Turkey chili mini taco bowls

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Anyone for a bit more turkey? Tee hee … This easy and healthy turkey chili recipe uses a smallish amount of lean ground turkey, then gets bulked up a bit with beans. It’s tasty enough to eat as it is with rice, but if you want to impress your party guests, pile it into homemade mini taco bowls and top with all sorts of deliciousness … mmmm!

A turkey chili mini taco bowl closeup on a wooden board.

Years ago, I went on a fabulous trip along the west coast of the USA. It was a mini-van bus tour and fun in so many ways. But even then, years before the existence of my blog, or any blog for that matter, many of the best moments involved food!

The tour began in LA, and the first meal I had there, in a random hotel, was a huge crispy tortilla salad bowl – with piles of chili and all the trimmings.

I’m sure this is no big deal if you happen to be from the USA, but for me, this was a treat indeed. I couldn’t believe how delicious all those flavours and textures melded together – the chili, the guacamole, the cheese, the salsa, the salad, and of course that crispy bowl that you could eat, all soaked in delicious juices from the food. Sad but true – even today, I still remember the taste of that meal that I didn’t want to end!

At that time, it was really hard to find decent Mexican food in the UK. Even guacamole wasn’t really ‘a thing’, so avocadoes were always rock hard when you bought them.

These days (I know, I’m making myself sound very old!) Mexican restaurants and takeaways seem to be springing up all over my town.

turkey chili mini taco bowls from above on a wooden board.

So Mexican food is finally catching on big time over here, and today I’m going to celebrate this by posting a Mexican recipe of my own.

It’s simple, really simple (I’m not going to pretend I’m anything but an amateur when it comes to Mexican!). But it’s got all the elements of that meal I had all those years ago. It also happens to be perfect for Holiday time entertaining. Well, mini anything is, isn’t it? (just ask Bridget Jones!) 😉

Hope you enjoy these turkey chili mini taco bowls – I know I wouldn’t mind being offered one at a party this year, Bridget.

Someone squeezing lime over a turkey chili mini taco bowl on a wooden board.

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Turkey chili mini taco bowls in a row on a wooden board with lime wedges.
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Turkey chili mini taco bowls

If I really had to choose a favourite food, taco bowls would probably be it. These mini taco bowls stuffed with a simple and light turkey chili will really impress your guests at the party!
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total: 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings: 4 (as chili portions), makes plenty of taco bowls!

Ingredients 
 

for the turkey chili

  • oil for cooking
  • 1 onion, peeled and chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
  • 1 carrot, peeled and fairly finely diced
  • 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, chopped
  • 14 ounces ground turkey
  • 1 teaspoon heaped each of: hot chili powder, or a level tablespoon of mild, paprika, ground cumin
  • 1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 28 ounces chopped tomatoes, (two 14 oz. cans)
  • 3 tablespoons tomato puree
  • 14 ounce beans, (canned) butter beans, chickpeas or chili beans are all fine

for the tortilla bowls

  • soft tortillas, 10”, cut into quarters

toppings

  • grated cheese, guacamole, sour cream (or Greek yoghurt), chopped tomatoes or a simple tomato salsa, limes for squeezing

Instructions 

  • Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F. Heat up a good drizzle or two of oil in a heavy based oven-proof casserole pan, then fry the onions for a few minutes until softened. Add the garlic, carrot and pepper and cook for about seven minutes, stirring regularly.
  • Add the ground turkey and cook and stir until browned. Then add the chili powder, paprika, ground cumin and most of the coriander and cook for about another 10 minutes, stirring often.
  • Add the balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, tomato puree and beans, then put the casserole dish in the oven for about two hours. Add a splash or two of water after an hour if you think it needs it.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the tortilla bowls. Press the tortilla quarters into a muffin tin, then bake until lightly browned and crispy (about ten minutes).
  • When the chili is ready, spoon it into your homemade tortilla bowls and top generously with the toppings and reserved coriander. Serve immediately.

Notes

Turkey chili loosely based on this recipe by Jamie Oliver.
You might be thinking that this recipe uses more ingredients than you'd usually find in the recipes here. Well, I guess you'd be right about that, but a lot of the ingredients are spices. Just trust me that it's worth it!
If you don't have an oven-proof casserole dish, don't worry. Just bubble the chili on the cooker top for the same amount of time. (just keep checking to see if it needs a little more liquid)

Nutrition

Calories: 213kcal, Carbohydrates: 22g, Protein: 29g, Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 54mg, Sodium: 366mg, Potassium: 1038mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 3980IU, Vitamin C: 75.7mg, Calcium: 95mg, Iron: 4.2mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

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About Helen Schofield

Don't expect to find anything fussy or complicated here. Just QUICK, EASY & (mostly!) HEALTHY recipes from the Mediterranean and beyond. ENJOY!

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34 Comments

  1. I love chili, Helen, and these are so fun with the edible bowls! I could devour several — turkey chili is my favorite!

  2. warm barmey night sittin out by the pool a few cold beers and a platter of these babies, perfect.Now my kids love Mexican. these were so easy Helen very cleaver thanks mate . Happy New Year to you and yours

    1. Hello Peter … Happy New Year to you too! Lucky you getting to sit out by the pool! (no chance of that here unfortunately) You’ve made me beam from ear to ear as usual. I’m so happy you’re enjoying my recipes. I hadn’t thought of these as being particularly kid friendly, but I’m so glad you’ve ‘tested them out’ for me on that score. 🙂

  3. One of my favourite things about travelling in the US is the Mexican restaurants and how their portions of guac are so huge. We get like a tsp of guac here.

    1. Ha … yes, I know! I really haven’t had much good Mexican food here, but I think I need to start trying some of the restaurants that are popping up. Maybe we are slowly getting the idea! 🙂

  4. I absolutely love Mexican food and, sadly, we don’t have a good restaurant in town. 🙁 But I make a lot of Mexican food at home and these look incredible…

  5. The Mr. and I are huge Mexican food fans; however, when we lived in Kenya, Mexican restaurants and the ingredients to make homemade Mexican food were virtually nonexistent. . so I can completely sympathize with the challenges of recreating this dish back in the UK.

    That said the fact that you still can taste those magnificent flavors is completely evident in these taco bowls. They look absolutely scrumptious. And how perfect are they for parties? Especially the upcoming Super Bowl parties.

    1. Hello Lynn! Happy New Year!
      Wow, you lived in Kenya? What sort of food is common there?
      Thank you for the compliment on my taco bowls. I feel like a complete amateur … hahaha! But never mind. So long as it’s delicious!

  6. All our holidays seem to revolve around food – and it’s the food we talk about years later:) Anything mini is always a winner – I bet these go down a treat at any party.

    1. Hi Nancy! I guess that’s why we ended up as food bloggers! Really happy you like these!

  7. Hi Helen, these are so adorable, I can see myself eating way to many of these, love it so clever!!! Happy 2016 to you!!!

    1. Hi Cheri! Erm … we DID eat far too many! But never mind – it was the holidays! Indulgence allowed!