Turkey Chili Recipe (with Butternut Squash)

This chunky turkey chili with roasted butternut squash and sage tastes like fall in a bowl with a Southwestern flair from roasted pasilla peppers.

This healthy Turkey Chili recipe has everything I want in a chili—hearty bites of ground turkey, creamy white beans, savory butternut squash, and a spicy kick from roasted pasilla peppers. Like my Deer Valley Turkey Chili, this chili adopts some favorite Southwest flavors, but instead of using leftover turkey breast, I use quick-cooking lean ground turkey. I also save time cooking by using canned white beans (or my meal-prepped cannellini beans are delish) but canned black beans or pinto beans would be good in this chili too. Roasted butternut squash adds caramelized, sweet squash bites with fresh sage delivering some serious fall flavoring.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• This chili is protein-packed with ground turkey and beans plus phytonutrient-rich butternut squash and pasilla peppers
• Hands-on cooking time is minimal, the oven and stove do most of the work
• It’s a terrific meal for leftovers, making a big batch to eat throughout the week.

What’s In This Turkey Chili Recipe with Butternut Squash

• Butternut squash—I typically buy a whole squash and then peel and cut it myself, but if you purchase pre-cut squash, you will want to cut those pieces into bite-size chunks.
• Pasilla peppers—Typically, these sturdy peppers aren’t too hot or too spicy, especially when the seeds are removed. After roasting, they’re cooked in the broth to infuse flavor.
• Ground turkey—I don’t buy ground turkey with less than 90% fat. In my opinion, extra lean ground turkey (93% or fat-free) gets too dry and has no flavor.
• Yellow onion—substitute white onion if desired
• Garlic—I like to use a garlic press like this one so the cloves become crushed and extra fine
• Cumin—This spice is what emphasizes the chili’s Southwest flair
• White wine—Choose a wine you’d be willing to drink. I buy good-quality boxed wine to keep on hand for cooking.
• White beans—Use high-quality canned beans that won’t break apart while cooking. Cannellini beans, white Northern beans, or small white beans work well. Or, batch cook my homemade cannellini bean recipe to have on hand.
• Chicken stock or broth—I freeze batches of my homemade chicken stock for recipes like this, but a good store-bought brand will work. Or, try turkey stock or vegetable stock.
• Fresh sage—A few snips add an earthy flavor that compliments the rest of the ingredients.
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

How to Make Turkey Chili

• Roast the butternut squash while cooking the rest of the ingredients. Roasting the squash makes the squash extra sweet and caramelized. Toss the squash with a drizzle of olive oil, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper then roast in a 425°F oven for 15-20 minutes.
• Roast the pasilla peppers in the oven with the squash. Slice the peppers in half, remove the seeds, and place on a baking sheet to roast alongside the squash. Roast until the skins blister and the peppers soften, for 20-25 minutes, then slice into slivers.

• Cook the ground turkey with the onions, garlic, cumin, kosher salt, and black pepper. Cook just until the turkey loses its pink color so it doesn’t become dry.
• Deglaze the pan with white wine. Scrape up any cooked bits of flavor from the bottom of the pan.
• Add the beans, slivered pasilla peppers, and sage.

• Add the chicken stock and cook to reduce and infuse flavor. Simmer for 15-20 minutes for the flavors to marry.
• In the final minutes, add the roasted butternut squash to the chili. Cook just until warmed through so the squash holds its shape.

FAQs and Ingredient Substitutions

• Buy pre-cut butternut squash and save even more time in prep
• This is a great recipe for putting batch-cooked cannellini beans to use
• Swap turkey stock for chicken stock
• Substitute fresh sage with fresh thyme leaves or parsley. I don’t suggest using ground sage as it comes off to strong.
• Try Anaheim or Hatch chiles instead of pasilla chiles
• Instead of white wine, try a lager beer (or you can skip it altogether)
• Serve with a dollop of sour cream and tortilla chips on the side

Storage Tips

• This chili can be made ahead and refrigerated for 3-4 days.
• Freeze the chili in gallon freezer bags or airtight containers for up to 2 months. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave. You may need to add more stock if it is too thick.

More Chili Recipe Ideas

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.

Turkey Chili Recipe (with Butternut Squash)

This chunky turkey chili with roasted butternut squash and sage tastes like fall in a bowl, with a Southwestern flair from roasted pasilla peppers.

Print SaveSaved!

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Keyword turkey chili

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Calories 269kcal

Ingredients 

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• 4 cups butternut squash , cut into large dice
• 3 pasilla peppers , roasted, seeded and sliced into ¼” ribbons
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt , divided
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper , divided
• 2 tablespoons olive oil , divided
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 medium onion , chopped
• 3 cloves garlic , pressed or minced
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• ½ cup white wine
• 2 15-ounce cans white beans , rinsed and drained
• 4 cups chicken stock , 32 ounces
• ½ cup fresh sage leaves , cut into ribbons or diced

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

• Heat the oven to 425°F. Place the diced butternut squash on a baking sheet and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and ½ teaspoon kosher salt and black pepper. Bake for 20 minutes or until soft and lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside.

• Meanwhile, slice the pasilla peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Place the peppers on a baking sheet skin side up, and roast in the oven alongside the squash for 20-25 minutes or until blistered and soft. Remove then slice into slivers and set aside.

• Heat the rest of the olive oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-high. Cook the ground turkey for 7-10 minutes or until it loses its pink color. Add the garlic and cumin and season with the rest of the salt and pepper. Add the onion and cook until softened about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the wine and cook for 3-5 minutes or until the wine evaporates, scraping the bits from the bottom of the pan as you stir.

• Add the drained beans, chicken stock, roasted pasilla peppers, and fresh sage, and cook for 15-20 minutes. Add the roasted butternut squash and cook for 3-5 minutes more or until warmed through. Serve warm.

Notes

• This chili can be made ahead and refrigerated for 3-4 days.
• Freeze the chili in gallon freezer bags or airtight containers for up to 2 months. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave. You may need to add more stock if it is too thick.

Nutrition

Calories: 269kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 1053mg | Potassium: 867mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 11207IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 3mg

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