Healthy Instant Pot Turkey Zucchini Chili with Veggies – Quick and Simple
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Instant Pot Turkey Chili is a hearty dinner that doesn’t take hours to cook. It’s easy to make and packed with lean ground turkey, lots of fresh vegetables, giving you a nutritious weeknight meal that’s loaded with flavor. Since it’s made in an Instant Pot (pressure cooker), it’s ready in about 30 minutes, which is perfect for busy nights.
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Why you will love this turkey chili recipe
- Quick and wholesome; perfect for busy nights.
- Instant Pot brings deep, simmered flavor in less time.
- It’s packed with healthy ingredients like lean ground turkey, beans and veggies.
- Easy to customize, swap ingredients or adjust spice levels. See the suggestions below.
Here is what you Will Need
Ingredient List
- Olive Oil
- Ground Turkey – Ground beef, chicken or pork will work too.
- Onion
- Garlic
- Bell Pepper – I like to use red for color, but any color will work
- Jalapeno Pepper – leave out or use a milder pepper for less heat
- Zucchini – Yellow or Green
- Carrots
- Diced Tomatoes – Canned or fresh
- Chili Powder
- Ground Cumin
- Beans
- Fresh Cilantro
- Fresh Lime Juice
How to make turkey zucchini chili
Prepare the ingredients: Chop the vegetables into uniform-sized pieces. Measure the spices, drain the beans, squeeze the lime juice, and chop the cilantro. Set your electric pressure cooker to the saute setting.
STEP 1: Once the Instant Pot is hot, add the oil and swirl it around to be sure it covers the bottom of the pot. Let the oil heat up for about 30 seconds then add the ground turkey and cooked until it’s almost cooked through.
STEP 2: Add the peppers and onions, cook for about 3 to 5 minutes until they begin to turn soft.
STEP 3: Cancel the saute function and stir in the spices.
STEP 4: Add the tomaotes and give them a gentle stir. Cover the prssure cooker and set it to cook on high for 10 minutes.
STEP 5: Once the pressure cooking process is completed, slow release for 10 to 15 minutes. Release the remaining pressure and stir in the beans, lime juice, and fresh cilantro. Cover the cooker loosely and set the heat to warm. Serve when the beans are heated through, which should take about 5 minutes.
Tips
- Don’t overcrowd the instant pot during the saute process. If your Instant pot is small, saute in batches.
- Add the spices to the meat before adding the liquid, it helps to lock in the flavor.
- Be sure to add the beans after the pressure cooking process to avoid soggy beans.
- Adjust the heat in your chili by adding an acidic ingredient such as lemon or lime juice to tone down the heat.
- Cook time for this recipe is 10 minutes, but keep in mind that it takes about 10 to 15 minutes for the pressure cooker to reach pressure.
Turkey Chili Serving Suggestions
This chili is flexible and fits any appetite. Here are some ways to serve it:
- Top bowls with chopped avocado or homemade guacamole, a dollop of plain Greek yogurt or sour cream and shredded cheddar.
- Sprinkle on extra cilantro, a splash of lime juice or green onions for freshness.
- Serve with baked tortilla chips, cornbread or over brown rice for extra heartiness.
How to Store Leftover Chili
Turkey chili is perfect for making extra. Store cooled chili in airtight containers:
- In the fridge: Up to 4 days, ready to reheat in minutes.
- In the freezer: Up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Craving more easy ground turkey ideas? Don’t miss my complete guide to ground turkey recipes—it’s packed with simple, flavorful dinners for every night of the week. Check them out here.
What to do with chili leftovers
Leftover chili is so versatile and can be re-purposed in so many ways. Here are a few ideas for using up this Instant Pot Chili:
- Serve leftover chili on top of a bed of greens for a salad
- Stuff it into a shell and make tacos
- Spread it on top of tortilla chips and make nachos topped with homemade pico de gallo and homemade guacamole.
- Serve leftover turkey chili on top of a hot dog
- Stir it into your favorite mac and cheese
- Serve it over rice or pasta
- Stuff into a baked potato
- Stuff it into peppers for spicy stuffed peppers or make mini pepper nachos.
- Fill an acorn squash with it to make an easy version of Tex-Mex Stuffed Acorn Squash.
Healthy turkey chili recipe variations
Mild Turkey Chili – Leave out the jalapeno peppers or substitute them with a milder pepper such as a poblano pepper.
Sweet and Spicy Chili – Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and a tablespoon of honey to taste.
Vegetarian chili – Double up on the amount of vegetables and add an extra cup of beans for veggie chili.
Sweet potato turkey chili – Replace zucchini with diced sweet potatoes and use black beans and a dash of cinnamon.
Want more zucchini ideas? Don’t miss this collection of easy favorites.
Turkey Chili Recipe FAQs
Yes, making stove-top chili is very similar to the pressure cooker method. The only difference is that once the ingredients are browned, the chili cooks slowly on top of the stove for at least an hour.
Here’s how: Preheat a large dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat and brown the meat. Reduce to medium heat and add the vegetables and cook for a few minutes, add the spices, tomatoes, and beans. Reduce the heat to low heat; cover the pot, and cook slowly for at least one hour. Stir in the cilantro and serve it with a splash of lime juice and your favorite toppings.
You can easily transform this recipe to a slow cooker recipe. Cook the meat on top of the stove in a skillet. Once it’s cooked, add it with the remaining ingredients, except for the beans to the crock pot and cook on low heat for at least 4 hours. This method is a great way to serve chili to a crowd.
Yes, you can make this recipe without beans, simply omit them or add more veggies or meat.
Have you tried these healthy chili recipes?
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Easy Pressure Cooker Turkey Chili
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3/4 pound ground turkey
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 bell peppers any color, chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper – chopped
- 1/2 small zucchini diced or shredded
- 1 carrot diced or shredded
- 2 cups chopped or diced tomatoes
- 1/3 cup chili powder
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 1/2 cups beans any variety
- 1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed lime juice
Instructions
- Prepare the Ingredients: chop up the vegetables, measure the spices, drain the beans, squeeze the lime juice and cilantro.
- Heat the pressure cooker on saute setting.
- Once the pressure cooker is hot, add the olive oil; swirl it around the instant pot to make sure the bottom of the instant pot is coated with oil, and add the turkey.
- Cook until the turkey is almost cooked through; add the vegetables, cook for 3 to 5 minutes and add the onion, peppers, zucchini, carrot and garlic. Cook until the vegetables begin to turn soft.
- Cancel the saute function and stir in the spices.
- Add the tomatoes and give them a gentle stir. Cover the pressure cooker and set it to cook high for 10 minutes.
- Once the pressure cooking process is complete, slow-release for 10 minutes longer. Carefully manual release the remaining pressure.
- Stir in the beans, chopped cilantro and lime juice. Cover the cooker loosely and set the heat to warm. Serve once the beans are heated through.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and can vary based on cooking methods and ingredients used
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