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Instant Pot Turkey and Sweet Potato Chilli (plus stovetop)

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Gluten Free

Lightened up with ground turkey and laden with lots of veggies, this Instant Pot Turkey and Sweet Potato Chilli is bright and robust and ready in just 30 minutes. It is easy, comforting and kid friendly, but feel free to add some more spice if you like a kick in your chilli.

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Turkey and Sweet Potato Chilli in the Instant Pot

Instant Pot Turkey and Sweet Potato Chilli

Let me start by saying that this Instant Pot Turkey and Sweet Potato Chilli is not, in any sense of the word, traditional.

I apologize to those purists that enjoy their traditional hot and spicy chili’s, you will not find what you are looking for here.

Instead, you will find a lightened up, veggie and chickpeas laden instant pot chili alternative. It is bright and robust, and using the Instant-Pot means it will take a grand total of 30 minutes to make from start to finish!

Yes please!

Plus it is made with ingredients you will likely already have on hand in the fridge and pantry which is a huge bonus!

Turkey and Sweet Potato Chilli in the Instant Pot

Can I Double This Recipe?

This is a great recipe to double.

I usually make a double batch and serve one for dinner and freeze the other for a day when I know I will be super busy.

To double the recipe simply:

  • double the ingredients;
  • follow the rest of the instructions as they are written;
  • add one more minute to the cooking time.

And yes it freezes well too. Simply follow the instructions for cooking the turkey chilli and then pop it in an airtight container or a ziploc bag and into the freezer for around 2-3 months.

Pull it out of the freezer the night before (or morning of) the day you would like to eat it to allow it to thaw completely and re-heat on the stovetop.

Turkey and Sweet Potato Chilli in the Instant Pot

No Instant Pot? No Worries!!

I have included the instructions for making Turkey and Sweet Potato Chilli using an Instant-Pot (if you don’t have one of these magical pots then get one asap).

But if you don’t have one, you can still make it on the stove top, it will just need to simmer away for about an hour (see the notes in the recipe card).

Broccoli rice in the food processor
Riced broccoli or cauliflower makes a great low carb alternative to rice.

What Do I Serve With This Turkey Sweet Potato Chilli?

There are lots of option for serving up this turkey chili.

I like to change it up from time to time and these all work great:

  • serve over long grain, brown or wild rice;
  • serve over riced cauliflower;
  • serve over riced broccoli;
  • stir through a big handful of fresh spinach once cooked;
  • mix through some corn to up the veggies.

If you like spice then add some more chilli, I always add some to mine and leave it out for the kids.

turkey sweet potato chilli

Need More Instant Pot Recipes?

Well of course you do, once you start using it there is no going back! I can help you with that:

Goat Cheese Quinoa and Broccoli Casserole in the Instant Pot
pea and asparagus pressure cooker risotto in white bowls with bluebells in the background
Instant Pot Creamy Roasted Tomato and Chickpea soup served in white bowls with lots of chickpeas piled on top of the soup

If you don’t have an instant pot or other electric pressure cooker then go on ahead and grab one for yourself. They free up so much time and make busy weekdays so much more manageable.

4.46 from 87 votes
Turkey and Sweet Potato Chilli in the Instant Pot
Print
Turkey and Sweet Potato Chilli in the Instant Pot
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
30 mins
 

Lightened up with ground turkey and laden with lots of veggies, this Instant Pot Turkey and Sweet Potato Chilli is ready in 30 minutes from start to finish. It is easy, comforting and kid friendly.

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Anytime
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 134 kcal
Ingredients
  • 1 medium brown onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 lb organic turkey minced
  • 1 can (14.5oz ) diced tomatoes
  • 1 can (14.5oz ) tomato sauce
  • 1 can (14.5oz ) chick peas (garbanzo beans), drained
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped into rough 1cm squares
  • 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped into rough 1cm squares
  • 1 cup vegetable stock
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp chilli powder (more or less depending on taste. I find 1/2 tsp is good for kids)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • cooked brown rice or riced cauliflower, chilli flakes, diced avocado, sour cream, grated monterey jack cheese and cilantro to serve
Instructions

  1. Set the Instant Pot (or alternative pressure cooker) to sauté. Add oil, and once hot add in the onions and sauté for about 3 mins. Add in the garlic and sauté for a further 1min. Add in the turkey mince and cook until browned.

  2. Once turkey has browned, add in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, garbanzo beans, 1/2 of the chopped red bell peppers, chopped sweet potatoes, vegetable stock, cumin, paprika and chill powder. Salt and pepper to taste and mix everything well.

  3. Seal the vent. Set to High pressure for 9 mins. Once 9 mins is finished, Quick Release and open lid. Add in the rest of the red bell pepper and stir to combine.

  4. Serve over some cooked brown rice or riced cauliflower for low-carb. Add a dollop of sour cream, some diced avocado, grated cheese, chopped cilantro and more chilli flakes to serve.

Stove Top Directions

  1. Complete step one and two (above) in a large saucepan. Once you get to step 3 simmer for about 30 minutes before continuing with the directions as above.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

Freezes well, just pop in a freezer friendly container without the rice and toppings. 

If your child doesn’t like raw/crispy vegetables, then add in all of the red bell pepper at step two.

Nutrition Facts
Turkey and Sweet Potato Chilli in the Instant Pot
Amount Per Serving
Calories 134 Calories from Fat 54
% Daily Value*
Fat 6g9%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Cholesterol 55mg18%
Sodium 216mg9%
Potassium 250mg7%
Carbohydrates 4g1%
Sugar 2g2%
Protein 14g28%
Vitamin A 1040IU21%
Vitamin C 27.1mg33%
Calcium 26mg3%
Iron 1.4mg8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

If you tried this recipe please comment and rate it. I love hearing your feedback and answering your questions! And if you make this please tag me on Instagram with @wholefoodbellies so I can share it <3

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Comments

  3. We made this tonight and it was wonderful! We were oit of chili powder, so we used a teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning along with the other spices. Served it over long grain and wild rice. Perfect!

    Reply

  4. As I don’t own an instant pot, I will try this on the stove top! It’s just what I have been craving lately! Also, I wanted to say that I really love the pictures!

    Reply

    • Glad you loved it. Nutritional calculators are so inaccurate and they differ depending on what food brands you use so it’s hard to know which one provides the more correct information. I really don’t like including it for that reason, but so many people have asked for it, which is why it’s included. Use it as a guide only 🙂

      Reply

      • I just wish you mentioned the serving size – is it 1 cup or 1.5 cups? that would help alot in estimating calories. I doubled the recipe so there’s no way I was going to ladle it between 12 containers to try to estimate calories. Thanks for considering! I love making this recipe as most of the items I usually have on hand so it’s easy and so tasty to make.

        Reply

        • Hi Leslie, next time I make it (which will probably be soon as we have it quite often) I will measure out the serving size for you! When I first came up with the recipe I didn’t have a nutritional calculator on the site so I didn’t worry about specific serving sizes, I just always go by feel.

          Reply

  7. Made this – didn’t have bell pepper – and we forgot to peel the sweet potato – and it still turned out great! I won’t bother with peeling the sweet potato in the future as there was nothing bad about leaving it on and maybe we actually benefitted from some additional nutrients in the skin. Thanks very much for this great recipe! It’s a new favorite for both great taste and ease of preparation.

    Reply

    • Oh yay I am so glad to hear that Leslie! I often leave the skin on a lot of my veg for the extra nutrients, but I never thought to do it with the sweet potato, I will have to try it out next time 🙂

      Reply

  9. This is, hands down, THE BEST thing I’ve eaten in a long time! The only change I made was to up the chili powder to 1 tsp. I haven’t had it over rice or with any garnishments, just eat it as is, and I can’t get enough. I love how the flavors come together and how fresh it tastes. It’s filling, without leaving you feel stuffed. Thank you so much for this recipe, my new fave!

    Reply

    • Hi Meagn, sorry I don’t weigh my servings, I just go based on how many bowls we serve up (adult size, not kid size). So for this recipe, it was 6 bowls of food, and they are largish servings.

      Reply

  11. After a few modifications I now have a chili limit per day.
    I swapped out the chickpeas for black beans, dropped the chili powder for ancho chili powder but the biggest difference is the addition of 1 tbs of cacao powder, huge flavor boost plus you know it’s chocolate!
    Thanks, love the recipe.
    R

    ps on this copy of the recipe you omitted the oil and quantity, i’m curious what you used.
    thanks

    Reply

    • Ooh I need to try the addition of the cacao! I have tried a chili with a hint of chocolate in it before, and it was delicious, but not something I have ever tried myself. I tend to use avocado oil for sautéing, and for this recipe I use about 1-2 tsp (I never measure, I am more of a free-pour kinda girl so that is very much an estimate)

      Reply

  12. I do t have an installer but looking to cook this on the stove or. Do kpot. I saw i. The blog that those instructions were i. The notes section and I didn’t see it. How long so I let it simmer on The stove or what temp in the crockpot? Thanks so much! Can’t wait to try it!

    Reply

    • Hi Maggie (my daughter’s name too 🙂 ), I am sorry the stovetop directions must have disappeared when I changed my recipe set-up. I will have to fix that up. In the meantime just do steps one and two in a large saucepan, and then when it gets to step three you will want to simmer for about 30 minutes before adding the red bell pepper, stirring and serving. Hope you enjoy!

      Reply

  13. Very, very good. I’ve only made a half dozen recipes in my instant pot and this one has been the only outstanding success. I will bookmark this one and make again!

    Reply

    • Oh yay, I am so glad it was a success for you, we LOVE this dish!! The Instant Pot can be a bit tricky to figure out when you first get started (I know I had some very bleugh dishes to start), keep trying 🙂

      Reply

  14. I love this recipe! I doubled it, added drained black beans, cooked on high for 18 mins and added fresh spinach to it when it was done cooking!!!

    Reply

      • We add spinach wherever possible and it is perfect for this chili!! I make it and freeze some to send to our boys at University. My son ate his the first day I brought it to him. This is a healthy comfort food!

        Reply

  15. This was my very first Instant Pot recipe and it was amazing!! It flashed the “burn” setting for a minute – maybe because I overfilled the pot? But then it went away.

    I used an extra large Japanese sweet potato (bc I love sweet potatoes) and also added corn when it was done cooking for a bit of crunch. Thank you so much!

    Reply

    • Oh yay I am so glad it worked out well for you!! It may have flashed burn if there was too much sweet potato (is there such a thing???) and not enough liquid? Glad it evened itself out though 🙂 Love the addition of the corn, always great to sneak some extra veggies in there when you can!!

      Reply

  16. Just wanted to say thank you for sharing this recipe! I happened to have ground turkey and sweet potatoes on hand and was looking for Instant Pot recipes when I came across this one. It sounded good but I wasn’t sure how two little kids and a picky husband would like it… well I’m glad I decided to try it because they all loved it! Adding it to our rotation!!

    Reply

    • Oh yay, this makes me so happy to hear Amy!! It’s funny, my kids just adore it as well, it has been on heavy rotation around here for a while as they are HUGE fans of chickpeas. Thanks for taking the time to pop back and share 🙂

      Reply

  17. Is it supposed to be watery?? Did I do something wrong? I followed recipe as is….
    Totally great flavor though! Added some kale after taking off the lid and it was like a yummy turkey-veggie soup

    Reply

    • Oh no I am sorry it turned out to be watery for you Mandy, we have never had that problem! The only thing I can think of is maybe you had a particularly watery can of tomatoes??

      Reply

  18. Yum! I made this tonight and really enjoyed it. The garbanzos were a nice substitute for kidney or black beans. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  19. This was the first recipe I made in my new InstantPot.
    I followed some of the comments I read and used 3 tsp. each of the cumin, paprika, and chili powder and since it still wasn’t at all fiery, next time I may even add some chipotles with adobo.
    For additional veggies, I added a cup of frozen corn and two carrots. For the diced tomatoes, I used the fire-roasted type.
    It was really tasty. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  20. This was an excellent recipe find. Even my picky teenager liked it. I made a double batch to freeze some for lunches. I served with avocado, cilantro and Monterey Jack cheese and it was excellent. Took some time to chop everything but worth it.

    Reply

    • Oh yay for feeding fussy teenagers, I haven’t reached that point yet (although I swear my 4 year old is going on 13 some days). Thanks so much for taking the time to pop back and leave a comment!

      Reply

  21. Eating this as I type, it’s SO GOOD! the kids are gobbling it up and they have been in picky moods for a while (newly 3 and newly 5 year olds). I used chicken stock as I never have veggie stock on hand but I also figured that might give it a more robust flavor? I’d love to try it with veggie stock one day but I love it as is! I like mushy veggies so I added the whole red pepper, funny enough my boys love raw red pepper so i bet theyd have loved it either way. The flavor is subtle but still good as-is but I might go a but heavier and tweak this a bit later but I can’t stress enough I love it without tweaks! Besides me using chicken stock . This was easy and fast and I feel like it’s light enough to have in the summer too! The sweet potatoes add a lovely flavor. This is going into regular rotation. My three year old has been asking to be fed lately but we have to push him a bit (which I hate doing but he’s skip dinner completely and ask for junk later if I don’t push him at least a little) and he’s opening his mouth saying “ahhh” looking for more. That is so rare with this child! Which is why I even cave to feeding him even though if I told pre-mother me I was doing this I’d judge me! 🤣 anyway, try it. Even with the tsp chili powder there’s no spice for the spice averse. Kick it up if you want more. Or so what my Indian husband does and add in Siracha!

    Reply

  22. I don’t use veggie stock often, or ever. I know
    I can sub with chicken stock but wondering what flavor/ health advantages there are for the veggie stock?

    Reply

    • To be honest, I use veggie stock because I can basically make it for free. I just collect all of my veggie scraps in a ziplock bag and keep stored in the freezer until I have enough for a batch: you can read more about how to do it here. With this method I always tend to have a batch on hand that is full of organic vegetables and has a lot less salt that the commercial brands. When I have a chicken carcass I make chicken stock instead and would totally use that in place of veggie broth.

      Reply

  24. I made this for dinner tonight, and it was delicious! I plan to double the recipe, and make it for weekend company whose arrival time is indefinite … it should hold well if they’re really late. Yummy, and both of us give it 5 stars!

    Reply

  25. Love this! I’m curious if you have tried doubling this in your instant pot? I’d like to make a double batch for a friend. If so, or even if not, do you have suggestions for how to adjust the cooking time? Thanks!

    Reply

    • I haven’t tried doubling it Jamie, although I really should so that I have a freezer supply! I wouldn’t want to give you specifics given I haven’t tried it myself, but usually if I double a recipe in the Instant Pot i don’t bother adjusting the cooking time and it works out just fine. It will just take longer for everything to come to pressure. If you try doubling I would love to hear how you go!

      Reply

      • I went ahead and tried it! I doubled the recipe and added just one minute to the cooking time and it turned out superb! Doubling it brought it right up to the max fill line, but it worked!

        Reply

        • Awesome, I am so glad it worked out for you!! I am totally doubling it next time, it’s a handy one to have in the freezer 🙂 Thanks for popping back and letting me know.

          Reply

  26. I’m a newbie to Instant Pots. Just pulled mine out of the box. How do I cook on high pressure? Do I press “soup?”

    Reply

    • Hi Bonnie, yay on the new instant pot. For this recipe just press the ‘Manual’ button and then use the arrows to go up or down to the required time. Use the ‘Adjust’ button to toggle between low and high pressure (although from memory it should come pre-programed at high temp). Enjoy

      Reply

      • Thea know you! I bought an older model, and that tiny section of the manual just wasn’t very clear. I appreciate you clarifying. Except for subbing in moose meat for the turkey, I followed your recipe exactly. It was easy, very tasty, and a big confidence boost for using this Instant Pot more.

        Reply

        • Oh yay, I am glad it worked so well for you, especially for one of your first instant pot recipes 🙂 We make it all the time. I love the substitution with moose meat, I have only ever tried moose once, and it was at a very fancy wedding!! Good luck with the new pot, once you get the hang go it I am sure you will be hooked (we use it pretty much every day!)

          Reply

  28. I made this turkey-sweet potato chili and my entire family LOVED it! Thank you for inspiring me in the kitchen, Donna! I did not stray from the recipe, though I did make a meat version and vegetarian version for 6 people in my family with plenty left over for freezing. I tripled the recipe. My children will not touch sweet potato so I baked those first and mashed them more than dice. We all loved it!

    Reply

    • Oh that makes me so happy Blithe, what a lovely message to wake up to 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to come and leave a comment, and I am so glad you loved it!!

      Reply

    • When you tripled the recipe did you have to increase the cooking time in the instantpot? I am an instantpot newbie, so would love to hear how extra ingredients affect cook time. Can’t wait to try this recipe!

      Reply

      • I make this yummy chili often since it has become part of our regular rotation. I have doubled it and not changed the time. It does take a while to come to pressure since the pot is pretty full. I always set it on Manual for 6 minutes (instead of 9) because we like the sweet potatoes cooked but not squishy. I also often add an additional can of chickpeas, and a bit more chili powder than is called for — the recipe is very versatile.

        Reply

  29. “My husband is a massive tight-arse” – serious literary gold, right there!!

    I have an off brand of an instant pot – it doesn’t have the saute option, so I’ll use a skillet to do the first part, then bung it all in the cooker for the last.

    This looks fantastic, Donna!!

    Reply

    • Ha I have never tried using my rice cooker for anything other than rice – will have to try it with a few more things – I always have a few different things cooking away at once 🙂

      Reply

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