Tamari Ground Turkey Skillet
7
Published Feb 12, 2024
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This tamari ground turkey skillet is packed with veggies and lean ground turkey all tossed in a super flavorful tamari sauce! It cooks up in just 30 minutes making it a quick and easy meal for busy weeknights.
If you’re looking for a new 30-minute dinner recipe I’ve got you covered with this tamari ground turkey skillet.
It’s another recipe that was inspired by a winning meal we got from the meal kit delivery service, Green Chef. I just had to recreate it for myself so I could make it at home whenever I wanted. It combines ground turkey and loads of veggies in a super flavorful and simple 3-ingredient tamari sauce. It’s so good, I can’t wait for you to try this one!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to make – This recipe cooks up in about 30 minutes, making it a great option for when you need to get dinner on the table fast.
- Flavorful – The combination of fresh veggies and ground turkey all simmering in a umami tamari sauce is so good!
- Protein-packed – One serving is packed with 28 grams of protein!
- Customizable – Feel free to make this dish your own! Swap out the protein or veggies depending on what you have on hand and adjust the spice level to fit your taste.
Ground Turkey Skillet Ingredients
These ingredients are pretty straight forward and I bet you already have a lot of them on hand in your kitchen right now, but you can totally customize this recipe based on dietary needs and what you have on hand. I include some substitutions below, but here’s what you need to make this dish:
- coleslaw mix or broccoli slaw – I used a bag of coleslaw, which is such a great shortcut when it comes to adding veggies to your dishes. Just pick up a bag at the store, open and cook. No extra cutting required! You can also just thinly slice some cabbage and add additional shredded carrots to this dish if you don’t have a coleslaw mix.
- snap peas – for a fresh, crisp bite that also adds a hint of sweetness to this dish. Feel free to use green beans instead.
- shredded carrots – for a pop of color and a gentle sweetness. For another shortcut I used pre-shredded carrots from the store, but you can always shred your own carrots with a grater or food processor.
- yellow onion – for a subtle sweetness, building a flavorful base.
- fresh garlic – fresh garlic is key here for optimal flavor. Of course you can take a shortcut method and buy peeled garlic, jarred minced garlic or frozen crushed garlic cubes. I just wouldn’t recommend swapping the fresh garlic for garlic powder.
- fresh ginger – fresh ginger gives this dish the best flavor. Mince the ginger yourself or buy frozen ginger cubes for easier prep. I always have these in the freezer.
- ground turkey – I love using ground turkey in this dish for a leaner protein option, but feel free to use ground chicken, ground pork or ground beef instead.
- tamari – couldn’t have a tamari dish without tamari! We’re making a simple, yet flavorful sauce with the tamari, sriracha and honey that the ground turkey and veggies get coated in. I recommend using low-sodium tamari so you can control the saltiness of the dish. As a substitute you can use soy sauce or coconut aminos. I often use the coconut aminos because it’s gluten-free and I love that it has a hint of sweetness.
- Sriracha – adds flavor and some heat to the dish! Feel free to use less or more depending on how spicy you like you like your food.
- honey – helps to balance out the saltiness from the tamari and spice from thee sriracha in the sauce. If you don’t have honey on hand feel free to use maple syrup instead.
- olive oil – for sautéing the veggies and cooking the turkey.
- salt and pepper – two seasoning essentials.
- jasmine rice – what we’re serving the ground turkey and vegetables with. Feel free to use brown rice, quinoa or your favorite grain of choice. For a low-carb option opt for cauliflower rice instead.
- vegetable broth – for some added flavor we’re cooking the rice in vegetable broth. I suggest using low-sodium broth so you can control the sodium content in your dish. If you don’t have broth on hand just use water!
Brittany’s Tips
- Bagged coleslaw mix and pre-shredded carrots makes this recipe so easy to whip up, but some other convenience items that save time include jarred minced garlic or frozen crushed garlic cubes, as well as, frozen crushed ginger! You could even buy pre-chopped onion if you really want to save time.
How to Make Ground Turkey Skillet
This dish is quite easy to make! While your rice is cooking, you can prepare everything else! How simple is that?! Here’s how to make this tamari ground turkey skillet:
Step 1: Make your rice by bring dry rice and vegetable broth to a simmer in a saucepan. Once simmering, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let rice sit covered for a few minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside.
Step 2: While the rice is cooking, cook your veggies by heating 1 Tablespoon of oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, add your coleslaw mix, snap peas and carrots. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 4-5 minutes, until veggies start to soften. Tip! You don’t want to cook the veggies too long as we want them to still have a little crunch to them! Once your veggies are cooked, transfer them to a bowl or plate and set aside.
Step 3: Wipe out your skillet and add an additional ½ Tablespoon olive oil to the pan, heating over medium heat. Once hot, add onion, garlic and ginger and saute for 2-3 minutes, until the onion starts to soften and become fragrant. Add the ground turkey, salt and pepper and cook for 6-7 minutes, until the turkey is cooked through, breaking up the turkey as it cooks with a wooden spoon or spatula.
Step 4: While the turkey is cooking, make the sauce by whisking together the tamari, sriracha and honey in a small bowl. One turkey is cooked through, pour the sauce over the turkey. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes, until it slightly reduces, stirring occasionally.
Step 5: Add the veggies back into the pan with the turkey and stir to combine so the veggies get coated in the sauce. To serve, divide the rice into 4 bowls, top with ¼ of the turkey and veggie mixture. Top with green onion and sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Recipe Variations
- Want to add more vegetables? Go for it! Some ideas include frozen peas or corn, chopped mushrooms and/or finely sliced bell peppers. Pick your favorites and add them in. Just know that if you add a ton more veggies, you’ll probably want to add more sauce to keep the dish just as flavorful.
- Vegan/vegetarian: You could swap the ground turkey with tofu or tempeh instead.
- Low-carb: Swap the rice with cauliflower rice instead.
- Gluten-free: This recipe is gluten-free as long as you us tamari instead of soy sauce.
How to Serve Ground Turkey Skillet
- With toppings – I like keeping the toppings for this bowl fresh and simple with green onions and sesame seeds, but feel free to add your favorite toppings. Cilantro, more sriracha, chopped nuts or even a creamy sauce like sriracha with mayo would be delicious!
- Over grains – I prefer to serve this dish over jasmine rice for more volume, but quinoa, brown rice or cauliflower rice would all be great options.
Storing Leftovers
- In the refrigerator: Let the dish cool to room temperature, then transfer it to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
- In the freezer: You can probably freeze this dish, but the texture of the veggies might change. If I were to freeze this recipe I would probably hold off on adding the sauce until I was going to reheat and serve. To thaw, remove it from the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Reheating: When you’re ready to enjoy it again, reheat the dish on the stove over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it’s hot all the way through. It might slightly dry out as it sits so you might want to add more tamari or even just some water to the saucepan while reheating.
More Recipes to Try
- Asian Chicken Sheet Pan Meal
- Easy Tofu Stir-Fry
- Ground Beef and Squash Skillet
- Egg Roll in a Bowl
- Ground Turkey Pasta
Be sure to check out the full collection of dinner recipes on EBF!
Tamari Ground Turkey Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry jasmine rice
- 2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 ½ Tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 1 12 oz packaged coleslaw mix or broccoli slaw
- 1 8 oz bag snap peas, sliced diagonally into ¼-inch peices
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- ¾ teaspoon salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon pepper, divided
- ½ yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 inch knob fresh ginger, minced, 1 teaspoon
- 1 lb ground turkey, I used 93% lean
- ¼ cup low sodium tamari
- 2 Tablespoons Sriracha
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- sesame seeds, for serving
- green onion, for serving
Instructions
- Add rice and veggie broth to a saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let rice sit covered for a few minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside.
- While rice is cooking, cook veggies by heating 1 Tablespoon oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, add coleslaw mix, snap peas and carrots. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon ground pepper and cook for about 4-5 minutes, until veggies start to soften. Don’t cook too long as we want the veggies to still have a little crunch to them! Once veggies are cooked, transfer to a bowl or plate and set aside.
- Wipe out your skillet and add an additional ½ Tablespoon olive oil to the pan, heating over medium heat. Once hot, add onion, garlic and ginger. Saute for 3-4 minutes, until onion starts to soften.
- Add ground turkey, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon ground pepper and cook for 6-7 minutes, until turkey is cooked through, breaking up the turkey as it cooks.
- While turkey is cooking, make sauce by whisking together tamari, sriracha and honey in a small bowl.
- One turkey is cooked through, pour sauce over turkey. Bring sauce to a simmer and cook 2-3 minutes, until it slightly reduces, stirring occasionally. Add veggies back into the pan with the turkey and stir to combine so the veggies get coated in the sauce.
- Divide rice into 4 bowls, top with ¼ of turkey and veggie mixture. Top with green onion and sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What is the serving size measurement for this recipe?
Hi! I am not sure, I will have to check and get back to you!
This was a great dinner! I’ve never bought tamari before but after having it, I like it more than traditional soy sauce.
YUM! I am so glad you gave this recipe a try, Molly. Thank you so much for sharing your review & star rating, it means so much to me!
This was very tasty! I feel like there was something missing or balancing flavor-wise, but it was still awesome and would definitely make it again.
Hi Sara – Hmm I wounder what could have been missing? What did you serve it with? Glad you did enjoy the flavor though and it turned out great for you!
Delicious! This was a huge hit with the family. I’ll definitely be making it again.