Nightshade-Free AIP chili made with ground turkey, pumpkin puree, ginger, vegetables and more. This bean-less chili recipe is low-inflammatory, easy to prepare, and so comforting!
If you follow an Autoimmune Paleo diet (AIP), or are cognizant of the amount of inflammatory foods you eat, this chili recipe will please you silly!
It has that same comforting, filling essence as regular chili, but is made nightshade-free and bean-less.
This low-inflammatory rendition of chili hits your essential macronutrients and leaves you feeling so pleasantly full.
For anyone who enjoys a clean, home-cooked meal, this AIP chili recipe is fantastic! You don’t need to follow a strict diet like AIP, paleo, or Whole30 in order to enjoy this delicious chili recipe!
It is guaranteed to please all the palates.
So what do we need to do in order to make chili AIP-friendly? WELL…
How to Make Chili AIP-friendly:
Nightshades like chilies, tomatoes, and bell peppers provide a mild heat, tang, and acidity in chili.
In order to replace them and still make a chili that’s nice and thick and flavorful, with the sweet tang, I use pureed pumpkin, ginger, a lot of dried herbs, onion, garlic, lemon juice, and coconut aminos.
When all is cooked together, you still end up with a chili that has a natural sweetness, a tiny kick, big bold flavor, and that tang.
Other ingredients you can use to make an AIP chili are beet puree (for thickness, sweetness, and color), cider vinegar (to mimic the acidity of tomatoes), and nutritional yeast (for cheesy/creamy flavor).
Because beans can be pro-inflammatory and are usually avoided on AIP, Paleo, and Whole30, we replace them with chopped veggies.
I use carrots, zucchini and yellow squash, but you can choose any low-inflammatory (AIP-friendly) vegetable you would like.
So let’s make this recipe!
How to Make Nightshade-Free AIP Chili:
Heat the avocado oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until it has softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and carrots and continue sautéing another 2 minutes.
Scoot the vegetables off to one side of the pot and add the ground turkey, ginger, oregano, basil, parsley, turmeric, and sea salt. Brown the turkey for 2 to 3 minutes, flip, then brown on the other side for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to break up the meat into smaller pieces and stir it into the vegetables.
Add the remaining ingredients, cover the pot and bring to a full boil.
Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 20 minutes, until the vegetables have reached desired done-ness and the turkey is cooked through.
Serve chili with fresh chopped parsley, chives, and/or your choice of toppings.
Is This Recipe Low-FODMAP?:
As you know, I discuss gut health quite a bit on this site, and the majority of the recipes I make are Low-FODMAP. This recipe is not low-FODMAP due to the onion and garlic.
The onion and garlic are pretty pivotal when it comes to providing flavor to this recipe, since we are already omitting tomatoes, bell peppers, and chilies.
If you follow a Low-FODMAP diet, you may certainly omit the onion and garlic and add something else to replace the tang, such as 2 to 3 tablespoons of dijon mustard (if you don’t follow a strict AIP diet, as mustard is not allowed on AIP), more lemon juice, and/or cider vinegar.
Recipe Adaptations:
- Make recipe Low-FODMAP by omitting the onion and garlic.
- Replace the canned pumpkin with two cups mashed butternut squash and/or mashed/pureed beet.
- Add more onion, garlic, lemon juice, etc to taste.
- Replace the ground turkey with ground beef, pork or chicken.
- Add your favorite vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, celery, parsnips, turnips, celeriac, or bok choy.
More AIP Recipes:
- AIP Salmon Curry
- Nighshade-Free AIP Curry
- Turkey, Beet, and Zucchini Hash
- Zucchini and Ground Turkey Skillet
- Instant Pot Beef Stew
Enjoy this big bowl of protein and veggie bliss!
My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!
If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!
AIP Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil or cooking oil of choice
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 large carrots peeled and chopped
- 1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
- 1 Tbsp minced ginger
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp sea salt to taste
- 2 small yellow squash chopped
- 1 medium zucchini squash chopped
- 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 3 Tbsp coconut aminos optional
Instructions
- Heat the coconut oil in a large dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, until it has softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and carrots and continue sauteing another 2 minutes.
- Scoot the vegetables off to one side of the pot and add the ground turkey, ginger, oregano, basil, parsley, turmeric, and sea salt. Brown the turkey for 2 to 3 minutes, flip, then brown on the other side for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to break up the meat into smaller pieces and stir it into the vegetables.
- Add the remaining ingredients, cover the pot and bring to a full boil.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 20 minutes, until the vegetables have reached desired done-ness and the turkey is cooked through.
- Serve chili with fresh chopped parsley, chives, and/or your choice of toppings.
Nutrition
How much cider vinegar is recommended if added?
Hi Crystal!
1 to 2 tablespoons to taste! xoxox
Is there a particular brand of chicken broth that can be used while doing AIP
Hi Susan,
I use Kettle & Fire or Pacific Foods bone broth. You can also use homemade broth, vegetable broth, or even beef broth 😀
I was looking for an AIP recipe to put some leftover shredded pork in and this was AWESOME! I used the pork instead of turkey. I had to leave out the lemon juice but otherwise followed the recipe and it tasted great.
Ooooh, I LOVE the idea of using pulled pork! Thanks for the inspiration..I’ll try this soon! xoxo
I love this recipe – I’ve made it a couple of times and always is great. I was curious about how you could do this in an instant pot? Any suggestions are welcome! 🙂
Hi Morgan! I’m so happy you like it! For Instant Pot, I would saute the veggies first, then brown the meat for a couple of minutes. Add the liquid, secure the lid, and cook on high for 25 minutes. I’d allow it to naturally release for 15 minutes. Let me know if you try it!
@Julia, I just made this in our IP!
Sautéed the onion/garlic/carrots, then did the meat + ginger and seasonings, then added everything else and hit the chili button but put the time down to 15 and did a quick release as soon as it was done – cooked perfectly!
Yuuuum! Sounds amazing!! I’m definitely making it in my IP next time! xoxoxo Thanks lady!
Delicious!! Non-AIP partner said he loved it. Winner when we can both eat the same meal!!
Added turnips and less zucchini and less stock. Loved this recipe! Making this again and excited to try others from your collection.
Thank you!
That’s so great to hear, Kelsey! I love the idea of adding turnips and zucchini…I’ll do this for my next batch! Stay well! 😀 xoxo
THANK YOU! The flavor is so delicious! Great, cozy fall recipe. YUM!!! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes 🙂
Making this this evening for supper and it is fabulous! I too like it a little thicker so I added some small pearl tapioca to thicken! Will most definitely make this again!
Ooh, I like the idea of adding pearl tapioca! Intriguing! Thanks for the feedback, Janet! xo
Thank you for this recipe. It was easy to make, hearty, and me and my family enjoyed it. I put some daiya and cilantro on top. Definitely will be coming back to this, and bookmarking Roasted Root!
I’m so happy you and your family like it, Andrea! Love the topping ideas! xo
Love this recipe. I think it’s better than chili with tomatoes!
i made this for my family and it was delicious!! I haven’t had chili in so long due to following a pretty strict aip lifestyle so this was such a treat! it was super filling and comforting!! felt like a nice warm hug for my gut! I am not able to have pumpkin as it doesn’t seem to agree with me so i subbed that for beets. I boiled beets to soften them then added them to blender to puree, i used that in place of pumpkin and it was so delicious and it gave it such a pretty color and helped it to thicken quite a bit. I also cannot have carrots so i subbed sweet potatoes for those which also helped to thicken it a bit so in my opinion it was just like having regular chili, so delicious and so comforting. also hit the spot for pregnancy cravings lol! thanks for sharing this recipe!!!!
Really happy to find this recipe! My husband has gastro issues and has had to cut back on all nighshades etc. Tried it last night for my family everyone really liked it! Doesnt have the heat level that they have previously been used too but it was still a great substitute during this fall weather. I realized the veggies have a lot of water and probably would thin the chilli. I added tapioca to help thicken it and that did the trick. Yummy!
Wow! This is an amazing dish. My adult children loved it as well! I will be making this dish often. Thank you for your outstanding food. Keep it coming 😘
I’m so happy you and your children enjoy the chili, Patty! Thanks so much for the sweet note and for the encouraging words 😀 xoxo
I just made this for my family. We’re battling different immune issues and this recipe was something we all could eat. Boy was this tasty!! I’m so happy with the results. I forgot to add lemon juice but the ginger was a great flavor. I will definitely try more of your reciepes as I embark on this AIP journey.
I’m so happy to hear you and your family enjoy the Chili! Best of luck on your health journey, and thank you for the sweet note! xoxo
This was very, very good! It was thin like a soup, so I tried thickening it with Arrowroot Powder, but was afraid of using too much and didn’t use enough. I did add a “Seeds of Change” Organic Quinoa & Brown Rice with Garlic packet to add a little more substance.
I’m so happy to hear you like it, Mary! I like the idea of thickening it. Something I do every once in a while is make the sauce first and let it gently boil to reduce and thicken before adding other ingredients. Love that you added quinoa and brown rice as well…sounds delicious! Thank you for the sweet note! xoxxo
This has become one of our favorite dinners. We love it.
I’m so happy you like it, Lois! Thanks for letting me know! 😀 xo
This was great! It did not turn out as thick as chili usually is (more of a stew), but it was super easy to throw together. I used homemade veggie broth and did not add the coconut aminos due to a dietary restriction. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
I’m so happy you like it, Daina! And my pleasure! It was a pleasure to make and share 😀 Hope you stay well! xo
I love recipes that I can make and eat for a few nights. Always looking for something a little different, healthy, and yummy, and this recipe fits all three!
It’s so comforting and filling! xoxo