Healthy Chili Recipe

In an effort to keep your healthy diet (and my own) full of flavor and variety, I thought I’d offer up one of my favorite healthy, fat burning metabolism-boosting recipes.

This healthy chili recipe is great because it’s a comfort food that won’t leave you feeling guilty and bloated. It also makes for a great family dinner, or you can pack some up and freeze portions for meals on the go. It’s pretty versatile, and you can easily swap ingredients if there’s something you don’t like.

So if you need something different on the menu tonight, this healthy chili recipe is a great option – especially for those still dealing with the cold winter weather!

And it’s packed full of ingredients to kick your metabolism into high gear and get you burning extra calories and fat!

Healthy Chili Recipe

Here’s the basic healthy chili recipe, but at the end, I’m going to show you some variations on the recipe to make it just the way you like!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small white onion, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 pound or 500 grams lean ground turkey (see other options below)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can tomato sauce or marinara sauce
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 medium-sized zucchini, diced
1 cup fresh mushrooms, diced
1 cup vegetable broth or chicken broth
2-3 dashes of Tobasco sauce (for extra heat, as desired)
Low-fat cheddar cheese, low-fat sour cream, diced green onion (optional)

Directions: In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté onions and garlic lightly, then add lean ground turkey meat and all seasonings, stirring to coat meat thoroughly. Add kidney beans, black beans, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, and vegetable broth, mixing well. Increase temperature to medium-high and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until ready to serve. Add Tobasco sauce as desired, and serve as is or topped with a tablespoon of low-fat cheddar cheese, low-fat sour cream, and green onion.

Tip: I find the longer the chili simmers on the stove top, the tastier it gets, allowing all of the ingredients to incorporate and get really flavorful. This recipe can also be done in a crock pot.

Changing Up this Healthy Chili Recipe

Here are some easy ways to change up this healthy chili recipe:

Instead of lean ground turkey, you can use lean ground beef, ground chicken, or veggie ground round for all the vegans out there (it tends to work best with the regular, unseasoned veggie ground round).

You can totally up the veggie content of this recipe by also adding diced carrots, celery, broccoli, green beans, red peppers, and/or corn. This is an easy way to “sneak” more veggies into your healthy diet.

This recipe already contains a lot of heat, which is great for boosting your metabolism. But to give it an even bigger boost, consider adding fresh jalapeno peppers, roasted green chilies, or simply adding more chili powder.

Olive oil is always a safe bet for cooking when it comes to metabolism and weight loss, but have you tried cooking with coconut oil? Coconut oil, like this Nutiva Organic Extra-Virgin Coconut Oil, has been shown in research to help your body burn even more calories and fat. You could easily use it in this recipe!

Boosting Your Metabolism Naturally

This healthy chili recipe is a great example of how to naturally boost your metabolism and improve your fat burning results.

Another great way to boost your metabolism naturally is by drinking green tea every morning. Matcha green tea powder, like this Magic Matcha Green Tea, is even more potent in its ability to burn fat. Add it to a smoothie or a cup of hot water for best results

Have any questions or feedback about this Healthy Chili Recipe? Please leave a comment below…

Healthy Chili Recipe