Texas turkey chili

The other day someone asked me what I always keep in my refrigerator. After going through the usual list of things such as salsa, cilantro, and jalapeños, I added that you will usually find a jar of chili gravy in my refrigerator, as well. “What do you do with it?” he asked. I then explained that I use it for impromptu batches of enchiladas, drizzle it on eggs, or pair it with leftover meat to make a quick and flavorful stew.

Now, speaking of leftover meat, one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is the few days afterwards when you have a refrigerator loaded with food. Not only does this mean you get to enjoy cold slices of pecan pie for breakfast, but there’s also a mountain of leftover turkey begging to be made into new and exciting dishes, too.

Enter my jar of chili gravy. When you take shredded cooked turkey and then cook it in a sauce that’s rich with chiles, onion, garlic, and spices, you soon have an easy Tex-Mex dish that can be served in a bowl, scooped into flour tortillas, or even rolled into cheesy chili enchiladas. For lack of a better name, I like to call this marriage of chiles and meat Texas turkey chili.

Now, typically Texas chili is made with beef. That said, there are a handful of recipes out there for something called Texas turkey chili, yet these dishes are not very chili like at all. For instance, when it comes to spice they only have a slight shake of chili powder along with perhaps a jalapeño slice or two. There are also always beans, along with tomatoes and bell peppers. Matter of fact, the final result seems more like a turkey, tomato, and bean soup.

When you combine shredded turkey with a sauce made with whole chile peppers, however, even if it’s not your typical beef chili, it is still an incredible dish worthy of taking a place at your family’s table. And while I realize that most people don’t have a jar of chili gravy in their refrigerator, not too worry, as it’s quite easy to make.

My chili gravy can often be an improvisational dish that is determined by what dried red chile peppers I have on hand at the moment, but for the most part I stick with the basic base of ancho chiles, pasilla chiles, and guajillo chiles. And if I’m feeling wild, I may throw in a smoky chipotle chile, too.

The ancho and pasilla chiles, which are dried poblano and chilaca chiles, respectively, bring the bittersweet, raisin-like notes, whereas the guajillo chiles, which is a dried marisol chile, gives the chili a bit of brightness with its berry-like tones. That said, if you don’t have a lot of dried chile varieties on hand, you could easily just use the fairly ubiquitous ancho chiles and still have a very fine dish.

To make the chili, you simply rehydrate the chiles, puree them with garlic, onion, and broth, and then throw them into a pot along with some spices and the turkey. Soon you will have a tasty stew. This turkey chili is excellent with fried eggs, pairs nicely with flour tortillas, or you can enjoy it the traditional way—in a bowl topped with cheddar, onions, and jalapeños. All you need is a spoon.