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I made this chili tonight and it was fantastic. It’s the perfect blend of easy to make and nutritious! Thanks for sharing.
OH CHILI BEANIE! What can I even say? We ♡ this healthy, spicy, extremely basic and wonderful turkey chili loaded with everything sweet potato and yummy.
Fun fact: if I were still a teacher, I’d be going back to school today.
But instead, I’m sitting at Spyhouse Coffee in Northeast Minneapolis (anyone?) and trying to look like a person who fits in with this seriously hipster crowd while typing away on my little computer machine about how much I love turkey chili. Based on my mispronunciation of the name of the fancy drip coffee when ordering, my wandering around for five minutes to find an outlet, and my head-to-toe Target outfit, I’m doing just sooo great with the whole vibe. Way SMOOTH.
I am so happy and grateful and excited to be blogging for a lot of reasons. But on this reflective would-be first-day-back where I imagine what my life would be like if I hadn’t ever left my first job, I have to admit – I really owe a lot to teaching.
For example, we must acknowledge that it was my time as a teacher that taught me the importance (read: absolute necessity) of a really good, really easy, take-it-to-work lunch.
Which this Rockin’ 5 Ingredient Sweet Potato Turkey Chili most definitely is! Thank you, teaching.
HOW TO MAKE OUR SWEET POTATO CHILI:
Within the last few weeks, I’ve lost Bjork to a healthy eating kick that emphasizes more protein. Which means that I see him eating more protein and get Major Food FOMO – worrying that if he’s eating more protein, then maybe I should be eating more protein, too. So what started as his new thing has become the two of us being on a protein kick together. Romantic. ♡
One night last week (er, for every night for all our lives?), we found ourselves needing a protein-packed dinner and needing it fast.
I had very few ingredients and the grocery store was literally light years away. Lit-er-al-ly.
So I got to work with what I had, which was essentially five ingredients…
- sweet potatoes
- ground turkey
- onions and garlic
- water and broth
- canned beans
I didn’t even have tomatoes – can I call this chili still? Please just let me.
30 minutes later, THIS HAPPENED. Just a simple, creamy, spicy, sweet potato base with ground turkey and onions and garlic and black beans. Lotsa protein included. A filling, happy, super easy dinner that came out of minimal-grocery circumstances and went on to give us a few days’ worth of obsessively delicious take-to-work lunches.
You know those times when you look up and it’s past lunchtime and you forgot to eat? Yeah, me either. But for the times when you watch the clock JUST WAITING for lunch, this recipe is your best ever friend.
Make it on a weeknight and let it love you for lunch all week long.
Also one more thing: fall is coming. 🍁🍁🍁👻👻👻‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️
Note: Technically this is more than five ingredients. But generally it is five things: sweet potatoes, turkey, black beans, onions/garlic, and water/broth. Please don’t be mad.
Rockin’ 5 Ingredient Sweet Potato Turkey Chili
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 5 1x
Description
Sweet Potato Turkey Chili – just five basic ingredients for this delicious real food chili recipe! Sweet potatoes, black beans, turkey, onions, and spices.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 3 sweet potatoes, chopped into small pieces (I left the peel on bc I’m lazy)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 cups water
- 2–3 cups broth (start with 2)
- 1 14-ounce can black beans
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne for spice (more to taste!)
Instructions
- Heat the oil over medium high heat in a heavy, deep pot. Add the onion, turkey, 1 tablespoon chili powder, and 1 tablespoon taco seasoning. Add water as needed to keep the turkey moist and moving around in the pan. When the turkey is browned and crumbled and the onions are soft, remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the sweet potatoes to the same pot with the remaining spices and stir to combine. When the sweet potatoes have browned just slightly, add the garlic, water, and broth. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 10 minutes or so, until the sweet potatoes are very soft. Using an immersion blender, puree the mixture until it reaches your desired consistency (you can also transfer to a regular blender and puree that way).
- Add the browned turkey, black beans, and cayenne – stir to combine.
Notes
The saltiness and flavor of the soup will depend on your taco seasoning. I added some salt and pepper and the end, which I recommend – just taste and adjust as you need to. At the risk of sounding crazy, I also added a spoonful or two of brown sugar and some red wine vinegar to give it some tang. I also added about a cup of cooked quinoa a few times to make it a little more hearty – that was good, too. You can top this with sour cream, cilantro, cheese, red onions, tortilla chips, avocado, or whatever else you like!
The third cup of broth can be added at the end if you feel like it needs to be thinned out at all.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: sweet potato turkey chili, turkey chili, easy chili recipe
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of best healthy soups. Check it out!
What size sweet potato? Much like regular potatoes, this can make a huge difference. (How many cups cubed.)
5 ingredients and great flavors that the whole family enjoys! This was a perfect rainy weeknight dinner. This will be in the rotation for sure!
What kind of broth are you adding to this turkey chilli? Beef broth?
This is delicious! This is now my go to turkey chili recipe. 😋😋😋
This was very good. I can’t eat anything tomato based so finding a chili recipe like this is wonderful. I did add a splash of red wine vinegar and a tsp of dark brown sugar as suggested.
Would like recipes
Super frustrating that the recipes do not print anymore without an advertisement. It ruins the aesthetic and is really sad, especially when considering how many pop-ups and advertisements one has to endure when using this website. Back to New York Times cooking for me.
This was good, but it’s definitely missing something. I agree with the other reviewers it needs quinoa, rice or something to make this more than ground turkey and a few black beans. Perhaps only blending half the sweet potatoes would help.
This was wonderfully easy AND delicious!
Following a couple previous reviews, we added celery and a can of kidney beans. It was great!
Even had it the next morning topped with eggs!
Can you share the exact recipe that uses the quinoa? When you add it? How much you add? If it’s already cooked when you add it?
Hi Kaitlyn – The quinoa is already cooked when you add it (if you choose too). There are some more details in the notes section of the recipe card!
This was such a tasty fall theme soup! I did a little tweaking since my ground turkey was 2 lbs and I added 2 cans of black beans because I like them . This was my 1st time using ground turkey for chili and it came out delicious! Oh, I have not used sweet potato as a purée before but wow! Thank you for sharing your recipe. I added the brown sugar and red wine vinegar as well..
So good! My picky eater ate TWO bowls. I did add another can of beans though because we’re a bean-loving family, but it was amazing!
Made this for meal prep today and can’t wait to eat it tomorrow! So simple but so much flavour and protein! I used one large yam instead of 3 smaller ones and the consistency was great. Thanks for a great recipe that I will definitely make again.
New favourite recipe! It was delicious and easy to make. I added the quinoa, a can of kidney beans and only half the chilli. Have already passed the recipe onto two people 🙂
REALLY yummy. I found it a bit sweet adding the 1TB of brown sugar. I also made my own taco seasoning, and used ancho chili powder and added a dash of cinnamon. I had one big red pepper, so I added that after the sweet potatoes browned, and it was perfect. I did find that it needs a bit more oil before the sweet potatoes, if you are using a Dutch oven or cast iron. I never have this issue with my instant pot, but I wanted to make the recipe on the stove. I also added a second can of beans (dark red kidney) because i only had 1lb of turkey and wanted to make up for the 8oz of meat/protein lacking. The purée with the immersion blender is the best part (I use a Müeller because it splatters less than my Cuisinart one). Overall, very tasty and easy. Will make it again!
Thanks so much for the feedback, Tonieh! We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
What kind of broth are you using? Beef? Veggie?
We like to use chicken broth, but beef or veggie broth will work too!
This was so yummy! I made it on Halloween before we took our little ones Trick or treating because I wanted something quick to make. My husband who is not a soup/chili fan loved it too. I added a can of diced tomatoes and chilies and served it with some homemade cornbread and it was a perfect meal for a cool and cozy night.
Sounds wonderful, Ann! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
How much quinoa would you suggest using if you add that to the pot?
I have made this recipe 4 times now since January, and it is so good every time! I am in college and just cook for myself, and this recipe is just as good reheated over the next few days!
Glad you’ve been enjoying the chili, Mackenzie!
This is soooo YUMMY! I made a big pot for myself in January and took it to work the next day because it was so much. I also made traditional chilli just Incase nobody liked it.. my Gosh it was a much bigger hit than the traditional! Everyone was asking for the recipe ! I shared it with like 4 people!! Making it again today
So happy to hear this, Renita!
This was amazing!! thanks for the great recipe. Will be making this a staple in our home for sure!
So glad to hear you enjoyed the chili! 😊
Delicious combination of flavors,
Sweet and spicy! I added turmeric and cinnamon and subbed out the cayenne for chipotle hot sauce—so good! Thank you!
Has to be the best best bestest chili I have ever had. Oh my it was so good. Made just as listed but added in a can of white beans along with the black. So amazingly good.
So glad you enjoyed the chili, Katrina! 🙂
hi! am going to try this recipe this week, have been looking for a tomato-less chili, so am very excited about it! just wondering, about how many cups of sweet potato? they can vary so much in size… thanks!
Hi, Michelle! It’ll be about 3 cups.
This looks awesome, perfect for a busy week!