This Turkey Sweet Potato Chili recipe is so good, you might want to double it! It’s made with no beans, but you can of course add them if you wish!
Turkey Sweet Potato Chili Recipe
This Whole30 chili friendly recipe has just the right amount of spice to compliment the sweet potatoes without being too spicy for those of you who prefer a milder chili (you can of course bump up the heat if you wish). A quick chili ready in under 30 minutes. If you love chili as much as me, you may also enjoy this Quick Beef Chili Recipe or my most popular Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Chili.
How To Make This No Bean Turkey Sweet Potato Chili Recipe
This is one of my favorite chili recipes I make all year once the weather gets cold. You can swap the sweet potato for butternut squash if you wish.
I have provided both stove top and pressure cooker directions if you have an Instant Pot (this is the one I have) afilliate link. Either way you make it, it’s a quick chili recipe.
For topping you can serve it with chopped cilantro, scallions, sour cream and cheddar on the side. Since this has no beans, it’s perfect for picky eaters (my youngest daughter is not a fan) and it’s also gluten-free, Whole30 and Paleo-friendly. It freezes well and makes a great lunch if you have leftovers!
No Bean Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili
Ingredients
- 20 ounces 93% lean ground turkey, 1.3 lb package
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 10 ounce can Rotel mild tomatoes with green chilies
- 8 ounce can tomato sauce
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 tsp cumin, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes, 8 oz
- fresh cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
Stove Top:
- Spray a large skillet with oil and heat over medium-high heat. When hot add the turkey and cook, breaking it up as it cooks into smaller pieces and season with 1 teaspoon salt.
- When meat is browned and cooked through add onion and garlic; cook 3 minutes over medium heat.
- Add the can of Rotel tomatoes, sweet potato, tomato sauce, water, cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt and bay leaf.
- Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until potatoes are soft and cooked through, about 25 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Add 1/4 cup more water if needed. Remove bay leaf and serve.
Instant Pot:
- Press saute, spray the pot with oil and brown the turkey breaking it up as it cooks into smaller pieces and season with salt and cumin.
- When meat is browned and cooked through add onion and garlic; cook 3 minutes.
- Add the can of Rotel tomatoes, sweet potato, tomato sauce, water, cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt and bay leaf.
- Cover and cook high pressure until potatoes are soft and cooked through, about 15. Natural release.
- Remove bay leaf and serve.
Last Step:
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I love this recipe! I switch out the sweet potato for butternut squash and add a can of black beans. I also use ground Turkey breast so if you’re doing WW, it’s 0 points! But it tastes amazing!
This recipe is delicious! I used ground chicken instead of turkey.
This soup is weirdly AMAZING at clearing your nasal congestion lol. I discovered this by accident a few years ago while making this amazing recipe while battling a sinus infection. And now years later I make this soup every time my family has stuffy noses.
My whole family loves this recipe – it’s a staple in our house. We make it maybe every other week, especially in cooler months. Although it’s a bean-less recipe, it’s also great with beans! Sometime we also throw in some frozen corn. It freezes great too! We like to top it with sour cream, shredded cheddar, and serve with tortilla chips!
This chili is on rotation at our house! Love it so much!
This was so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Double this every time!!! (: Prepare once a week. So delicious, nutritious, and filling in a “light” way. Gift it ~ on special occasions. A simply delightful meal with crusted cheese bread, so good. You will not be disappointed! (:
I make this recipe probably twice a month, and finally had to comment and say thank you to Gina! It is such a nourishing, comforting meal. I always double it so it can feed my family of 5 and I can have leftovers throughout the week (I especially love having it the next day with a fried egg on top!). I love everything about it. Usually I’ll end up browning the turkey, onion and garlic the night before then dumping everything in a crock pot the next day. Turns out great with minimal effort.
I was wondering about using a crock pot to make it easier. We love this recipe- on Whole 30 and off. Thanks, Vanessa for this info 🙂
How long do you cook it in a crockpot?
Only 8oz (1 cup of potatoes)? Seems wrong, as it turned out like soup 🥺 Please help!
This was delicious! I only had 1 lb of turkey meat so I added a hot italian turkey sausage link and it really added a ton of flavor. I also increased ALL of the spice measurements pretty heavily and added some cayenne. I will definitely be making this recipe again!
Just curious if others after browning the ground turkey with the teaspoon of salt do you all drain the excess grease before continuing on with the recipe? Thanks so much for your input.
No Rotel Tomatoes with chilis here – any suggest substitutions?
I use a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes and throw in a fresh chopped jalapeño…turns out perfect 🤩
Really good! I couldn’t taste the flavor of the sweet potato at all, so it seems it’s more to bulk it up (which wasn’t a good or bad thing, just mentioning in case the addition of it is scaring people off). Really just tasted like a traditional chili, which is always good! I followed the recipe exactly and added black beans. I will say this recipe only fed my husband and I with enough for one leftovers lunch container, so double if you’re making for a family 🙂
This was so yummy and healthy!
Thanks! MmPatty
I have made this many times with ground turkey but tried it today with shredded chicken breast (using what I had on hand!) Also very delicious! Love that this is an easy recipe that tastes so good!
Great baseline recipe, and I’ve now perfected it with a few tweaks. This is absolutely perfect, my family and I are all in agreement that this is the perfect spice and depth formula. Also, it’s a double recipe.
40 oz 90% lean organic ground turkey (sprinkled with 1/8th tsp redumnd fine sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground fennel seed during cooking)
1/8th teaspoon redumund ultra fine sea salt
1 1/4 cup chopped onion
6 cloves garlic, crushed, then minced
20 oz (2 cans) Rotel mild tomatoes with green chilies OR Rotel fire roasted tom w/green chiles
20 oz of canned tomato sauce (I used Muir Glen Organic no salt added)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1.5 teaspoons organic better than bouillon chicken base, dissolved in 1 3/4 cup water
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp regular paprika
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tspn ancho chili pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro (this can be skipped)
1/8th tsp garlic powder
1/4 tspn onion powder
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
fresh cilantro, for garnish
5% milkfat Fage greek yogurt for garnish
chopped fresh jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed, for garnish
polly-o part-skim mozzarella shredded, for garnish
cabot pepper jack cheese, shredded, for garnsish (children may prefer plain monterey jack, less spicy)
I used the instant pot method, and I also sauteed the onions and garlic separate from the turkey. I sauteed the turkey in its own pot on the stove, and then I drained the turkey (which was 90% lean). I also sauteed the onion in 1/2 teaspoon avacado oil, then added the garlic after a few minutes.
I happened to find your recipe and decided to make it for dinner. My husband and I really enjoyed it. I’m always looking for healthy low calorie meal options and this fit the bill. Thank you for great recipes.
This was so good! I was worried that it would be too sweet with the potatoes but not the case at all. The flavors come together really well and make this a wonderful bean-less chili recipe. Thank you!
I made this tonight only used a small butter nut squash chopped into small pieces, about 4 cups. It was perfect! I did use the whole 15oz can of tomato sauce just because of the added ingredients. Thank you!!
I would love to can this…would you add raw sweet potatoes to the jar instead of cooking them in the chili?
not sure?
This was delicious, I made a couple small changes, but kept the recipe mostly in tact. First I like a bit more spice, so I upped the heat a bit with some red pepper flakes and chipotle Chile pepper. I also had some frozen hatch chili peppers in the freezer and added them as well. I’m trying to eat healthier, less beef and pork, so ground turkey is a good substitute, however to give more of a pork taste, I ground up a bit of fennel seed and added it to the spice mixture while sautéing the turkey. A welcome improvement to the ground turkey blandness!
Hi, approximately how long does the turkey take to brown & cook through? Do the tomatoes need to be Rotel? I’m new to cooking so thank you for your help!
turkey takes about 5 min. Rotel or any tomatoes with chiles.
Loved it the way it is! Would it be as good if I used left over Turkey chopped up?
I love this stuff!!! I have made it many times. I make a few modifications though. I like the tomato flavor so double the diced tomatoes and add a small can of tomato paste. I am generous with the cumin and chili powder and also add a can of chipotle in adobo. This gives it a wonderful smoky spicy flavor! The 4 stars is due to the modifications.
This recipe is in constant rotation for us. My kids love it and they can be fussy eaters. I sneak in some cooked quinoa sometimes too and they don’t even notice!
This was really good. I found I did need to up the amounts of spices, i.e. cumin, chili powder and paprika. I did use smoked paprika also. I love Gina’s recipes particularly for her use of spices and herbs. She is a master at that. I turn to her recipes all the time for guidance.
I made this but a crock pot version – browned the meat then the onion and garlic as stated in the recipe. Then I through it into the crockpot with everything else listed for 6 hours on low. I adjusted spices (doubled) as noted by others and it came out perfect!
Very good and easy and filling. I added a tablespoon of tomato paste and cooked it down when sautéing onions. Also added a few tablespoons of chipotle in adobo and used smoked paprika instead of regular. Added a can of rinsed black beans. Rotel gives it the perfect medium spice level I prefer. The sweetness of the sweet potatoes play nicely with the smokiness and spiciness. Will definitely make this again.