You know what rainy + cold + weekend equals? Chili!! I’ve tried several chili recipes over the years, but this is the recipe that I return to again and again because the kids love it. And it’s loaded with vegetables, so I love serving it to them. And the best part? It’s a crockpot chili! So do a little work in the morning cooking up turkey and veggies, end the day with a delicious house and stress-free dinner time. Because I need to save all my stress for helping kids with their common-core math homework, which I don’t understand. As a math major and former math teacher. Grrr.
Rant over. Back to this chili. I do try to save red meat for only occasional consumption, so this chili uses ground turkey. You can use any colored bell pepper except green. I used red, yellow, and orange for this batch (I was making extra to give to friends). Peppers are part of the dirty dozen, so if you’re wanting to avoid the pesticides, go organic with them and the onions. I use Trader Joe’s frozen Organic Super Sweet Cut Corn. The original recipe calls for Rotel Mild Tomatoes, though I prefer either just the regular Rotel tomatoes or any diced tomatoes with jalapeños. I used the Muir Glen brand here because they were on sale at Whole Foods.
A note about heat… this is a really mild chili, thus the kid-friendly. You can amp up the heat by adding more chili powder or throw in a diced hot pepper with the bell peppers.
We are addicted to Trader Joe’s cornbread mix. That’s the one mix that I just can’t seem to give up. Well, that and Ghiradelli triple chocolate brownie mix. But it’s a guarantee for our fam that it will be made on the side with this chili.
Kid-friendly Crockpot Chili
Ingredients
- 2 lbs 99% lean ground turkey
- 1 1/2 teaspoon oil
- 1 cup onion diced
- 2 red bell peppers diced fine
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
- 2 10 oz cans Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies
- 15 oz can plain tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1-2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 bay leaves
Optional Toppings:
- diced avocado
- plain yogurt or sour cream
- shredded cheese
- tortilla chips
- cornbread
Instructions
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Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the turkey, season with salt and cook, breaking up with a spoon until turkey browns and is no longer pink; place into the slow cooker.
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Add the oil to the skillet and sauté the onion, garlic and bell peppers over medium heat for about 4 to 5 minutes.
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Spoon over turkey into the slow cooker and stir in corn and tomatoes, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder, paprika and salt, mix until well blended.
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Pour chicken broth into the crock pot and add the bay leaf.
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Cover and cook on HIGH 4 hours or LOW 6 hours.
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Serve with desired toppings.
Notes
Source: slightly adapted from Skinny Taste