spicy, cayenne powder is a great addition.

    Reply
  9. Kiki says

    January 6, 2023 at 9:10 am

    Do you cook the Turkey first?

    Reply
    • Megan says

      January 6, 2023 at 9:25 am

      No, that is why the instructions don’t have a step for cooking the turkey. Just throw the meat in the slow cooker!

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

Meet Megan

Megan is a nutrition practitioner, author of the Low Calorie Cookbook and podcast host of the Dish On Ditching Diets. Megan helps women over 35 lose weight after losing 80 pounds herself. Here you get low calorie recipes for weight loss that balance hormones. Learn more about my weight loss programs HERE!

  • Nutrition Coaching
  • Skinny Fitalicious Meal Plans
  • Shop and Resources
  • Weight Loss Tips

Latest Video

https://youtu.be/L1t4wDjG5do

Some links on this site are affiliate links for which I am compensated a small commission if the link is clicked and a purchase is made. There is no cost to you. For a full disclosure policy, visit my Policies.

My Cookbook

low calorie cookbook

Follow me on Facebook! Follow me on Twitter! Follow me on Pinterest! Follow me on Instagram! Follow me on YouTube!
  • Weight Loss Coaching
  • Free Weight Loss Class
  • Podcast
  • Recipe Index
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer
© 2023 Skinny Fitalicious® Design by Melissa Rose Design Development by Once Coupled