Full Flavor Crock Pot Turkey Chili

Total Time: 36 hrs Preparation Time: 24 hrs Cook Time: 12 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 4 lbs ground turkey
• 1 lb bacon (cooked and chunked)
• 4 1/2 cups dried beans (black beans, pinto beans, or great northern beans all work very well)
• 2 (16 ounce) cans tomatoes (either diced or crushed are fine)
• 12 ounces tomato paste
• 2 onions, finely diced (preferably vidalia)
• 2 green bell peppers, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 2 (10 ounce) cans condensed beef broth (or chicken broth)
• 6 ounces beer (1/2 can)
• 2 fresh tomatoes
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 -4 tablespoons chili powder (to taste)
• 2 -4 tablespoons cayenne pepper (to taste)
• 2 jalapeno peppers (you can omit them completely or substitute hotter peppers if you want more fire)
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded cheddar cheese

Recipe

• 1 mix and soak beans overnight per package directions.
• 2 process the fresh tomatoes, garlic, cumin, oregano, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper and jalapeno (hot) peppers in the food processor; place in the refrigerator overnight.
• 3 note: the 2 tablespoons each of hot spices makes a very mild chili- while the 4 tablespoons w/added hot peppers turns up the heat-- for those who like it hot!
• 4 take out four or five cups of the soaked beans and place in crock pot (cut it to 3 cups if you did the fast soak- they will still expand while cooking).
• 5 freeze the rest for later use.
• 6 if you are using canned beans you'll lose some of the flavor-- but it's still good.
• 7 fry the bacon until crispy and place in crock pot.
• 8 brown the ground turkey in some of the bacon drippings and place in crock pot.
• 9 add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, bell peppers, broth, beer and tomato spice puree.
• 10 stir to mix and let cook for 10-12 hours on low.
• 11 (you can also cook for 5-6 hours on high, but the beans will not soak up as much of the flavor).
• 12 serve topped w/the shredded cheddar cheese.
• 13 this recipe is for a large crock pot. you can cut down on the ground turkey, beans and bell peppers a little if you have a smaller crock pot.