Healthier Chili

My healthier chili recipe is perfect for a cold winter day. Chili is on our weekly rotation of dinners at my house on any cool fall or winter day. This recipe is perfect for meal prep, as it holds up beautifully in the fridge for a few days, and the flavors only deepen over time. This is a filling, stick-to-your-bones meal, made hearty with ground meat and two kinds of beans. The chili powder adds just the slightest spice, but feel free to amp up the heat by adding more chili powder or serving the chili with hot sauce. I want to encourage you to use any veggies, seasoning, or ground meat of your choice and make this recipe your own! You can easily throw in spinach or any greens you like at the end of cooking to make the chili more nutrient dense. Toppings are optional and this meal can be easily made plant-based (see notes below).

Healthier Chili

themodernnonna

My healthier chili recipe is perfect for a cold winter day. Chili is on our weekly rotation of dinners at my house on any cool fall or winter day. This recipe is perfect for meal prep, as it holds up beautifully in the fridge for a few days, and the flavors only deepen over time.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 tablespoons avocado oil or any neutral oil
• 450 grams (1 pound) ground turkey or any ground meat of choice
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder or any variety of chili powder you like
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ½ cup plain tomato sauce
• 4 cups unsalted veggie broth
• Two 15-oz cans of beans of choice, drained and rinsed (I used red kidney beans and cannellini beans)
• 1 cup finely diced bell peppers (I used red, yellow, and orange)

Optional Toppings:

• finely chopped cilantro or parsley
• handful of grated cheddar or mozzarella cheese
• small dollop of sour cream or plain full-fat yogurt
• finely chopped chives

Instructions

 

• Important note: this is a great recipe to practice “mise en place,” which means you prep/chop all of your ingredients before you start. I want you to be ready so that you don’t scramble for ingredients as you cook.
• In a large pot over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the ground meat and, using a wooden spoon, break it into small chunks as it browns. Cook the meat for about 10 minutes, or until all the liquid has fully evaporated. Ground turkey doesn’t have any fat so you won’t see much browning. If you use ground pork or beef, cook until it has browned in color. Reduce the heat to medium.
• Add the onions and garlic and stir. Add the chile powder, tomato paste, and tomato sauce one at a time and stir between adding each ingredient.
• Add the vegetable broth, and let the contents come to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, semi-cover the pot, and cook everything for 25 to 30 minutes.
• Add in the beans and bell peppers. Increase the heat to medium-high, and cook for another 10 minutes. If you like a thinner chili, you can add more broth or water; if you like it thicker, you can let it boil longer, until the liquid reduces. Just be aware that the chili will thicken more as it cools down.
• Be sure to taste and adjust for salt. Garnish with any of the optional toppings: cilantro, cheese, sour cream, and chives, and enjoy!

Notes

You can absolutely use any seasonings you enjoy or even use jalapeños to make a spicier chili. 

I haven’t tried freezing this meal but I don’t see why it wouldn’t freeze well. If you try freezing it, try with a smaller portion to see how you like it reheated.

Feel free to use any ground meat of choice, I have made this with ground beef/pork/sausage before and it was absolutely delicious.

The tomato sauce I added in is our homemade Italian tomato sauce, which is only made with tomatoes, salt and basil, so please choose a good quality jar of sauce or Passata that is clean in ingredients.

You can definitely make this dish vegan by using a plant-based ground meat.

I have used water before instead of broth and it’s just as delicious so don’t stress if you don’t have any broth on hand.

My favourite organic broth is by Kettle and Fire. You can use my link and code for 20% off: https://kettleandfire.com/modernnonna code MODERNNONNA

If you are in Canada, Natura Market will carry Kettle and Fire so please check online.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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