This easy leftover turkey and white bean chili verde is the perfect use of leftover turkey from your Thanksgiving feast! The nourishing bone broth base will comfort tummies, while warming your body from the inside on cool autumn days. This soup will have you wanting to cook a turkey for leftovers all winter long!

bowl of turkey and white bean chili verde

I created this easy leftover turkey and white bean chili verde the first year we raised our own turkeys on the homestead. They grew larger than we expected, so there were lots of leftovers that needed to be used!

Growing your own food has many benefits including being more environmentally friendly, more cost efficient, and less processed! That’s a story for another day, but I highly encourage you to try growing some of your own food if you aren’t already!

If you are cooking a turkey this year, you will want to save this recipe! If you are going to a Thanksgiving feast where turkey will be served, send this recipe to your host!

Tips for customizing your easy leftover turkey and white bean chili verde:

Top your bowl of soup with your favorite toppings like cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, or lime juice.
Instead of using leftover shredded turkey, use cooked ground turkey.
Serve with a side of cornbread or corn chips.
Freeze your shredded leftover turkey and make this chili at a later date.
Use from-scratch bone broth from a chicken, or save your turkey bones and make a broth.
Buy your turkey from a local farm that raises them on pasture.
Take a jar of soup to a friend to share, or freeze some of it to use later when you don’t feel like cooking.
Visit The Sensible Life to learn more about how to create a low-tox living kitchen.

Gather your tools and ingredients

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Tools: use stainless, wood, and glass when possible

large stock pot
cutting board
sharp knife
measuring cups and spoons
large wooden spoon
ladle

bowls of ingredients for turkey with white bean chili verde

Ingredients: use locally grown and organic ingredients when possible

2 TBSP grass fed butter
2 onions, diced
4 peppers of your choice, diced
4 cups of shredded, leftover turkey
2 tsp ground coriander
4 TBSP ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp sea salt
2 bay leaves
2 jars of salsa verde (12-15 ounce jars)
2 cans of diced green chilis (4 once cans)
12 cups broth (preferably made from your leftover, pasture raised turkey bones)
4 cans cannellini beans (or two cups dried beans, which you will soak and cook prior to adding)

How to make easy leftover turkey and white bean chili verde:

Step 1

Gather all of your tools and ingredients. Melt butter in your large stock pot while stirring with your large wooden spoon.

Step 2

Place the diced onions and peppers into the stock pot with the butter. Sauté until softened and onions are translucent.

wooden spoon holding sautéed onions and peppers

Step 3

Pour all of the other ingredients, except the beans, into the stock pot on top of sautéed veggies. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and top with a lid. Simmer for one hour or longer.

stock pot of simmering turkey and white bean chili verde

Step 4

Pour the beans into the stock pot with all other ingredients. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

beans in a measuring cup held over a bowl of turkey chili

Step 5

Ladle the chili into bowls and top with your favorite toppings like shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro, and lime juice. Serve alongside cornbread or corn chips. This recipe was designed to make a large batch of chili so you can share a jar with a friend or someone in need, or freeze some of it so you have a quick and easy meal on a night you don’t feel like cooking!