Clean Eats Turkey Chilli!

In a lot of homes Turkey is like the estranged family member that only shows their face at the dinner table for Christmas, putting the festive seasons aside its lack of popularity makes it one of the most inexpensive natural low fat sources of protein you can buy in the supermarket for the rest of the year.  

Here’s the recipe for my veggie loaded turkey chilli that makes a regular appearance on our dinner table! (Approx 250 calories a serving) I promise you the home cooked comfort fuzzy feeling in your tummy without the added inches to your waistline!

Ingredients:

400g Turkey breast mince

3 cloves of crushed garlic

1 whole red chilli finely sliced

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

2 tablespoons of mild chilli powder

1 courgette diced

1 red onion finely sliced

4 medium mushrooms peeled and chopped (I usually buy a bag of pre chopped mushrooms for £1 in Tesco’s, use half in the chilli and the remaining half with breakfast the next morning)

1 Tin of chopped tomatoes (with or without herbs)

½ Tin of kidney beans

A generous table spoon or 2 of tomato puree (helps thicken up the sauce)

1 beef oxo cube – crushed (optional)

A tablespoon of oil for cooking, I mostly use either coconut oil or garlic olive oil

If you like it Super-Hot (I tend not too because my other half accuses me of trying to ‘blow his face off’) add extra chilli flakes.

A small handful of fresh coriander

Method:

There’s a few different ways of doing chilli, You could brown the onions and bang it all in the slow cooker (I recommend you use thigh mince for slow cooking as it stands less chance of drying out) or if you have the afternoon at your leisure you could start it on the hob and then pop it in the oven for a couple of hours on a low heat (if you fancy a little treat pop some mature cheddar on the top before putting it in the oven.)

The majority of the time that I cook it I tend to make it on the hob but will make it the night before I want to eat it so the flavors have chance to infuse as it rests.

So, put a frying pan on the heat with your selected oil, diced onions, ground cumin and crushed garlic and lightly fry for 3-5 minutes until the onions are softening, add in your mushrooms & courgette for a minute or 2 and then add in your ground turkey, oxo cube and remaining spices. Once the turkey is starting to darken add in your chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, kidney beans & coriander give it a good mix, bring to the boil and then let simmer, covered for 25 minutes. I then let it cool for a couple of hours before popping into the fridge for dinner the next day.

Heating turkey chilli is really easy you can do it on the hob for 5-7 minutes, or put it in a microwaveable steam pot and zap it for 5 minutes.

This recipe serves 4 people, most of the time I make it for just Dan and I and have the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Best served with steamed brown rice but if you’re having a no/low carb day it tastes great poured over some steamed broccoli!