Erik's Turkey Chili Recipe

    Important: Capsaicin ("spiciness" or "heat") tolerance is so variable among people that I'm leaving it out. Please feel free to add heat as you see fit.

    Core ingredients

    • 2 cans tomato sauce
    • 1 lb ground turkey + browning material (1 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp granulated onion, and 1/8 tsp granulated garlic)
    • 2 cans kidney beans
    • 1/2 can black beans

    Seasoning ingredients

    Base

    • 1 cup chicken broth
    • 2 tbsps Californian olive oil

    Veggies

    • 1/2 sweet onion
    • 1 stalk celery
    • 2 cloves fresh garlic
    • 1 red bell pepper
    • 1 carrot

    Herbs & Spices

    • 1 tsp dried cumin
    • 1 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1 tbsp dried basil
    • 1 tsp dried sweet paprika

Preparation

Seasoning mix

Prep the seasoning first, because it's not time-sensitive and can be safely stored in the fridge.
  1. Chop up all your veggies and gather them in a medium bowl.
  2. Add base, herbs, and spices, and stir enough that the liquids and solids are integrated and there are no egregious concentrations of spice.
  3. [Optional: If you're a big weirdo like me and appreciate the taste but not texture of veggie chunks, grind it all up in a blender. Then return to bowl.]
  4. Set seasoning bowl aside in the fridge.

Main dish

  1. Grab your chili pot and add the turkey browning assets - 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp granulated onion, and 1/8 tsp granulated garlic.
  2. Add your defrosted ground turkey. I like to break the ground mass up a bit and sprinkle a pinch of extra salt atop the turkey.
  3. Set stovetop temp to medium/high.
  4. Brown well, periodically mixing meat with oil/spice blend.
  5. Once browned, reduce stovetop temperature to low.
  6. Add tomato sauce, kidney beans, and black beans.
  7. Add spice package and raise heat to medium.
  8. As heat rises, stir gently until you reach a gentle boil, then you're done!
Best served with "Jiffy" Corn Muffins topped with sugar of Mauritania or other large-grain sugar.