Easy Ground Turkey Stir Fry

This easy Ground Turkey Stir Fry is perfect for weeknight dinners or for meal prep. Made with a simple stir fry sauce and loaded with fresh veggies, you can serve it with rice or noodles but it's hearty enough to enjoy all on its own.

Easy Ground Turkey Stir Fry

Weeknight dinners don't have to be a slog. In fact, I do everything possible to make dinnertime super easy at our house.

Meal prep? Check. Quick dinners? Check. Minimal dishes? Check.

This recipe for easy stir fry with turkey checks all those boxes and more. It's hearty, healthy and everyone in the family can customize it with their favorite toppings, extra sauce or eat it plain.

It's definitely a recipe everyone in the family will love.

Love one pot recipes? Try this taco soup and this ground turkey skillet.

Why you'll love this recipe

Who doesn't love an easy dinner? This recipe is perfect for you!

• This easy Turkey Stir Fry is ready in under 30 minutes and doesn't use a ton of dishes. YAY!
• You can serve it over noodles, rice or salad — or eat it on its own.
• Customize it with your favorite veggies and toppings.

If you like to meal prep for the week ahead, this recipe is easy to put together to warm up for lunches and dinners.

But it also works to whip up for an easy dinner during the week, too. (And there's usually leftovers for lunch the next day!)

What is stir fry?

Stir frying is a technique for pan-frying meat and vegetables with a little bit of oil or sauce, similar to sautéeing. It is often served with noodles or rice, but can also be eaten on its own.

It's a common cooking method that originated in China, but is now beloved around the world.

Stir fries are an easy meal that comes together quickly.

Ingredients

Here's what you will need to put together this easy weeknight dinner:

• lean ground turkey
• shredded carrots (about 2 large carrots or 4 small)
• shredded zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)
• stir fry sauce (recipe below)
• salt and pepper

If you want to pick up some toppings too, here are a few suggestions:

• green onions
• white sesame seeds
• black sesame seeds
• red pepper flakes
• sriracha

And then don't forget to stock up on rice, noodles or greens or whatever you want to serve with it! I have some suggestions below in the What to Serve with Turkey Stir Fry section.

Substitutions

You are welcome to substitute ground chicken, ground beef or plant-based crumbles instead of the turkey. If you already have some leftover cooked meat, like grilled chicken, you can use that too! Just throw it in after you cook the veggies.

It's a great recipe to use up leftover veggies too, or just whatever is in your fridge. You can use your favorite vegetables like chopped onion, broccoli, bell peppers, green beans, sugar snap peas or corn kernels.

Your grocery store might carry stir fry veggies in the frozen section, and those are absolutely fine to use as well. You might need to cook them a little longer but the added time here is marginal. If frozen veggies make your life easier, go for it.

Homemade stir fry sauce

You may also want to pick up some stir fry sauce, but I prefer making a quick homemade stir fry sauce because it's just so simple to do!

Here's what you'll need:

• sesame oil
• coconut aminos
• corn starch

You can substitute soy sauce for the coconut aminos. You can also use grapeseed oil, peanut oil, avocado oil or olive oil in lieu of the sesame oil. Sesame oil just has a distinct taste that adds so much to this stir fry dish!

To make the sauce, you'll simply whisk everything together or shake it up in a mason jar.

How to Make Turkey Stir Fry

Making stir fry is so easy! You are going to love how quickly this easy dinner recipe comes together.

(If you're making rice or noodles, go ahead and get those started while you brown the turkey.)

First, you'll want to brown the ground turkey in a large skillet. You don't need to add any oil to the pan but you can if you need to. Once it's browned, transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate to drain the juices.

While the turkey cools, you can shred your zucchini and carrots. I like to do this by hand with a cheese grater, or use a mandoline or food processor. But if it saves you time you can absolutely buy them pre-shredded. (Just know those are usually a little bit on the dry side, so fresh is better if possible.)

Then return the cooked turkey to the pan along with the stir-fry veggies. Cook on medium heat covered for about 5 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon until the veggies are soft. Season with salt and pepper. Note that seasoning zucchini with salt before cooking can make them "sweat" and get too mushy, so this is an important order of operations.

Lastly, add in the stir fry sauce and stir until distributed evenly.

Serve in bowls over rice or noodles, plus your favorite toppings. (We like sesame seeds, green inions and red chili flakes!)

Store in a food-safe, airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

What to Serve With Stir Fry

Stir fry recipes are delicious on their own, but it's also wonderful served with a grain, spooned over a salad or stirred into some noodles. (My family loves brown rice, so that's what we usually serve with it.)

Here are a few ideas:

• soba noodles
• udon noodles
• white rice
• brown rice
• cauliflower rice
• mixed greens

You could also put it right into butter lettuce leaves to make lettuce wraps for a low carb option. Those are another great idea for busy weeknights. (And a great way to use up leftovers from this ground turkey stir fry recipe!)

More easy recipes for dinner

• Grilled Chicken Fajitas
• Spinach Turkey Orzo
• Pan Seared Chicken Thighs
• Easy Ground Beef Tostadas