If you’re looking to create healthy meals without sacrificing flavor, I’ve got some good news for you! Ground turkey is a terrific substitute for ground beef because it’s considered to be leaner overall, with less saturated fat.
It can even be swapped in for ground chicken to mix things up too. Since it has a mild flavor, you can get creative with different herbs and spices to craft the perfect taste for your dish. The even better news is that you don’t need to spend a ton of time figuring out how exactly to incorporate it into your diet because we’ve gathered tons of healthy recipes for you to try.
All the recipes listed here have one thing in common – they are healthy. You can partake in a tasty breakfast, lunch, or dinner while ensuring that your body receives essential nutrients from both ground turkey and various vegetables. Our personal favorites are the skillet recipes, as they require minimal clean-up after you’re done eating. However, we also recommend trying the turkey burgers and wraps, which are perfect for lunch and dinner. Give these ground turkey recipes a try and see for yourself how wonderful they are!
1. Greek Ground Turkey
This Greek-style dish has three major components: seasoned ground turkey, lemon parsley rice, and tzatziki sauce. Some of the best ingredients include kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, onions, and fresh cucumbers. It has plenty of veggies, so you don’t need to worry about if it’s nutritious or not! We recommend you serve this for lunch or dinner and top it with fresh herbs.
2. Healthy Taco Salad
Some taco recipes aren’t the healthiest, but this one is since you use ground turkey instead of another kind of meat. It also has corn, bell peppers, lettuce, and other vegetables, so you have an evenly balanced meal. Although it’s good for you, it doesn’t need to be boring. We suggest you load the tacos with fresh pico de gallo, lime juice, or low-fat dressing! The recipe includes a creamy dressing that you can use.
3. Ground Turkey Quesadillas
Here is another recipe that makes the most of ground turkey. These delicious quesadillas have carb-balance tortillas, ground turkey, jalapenos, and cheese. You can always buy reduced-fat cheese if you want it to be even healthier, too. We love this recipe because it’s so versatile. You can serve it with a side salad or soup or just have it for a snack. It is perfect for dipping in yummy sauces!
4. 10-Minute Healthy Turkey Meatballs
Who knew that meatballs could be so nourishing? This recipe by A Sassy Spoon includes seasonings, ground turkey, sesame oil, eggs, and green onion. The egg helps to bind the meatballs, so they don’t fall apart. You can serve these on a stick as an appetizer with dressing, or you can make a whole meal out of them and serve them with rice or veggies! The best part is they only take 10 minutes to cook.
5. Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers
Stuffed peppers are always tasty no matter how you dress them up, but these are especially flavorful because of the ground turkey mixture. Specifically, it has onions, garlic, tomatoes, bell peppers, and cheese. Once you cook them, the peppers are perfectly fork-tender. Not to mention, the ground turkey is hearty yet light enough to make this a lunch or a dinner. Top it with fresh herbs like parsley or chives!
6. Easy Ground Turkey Pasta
Our pasta recipe is both delicious and healthy, as it has wholesome ingredients. The dish features penne pasta, ground turkey, tomatoes, and garlic, all of which are beneficial for your body. We also added reduced-fat mozzarella and a variety of seasonings to make it more flavorful. It’s a great meal to serve to your family, as it’s sure to be a hit and leave them wanting more. In fact, they might even request that you make it again soon!
7. Turkey and Zucchini Skillet
This skillet recipe by Clean and Delicious only takes 30 minutes, so it’s ideal for busy weeknights! Some ingredients are garlic, tomatoes, zucchini, and ground turkey. Of course, since it’s a skillet meal, you only need one large skillet and some kitchen tools to get the job done. It is certainly light since it doesn’t have a grain, but you can always serve it with rice or polenta if you wish.
8. Asian Lettuce Wraps
Here is a must-try recipe if you’re looking for a nutrient-rich and easy lunch. You can use it for meal prep, as long as you leave the filling and the lettuce separate until right before serving. These Asian-style lettuce wraps are stacked with ginger, green onions, carrots, ground turkey, and more. It also has a delicious sauce to give it flavor! For best results, use fresh lettuce to have a crisp texture when you bite into it!
9. Easy Mongolian Turkey and Rice Bowls
Who doesn’t love a good rice bowl now and then? These nourishing bowls have an unending flavor due to the ground turkey, bell peppers, onions, Mongolian sauce, and sesame oil. You make the homemade sauce with hoisin sauce, sugar, garlic, soy sauce, and more. Build the rice bowl with the veggies, meat, and rice separate or mix it all together if you wish; it’s up to you! We suggest you garnish it with fresh shredded basil.
10. Easy Ground Turkey Stir-Fry
Andie Mitchell created this ground turkey stir-fry recipe that’s unbelievably hearty. The meal has the perfect level of umami with a slight sweetness. All you need is a wok or large skillet to cook it, so it’s effortless and only takes 15 minutes. Once done, the ground turkey has hints of soy sauce and fresh garlic. You can serve it with any vegetables you want, but we believe the best options are broccoli, cauliflower, and snow peas.
11. Turkey Taco Pasta Salad
Our pasta salad with ground turkey is the ultimate cold dish that you’ll be craving every spring or summer. Although it might seem unconventional to eat cold meat, ground turkey tastes fabulous with the calorie-wise Catalina dressing. Not to mention the pasta salad also has red onions, tomatoes, reduced-fat cheese, and more. Since you don’t need to worry about it being unhealthy, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy!
12. Ground Turkey Hash with Squash and Peppers
We love hash recipes because of how simple they typically are. This specific recipe by Our Salty Kitchen is paleo-diet friendly and bursting with flavor. Some components include zucchini, yellow squash, ground turkey, and sweet onions. That’s not all, though. It also has many herbs and spices to bring out the best qualities in the meat and veggies. You can serve this for any meal of the day.
13. Cucumber Quinoa Salad with Ground Turkey
This succulent salad is not only packed with nutrients, but it has wonderful textures and hints of fresh mint. The main part of the dish has grape tomatoes, ground turkey, cucumbers, and quinoa, which gives it more substance. We love this recipe because you can make it a side or an entrée. Don’t forget to chill it in the refrigerator before you serve it! It is certainly best when cold.
14. Best Ever Healthy Turkey Burgers
Burgers don’t have to be greasy and unhealthy. You can make these lovely burgers with extra lean ground turkey! The meat patties are homemade, so there are no preservatives in them. Nutrition In The Kitchn also provides a lemon garlic basil aioli recipe so your burger has plenty of flavors. Put all sorts of toppings on it, such as avocado, sprouts, tomato, and spinach! The hardest part will be taking the last bite since you’ll want more!
15. Easy Cheesy Ground Turkey Enchiladas
Enchiladas become a whole lot healthier when you use lean ground turkey meat. These enchiladas also have cheese, onions, garlic, tomato paste, and more. You make the sauce from scratch, which is much better than getting it from a can. If you want to make it even better, you can use reduced-fat cheese too! We suggest your sprinkle on fresh cilantro and diced tomatoes just before serving.
16. The Best Healthy Turkey Meatloaf (GF)
Meatloaf is comfort food, and this recipe by Pinch Me Good has the perfect level of hearty and nourishing ingredients. For example, it has many vegetables, like carrots, bell peppers, onions, and garlic—there’s also a sweet tomato glaze that you can make with just four ingredients. When the meatloaf is done, serve it with a baked potato or cornbread, and you’re ready for a delicious experience! Meatloaf and potatoes, anyone?
17. Healthy Turkey Tacos
With hints of onions, poblanos, garlic, seasonings, and ground turkey, these tacos will be your family’s new favorite dinner! It’s great because you’re able to use corn or flour tortillas, depending on what you like. We love this recipe since the topping choices are unending. Use classic garnishes like shredded lettuce and tomato or change it up and put caramelized onion and guacamole. Serve the tacos with classic sides such as beans and rice!
18. Italian Ground Turkey Skillet
This skillet recipe is light yet fulfilling. Some of the best components in it are cannellini beans, baby spinach, parmesan cheese, ground turkey, and peppers. The Italian seasoning gives it a warm flavor; the best part is that it only takes 20 minutes to cook. This meal works wonderfully as lunch or dinner or even meal prep if you want to get ahead for the week! Garnish it with red pepper flakes after you sprinkle on the cheese to give it some spice.
19. Ground Turkey and Cauliflower Rice Casserole
Try this low-carb casserole made with ground turkey, cauliflower rice, cheddar cheese, and cream cheese for a delicious and indulgent meal. Use frozen cauliflower rice for a quicker prep time if you don’t want to make it manually. Top with cheese and bake for a perfectly browned dish! This meal is ideal for small gatherings since you can wrap it and easily transport it to another location.
20. Spinach and Feta Turkey Meatballs
These meatballs are far from ordinary because they have spinach and feta inside them! How delectable is that? This recipe is convenient because you don’t need the oven to bake them. You simply cook them on the stovetop. You can make these meatballs for a healthy spaghetti and meatballs dish. Or, you can serve them with a ton of vegetables if you want something lighter. The opportunities are endless!
21. One Pot Penne Pasta with Ground Turkey and Spinach
Looking for a new recipe that’s nutritious and pleasing even for picky eaters? Try FoodieCrush’s pasta dish that features spinach and ground turkey! While it does have several ingredients, most of them are seasonings, so it’s still simple to make. The key components are onions, peppers, tomatoes, penne pasta, ground turkey, and spinach. To finish the dish, add cilantro and shredded cheese on top. The cheese perfectly melts if you mix it into the warm pasta!
22. Turkey and Roasted Red Pepper Skillet
Our skillet recipe with ground turkey, red peppers, red onion, garlic, and more has the ability to make your mouth water just by looking at it! We love that you can make roasted red peppers at home instead of having them from a jar. The flavor is so much more pronounced! Once you cook it, don’t forget to top it with healthier cheese like mozzarella. You can also put some fresh herbs to liven it up!
23. Ground Turkey and Black Bean Freezer Burritos
If you like to create grab-and-go meals for busier days, this recipe from This Delicious House is the way to go. With black beans, ground turkey, brown rice, and cheddar cheese, you can’t go wrong. These burritos stand out because they’re browned in a skillet, so they have a nice crunchy exterior. Make the large batch and freeze them or serve them immediately if you wish. They go nicely with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole!
24. Oven Baked Ground Turkey and Egg Omelet
Looking for a healthy breakfast or brunch dish? Try this easy ground turkey recipe! This omelet is savory, with just a few ingredients like lean meat, red bell pepper, green onions, and eggs. Serve it with toast, mixed fruit, or orange juice. Best of all, this recipe makes eight servings, so there’s plenty for everyone! We love how the omelet is baked, so it comes out of the oven extremely fluffy!
25. Healthy Shepherd’s Pie
This version of shepherd’s pie is a healthy twist on the classic dish. Using ground turkey instead of beef makes it much leaner, and it’s packed with veggies like cauliflower, potatoes, onions, corn, and peas. Despite the abundance of vegetables, the flavors are far from bland. A variety of spices and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese elevate the taste. This dish is perfect for a cozy Sunday supper to kickstart your next week on a delicious note.
26. Sweet Potato Turkey Hash
This ground turkey hash with sweet potatoes is versatile and can be served for breakfast or any meal. The dish includes eggs, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, kale, and more. The recipe suggests using turkey sausage, but we recommend plain ground turkey as the seasonings provide plenty of flavors. There are endless topping options, such as diced onions, sour cream, and fresh herbs, allowing you to get creative and complete the meal to your liking.
