I’ll admit, the title of this article is a little bold and I am a little biased in describing this chili as the world’s best. It is, after all, my own recipe.
But I challenge you to try it out and decide for yourself.
I’ve made this for large gatherings, taken it to football tailgate parties and cooked it up to enjoy at home. After a year of tweaking the recipe, it is now ready for public consumption.
This hearty chili is low in fat and high in flavor and spice. I buy the leanest ground turkey I can find and use low-sodium beef broth. I also buy canned beans without high-fructose corn syrup. Just how spicy this chili turns out depends largely on how hot your peppers are and whether you remove some of the seeds before dicing them into the mixture. I’ve substituted in Anaheim peppers when jalepeños aren’t available; this will also tame the spice a bit.
I use a 4-quart slow cooker, and a batch of this chili will make eight to 12 bowls. For best results, cook the chili a day before you intend to eat it – it tastes best after it’s had a chance to set in the refrigerator overnight.
Ingredients:
1.25 lb. lean ground turkey
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 12-oz. can tomato paste
2 15.5-oz. cans pinto beans
1 15.5-oz. can kidney beans
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 onion
2 serrano peppers
1 jalepeño pepper
12 oz. beef broth
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon Louisiana-style cayenne pepper hot sauce
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. oregano
To Prepare:
Chop up half the onion and dice one clove of garlic to cook in a skillet with the turkey. Brown the turkey, add salt and pepper to taste and simmer on low heat while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and beef broth to 4-quart slow cooker. Drain cans of pinto and kidney beans and add to mix. Chop green and red peppers, remaining half onion, serrano and jalepeño peppers, and dice remaining two cloves of garlic. Add all vegetables to slow cooker and stir.
Add turkey, onion and garlic, first draining excess liquid from skillet.
Finally, add spices.
Set slow cooker temperature on low and cook a minimum of four hours and as long as six hours.
Top with a little bit of grated pepper-jack cheese and some crumbled Saltine crackers.
For an excellent chip dip, place chili in a microwave safe bowl and add cream cheese. Heat until cheese softens, then mix.
