Fiesta Turkey Tortilla Soup

Elk season opens Saturday. I went up to the Crazies the same way I have every October for six years — alone, before dawn, the truck loaded with the gear I keep packed in September because I've done this enough times that the packing is automatic. The mountains were dark gold in the early light, the aspens at the change. There's something about being in those mountains in the last week of September that is as close as I get to church. The silence and the scale of it. The sense of being a small thing in a large world, which is comforting rather than frightening, the way the sky at night is comforting rather than frightening — the bigness contains you rather than threatening you.

I took a young bull this year, a two-and-a-half-year-old, about 400 pounds field-dressed. A good animal — clean shot at 200 yards, dropped immediately, spent the afternoon quartering and packing. My leg was better than last fall with the physical therapy — I made three trips instead of four, and while my leg was talking by the end of the third trip, it wasn't making a speech. Progress.

I texted Sarah from the truck when I got the animal down. She texted back a string of questions about what happens next — what do you do with a bull elk, how do you process it, what does 400 pounds of elk turn into in the freezer. I spent three texts answering her, which is the longest series of texts I've sent to anyone in months. She said, "I want to try the chili you keep mentioning." I said I'd make it in November. She said, "I'm coming." I said, "Good."

Elk in the shop. Chili in November. The year is going right.

The chili I keep mentioning to Sarah is this one — or the version of it I make every November once the elk is out of the shop and into the freezer, swapping ground turkey for ground elk because the flavor is cleaner and you earned it. Fiesta Turkey Tortilla Soup is what I landed on years ago after too many hunting seasons of just eating the backstrap and ignoring the grind, and it became the reason I started looking forward to November almost as much as September. It’s not a complicated recipe, which is part of the point — after a season of early mornings and heavy packs, the meal waiting at the end of it should feel like relief, not another project. She said she’s coming. I’ll have this on the stove.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey (or ground elk, if you have it)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 packet (1 oz) taco seasoning
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips, for serving
Optional toppings: shredded cheddar, sour cream, sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, lime wedges

Instructions

Brown the meat. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until no pink remains, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat if needed.
Build the base. Add the diced onion to the pot and cook with the meat until softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic, taco seasoning, cumin, and smoked paprika. Cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
Add the liquids and vegetables. Pour in both cans of diced tomatoes, the black beans, corn, and chicken broth. Stir everything together, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Simmer. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the flavors have melded and the soup has thickened slightly. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with tortilla strips and any desired toppings — shredded cheddar, sour cream, avocado, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime all work well here.

Nutrition (per serving)

Fiesta Turkey Tortilla Soup — The November Chili I Promised Her