Turkey Chili with Adzuki Beans Recipe

October 22, 2020 by Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CN

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Fall weather calls for chili making, and this white turkey chili recipe with adzuki beans will hit the spot. With not one, but two kinds of turkey, and a hint of smokiness from paprika, you’ll want to enjoy a piping hot bowl by a bonfire.

This is a Texas-style chili: heavier on the meat. So invite the meat-lovers in your life, and show them that eating healthy doesn’t have to mean giving up their favorite food!

Key Healthy Ingredients

Is turkey chili good for a diet? If you use the right ingredients like this turkey chili recipe calls for, it’s a resounding yes!

This turkey chili recipe features adzuki beans, the red bean traditionally used in Asian cuisine. Adzuki beans are a part of the healing diet because they contain lots of iron (about 25 percent of your recommended daily intake in this recipe), magnesium, potassium, zinc and folic acid.

If you’ve ever experienced an iron deficiency, you know that getting enough of this essential mineral can up your energy, help you sleep better and help you maintain a positive mood. Those are all good things when the days are getting shorter.

Did you also know that eating iron-rich animal sources of food along with plant-based foods can help your body absorb the iron even better? So chili, with its combination of meat and beans, is an iron powerhouse.

What kind of meat is best for chili? You can use the traditional ground beef (so long as it’s grass-fed) or chicken, but turkey is the meat of choice for this recipe because it offers lean protein as well as iron and healthy fat.

You want to look for organic, pasture-raised turkey to be sure you’re getting the most nutritious protein food. You’ll get the benefits of improved mood, more energy and stronger muscles.

The bottom line: If you’re craving chili this season, listen to your body! It might be telling you to eat the perfect food for what it needs.

Turkey chili recipe with adzuki beans - Dr. Axe

How to Make Turkey Chili

How do you make turkey chili from scratch? This turkey chili recipe makes it easy, whether you want to use a stock pot or are looking for a turkey chili slow cooker recipe.

We’ll start by soaking the adzuki beans overnight in water and whey or apple cider vinegar. This breaks down antinutrients that prevent your body from absorbing the good stuff, and it preserves the good nutrients since it means you don’t have to cook the beans as long in the chili.

After a good soak, drain and rinse the beans.

Turkey chili recipe ingredients - Dr. Axe

Now comes the fun part: layering the flavors of the turkey chili. You’ll start by boiling the beans in some low-sodium broth and salt (starting with low-sodium broth or salt-free homemade chicken bone broth and adding salt as needed means you can control the sodium level better). Once those have simmered for a while, add the pulled smoked turkey, diced tomatoes (with the juice) and spices.

While that’s simmering, grab a skillet and sauté the ground turkey and red onions in butter or coconut oil — flavor layer number two! When the ground turkey has lost most of its pinkness, add the green peppers and garlic.

Continue cooking until the turkey is browned and cooked through.

Add the ground turkey and vegetables to the chili and let it simmer for 15–20 minutes. You want the flavors to marry and the consistency to slightly thicken.

You can taste it at this point and see if it needs salt or more spice. Add chili powder if you’d like more spice.

This is a good time to get your toppings ready, which will make this stew really shine. Try avocado, goat milk yogurt, salsa or green onions — or all of them!

Once the turkey chili is ready, ladle it into bowls, top it to your liking and enjoy. If you have any leftovers (which I highly doubt you will if you’re serving four to five people), refrigerate it, and the flavor will be even better over the next few days.

If you want more of a set-it-and-forget-it recipe, you can make this a slow cooker turkey chili recipe as well. Simply add the ingredients into your slow cooker, let it stew for a few hours (or even more) and — viola! — you have slow cooker turkey chili.

Similar Recipes

Looking for other healthy chili recipe variations? Try these recipes: