15 Crowd-Pleasing Ground Turkey Recipes

These 15 inspiring recipes use ground turkey for meatballs, pasta, burgers, stuffed vegetables, quick lettuce wraps, and more!

By
Katie Morford, MS, RD
Katie Morford, MS, RD
Katie is a culinary dietitian with a master's degree in clinical nutrition. She has 25 years of experience as a recipe developer, writer, and teacher.
Learn about Simply Recipes' Editorial Process
and
Robin Shreeves
Robin Shreeves
Robin Shreeves is a food and beverage writer.
Learn about Simply Recipes' Editorial Process
Updated May 12, 2022
Three recipes side by side that use ground turkey or ground chicken.

Simply Recipes

Having a package of ground turkey stashed in the fridge or freezer is a terrific springboard to endless home cooked meals.

You can take your ground turkey in so many flavor directions. It can transform into so many dishes, including meatballs, pasta, burgers, stuffed vegetables, and quick lettuce wraps. 

Whether to choose white or dark meat is a matter of personal taste. White meat comes from the breast and is the leanest of the bunch. This might be appealing if you’re trying to cut your intake of saturated fat. That said, dark meat means more richness and flavor. Your best bet may be to use a combination of the two. Regardless of what you choose, below you’ll find inspiring recipes to use up ground turkey.

  • Teriyaki Lettuce Wraps

    Teriyaki Chicken Lettuce Wraps
    Lisa Lin

    Swap ground turkey for the ground chicken and you are good to go. Homemade teriyaki sauce add flavor, and diced zucchini, peppers, and onion make the filling extra nourishing. Feel free to swap in other veggies if you like, such as shredded carrots, finely chopped leafy greens, and scallions. Partial to your Instant Pot? We have a version for that, too.

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  • Spicy Turkey and Zucchini Burgers

    Spicy Turkey and Zucchini Burger
    Elise Bauer

    These savory burgers are based on a recipe by world-famous Israeli chef Yotam Ottolengi. The recipe works a full two cups of shredded zucchini into ground turkey meat, along with a slew of spices. The result is a pleasingly tasty burger that gets finished with a tangy sour cream sauce.

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  • Turkey Meatball Soup with Spinach and Orzo

    Turkey Meatball Soup
    Sheryl Julian

    Here is an easy, hearty soup that is full of appealing Italian flavor. It starts with a brothy base enriched with little meatballs, orzo pasta, heaps of fresh spinach, and a light shower of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. You can make the meatballs in advance and set them on a baking sheet to freeze. Once firm, drop them into a freezer bag for a later date.

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  • Turkey Chili With Black Beans

    Turkey Chili
    Elise Bauer

    Turkey and black beans make a killer combination in this simple chili recipe. Enjoy as-is or bump up the fun factor by setting up a chili bar. Include any favorite fixings, such as diced avocado, grated cheese, sour cream, pickled jalapenos, and diced onion. Then hand everyone a bowl and let them have at it.

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    Continue to 5 of 15 below.

  • Turkey Sloppy Joes

    Sloppy Joes with Turkey Recipe
    Nick Evans

    This riff on the sandwich classic is a little lighter than beef sloppy joes with a good amount of veggies worked in. The trick is to dice the vegetables finely, which helps them melt seamlessly into the mix. Sloppy joe meat freezes well, so feel free to double the recipe and stash the leftovers for next time.

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  • Turkey Meatballs

    Turkey Meatballs
    Elise Bauer

    Since ground turkey tends to be leaner than its ground beef counterpart, turkey meatballs can turn out dry. Here, a secret ingredient (spoiler alert: mushrooms) not only side steps that problem, but it also adds delicious meaty flavor. The recipe is wonderfully flexible. You can form small meatballs for appetizer bites, larger ones for a main course meal, or flatten them to make turkey burgers.

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  • Mom's Ground Turkey and Peppers

    Mom's Ground Turkey and Peppers
    Elise Bauer

    Delicious. Inexpensive. And quick. Serve this mixture of ground turkey and peppers over rice or pasta.

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  • Zucchini Lasagna with Ground Turkey

    No noodle zucchini lasagna on a plate along with a salad.

    Alison Bickel

    Roasted zucchini takes the place of traditional pasta lasagna noodles and flavorful ground turkey meat sauce subs for ground beef in this lasagna that uses up an abundance of summer squash.

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    Continue to 9 of 15 below.

  • Stuffed Squash with Turkey and Apples

    Stuffed Squash with Turkey, Apples and Rice is in a bowl, ontop of a plate with a fork on the side.
    Sally Vargas | Banner Art Credit: Elena Resko

    Cut acorn squash in half, roast it and then stuff it with ground turkey, rice, apples, and plenty of seasoning. Presto: a yummy dinner for two.

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  • Turkey Zucchini Burger with Garlic Mayo

    Turkey Zucchini Burger with Garlic Mayo
    Elise Bauer

    Freshly grated zucchini in this turkey burger doesn't add much taste, but that's not its job in this burger. It adds moisture so the turkey doesn't dry out while it's cooking.

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  • Turkey Taco Salad

    turkey taco salad
    Sally Vargas

    Mix Mexican spiced ground turkey with beans and you have a protein-packed topping for this salad of fresh greens, tomatoes, avocado, and more.

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  • Turkey Meatloaf

    Turkey Meatloaf
    Sally Vargas

    Family favorite meatloaf lightens up with ground turkey. Grated zucchini and carrot mixed into the meatloaf mixture give it added moisture. A sweet chili glaze adds tons of flavor.

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    Continue to 13 of 15 below.

  • Pasta With Turkey Meatballs and Roasted Vegetables

    Pasta With Turkey Meatballs and Roasted Vegetables
    Coco Morante

    This dinner comes together in just about 45 minutes. Roast turkey meatballs in the oven alongside zucchini, bell peppers, and onions. Serve tossed with pasta. It's easy and super flavorful.

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  • Curried Ground Turkey with Potatoes

    Curried Ground Turkey with Potatoes
    Elise Bauer

    One-pot meals make clean-up so easy, but you'll linger at the table having seconds of this warmly spicy and satisfying dish before you need to clean up from this mix of ground turkey, plenty of spices, peas, potatoes, and tomatoes.

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  • Herbed Turkey Burger

    Side view of a turkey burger.
    Cambrea Bakes

    Dark meat ground turkey works best for these burgers. Jazz them up with some chopped fresh herbs, a little onion, and garlic. Cook on the grill or stovetop and top with your favorite burger toppings.

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