Turkey Chili

Connie C.'s Note:

Chili recipe for the slow cooker swap... tweeked the directions and ingredient list. This was the first recipe I had posted in a contest! Thanks for your comments.

• Total Time: 6 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 6 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 7

• 6 slices crumbled cooked bacon
• 2 lbs ground turkey
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 ¼ ounces taco seasoning mix
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 (10 ounce) cans Rotel tomatoes & chilies
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 medium onion
• 1 green pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄8; teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans
• ¼ cup celery
• 1 (10 ½ ounce) can beef broth
• green onion
• sour cream
• cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Cook bacon in skillet, drain on paper towel, allow to cool and break in pieces. Crumble and brown turkey in the skillet and stir to break apart. Place cooked turkey and bacon in slow cooker. Season with taco seasoning mix, oregano, garlic powder and salt,and pepper. Mix until meat is evenly coated. Pour in beef broth, Rotel salsa, kidney beans, tomatoes, tomato paste. Add onion, green pepper, bay leaf, celery, salt, and pepper. Mix well. You may need to adjust for the thickness by adding water.
2. Simmer on low, stirring occasionally. Cook for approximately 6 to 7 hours.
3. Garnish with green onions, sour cream and/or cheddar cheese.

Reviews

[**Tinkerbell**]

5 Stars for taste but I had to give 4 because the directions would benefit from some modifications. (SEE BELOW)This is the recipe my family keeps reminding me to make again. A hands-down favorite of all 7 that we tried. We really enjoyed the combination of ingredients, from the ground turkey & fresh green peppers, to the kick of the Rotel tomatoes. I didn't want to have to open two packages of ground turkey to make the 1 2/3 lbs so I only used one pound. I also didn't follow the instructions perfectly as IMO the best thing about crock pot cooking is not having a bunch of dishes to wash. I chopped & fried the bacon, drained most of the grease, then skipped the added oil & browned the turkey in the bacon pan. I then added the rest of the ingredients. I was extremely happy I used a large dutch oven pan for all this when I realized that the amount this recipe made was nearly overflowing it. The hardest part of this recipe was transferring the already made chili to the crock pot. It was a very heavy pan filled with extremely hot food that stains when it splashes on your clothes. ;) I will most definitely make this recipe again but probably stop with the stove-top cooking after browning the meats. I'll just dump everything else right into the crock & let it slow cook. This recipe would be perfect for OAMC & the leftovers were just as delicious as it was fresh. Good luck! Made for Category Craze-E #1 - Crockpot Challenge. UPDATE: Have made this 3 times now & it's only been a month since the contest! The last batch I doubled & vacuum packed into 6 meal-sized portions for freezing. We thawed & ate one while my mom was in town for TG holiday & she liked it too. P.S. The directions are much easier since you tweaked them. Now I can upgrade my rating to the 5 stars it deserves! ;)

[FloridaNative]

We enjoyed the flavors of this dish quite a lot, though I tend to agree that is was somewhat heavy on the tomatoes. I think next time I will skip the tomato paste, as this put it over the top for me. I must confess, after browning the turkey, everything else went directly into the crock - for me that's one of the main benefits, one-pot cooking!! So I would definitely make an adjustment to the recipe for that. Sequence of ingredients could use adjustment/grouping to make it easier to read. Overall, a very tasty dish. Made for CRAZE-E Cooking Contest finalist, October 2008.

[Mama's Kitchen (Hope)]

The directions here could have used some tweeking. This chili seemed pretty heavy on the tomatoes as well. The flavor was pretty good but not outstanding for us. I may be a harder judge in that area since I am a Texan. Best of luck in the contest!