Copycat Panera Turkey Chili {Easy Crockpot Recipe}

I love Panera! I feel like so many of my favorites are there. I love their mac and cheese, cookies, iced green tea, and of course, their turkey chili. When I was pregnant with my son, I worked across the street from a Panera so I ate lunch there quite a bit. Since I couldn’t have deli meat because I was pregnant, I would often get their turkey chili. It was really filling, delicious, and just plain perfect. Panera has such a wide variety of healthy options and I really enjoy their turkey chili.

Now that we’ve moved several times since then, I’m not quite as near to as a Panera as I would like. I’ve been missing their turkey chili. I’m a huge fan of using my crockpot, so I decided to use my crockpot for this copycat Panera turkey chili recipe. You can check out my big list of crockpot recipes here, if you’re craving more slow cooker meal idea.

What ingredients are needed to make this copycat Panera turkey chili in the crockpot?

If you’re wondering what ingredients you’ll need for this copycat Panera turkey chili, you’ll need:

• White onion
• Lean ground turkey (or shredded turkey)
• Celery
• Carrot (I used baby carrots)
• White beans
• Kidney beans
• Garlic
• Canned crushed tomatoes with Italian seasoning
• Chili powder
• Cumin
• White pepper
• Onion powder
• Tomato paste
• Chicken broth or stock
• Edamame
• Salt
• Pepper

I really love the edamame in this recipe. They give this turkey chili such a nice crunch, the texture is really a nice addition. My local grocery store carries shelled and peeled frozen edamame. If yours doesn’t you’ll need to cook and peel the edamame and then throw it in at the end.

Also, If you can’t find canned crushed tomatoes with Italian seasoning, use regular crushed tomatoes and then add 2 teaspoons of Italian blend seasoning to substitute.

What goes well with this turkey chili?

I love to serve this copycat Panera turkey chili with yellow cake mix corn bread or oyster crackers. Sour cream, diced red onion, avocado, and shredded cheese also go well on the side.

Do I have to brown the turkey first?

Yes, if you don’t brown it first it is too greasy or it clumps together. I highly recommend browning it. When I have time, I love to brown ground turkey and ground beef then drain and cool. I then put the meat in freezer friendly ziplock bags and store them flat in my freezer. These are great to defrost the night before and then toss in the crockpot with everything else the next morning.

Do I have to use ground turkey?

No, not at all! Shredded turkey, like leftover Thanksgiving turkey also goes well in this chili.

Need even more slow cooker and crockpot recipes? Be sure to join the slow cooker and crockpot recipe group on Facebook!

If you liked this copycat Panera turkey chili crockpot recipe, you might also like:

• The BIG List of Crockpot Recipes
• Crockpot Turkey Chili with Butternut Squash
• Copycat Starbucks Banana Bread
• Copycat Great American Cookies Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Copycat Alice Springs Chicken

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