You don’t have to miss out on delicious dishes like chili when you’re on a low sodium diet. This Easy Low Sodium Chili with Ground Turkey has all the flavor with a fraction of the sodium found in most recipes. Here are a few tips for making a low sodium chili.
Tips for Making Easy Low Sodium Chili with Ground Turkey
Use No Salt Added Beans & Tomatoes
Canned foods are notoriously high in sodium and canned beans and diced tomatoes, which are used in this recipe, are no exception. Regular canned black beans are loaded with sodium, more than 400 mgs per half cup. No Salt Added canned black beans can contain as little as 10 mgs in half a cup. A can of diced tomatoes can contain 180 mgs of sodium per half cup while a no salt added version contains 15 mgs per half cup. That’s a huge sodium savings! (You can learn how to read labels here.)
Use Lean Protein
Lean proteins are better for your heart. They’re lower in calories and saturated fats than red meat. I like an 85/15 ground turkey, which means the turkey only contains 15% fat, but it’s important that you check the label for sodium content whichever lean protein you choose.
Spice It Up
Spices are the secret to adding tons of flavor to your chili. For this recipe I rely on the traditional chili powder, plus cumin, paprika and a salt-free southwest or chipotle seasoning. Feel free to put your favorite chili seasonings to use here.
Make sure your spices are sodium-free. Some spices like chili powder and garlic powder often contain added sodium. Check your spices’ nutrition labels to make sure no sodium has been added.
How to Make This Chili
This chili is simple to prepare in a slow cooker (affiliate link) or on your stovetop. Brown the ground turkey, stir in the spices and combine with the diced tomatoes and beans in your slow cooker. You can cook it for four hours on high or six to eight hours on low.
You can also make it on the stovetop. Brown your ground turkey in a large pot or Dutch oven (affiliate link) and instead of adding the browned turkey to the slow cooker, simply stir your diced tomatoes and beans into the browned turkey and simmer for 45 mins to an hour, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. The longer you simmer the chili, the more flavorful it will be.
Watch the web story for Easy Low Sodium Chili with Ground Turkey HERE.
If you need help monitoring your sodium intake, don’t forget to sign up to get my Free Weekly Sodium Tracker here.
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If you like this recipe, try my Low Sodium Italian Sausage Meatballs and use my Best All Purpose Salt Free Seasoning to add flavor to your favorite recipes!
Easy Low Sodium Chili with Ground Turkey
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 36 Oz 85/15 lean ground turkey
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons Southwest Chipotle No Salt Seasoning
- 4 15-oz cans no salt added diced tomatoes
- 1 15-oz can no salt added red kidney beans drained
- 1 15-Oz can no salt added black beans drained
Instructions
Slow Cooker:
- Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat.
- Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to soften, about two minutes.
- Add ground turkey and spices. Cook until turkey is evenly browned, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add diced tomatoes and beans to slow cooker. Stir in browned turkey. Cover and cook for 4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.
Stovetop:
- Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat.
- Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to soften, about 2 minutes.
- Add ground turkey and spices. Cook until turkey is evenly browned, about 5-7 minutes.
- Stir in diced tomatoes and beans.
- Bring chili to a boil then immediately reduce heat to simmer.
- Simmer chili 45 mins to 1 hour.
- Serve with Low Sodium Cornbread
Nutrition Facts
Easy Low Sodium Chili with Ground Turkey
Serves: 10
|
Amount Per Serving: about 1 1/4 cups
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 327 | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 16g | 24.6% | |
| Saturated Fat 4.6 g | 20% | |
| Trans Fat | ||
| Cholesterol 99 mgs | 33% | |
| Sodium 185.2 mg | 7.7% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 24.2 g | 8% | |
| Dietary Fiber 6.8 g | 24% | |
| Sugars 5.3 g | ||
| Protein 22.4 g | ||
| Vitamin A 49.7% | Vitamin C 3.3% | |
| Calcium 10.3% | Iron 17.8% | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Good chili recipe but I would definitely cut the spice measurements in half.
This was delicious. Thank you so much for a low-sodium, easy-to-follow recipe with ingredients that we could actually find. The only thing we left out was the chili powder to keep the sodium even lower. It helped us greatly to have this. Perfect for football season too.
I made this chili for Nsuper Bowl Sunday. My husband loved it and so did I. I made half a recipe since we decided to stay home and it is just the two of us. I didn’t have the Southwest seasoning but tasted great without it. I will make this chili again.