Easy, Tasty Low-Sodium Turkey Chili Recipe

If you’re trying to cut back on sodium and saturated fat in the name of heart health, you might think chili is off the menu. Chili recipes typically start with browning ground beef, and can end up with over 1000 mg of sodium per cup, thanks to all the salt hiding out in the canned tomatoes, beans, and even chili powder!

It’s actually a cinch to reduce the sodium in chili. The trick is for it to still taste good!

In this recipe, ingredients like (lower-sodium) chili powder and hot sauce, as well as freshly ground black pepper give it heat, browned turkey makes it meaty, and corn gives it a pop of fresh sweetness. (That’s what my kids like about this one.)

What’s in it?

• Ground turkey
• Garlic, onions, and celery
• Chili powder, dried oregano and cumin
• Canned red kidney beans, no-salt-added
• Canned diced tomatoes, no-salt-added
• Corn, frozen or canned, no-salt-added
• Tomato paste
• Salsa
• Hot sauce
• Freshly ground black pepper

Selecting and substituting ingredients

Ground turkey

Ground turkey is typically very lean and has next to no sodium, so you don’t have to spend time comparing products.

On the other hand, if you really prefer ground beef in your chili, choose the leanest one you can find, by comparing nutrition labels. Having red meat often isn’t ideal for heart health, but I believe you need to find the right balance of healthy and satisfying for you, so you can eat this way for the rest of your life. That’s the “sweet spot.”

Another option is to use a plant-based alternative, usually called “veggie ground round.” Those products give you more fibre and plant protein, both good things, but also add about 170 mg sodium per serving.

If you want to make it vegetarian in a less processed way, you can make it without any meat at all. That saves time and you’ll get protein from the beans, although not quite enough for a meal. (Only about 12 grams per cup.) You could supplement that with shredded cheddar, milk, soy milk and/or Greek yogurt.

Or just go with the ground turkey! It’ll give you a nice meaty, umami flavour, and bump the protein up to about 20 grams per cup.

Garlic, onions, and celery

Add more of any of these if you love them and don’t mind the extra chopping.

Canned foods – watch the sodium

To make sure you end up with low-sodium chili, be on the lookout for salt in the canned foods in particular. When possible, choose “no-salt-added” products. If you can’t find those, compare labels to find the lowest. Sometimes there’s quite a difference!

Using “no-salt-added” and low-sodium products, this chili has only about 100 mg of sodium per cup. But when I re-analyzed it using the highest sodium products I could find, it zoomed up to over 1000 mg!

But don’t drive yourself crazy comparing labels for every single ingredient. You could be shopping for hours! The three biggest contributors of sodium were canned tomatoes, canned beans, and salsa. Get those as low as you can and you’ll cut about 80% of the sodium.

This recipe makes about ten cups, so the math here is easy, if you’re curious about how much sodium each ingredient potentially adds:

On the other hand, you can see that the tomato paste and hot sauce don’t make a huge difference, so don’t worry if you see a bit of sodium in those.

Also, if you use canned beans or corn with salt, rinse them in a strainer for a minute or so, which will remove some of the sodium. (See the canned beans above – there’s still quite a bit left!)

Easier: Use frozen corn, which is salt-free. Not as easy: Cooking dried beans from scratch, but it’s doable, and very budget-friendly.

Chili powder

You might be shocked to see how much sodium can be in chili powder! In my fictional higher-sodium chili above, the chili powder was the fourth highest source of sodium, not far behind the salsa. So again, compare labels and see if you can find a lower sodium one.

Some people go as far as buying dried chilis and grinding them at home. But I wrote the recipe using regular chili powder, because that’s what most of us have in the kitchen.

Dried cumin and oregano

If you like these flavours, consider adding more after tasting. If dried herbs have been in the pantry too long they can lose flavour, so you might need more. Don’t be afraid to experiment! Do it in a small bowl if you’re nervous about going overboard.

Freshly ground black pepper

Freshly ground black pepper will have a fresher, spicier flavour than pre-ground, so use that if you can, and add more at the end, or even on top, right before serving. Without salt, we need all of our other flavouring ingredients at their best!

How to make it

I wrote the recipe to do it in a big pot on the stove, because everyone has one of those, but personally, I prefer to do this in the Instant Pot (pressure cooker). You can also use a slow cooker. Directions for each are in the notes below the recipe.

Either way, you’ll start with browning the meat. To speed things up, I cut the onions, celery, and garlic while that’s happening, adding them to the pot as I go.

When the meat is cooked through, you’ll add the spices and toast them in the hot pan for a minute or so, to wake up the flavours and season the meat. Then you’ll brown the tomato paste.

Then add the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer as long as you can, to blend the flavours.

Details below.

Need more flavour?

Everybody’s taste preferences are different. Taste the chili when it’s partway through simmering. If you’re used to higher sodium foods, you might find it needs “something”.

A few ideas:

• If you like heat, bump up the chili powder, hot sauce, and/or freshly ground black pepper.
• Red pepper flakes or chopped jalapeno will add a fiery zing.
• If you like smokiness, try a little smoked paprika.
• A half-cup or so of beer can add warmth.

By checking it partway through instead of at the end, the new seasonings can simmer and mingle with the rest.

If needed, add a little salt!

If all that doesn’t do it, don’t be afraid to add a little salt! Salt heightens the flavour of other ingredients, and it doesn’t take much. If you add a half-teaspoon to the whole batch, that’s about 1200 mg of sodium, or 120 mg per cup.

Remember, if you used low-sodium ingredients, the chili will have about 100 mg of sodium per cup. My rule of thumb is about 500 mg per meal, so you have wiggle room. (But if you like a dinner roll or slice of toast, leave room for that too.)

It might feel sacrilegious to add salt, but I honestly believe you must enjoy your food, or your commitment to heart-healthier eating will waver. This way you control the salt, rather than allowing it to sneak in, Trojan horse style.

How to store and reheat

Chili freezes well and you can defrost it in the microwave. Easy! I like to store it in small containers, so we can grab one for lunch or a snack.

For food safety, once you turn the heat off, cool it quickly by transferring to long, low containers. A 9×13 baking dish works great for this! The increased surface area means it cools to a safe temperature quickly.

When it’s cooled, I’ll transfer it to plastic containers to go in the freezer. (I don’t like putting hot foods into plastic food storage containers.)

What to serve with it

The beauty of chili is that it’s a perfectly good standalone meal.

If you want to boost your veggie intake, have it with a light salad. Or for cooked vegetables, you could add some chopped bell pepper or frozen broccoli spears to the pot during the last few minutes of cooking.

Frequently asked questions

Isn’t corn high in sugar?

Corn has naturally-occurring sugars, but only about two to three grams per half-cup. Not worried about that! It’s excessive added sugars, particularly from beverages, that are linked to health problems.

Corn is also higher in carbohydrates than most other vegetables, so it’s considered a starch, at least with respect to blood sugar control. Nothing wrong with that! But when they talk about making only about a quarter of your meal whole grains and starches, that includes corn.

In this chili, the corn is much less than a quarter of the dish, so you have room for that dinner roll if you like. Don’t sweat it.

My blood pressure is fine. Do I need to worry about sodium?

Worrying never helps, but in this case, it makes sense to take action. The World Health Organization and Hypertension Canada suggest limiting sodium to 2000 mg a day, to prevent and treat high blood pressure. People who consume more sodium have higher rates of heart disease.

But you don’t have to obsess over eliminating every grain of salt. About three-quarters of our sodium comes from restaurant and processed foods, like the canned tomatoes and beans in this recipe. Focus on that and you’ll find that 2000 mg a day is doable.

Other low-sodium recipes you’ll love

Ready to cook? Here’s the recipe.

Heart-Healthy Low-Sodium Turkey Chili

A fresh, flavourful chili with minimal sodium and maximum flavour. Fill your deep freeze for quick meals to warm you through the winter.

Prep Time 35 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Main Dish

Cuisine American

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb (454 g) ground turkey
• 2 onions
• 2 stalks celery
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp chili powder *
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 can (5.5 oz / 156 mL) tomato paste *
• 2 cans (28 oz / 796 mL) diced tomatoes, no-salt-added, with juice
• 2 cans (19 oz / 540 mL) red kidney beans, no-salt-added
• 2 cups corn kernels, frozen or canned, no-salt-added
• ½ cup prepared salsa *
• 1 tsp hot sauce *

Suggested Toppings

• avocado, chopped
• green onion, sliced
• jalapeno peppers, chopped
• cilantro, minced
• cheddar cheese, shredded
• sour cream

• In large pot, brown ground turkey in olive oil.

• While the turkey is cooking, chop the onion, adding it to the pot as you go. Then slice the celery and mince the garlic, adding them as you go.

• While the turkey finishes cooking, open the cans. Drain and rinse the beans and if needed, canned corn.

• When the turkey is just cooked through, add the chili powder, oregano, cumin, and black pepper. Cook for a minute more.

• Add the tomato paste and cook for another few minutes, stirring frequently, until it’s a deeper, browner red.

• Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, and then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 45 minutes or more.

• Partway through simmering, stir and have a taste. Adjust seasonings until you’re happy. (See the article above for suggestions.) Let it bubble away a bit longer and the flavours will come together beautifully.

• Serve with your choice of topping(s).

* Check the labels when shopping for these ingredients, to find the lowest-sodium options. 
(1) If you use veggie ground round instead of turkey, you don’t have to brown it. Add it later, along with the tomatoes, beans, and other ingredients. 
(2) Note that the cheese on top will add sodium — about 100 mg for each two tablespoons.
(3) This recipe is based on the “Easy Pleasin’ Chili” that came with Sunbeam slow cookers a million years ago. 
(4) To do it in a slow cooker: Brown the turkey with the onion, celery, garlic, spices, and tomato paste in a frying pan, then transfer to the slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. 
To use an Instant Pot: Brown the turkey with the onion, celery, garlic, spices, and tomato paste on the saute function, then add the rest of the ingredients. Cook under pressure for 20 minutes and then simmer on the “warm” function until you’re ready to eat.

Keyword beans, legumes, low-sodium, turkey, winter

Love this chili?

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As always, this post is not sponsored! Any mention of specific products are to help you, never for financial gain.