Hatch Chili with Turkey

Hatch Chili with Turkey is a flavorful and healthy recipe featuring the special chile peppers from New Mexico. Recipe made using a complimentary bag of roasted Hatch Chiles from the Hatch Green Chile Store. Read on for details, or click here to jump down to the recipe.

In recent years, as August rolls in eye start keeping my eyes out for a special seasonal arrival at the grocery store. Yes, I am a big fan of Hatch chiles from New Mexico. Today the special chiles add great flavor to our Hatch Chili with Turkey, made in a slow cooker.

What are Hatch chiles?

Hatch chiles are chiles grown in the Hatch Valley in New Mexico. As Preston Mitchell from the Hatch Green Chile Store explained to me in a previous comment here on Cooking Chat:

“[Hatch is] a town in Southern NM where the soil, climate, and tradition of growing chile are all so great that the chile grown here has developed a reputation in the marketplace. Similar to Champagne (made only with grapes grown in a specific area in france) or the Vidalia onion, (grown only in the Vidalia region of Georgia) “Hatch” is any chile grown here in the Hatch Valley.”

Fresh Hatch chiles tend to be harvested August into early September. But you can order the roasted and frozen Hatch chiles year round from places like the Hatch Green Chile Store

Making Hatch Chili with Turkey

When Preston offered to send me a few bags of frozen roasted Hatch chiles, I knew I’d be cooking up some tasty new recipes. But first I had to make the delicious Grilled Ribeye with Hatch Chile Avocado Salsa again!

OK, having enjoyed that recipe again I was ready for something new. I played around with a Hatch chile sauce for pork chops, but that recipe isn’t ready for prime time yet. Next I decided to make a batch of turkey chili, flavoring the chili with some of the roasted peppers from Hatch.

I used one cup of Hatch chiles in this recipe. Preston had explained that contrary to popular opinion, it isn’t actually the seeds that give chiles their spicy kick; rather it is the pith and ribs that gives it the kick. More on that here on The Kitchn. So I didn’t worry about removing the seeds; just thawed the roast Hatch chiles and coarsely chopped them.

The sauce I made earlier this month with the Hatch chiles came out quite spicy, so I went with one cup of the peppers in this recipe. Cooked up with the turkey and other ingredients, it made the dish very flavorful but not particularly hot. So if you like your chili on the spicy side, increase the amount of Hatch chiles you use in the recipe.

I like to make chili in a slow cooker, and that’s what I’ve done here. I can get a batch going Sunday night–my big cooking day– and have it ready for an easy dinner on Monday.

For more recipes ideas, be sure to check out our collection of the Best Hatch Chile Recipes. 

Pairings for this chili

Expecting this Hatch Chili with Turkey to be on the hot side, I planned to simply have a beer with the chili. The IPA we poured definitely worked with the chili–IPA is a good beer choice for spicy food. But given the flavor profile of the chili, a wine pairing could definitely work. I’ve had good luck pairing a Syrah with another chili recipe of mine with similar spice levels, and expect that would work here. I will have to do some additional experimenting and report back!

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