This slow cooker white turkey chili combines juicy leftover Thanksgiving turkey, chunky vegetables, and garlic, oregano, paprika, and spice to make a delicious stick-to-your-ribs meal that's so simple to make and so comforting to eat! It's also gluten free and low carb!
Alright y'all. Something is going down over here on BHHY and it's all about leftovers!
That's right! Thanksgiving turkey leftovers are a big deal around here. There is sooooo much you can do with your leftover turkey meat besides the mundane turkey sandwich engulfed in grandma's buns (which I am sure are delicious no doubt).
One of my favorite things after Thanksgiving is coming up with creative tasty ways to use my leftover turkey meat and I now have a pretty large library of new recipes to share.
So get ready in the next few weeks to see some pretty amazing leftover Thanksgiving turkey recipes that are both easy to serve up to guests and give off a little bit of a wow factor!
But first I need to walk you through how to roast a turkey.
I don't know about you, but the first time I roasted a turkey I was so nervous.
Was I doing it right?
Was I going to overcook the turkey like on National Lampoon XXX and the turkey blows up?
Was I going to undercook it and get my guests sick?
Was it going to taste good? Did I over or under season it?
Well I am here to say that I was worried about nothing. The turkey turned out amazing and I have a few SIMPLE simple steps that I follow to make the perfect juicy bird every single time.
My motto: Keep it simple, REALLY SIMPLE, and you won't be able to mess it up 😉 You got this!
First thing is to pick out a quality turkey, one with no growth promoting hormones or steroids, USDA process certified, and mine must be gluten-free because of my celiac disease.
I like Honeysuckle Fresh Turkey for my Thanksgiving turkey because it has all of the qualities I just mentioned, plus the turkeys are raised by independent family farmers who have high respect for their animals and a transparency with their consumers.
Every time I have used Honeysuckle Fresh turkeys in my kitchen they turn out perfectly juicy.
And you don't want to skimp on quality turkey here. You need a high quality turkey or no turkey at all.
Really really simple way to roast a turkey:
- Remove the turkey from it's packaging and rinse off well in the sink. Remove the "bag of goodies" and the neck from the inside of the bird. I discard all of these "pieces" but feel free to save them for gravy, etc.
- After rinsing off the turkey, pat the bird dry with paper towels and place in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Preheat your oven to 425*F.
- Grab a few simple ingredients together from your kitchen: (for a 14# turkey I use:) 2 sticks unsalted butter cut into thin slices, 1.5 tablespoon minced garlic, 1 tablespoon dried chopped parsley, and 1 tablespoon dried chopped onion.
- Find indiscriminate areas along the turkey's two legs and breast area to go underneath the skin and place slices of the butter and sprinklings of the spices under the skin, leaving a little bit to rub on the top and sides of the outside of the turkey.
- Place the turkey in the oven for 20 minutes and then remove. Turn your oven temperature down to 325*F.
- Using a turkey baster or spoon, drizzle the liquid drippings overtop the turkey and then cover the wings or anything else already getting browned with small pieces of tin foil so to not burn anything and to trap in the juices.
- Bake for the recommended roasting time on the turkey's package minus the 20 minutes that the turkey just spent in the oven (my 14# turkey was cooked for an additional 3 hours and 25 minutes).
- Every 30 minutes during the roasting process drizzle the liquid drippings overtop the turkey, put any tin foil back in place, and keep roasting.
- The turkey is done when the breast meat cooked temperature is at least 165 degrees (use a meat thermometer).
- Allow to cool a bit before carving (it helps to lock in the juices!).
So then Turkey Day happens and everything is delicious and everyone is stuffed.
And then comes the day after Thanksgiving when there are tons of leftovers and still a few lingering I-ate-too-much stomach aches.
Our family has a lazy day. We usually sit by the fire, play board games or outdoor games if it's nice out, and start to eat leftovers... later in the day.
That's when this slow cooker white turkey chili comes into play.
The original recipe comes from my mother where she uses chicken breast meat and a few different ingredients. It has now morphed into a delicious way to eat up some of that Thanksgiving turkey leftovers without very much effort at all.
Perks of this slow cooker white turkey chili:
- Yes it's a dump-it-and-forget-it slow cooker recipe. Yes it smells the house up with warm wrap-me-up-in-a-cozy-blanket aromas all day long.
- Yes it's customizeable. I use almond milk to add a touch of creaminess to the dish, but you can use milk or cream too.
- You can make it as spicy as you want it, use whatever vegetables you have in your overly full-from-Thanksgiving refrigerator, improvise if you need too.
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Michelle says
So much yummy goodness in this chili! YUM!
J Trogstad says
I agree! It's great to curl up on the couch with a bowl of this chili, a warm blanket, and a good book or board game! 🙂
Erin says
Looks so good! Perfect for colder nights we're about to be getting.
J Trogstad says
I agree! It's perfect for colder nights!
Molly Kumar says
This looks so delicious and a perfect comfort bowl ! I love turkey and would definitely be trying this recipe soon - Thanks for sharing.
J Trogstad says
🙂 It's a great way to eat up that leftover turkey without getting sick of turkey sandwiches!