Turkey Sweet Potato Chili (No beans!)

Name: Turkey Sweet Potato Chili
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; 1/2 sweet onion (diced); 5-7 cloves garlic (minced); 1 lbs ground turkey; 28 oz petite diced tomatoes (canned); 16 oz tomato sauce (canned); 1/2 cup chicken broth; 1 large sweet potato (1-inch cubed (~12 oz)); 1 tbsp chili powder; 1 tsp smoked paprika; 1/2 tsp ground cumin; 1 tbsp granulated sugar; 1 cup frozen corn; salt (to taste); black pepper (to taste); 1/4 cup cilantro (chopped); 1/3 cup cheddar cheese (shredded); 2 avocado (sliced)

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Introducing Turkey Sweet Potato Chili! I love regular chili, but I’m telling you, I’m loving this ground turkey, no bean, sweet potato version even more!

Turkey Sweet Potato Chili is a fun and healthier twist to traditional chili, but it still retains that slightly spicy, tomato-y flavors and hearty textures that we all know and love.

Stirring a bowl of turkey sweet potato chili topped shredded cheese, avocados and cilantro

Love chilis? Don’t forge to also check out my Texas Red Chili and Healthy Turkey Chili recipes!

Table of Contents

Turkey Chili with Sweet Potatoes

This turkey sweet potato chili recipe is very similar to my Healthy Turkey Chili, but loaded with lots of yummy sweet potato chunks and has a slightly sweeter twist to it. The slight sweetness in the broth goes perfectly with those wonderful sweet potatoes.

Having a fervent passionate love for all things sweet potato, it is no surprise that I am loving this sweet potato version of turkey chili so dang much.

Sweet Potato Turkey Chili is a chunky, cozy soup filled with ground turkey, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes (well duh…), then garnished with avocados, cheese, and cilantro.

My opinion about garnishes is that they are just as important as the chili itself. So whenever I am having a bowl of any chili, you better believe it is loaded with garnishes.

If you aren’t a garnish person, it’s okay we can still be friends! 😉

Add lots of garnish, add no garnish at all, or somewhere in between…it’s all yummy, and you should enjoy this sweet potato turkey chili however way you want!

Turkey Sweet Potato Chili is a delicious bowl of soup to enjoy in this beautiful Fall weather that is slowly but surely coming upon us.

Top down view of a bowl of chili topped with sliced avocados, cheese and cilantro

Ingredient Notes

Here are the key ingredients for this turkey chili with sweet potatoes:

Ground turkey – ground chicken works great for this as well. I like to use lean ground turkey.
Sweet potatoes – use 1 large, or 2 small sweet potato(es). Cut into cubes about 1-inch wide. If sweet potatoes are too big, it’s takes longer to soften them.
White or sweet onions
Garlic – fresh garlic brings the best flavor. Mince or chopped up the garlic cloves.
Canned tomatoes – using both canned petite diced tomatoes and canned tomato sauce. Canned whole tomatoes can be used instead of diced tomatoes.
Chicken broth
Spices – we are using chili powder, smoked paprika, ground cumin to bring on lots of delicious flavors
Frozen corn – canned or fresh work as well.
Sugar, salt and black pepper to taste – this will help open up the flavors of the chili!

Let’s make Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

Turkey Sweet Potato Chili is a one-pot, 30-minute, easy meal that that anyone can put together, even on a busy evening!

You’ll want to heat a large pot, add some cooking oil, then saute minced garlic and diced onions until fragrant. This is an important step to bring out the flavors of the garlic and onion.

Next, add ground turkey to the pot. Season with salt and black pepper, then saute ground turkey until they are no longer pink

After that, add canned tomatoes and chicken broth

Satue-ing onions, and then add tomatoes and chicken broth to the pot

Next, add cubed sweet potatoes and stir to combine.

Add spices such as ground chili powder, ground cumin and smoked paprika. …and bring turkey sweet potato chili to a boil.

Adding cubed sweet potatoes to the pot, and then adding spices

Let the chili simmer and cook so that chili thickens and the flavors come together.

It is done when sweet potatoes are soft and can be pierced easily with a fork…about ~15 minutes or so.

I wait until our turkey sweet potato chili is almost done before adding frozen corn because they don’t take long to cook. We are basically just heating them up.

So at the end, add frozen corn and bring heat to medium high, cook for another few minutes until liquid comes to a boil again.

Taste (always, always taste your food!) your sweet potato chili, and then add salt and black pepper to open up the flavors as desire.

A large pot containing ground turkey and sweet potato chili

Variations and Substiution

There are so many ways to make turkey sweet potato chili. Here are some variation suggestions. Feel free make this chili your own by jazzing it up with the ingredients below:

Bell peppers – red, green, orange…
Beans – black, pinto, any kind!
Ground beef or pork or chicken – use in place of ground turkey if desire!

Keep in mind that if you add a lot of additional ingredients you will need to add more liquid and spices to balance out the flavors and thickness of the Turkey Sweet Potato Chili as well. So adjust accordingly!

Garnishes

When Turkey Sweet Potato Chili is done, garnish with some or all of the below!

Cilantro (something about cilantro in sweet potato chili just rounds out the flavor so well!)
Shredded cheese
Avocado
Tortilla chips or corn chips
Jalapeños
Sour cream
Cornbread

Using a spoon to scoop out some chili from a bowl

Tips and Tricks

A few tips for making Turkey Sweet Potato Chili:

Cut sweet potatoes into ~1 inch cube. Avoid cutting it in large pieces because it will take longer to cook.
Salt is used to open up flavors, not just to add saltiness to the chili. Taste chili when it is fully cooked, and if it is not as flavorful as you like, try adding a dash or two of salt. You’ll be surprise what a little bit of salt can do to bring the flavors to the next level!

Meal prep

Turkey Sweet Potato Chili makes great meal prep because it stores really well. In fact, I might argue that it tastes even better after sitting for a few days as the chili powder, cumin and smoked paprika would have fully permeated the soup and the other ingredients such as the ground turkey and sweet potato.

I’m definitely one of those people who loves leftover chili and look forward to it. Especially when they are as tasty as this one.

Whenever I make Turkey Sweet Potato Chili I typically double it and store one batch in the freezer for busy weeks.

There’s nothing quite like warm homemade comfort food that is already done and only needs to be microwaved on a busy weeknight.

Storage and Reheating

Store sweet potato chili in air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or freezer for up to 2 months.

If storing in the freezer, bring to refrigerator to fully defrost chili 24 hours prior before microwaving it to heat it up.

A bowl of sweet potato turkey chili with toppings such as shredded cheese, chopped cilantro and sliced avocados

Serving Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

Here are some delicious recipes to serve with it:

Skillet Cornbread
Tortilla chips
Bread or tolls – or a fancier bread such as Honey Butter Rolls
Salad such as Fall Harvest Salad
Potato skins

After many, many hot days this summer, I am so ready to make a big bowl of this cozy Sweet Potato Turkey Chili, put on my comfy sweater, and kick off Fall season.

Wanna join me?? 😄

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I cook this in the slow cooker?

Start by browning ground turkey on a skillet. Then add ground turkey, along with all the ingredients into a slow cooker. Cook on high for 2 hours or low for 4-5 hours.

Can I freeze chili?

Absolutely! They freeze really well. Make sure to bring to cool and then store in an airtight container. Store in freezer for up to 3 months.

What’s a good substitute for ground turkey?

Ground chicken taste so similar I can’t tell a difference! Ground beef can work too.

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