Crockpot Veggie Chili (with Turkey) Recipe

13 Dec 2009 By 4 Comments

Every time I tweet about this, I get asked what our recipe is, so I thought I’d publish for posterity. I forget where we got it from, but it started out as a veggie chili recipe. After the first batch we decided it was a little too lean, so we added the turkey to it.

Ingredients:
1 package ground turkey
1 15 oz can black beans
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 head cauliflower or broccoli
2 potatoes or sweet potatoes
1 onion (white, yellow, sweet, whatever)
4-ish large carrots
whatever seasonings you like

Preparation:

  1. Brown up the turkey and season heavily. I usually use some combo of cayenne pepper or chili powder, garlic powder, basil, poultry seasoning, onion powder, stuff like that.
  2. Chop up all your vegetables.
  3. Put everything in the crockpot.
  4. Season again. I usually just add extra garlic powder and chili powder or cayenne pepper at this point. Stir.
  5. Set the crockpot on low for 6 hours.
  6. Season again partway through (if you happen to be home). Stir again.
  7. Eat!

Usually I do the meat browning and can opening while Missy does all the peeling and chopping. Takes us about 15-20 minutes.

You could substitute fresh tomatoes if you want. We definitely like the sweet potatoes over regular potatoes. They add a little more sweetness which is a nice contrast and also plays nicely with the heat of the cayenne or chili. And they’re healthier. It never had enough kick until I started adding a third round of seasoning partway through the cooking.

Obviously, if you left the turkey out or substituted soy crumbles it’d be vegetarian. Vegan, even (I think). If you’re accustomed to eating meat, this mix of vegetables – especially with broccoli or cauliflower – gives it a lot of texture. I don’t think you’ll miss the meat, necessarily. But, like I said, we found it to be a little too lean for our tastes.

What I like about it is it’s so lean. You can eat until you’re stuffed, but you won’t get that gross, I’m-full-of-meat feeling since you digest vegetables differently. I know some people have trouble feeling satisfied without meat or more fat, so a spoonful of sour cream in your bowl goes a long way, too.

If you have any genius ideas for modifications or substitutions, do share.

Enjoy!

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  • Missy

    We got the initial recipe from my brain. I got the idea from working at the Good Earth back in the 90s. That was the first time I encountered veggie chili. It isn’t quite filling enough for a meal without the protein, though. I would like to try it with soy crumbles next time. I have to give you credit as the seasoning queen. Speaking of which, I should go season it again right now. Oh, yeah, and make the brown RICE!

  • autumn

    Awesome! If only I had read this before our party! I love the idea of putting sweet potatoes in… will definitely have to try that next time. More veggies, less beans :)

  • http://www.dizzyingintellect.com Tanya

    This sounds really good, if not at all how I picture chili. Does the cauliflower and potato make it too starchy to serve with rice? And do you use “typical” chili seasonings: cumin, chili powder, etc, or more of a cinnamony kind of mixture?

  • http://swirlspice.com Erica

    We don’t usually eat it with rice, but we did on this last batch. It was fine; there was a lot of juice which the rice soaked up. Eating it with rice is not my first choice, though. That’s more because there’s so much texture to the chili; the rice gets in the way. To me the chili seems less starchy with the sweet potato vs regular potatoes, even though it’s not actually less starchy. Maybe just because I associate the taste of potatoes with the idea of starch.

    We use “typical” chili seasonings. The sweet potato gives it so much sweetness, I think adding cinnamony stuff to it would be overkill.