Turkey and Bacon Bean-less Chili

Published on in Recipes

Chili. It’s the best. From a crisp autumn evening to a warm summer cookout, chili is one of the most versatile one-pot crowd pleasers on the planet!

For those of us who have taken our foot off the carb petal, here’s a fantastic bean-less recipe. 


I followed a paleo recipe I found at LauraFuentes.com, but made some essential tweaks of my own, using ground turkey and adding bacon, butternut squash and bell peppers. I also added directions for the slow cooker if you want to “set it and forget it” for a few hours!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
  • 6 strips of bacon 
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 1/2 cups onion, diced, about 1 large onion
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 2 cups chopped carrots
  • 1 cup diced butternut squash 
  • 1 bell pepper (red, orange, or yellow)
  • 1 1/2tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups diced zucchinis (3)
  • 1 15-ounce can tomato puree
  • 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

Stove top directions 

Directions

  1. Cook the 6 strips of bacon. 
  2. Season the ground turkey with salt and pepper before cooking and cook in the bacon fat. 
  3. Drain off the ground turkey and set aside. 
  4. Sauté onions until translucent (about 8-10 minutes). *Onions will continue to brown as other veggies are added. 
  5. Add carrots, squash and celery and cook until slightly soft (8-10 minutes). 
  6. Add cumin, oregano, and chili powder to veggie. Mix well. 
  7. Add zucchini, bell pepper and garlic and cook until slightly soft (4-5 minutes). 
  8. Continuously stir to coat veggies in seasoning and to keep them from sticking. 
  9. Transfer veggies, ground turkey and bacon into pot. 
  10. Stir in diced tomatoes and purée. 
  11. Bring to boil, then simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Serve hot with shredded cheddar, full fat sour cream or Greek yogurt, and chives! 

Slow cooker directions 

Directions

  1. Cook the 6 strips of bacon. 
  2. Season the ground turkey with salt and pepper before cooking and cook in the bacon fat. 
  3. Drain off the ground turkey and set aside. 
  4. Sauté onions until translucent (about 8-10 minutes). 
  5. Transfer all cooked ingredients to slow cooker. 
  6. Add the rest of the chopped veggies, seasonings and diced tomatoes / tomato purée. 
  7. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8, stirring occasionally. 

 

 

10 Comments

  1. Troy Adamson
    March 5, 2019 at 1:02 am

    Gina,

    Big fan of yours from the ACS podcast!

    I just got diagnosed as prediabetic so am making the switch to NSNG and will be using your new website a lot.

    This chili will be my first try cooking NSNG.

    It doesn’t say, but I assume you dice the bacon before putting it in the pot? Also aren’t carrots on Vinnie’s no-fly list?

  2. Charles Glenn
    March 8, 2019 at 10:18 pm

    Awesome!!! Tastes great, the recipe is super easy to make and comes out perfect. Also, it makes the perfect amount for a single guy for a few nights. Great job Gina 🙂

  3. Spence McCallie
    March 15, 2019 at 6:06 pm

    Some things I’ve found for low-carb chili: If you have to have beans, use the Garden of Eden Black Soy Beans. Also great with venison or wild boar. Good recipe, Gina!

  4. Brenda Breining
    March 17, 2019 at 6:59 pm

    Made this a few days ago and it is DELICIOUS. Trying to cut WAY back on sugar, so substituted mushrooms for the butternut squash (but did keep the carrots). I added some chipotle powder and took out a little of the cumin and made things pretty chunky. YUM!! Keep it up Gina!

  5. BobbyRead
    April 12, 2019 at 5:46 pm

    This was a hit. My wife and I both loved it. We had enough left over that I froze some and we had it again a couple of weeks later.