• Home
  • Email List
  • Cookbooks
  • FAQs
  • Instant Pot Secrets
  • Sponsor Me

365 Days of Slow Cooking and Pressure Cooking

Easy slow cooker and Instant Pot recipes for each day of the year

  • Filter Recipes
  • Instant Pot
  • Slow Cooker
  • Chicken
  • Beef
  • Pork
  • Meatless
  • healthy
  • Soups

January 27, 2015

Slow Cooker Healthy Turkey Lentil Chili

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe
This healthy, easy slow cooker turkey lentil chili is the perfect meal for any night of the week.  It fills you up without filling you out while still having tons of flavor.
Recipe for crockpot turkey lentil chili...protein and fiber packed. Totally flavorful recipe!

Even though this is a simple and healthy recipe it’s one of my favorites lately.  It’s perfect for a cold day and is quite hearty.  It has tons of protein (33 grams) with the turkey and the lentils plus almost half of your dietary recommendation of fiber!  I love the leftovers for lunch the next day as well.  If you’re looking for a tasty and healthy slow cooker recipe try this one out…I know you’ll love it!

Healthy recipe for crockpot turkey lentil chili
Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

Slow Cooker Turkey lentil chili


  • Author: Karen
  • Cook Time: 2-3 hours on high, 4-6 hours on low
  • Total Time: 23 minute
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 2 minced garlic cloves
  • 2 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup dry green lentils
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
  • 1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
  • 1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • Cilantro and sour cream, optional

Instructions

  1. In a skillet over medium heat brown the ground turkey.  Add in the diced onions, garlic, tomato paste and salt and cook until meat is browned and onions are soft and translucent.
  2. Add turkey mixture to the slow cooker.
  3. Add lentils, water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, green chiles, chili powder, cumin and pepper to the slow cooker.
  4. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours or on LOW for 4-6 hours, or until lentils are tender.
  5. Scoop into servings bowls and top with cilantro and sour cream, if desired.

Notes

Ideal slow cooker: 4-6 quart

Nutrition

  • Calories: 306
  • Sugar: 6g
  • Sodium: 959mg
  • Fat: 9.2g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.5
  • Carbohydrates: 29g
  • Fiber: 12g
  • Protein: 30g
  • Cholesterol: 77mg

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @365dayscrockpot on Instagram

nutrition information for turkey lentil chili recipe

P.S.  Try these other chili recipes too (click on the picture to get the recipe)!
CrockPot White Bean and Chicken Chili Recipe topped with mozzarella, cilantro and avocado slicesRecipe for Slow Cooker Four Bean Pork Tomatillo Chili. This is a good recipe to make if you're going to be gone all day...it takes up to 12 hours to cook. #crockpot #slowcooker #chili Recipe for Slow Cooker Wheat Chili (a good "gone all day" recipe)

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

28 Comments Filed Under: All Recipes, Healthy, Turkey, Soups, Slow Cooker Tagged With: chili, 5 stars, lentils, All Posts, 2-4 hours, 4-6 hours

Recommendations

Comments

  1. Sherry says

    October 26, 2022 at 12:41 pm

    I’m not fond of most meats and am wondering if I could put in basmati rice instead, which, with the lentils, makes a complete protein. Thanks

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 27, 2022 at 1:43 pm

      Yes you could. But you’ll probably want to increase the amount of liquid. So if you add in a cup of rice add in 1.5 cups extra broth/water

      Reply
  2. Deb says

    March 20, 2022 at 8:14 am

    Do you have suggestions for any vegetables to add?deb

    Reply
    • Karen says

      March 22, 2022 at 10:02 am

      grated carrots, chopped celery would be good additions

      Reply
  3. Lou Shell says

    December 27, 2021 at 10:02 am

    Do you use french green lentils also called LePuy which hold their shape better than regular brown or green lentils?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      December 27, 2021 at 7:30 pm

      I haven’t tried them but I bet they would work great!

      Reply
  4. Janet says

    February 8, 2020 at 3:55 pm

    Do the lentils have to be cooked beforehand?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 8, 2020 at 6:12 pm

      No they should be uncooked.

      Reply
  5. Betsy Davis says

    February 8, 2020 at 11:52 am

    Can I use ground beef instead of ground turkey? Could I substitute a can of ROTEL for the diced tomatoes and green chilis??

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 8, 2020 at 6:15 pm

      Yes and yes!

      Reply
  6. Caitlin says

    December 31, 2019 at 11:37 am

    I love this recipe too! I’m wondering if your serving size of 339g is roughly 1 cup or 1/2 cup?

    Thank you!!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      December 31, 2019 at 11:05 pm

      1 cup 🙂

      Reply
  7. Nicole says

    December 28, 2018 at 8:50 am

    I’m new to cooking with lentils….can I use brown lentils instead of green?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      December 28, 2018 at 5:27 pm

      yes they’ll be great

      Reply
      • Kelly says

        October 15, 2019 at 11:41 am

        Would red lentils work?

        Reply
        • Karen says

          October 21, 2019 at 7:51 pm

          Yes but they cook a lot quicker so watch that.

          Reply
  8. Mike says

    April 30, 2018 at 7:06 am

    How many servings does this recipe make?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      April 30, 2018 at 10:10 am

      I would say this feeds about 6 adults.

      Reply
  9. Andrea says

    October 1, 2017 at 7:07 am

    Can you use canned Lentils?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 2, 2017 at 10:15 am

      I’ve never seen canned lentils before. Are they cooked?

      Reply
  10. Janine says

    March 27, 2017 at 12:21 pm

    Can you cook the turkey in the crockpot as well? I’m thinking perhaps just add an hour or so to the cooking time and a little more liquid?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      March 28, 2017 at 1:16 pm

      I’ve actually done that before. It worked pretty well. I prefer the texture of the turkey when I brown it beforehand but my husband didn’t seem to care either way.

      Reply
  11. Momof3 says

    December 17, 2016 at 7:01 pm

    Would it work in a pressure cooker or an instant pot

    Reply
    • Karen says

      December 20, 2016 at 1:13 pm

      I’m sure you could do this! I don’t have an instant pot so I’ve never tried and can’t give you directions but try it and let me know.

      Reply
  12. Priscilla says

    March 19, 2016 at 11:51 pm

    Can you elaborate on Tomato Sauce? Do you mean crushed tomatoes or pasta sauce?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      March 20, 2016 at 2:38 am

      It’s not crushed tomatoes, it’s tomato sauce…it comes in little 8 oz cans and it’s similar to pasta sauce but more plain. You can find it by the diced tomatoes and the tomato paste 🙂

      Reply
  13. Brittany says

    July 1, 2015 at 6:04 pm

    I just wanted to say that this is DELICIOUS! I've made it twice for my husband and I– the prep is just so easy! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • [email protected] says

      July 9, 2015 at 1:04 am

      Brittany I love this one too! It is seriously so underrated. I made it so many times last winter.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

Welcome!

Karen photo

Hi, I’m Karen. I know that dinner time can be less than relaxing. Busy schedules and cranky kids and a hundred other things can lead to weariness when it comes to putting dinner on the table. I can help! I make homemade, family-friendly slow cooker and Instant Pot dinners and share the recipes with you.

Stay In Touch

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives

Amazon Associates Disclosure

Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

365 Days of Slow Cooking © 2023 · Privacy Policy

MENU
  • Home
  • Filter
  • Instant Pot
  • Slow Cooker
  • Chicken
  • Beef
  • Pork
  • Meatless
  • Healthy
  • Soups
  • Email List
  • Cookbooks
  • FAQs
  • Instant Pot Secrets