These easy, healthy, family friendly ground turkey recipes are full of flavor and perfect for weeknight dinners. With everything from turkey burgers to turkey meatballs, turkey chili and more, you're sure to find some new favorites!
Ground turkey is such an easy, versatile and affordable protein to have on hand for making easy weeknight dinners and family meals.
We use it pretty much weekly and it’s my go-to healthier substitute for ground beef.
I love using ground turkey for taco meat, spaghetti, meatballs, burgers and more.
(I also love it for one of my favorite ground turkey recipes, this curry ground turkey with rice and peas. Just check out the glowing reviews!)
I’ve got a list below, as promised, with some great new recipes for you to try.
First though, I wanted to answer a few FAQs. If you just want the recipes, scroll on down and you’ll see the visual grid with the recipe titles and links at the bottom of this post.
What is ground turkey made of?
Ground turkey is a mixture of dark and light turkey meat with some of the remaining skin and fat processed together into a ground form. Packages labelled as ground turkey breast are made just from the white breast meat.
Is ground turkey healthy?
Yes! Ground turkey is a high-quality protein that has less saturated fat, cholesterol and calories than ground beef. It’s also a good source of B vitamins, selenium, zinc and phosphorus.
Which kind of ground turkey should I buy?
This will depend a little on your tastes and on the recipe, but I think the best all-around ground turkey is a 90% or 93% lean turkey. It has enough fat to give it flavor but not so much that it gives off a lot of grease in your pan or your dish.
Despite several attempts, I’ve never been impressed with the 99% lean ground turkey. It’s just lacking in flavor and often ends up tasting dry and bland. Same goes for ground turkey breast.
Also, a note about the package size. The two grocery stores I frequent the most often sell two different sizes. One has a 1-pound package and the other store has a 1.25-pound package.
Technically, that is 25% more turkey, but I’ve always just used either one in recipes and haven’t noticed a big difference in terms of final quantity of the dish or in flavor, even without adjusting the other ingredients.
So you’re probably good to go with whatever your store sells.
Tip: Packages of ground turkey often go on sale, and that’s a good time to buy an extra package or two and freeze them.
You can transfer the raw meat to a freezer-safe bag or just pop the whole container in the freezer for up to 3-4 months. So smart!
What temperature does ground turkey need to be cooked to?
Ground turkey should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F.
You can use a digital thermometer to check the temperature of things like meatballs and meatloaf. If you are crumbling ground turkey in a pan, cook it until there is no pink remaining.
I hope that answers some of your burning questions about using ground turkey in your kitchen. And I hope you find some new favorites from the recipes below.
(If you want even more ideas and recipes, check out these easy weeknight dinners for family-friendly inspiration.)
Happy cooking!
XO,
Kathryn
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