Stove Top Turkey Chili & Shells is the perfect blend of chili & pasta. Spicy ground turkey, roasted vegetables, & shells! Quick to make! Weight Watcher friendly- 8 SmartPoints!
One of the biggest food dilemmas that I face is when I have a major craving for two different foods and can’t decide which to make. If you have read and seen some of my other recipes, you know I like to shake things up and combine foods you wouldn’t think would be good together… Such as Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chili, Falafel Tacos, and Strawberry Banana Pudding. My Stove Top Turkey Chili & Shells is the perfect blend of chili and pasta. Spicy ground turkey, roasted peppers, pasta shells, and topped with cheese. Made on the stove top in less than an hour for a great weeknight meal! This is a Weight Watcher friendly recipe and two cups is 8 SmartPoints.
You’re probably thinking chili with pasta shells… are you serious?? Yes, totally. I pretty sure when I made this dish the first time my husband said “That sounds weird”. I just shrugged at him and told him to take a bite. He loved it! Delicious seasoned lean ground turkey mixed with roasted peppers, roasted diced tomatoes, Mexican spices, BEANS, corn, and pasta shells. I know it doesn’t sound like it goes together, but it totally does! This dish is so delicious, super filling, and made in one-pot on the stove. I like to make this dish when I’m in a time crunch for dinner because it takes about 50 minutes or so to make.
What really takes this dish up a notch is the roasted peppers. You could totally just sauté peppers, but trust me… roasting peppers adds such a delicious, deep flavor to any dish that you wouldn’t be able to get just sautéing peppers. To roast peppers, place the peppers on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake for 25 minutes or until all sides of the peppers are charred. Once they are charred, remove from the oven and wrap the peppers in foil to let the peppers sweat for about 25 minutes. Sweating the peppers helps the skin to come off. Once the peppers are cooled enough to touch, gently remove the skin and seeds, then dice.
In a large skillet, over medium heat, add oil, and sauté onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Next add ground turkey, Mexican spices, and sauté until the meat is cooked, breaking the meat up into small pieces. Add roasted diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, liquid from canned chipotles in adobo sauce, more Mexican spices, vegetable broth, water, corn, pinto beans, and the roasted peppers. Bring to a boil, reduced to simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.
The last step is to add the pasta shells! Just add pasta shells and cook for another 7 minutes or so. After the pasta is cooked, it’s ready! If you need to, add a half cup of water or so. Sometimes the pasta absorbs too much of the liquid and becomes a little dry. Just add as much water as you want and mix well to combine.
Stovetop Turkey Chili & Shells is the perfect blend of chili and pasta. Spicy ground turkey, roasted peppers, pasta shells, and topped with cheese. Made on the stove top in less than an hour for a great weeknight meal! This dish isn’t too spicy so it’s probably kid friendly (PSA I don’t have kids YET, so I have no idea if kids would eat this!). Husband friendly AND Weight Watcher friendly for sure though! Low fat but packed with tons of flavor nobody would know that it’s healthy! I like to serve my turkey & shells with fresh cilantro and shredded Colby jack cheese.
I hope you enjoy these chili bites of flavor!
Serves 6, 2 Cups Per Serving
8 SMARTPOINTS per serving
10 minPrep Time
50 minCook Time
1 hrTotal Time
Ingredients
- 2 Poblano Peppers
- ½ Large White Onion (or 1 small onion)
- 1 Red Bell Pepper
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Pound 99% Lean Ground Turkey (I use Jennie-O)
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Cumin
- 14oz Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
- 8 Ounces Canned Tomato Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Liquid from Chipotles in Adobo Sauce
- 1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 Teaspoon Mexican Oregano
- 2 Cups Water
- 2 Cups Vegetable Broth
- 1 Cup Frozen Corn
- 1 ½ Cups Canned Pinto Beans, rinsed and drained
- ½ Pound Whole Grain Pasta Shells
- Shredded Reduced Fat Colby Jack Cheese, for garnish
- Chopped Cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Line baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Place poblano peppers on baking sheet and roast in the oven for 25 minutes until all sides of peppers are charred.
- Remove peppers from the oven, wrap in foil, and let sweat for 25 minutes.
- When peppers are cool enough to handle, gently remove skin and seeds from pepper.
- Dice pepper into small pieces and set aside.
- Dice onion and bell pepper and set aside.
- Mince garlic and set aside.
- Heat large skillet over medium high heat and add oil.
- Add onion and bell pepper to skillet and sauté until onion is translucent, about 7 minutes.
- Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
- Add ground turkey, season with salt, pepper, and cumin.
- Brown the turkey, breaking up with a large spoon, and cook until all browned.
- Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, liquid from canned chipotles in adobo sauce, smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, water, vegetable broth, corn, diced roasted poblano peppers, and pinto beans.
- Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove lid, bring back to a boil and add pasta shells.
- Cook for 7-9 minutes until pasta shells are cooked.
- If needed, add ½ cup of water if pasta absorbed too much water.
- Remove from heat and serve.
- Garnish with cilantro and shredded colby jack cheese
Notes
This recipe is freezer friendly!!
Weight Watcher SmartPoints calculation for this recipe does not include cheese.
NUTRITION: Makes 6, 2 Cups Per Serving - (8 SmartPoints Per Serving) CALORIES: 348 FAT: 3.7 SATURATED FAT: 0.7 CARBS: 45.9 FIBER: 8.6 SUGARS: 6.3 PROTEIN: 33.3
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27 Comments
Kim
January 13, 2017 at 11:15 am YUM! I love the idea of adding the shells to chili! Pinning to make next week!Kristine
January 13, 2017 at 5:44 pm Thanks for pinning Kim!Patricia
January 13, 2017 at 12:55 pm I never would have thought of this combination! It looks really good!!Kristine
January 13, 2017 at 5:44 pm It really is good! I wish I had a bowl of it right now :)Rose
January 13, 2017 at 1:15 pm I love simple weeknight dinners! Fantastic flavor combination! Rose recently posted...2017 Pantone Color of the Year Greenery InspirationKristine
January 13, 2017 at 5:43 pm Me too Rose!Ashley
January 13, 2017 at 2:24 pm That looks amazing! I just saved it to give a try soon!Kristine
January 13, 2017 at 5:42 pm Awesome! Thanks Ashley!!Madison Weaver
January 13, 2017 at 5:14 pm This looks absolutely delish! I love making stuff like this. Pinning!Kristine
January 13, 2017 at 5:42 pm Thank you so much for pinning Madison!Jessica Bradshaw (@loveyoumoretoo)
January 13, 2017 at 6:04 pm This looks so yummy! I love turkey spaghetti, and this sounds so simple.Kristine
January 16, 2017 at 11:34 am Thank you Jessica!!Brittany Ferrell
January 13, 2017 at 8:40 pm My father-in-law makes a version of chili over spaghetti and it is delicious, but I never thought about shells! This type of pasta would make it easier for my daughter to eat! I love that you make the recipe even healthier by recommending whole wheat pasta. This looks and sounds fabulous. I can't wait to try it!Kristine
January 16, 2017 at 11:35 am Oh thanks so much Brittany!! I love using shells because it catches the sauce inside :)Rebecca
January 14, 2017 at 3:33 pm Mmmm yum! I love the idea of adding pasta to the chili. I've done that before with soups and loved it, so I'm sure this would be just as good! I mean, it's basically like spaghetti, but with chili flavors instead of spaghetti flavors. Makes sense to me! I also want to try out roasting my own peppers. Sounds delish! Rebecca recently posted...How to ROCK Your StyleKristine
January 16, 2017 at 11:35 am Exactly :)!!! And I love roasting peppers!! Thanks Rebecca!Divya @ Eat. Teach. Blog.
January 16, 2017 at 10:38 am This looks like a great weeknight meal! Thank you for sharing <3 <3 I'm excited to try it out!Kristine
January 16, 2017 at 11:36 am Thank you for checking out this recipe Divya! I hope you try this out soon!Ivana
January 16, 2017 at 10:47 am Thanks for this recipe, i am just stunned how this looks so amazing and i am sure it tastes great..Definitely will try to make it xoo https://theninebyivana.blogspot.com/Elaine @ Dishes Delish
January 16, 2017 at 10:57 am Roasted peppers does make the difference in any recipe! Yum. This chili and shells dish looks so good. My husband is going to love this dish!!Kristine
January 16, 2017 at 11:36 am It really does :) Thanks Elaine!!Mindy
January 17, 2017 at 10:57 am This looks so good! Especially with the cold here chili is perfect!Kristine
January 18, 2017 at 11:20 am It's the perfect dish to eat on a cold day! Thanks Mindy!!michele
January 20, 2017 at 9:15 pm I totally get the mix of odd things... our family does a homemade beef and noodles recipe that we serve over mashed potatoes... yep, pasta and potatoes! Cant wait to try this!!Kristine
January 23, 2017 at 10:48 am Ohh that sounds good Michele!! I hope you give this odd but delicious recipe a try soon :)Alyssa @ A Bite of Inspiration
January 21, 2017 at 5:59 pm This looks delicious!! What a creative idea! I love pasta AND I love chili, so this dish is like a dream come true for me! Can't wait to try it!Kristine
January 23, 2017 at 10:42 am Yes!! It's really a great combo and easy to make! I hope you give it a try soon Alyssa :)