This California Chili recipe is a terrific lower calorie chili recipe that is completely Weight Watchers friendly.
California Chili
It’s made with 99% lean ground turkey, which makes for a much lighter chili. Beans and vegetables add plenty of fiber, and that’s the good stuff that makes this California Chili so very filling. A few spices, tomato sauce and barbecue sauce round out the ingredients for this chili. I love the addition of barbecue sauce because it adds a good deal of sweetness to the chili.
🛒Ingredients needed:
- butter
- ground turkey
- onion and bell pepper
- tomatoes
- canned pinto and kidney beans
- tomato sauce
- ground ginger
- chili and garlic powders
- barbecue sause
- salt and pepper
✏️How to make California Chili:
*The complete, printable recipe with all ingredients and instructions is at the end of this post.
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Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-heat. Add the turkey and cook until browned, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.
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Add the onion and bell pepper and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook 5 minutes. Stir in all remaining ingredients and simmer until thickened, at least an hour.
➡️Recipe Tips:
- Use a barbecue sauce that you love. My favorite BBQ sauce is Sweet Baby Ray’s!
- If you are preparing this recipe as GLUTEN-FREE, be sure to use brands of beans and barbecue sauce that are known to be GF.
- If you want even more veggies, try adding some diced zucchini when the chili has about 30 minutes left in its cooking time.
✔️What to serve with California Chili:
- I suggest making beer bread or a really good garlic bread to serve alongside California Chili. Bread is so great for dunking into the chili.
- I also like it with a nice fresh green salad, or my personal favorite: Avocado Pine Nut Salad .
- My husband would suggest that you drink your favorite beer with your chili too!
★How to Store:
This chili will store well in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. It also freezes ncely. I like to freeze it in individual serving containers, so I can pop one out for a delicious dinner for one when my husband is traveling for work.
❤️Why I love this recipe:
- It’s not always easy to get healthy recipes that are ALSO delicious. This is one of those and I love that.
- When I’m watching my weight or trying to drop a few pounds California Chili is a go to recipe. It leaves me feeling very satisfied and not hunting for a snack an hour after dinner!
- I also love that it’s so quick to put together. It takes about 20 minutes to prep and the rest of the time the chili simmers and I’m free to do other things.
For those on the Weight Watchers WW plan, you will find a link to WW Points on the recipe card below.
Great breads to serve with chili:
- Cheddar Chive Beer Bread
- Skillet Buttermilk Cornbread
- Billion Dollar Buttery Biscuits
- Tomato Basil Bread
- Green Chili Cornbread
California Chili
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 8 ounces 99% fat free ground turkey
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
- 2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
- One 15-ounce can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- One 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- One 8-ounce can tomato sauce
- ½ tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ cup prepared barbecue sauce
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-heat. Add the turkey and cook until browned, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.
- Add the onion and bell pepper and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook 5 minutes. Stir in all remaining ingredients and simmer until thickened, at least an hour.
Notes
- If you are preparing this recipe as GLUTEN-FREE, be sure to use brands of beans and barbecue sauce that are known to be GF.
- I like to use Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
