Are you a fan of Panera Bread's soups? Don't do take out! Learn how to make this healthy copycat Panera turkey chili at home. It's the perfect game day food for a crowd.
Love Panera's soups? You'll definitely want to try our copycat recipes for 10 vegetable soup and baked potato soup, or try all of our 11 Panera copycat soup recipes.
Why This Recipe Works
- To help build layers of flavor, bloom the Tex Mex combination of spices and caramelize the tomato paste, which will enhance the umami quality.
- Deglaze the brown bits in the pan so none of their concentrated flavor goes to waste.
- The charred and pureed tomatillos add a sweet and smoky undertone.
- For a brighter, fresher Tex Mex taste, add fresh cilantro and freshly squeezed lime juice at the very end.
Ingredients
The ingredients for this Panera turkey chili are easy to find at most large grocery stores in the U.S. Let's talk about the key ingredients.
- Meat: We used ground turkey with 85% meat, 15% fat, since it had the most fat content for extra flavor.
- Dried Spices: We used chili powder, ancho chili pepper, pasilla chili pepper, cumin, crushed red pepper, onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper.
- Fresh Vegetables: We used yellow onions, garlic, carrots, and tomatillos. The charred tomatillos will help thicken the chili and provide wonderful flavor.
- Frozen Vegetables: For ease, we used frozen yellow corn and shelled edamame. If you are allergic to soy, substitute with lima beans.
- Sweetener: We used molasses instead of the traditional brown sugar to help off set the acidity of the tomatoes.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Need some meat options? Use ground beef or shredded turkey or chicken.
- Need this vegan? Leave out the turkey and double the beans.
- Need this soy free? Swap out the edamame with lima beans.
- Need this spicier? Increase the red pepper flakes to 2 teaspoons.
How to Make Panera Turkey Chili
Gather the ingredients for the turkey chili. If using leftover turkey, chop up the meat to be bite size. Use fresh tomatillos that are rinsed, cut in half, charred and then pureed. Read step 1 in recipe card for more information.
- In a large soup pot with a heavy bottom, heat up 2 tablespoons of oil and brown the ground turkey until it's no longer pink. (image 1)
- Drain and set aside. If using leftover turkey, skip this step. (image 2)
- In the same pot, heat up the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and saute the onion and carrot until soft, then cook the garlic until fragrant. (image 3)
- Add the dried spices. (image 4)
- Stir for a minute to bloom them, then add the tomato paste. (image 5)
- Cook while stirring for 2 to 4 minutes. (image 6)
- Deglaze the bottom of the pot by pouring in a little chicken stock and scraping the brown bits off the bottom with a wooden turner. (image 7)
- Add the rest of the chicken stock. (image 8)
- Add the the charred and puréed tomatillos, green chilies, and molasses. (image 9)
- Add the cooked ground turkey. (image 10)
- Add the tomatoes. Stir well. Cover and bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. (image 11)
- Add the edamame and corn. (image 12)
- Dump in the kidney beans and chickpeas. Stir then taste, adjust seasonings, if necessary. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. (image 13)
- Remove from the heat and add the fresh cilantro and lime juice. (image 14)
- Serve this Panera turkey chili while still warm with your favorite toppings. (image 15)
- We like grated pepper jack cheese, tortilla strips, sour cream, and more cilantro. (image 16)
Recipe FAQs
Panera Bread sums it up best, "hearty blend of dark-meat turkey raised without antibiotics and chickpeas and kidney beans slow cooked in an ancho and pasilla stock with tomatillos, tomatoes, edamame, carrots, cilantro, cumin, and lime."
Panera Bread's turkey chili has 300 calories for a 1.5 cup serving size with 10g fat, 31g carbs, and 21g protein. For the same serving size, our copycat chili recipe has 404 calories, 13.5g fat, 46.8g carbs, and 28.1g protein. Our version is packed with veggies and meat and isn't as brothy.
According to this nutritionist, she picked it as the healthiest soup choice on the kids' menu when it was paired with a salad and a squeeze yogurt.
Panera Bread choose ground turkey for this chili recipe because it is lower in saturated fat then ground beef, so it is a better choice for heart health. If you prefer to use ground beef, try to pick one that is lower in fat to keep the nutritional facts similar.
Make Ahead: This Panera turkey chili tastes even better if made a day in advance.
Leftovers: Store covered in an airtight container in the fridge.
Freeze: Freeze in an airtight freezer container or zip-top bag for up to 3 months.
Reheat: Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat on the stovetop over medium heat.
Serve
Panera Bread serves their turkey chili without any additional toppings, but feel free to customize your bowl with grated cheese, sour cream, chopped onions, fresh cilantro, avocado slices, jalapeños, and tortilla strips.
Panera Bread gives their customers the option of a side order of a baguette, kettle chips, or an apple. We agree this soup tastes great with those side options, but it also would taste wonderful with a fresh green salad or some homemade skillet cornbread.
Looking for other Panera soup recipes? Make sure to try our copycat recipes for Panera baked potato soup, bistro French onion soup, autumn squash soup, Panera chicken noodle soup, and chicken and wild rice soup.
Expert Tips
- Dried pasilla chilis can be found in a bag in the Mexican section of large grocery stores. Using a spice grinder, grind up one large chili with the stem removed.
- Use fresh tomatillos that are rinsed, cut in half, charred, and then pureed.
- This is a great freeze it and forget it meal, so make extra.
Other Panera Copycat Recipes
Recipe
Panera Turkey Chili Copycat
Ingredients
Meat and Aromatics
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 pounds 85% lean ground turkey, or 4 cups chopped turkey
- 2 cups yellow onion, chopped
- 1 ½ cups carrots, chopped
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
Spices
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 4 ½ teaspoons salt
- 4 ½ teaspoons black pepper
- 4 teaspoons ancho chili pepper
- 4 teaspoons pasilla chili pepper, freshly ground
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, crushed
Veggies and Liquids
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 8 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 13 charred tomatillos, pureed
- 2 4-ounce cans fire roasted green chiles, medium
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 28-ounce cans petite diced tomatoes
- ¾ cup edamame, shelled
- 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
- 2 15-ounce cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
Optional Garnishes
- grated pepper jack cheese or pickled jalapenos, for extra spiciness
- sour cream or sliced avocado
- tortilla strips
- cilantro
Instructions
- Turn the broiler on high, then line a large baking tray with foil. Remove the husks and stems from the tomatillos and wash them thoroughly. Cut them in half and place them cut side down on the foil, then char under the broiler until darkened, roughly 15-20 minutes. Remove from the tray and purée in a blender.
- Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large, heavy-bottomed pot at medium high heat and heat until shimmering. Cook the ground turkey until it's no longer pink, roughly 5 minutes. Drain the meat and set aside. If using leftover turkey, shred or chop into bite size pieces.
- Heat the other 2 tablespoons of oil in the pot over medium heat until shimmering, then cook the onion and carrot until soft while stirring, roughly 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, roughly 30 seconds.
- Add the spices to the aromatics and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the tomato paste and cook over medium heat, stirring for 2 minutes.
- Increase the heat to medium high, then slowly pour in ½ cup of chicken stock while scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden turner. This step will build more flavor.
- Add the rest of the chicken stock, green chilis, molasses, turkey, the pureed tomatillos, and the canned tomatoes. (The tomatillos will add flavor and help thicken the soup.) Stir with a large wooden spoon, then cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Dump in the shelled edamame, corn, red kidney beans, and the chickpeas. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Cover and simmer for another 20 minutes.
- Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the cilantro and freshly squeezed lime juice.
- Garnish with grated pepper jack cheese, sour cream, tortilla strips, and chopped cilantro. Panera Bread serves their turkey chili plain with a side order of kettle chips, French baguette, or an apple. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Video
Notes
- Dried pasilla chilis can be found in a bag in the Mexican section of large grocery stores. Using a spice grinder, grind up one large chili with the stem removed.
- Use fresh tomatillos that are rinsed, cut in half, charred and then pureed.
- This is a great freeze it and forget it meal, so make extra.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
Felice
Any suggestions on reducing the sodium and potassium levels. The chili is awesome!
Appreciate it!
Emma Fajcz
Using no salt added beans and tomatoes should help, and make sure to drain and rinse the beans thoroughly. Add salt to taste at the end. Please remember that the nutrition facts on our site are only for general guidance and may not be accurate.
Richard Tornabene
I just made this chili. It was very good. My wife does not like a spicy chili. We are from New Orleans, go figure. I cut most of the recommended chili and green chili in half. I do add an additional amount to my individual serving. Also, the 1x serving is quite a lot of chili. It came out awesome and will definitely make it again.
Emma
Richard, We are thrilled to hear that your soup came out awesome! Yes, this soup makes a lot - 19 cups, but it freezes well.
Cindy Gavin
The ingredient list calls for 8 cups low sodium chicken stock, but the instructions only require 1/2 cup of the chicken stock. Am I missing something?
Emma
Cindy, You add it in the next step after deglazing with the 1/2 cup of chicken stock. It's in the How to Make section with the photos, but now it's fixed in the recipe card. Thanks for letting us know. Enjoy!
Brianna
This was amazing!!!! Tried it tonight with my husband and we both love it. We will be adding this to our rotation! Thank you so much for sharing and now I can’t wait to try your other recipes!
Emma
Awww, thank you, Brianna! We're thrilled that you and your husband enjoyed the chili so much!
Pat
I made my chili with vegetable stock and made it in the instant pot on manual for 15 minutes with slow release. It was so delicious! Thank you for posting your recipe.
Emma
You're welcome, Pat! We're so happy that you enjoyed this recipe!
Tish
If I wanted to make this in my crock pot, would I just dump everything in all at once? And would you happen to know the temperature and timeframe I would set? Thank you!
Emma
Follow the recipe as written for steps 1-5 using the stovetop, then place the ingredients in the crockpot. Cook the soup for 4-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. Enjoy!
Beth
This chili is a little bit spicy, and the colorful collection of beans and veggies in it is yummy. This is great chili recipe!
Emma
Thanks for you comment, Beth! I'm really glad that you found this chili so tasty!
Alex
The soup is filling and has a hint of spiciness. The beans are soft, and the turkey is yummy. Two thumbs up!
Emma
I'm glad you enjoyed it, Alex!