One-Pot Turkey Chili and Biscuits

By Melissa Clark

Total Time: 1 hour
Rating: 4(1,207)
Notes: Read community notes

In this streamlined recipe, turkey chili and buttery cornmeal biscuits are nestled together in the same skillet, and baked into a blissfully cozy one-pot meal. You can make the cornmeal batter and the chili several hours ahead — or even the night before — then bake them together right before serving, so the biscuits are at their most tender. A dollop of sour cream at the end isn’t strictly necessary, but the cool milkiness is lovely with the spicy, meaty chili. Yogurt makes a fine substitute. And if you’re looking to make this vegetarian, substitute faux meat or another can of beans for the turkey.

Featured in: Chili, Biscuits and All, in One Pan

Learn: How to Make Chili

or to save this recipe.
Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
Subscribe
Share
Print Options
Include recipe photo

Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

For the Biscuits

1cup/120 grams all-purpose flour
⅔cup/92 grams fine cornmeal
2teaspoons baking powder
1teaspoon granulated sugar
½teaspoon fine sea or table salt
¼teaspoon baking soda
8tablespoons/113 grams cold, unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
¾cup/177 milliliters buttermilk or plain whole-milk yogurt
1scallion, thinly sliced, plus more for serving
Milk or more buttermilk or yogurt, for finishing
2tablespoons grated Parmesan, for finishing

For the Chili

2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1pound ground turkey
1large yellow onion, diced
1jalapeño, seeded (if desired) and diced
3garlic cloves, finely grated, passed through a press or minced
1tablespoon chili powder
1½teaspoons fine sea or table salt, plus more to taste
1teaspoon dried oregano
¾teaspoon ground cumin
½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1(14½-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes (1¾ cups)
2(15-ounce) cans pinto or black beans, drained and rinsed
½cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
Sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and pickled jalapeños, for serving (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Prepare the biscuits: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda.
Step 2
Using a pastry cutter or your hands, cut or rub in the butter until mixture resembles rolled oats. Fold in the buttermilk and scallion. Gently stir mixture until it comes together in a moist, sticky mass. Cover bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
Step 3
Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Step 4
Start the chili: In a large ovenproof skillet, heat oil over high heat until it thins. Stir in turkey and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until it’s no longer pink with some browned bits, about 7 minutes.
Step 5
Reduce heat to medium-high, and add onion and jalapeño, and cook until translucent and tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, chili powder, 1 teaspoon salt, oregano, cumin and pepper, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute longer.
Step 6
Using kitchen shears or your hands, break up tomatoes and add them, along with the juices, to the pan. Add beans and remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. If the mixture seems very dry, add a few tablespoons water. It should be juicy-looking but not wet. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Taste and add more salt, if needed.
Step 7
Divide biscuit dough into 6 equal balls. Use your palm to flatten each ball into a ¾-inch-thick disk. Arrange on top of turkey chili. Brush biscuits lightly with milk, and sprinkle grated Parmesan on top. Transfer skillet to oven and cook until biscuits are golden at the edges, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with sour cream and pickled jalapeños, if you like, and more scallions.

Ratings

4 out of 5

1,207 user ratings

Your rating

Have you cooked this?

Private Notes

Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.

Cooking Notes

Susan2 years ago

How is this enough chili powder? For a pound of ground beef, which has much more flavor than ground turkey, I use at least 3 tablespoons.

Zack2 years ago

Wife loved this dish, especially biscuits. Took this infrequent cook quite a bit more time but was worth it. Used Turkey, pinto beans and yoghurt and came out fine. Great for a family of 3-5, we will be eating it for a couple days in these cold nights

Kathleen2 years ago

Loved this! Followed the recipe closely, for once. Only had a 14.5 oz can of fire roasted diced tomatoes so used that instead of the whole plum tomatoes, and didn't have cilantro on hand. I did need to add about 1/4 cup of water to the chili to keep it moist. It does need a bit more depth. Next time I might try adding some dark beer instead of the 1/4 c water, and maybe 1/4 tsp brown sugar or a bit of tomato paste. Or both! Lots of yogurt mixed with scallions was a wonderful topping!

modifications2 years ago

Swap chili powder with 1 tsp sumac, 1 ish tsp chipotle chile, 1 ish tsp ancho chili pepper, 1 ish tsp smoked sweet Spanish paprika. Add 20 oz turtle black beans and 10 oz of white kidney beans. Use whole 28 oz can of San marzano tomatoes and simmer down to thicken

Gianna2 years ago

This is definitely a keeper, but next time I will add more liquid, either tomato sauce or water, prior to adding the biscuits dough. An additional jalapeño wouldn’t hurt either. The biscuits are a yummy addition.

maire2 years ago

Sounds good. About to print it out for the biscuit recipe. Turkey is a nice substitute for beef in a chili like this.

Simon2 years ago

I'll make this chili again in a shallow pan for sure -- it came together really well. If I do the biscuits again I'd just bake them separately on a sheet pan and let the chili finish cooking on the stove top. It wouldn't take any extra time and they'd be toastier overall. The biscuit crust was novel but then you have half-soggy biscuits. And for leftovers they're best reheated separately anyway.

Carolyn2 years ago

Flavor was authentic though The chili was dry. Added about 1/2 cup more water. The biscuits are moist and tasty— a little different from traditional. A keeper.

Jackie2 years ago

Perhaps leave out the beans entirely. Add 1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey, more onions, peppers (hot and/or bell) and tomatoes to make up the difference.

Marla2 years ago

I just made this and it was delicious. Thank you for this beautiful recipe. Perfect as written.

spiffypaws2 years ago

Excellent. Followed recipe except used 1 large can tomatoes and used more spice. Biscuits on top were terrific. Will make again. Biscuit dough moist so I didn’t bother brushing with milk; cheese adhered well without it. Used a Dutch oven instead of skillet

Irena2 years ago

This was easy and delicious! I cooked the biscuits separately so I could use them for other purposes which worked great and finished the chili on the stove - only chili modification was 28oz of tomatoes and their juice which still made for a hearty chili consistency with a little more flavor.

Steve2 years ago

I made this last night (with ground beef). Easy to set up ahead of time. Totally delicious. Bit more chili powder added. I suggest baking it about fifteen minutes longer to get the biscuits dome through.

Traci2 years ago

My Mother made this years ago. To dolly-up the biscuits she inserted a small cube of sharp cheddar cheese, sealed it gently, dipping the biscuit in melted butter and coating it with crushed taco-flavored chips. Then she would place the uncooked biscuit into the heated chili. A HUGE family favorite.

michelle2 years ago

Made the biscuits in the food processor - worked really well and was fast. Used impossible burger. Chili could use more spices for our palette but everyone liked this, and it's fast to get on the table.

Kristi3 months ago

Great recipe. I would resist the temptation to add more liquid as it comes out moister that you'd think. I love that it's not a soupy chili. I add more spices and use 1/2 pinto and 1/2 black beans. I also double everything but the biscuits as we prefer a higher chili to biscuit ratio, and like this I have leftovers to freeze. Serve with a simple salad, your favorite chili toppings and you're good to go. It's very quick to get on the table and gets made about once a month at our house.

SNBVT4 months ago

Excellent. Made a few tweaks based on other reviews. More Chili Powder. Yes. 2 TBLS. Added more water before baking. Yes. (About 1/4 c). Baked 3 cornbread biscuits on the chili, baked the remaining 3 on a metal baking pan so they wouldn't get soggy and we can use them tomorrow. Wondering how a little bit of parmesan in the biscuit dough would work. It would probably be pretty good.

julie4 months ago

Added more chili powder, more veg and tomatoes and less beans and liquid (broth) and titch sugar to cut the acid. Delish !

kbjarrell5 months ago

I have made this twice now and it is a big hit with the whole fam. As others have mentioned, I added a bit more liquid (in the form of tomato puree) and more spice. This will be in heavy rotation in the cool temperature months, for years to come. Thanks!

LewPhilly6 months ago

We liked this dish. I added 1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar to the biscuit mix for a little more flavor, and 1 tsp of ancho chili powder and 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder to the meat/bean mix. Just enough spice for us. No jalapeno. The chili dried out some during the baking - be sure to add enough liquid before you put it in the oven.

Jeff Rhubarb7 months ago

Really, really good -- and it works superbly with leftover Thanksgiving Turkey. Just add that in after the onion stage. And the advice about using one large (28oz) can of tomatoes was very valuable.

I will definitely make this again!9 months ago

Followed the recipe as written and it came out great. Only needed 15 minutes in my oven. Highly recommend.

Catherine10 months ago

Plus another 1/2 tsp of chili powder.

dylan olivia10 months ago

Quadruple all spices, ditch the scallions, one can of white beans will do, and use 2x the jalapeño. You won’t regret it! So good…the biscuits on top were fluffy and magical, the chili the best, most flavorful I’ve seen on this site yet!

Sally UK11 months ago

I would add a 2-3 tblspns or small can of concentrated tomato paste and gently cook the tomato and onion & spices sauce first to get a richer sauce.

Melanie1 year ago

My significant other loved this dish — me too! the cornbread recipe is the most delicious I’ve ever tasted. I did not have buttermilk nor plain yogurt, so I thinned the plain Greek Yogurt I did have with some milk and it worked out well. I really enjoyed the chili recipe as well. Together — sublime!

Cathy1 year ago

Really good and easily adaptable to a vegan diet. Just used impossible meat and almond milk mixed with lemon juice for buttermilk. I added more spice to the chili too- just a preference. The biscuits are the highlight of this recipe.

Leslie1 year ago

This is a great recipe for leftover Thanksgiving Turkey!

Leslie1 year ago

I've made this twice now; it is a big hit in our household. One change I made: I did not rinse and drain the beans. The chili came out nice and moist. Can anyone explain why would you drain the beans and add water?

Lori1 year ago

Added chopped red pepper to the veg list. 2T chili powder. 28oz can whole tomato. Love the cornmeal biscuits in the bake. Hearty. Flavorful. Will make over and over.

Private notes are only visible to you.