This Healthy Paleo Turkey Chili is a convenient recipe to eat something that is good for you.
One of the challenges of a healthy lifestyle is making it convenient to eat healthy. If you can set aside a night to prepare healthy meals, it can be much easier, but let’s face it…there are times when even that seems like an impossible feat!
Last week, I had the ingredients to make one of my favorite chili recipes ever…The Paleo Turkey Chili. Some of the ingredients may seem strange at first, but the idea for this recipe came from a deli in NYC that had squash, zucchini, and mushrooms in their chili of the day, and it was WONDERFUL!
Whole-30 Healthy Paleo Turkey Chili
Print RecipeIngredients
- 2 pounds lean turkey (you can use lean beef if you prefer)
- a half medium onion, diced
- 2 zucchini, roughly chopped
- 1 summer squash, chopped
- 1 cup sliced mushroom of choice
- 1 jalapeño, finely diced (can substitute bell pepper)
- 3 Roma tomatoes, diced (I use the ones that are turning soft in the refrigerator)
- 1 16-ounce can of fire-roasted tomatoes
Instructions
1. Cook ground turkey on medium-high heat. Concentrate on breaking the meat up fine. This gives a magnificent texture to chili.
2. After the meat is browned, add in the onion, pepper, zucchini, summer squash, and mushrooms. Continue cooking for about 10 minutes on medium heat.
3. Add Roma tomatoes and can of tomatoes and continue to cook on medium heat until onions are translucent and the tomatoes begin to break down.
4. Next, add purified water to the desired thickness of chili that you want. Sometimes I am in the mood for a real soupy chili and will add more water. If I want a thick chili, I add less, usually 4 cups. After you have reached the desired thickness, add chili seasoning mix.
You can make your chili seasoning mix if you are scared of the store-bought packet’s ingredients!
Here is a recipe for my chili seasoning. This also works well for seasoning taco meat.
Chili seasoning:
- 4 tablespoons of chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 3 teaspoons sea salt
- 4 teaspoons black pepper
- (I usually add more cayenne to my own bowl because I like XXX-spicy chili)
I hope you enjoy my chili recipe. It is super healthy. Enjoying lean protein and a wide range of veggies never tasted so delicious. If you wish, you can also add diced sweet potato or a can of puréed pumpkin as well. I love those modifiers to the recipe on a cold winter day. Enjoy and remember to make eating whole foods convenient for you. You are more likely to stick with clean eating if you set yourself up for success. Let me know how you like it!
