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!

Stir fries are a great one-pot meal that makes a ton of food for dinner or meals for the week. This technique for pan-frying meat and vegetables with a little bit of oil or sauce, (similar to sautéeing), is often served with noodles or rice, but can also be eaten on its own.

This cooking method originated in China, but is now beloved around the world - and for good reason! Stir fries are an easy meal that comes together quickly, and one of my favorites.

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.

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!)

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

Ingredients

To pull together this easy weeknight dinner, you'll need to pick up some lean ground turkey. You can certainly use ground chicken, beef or pork, or even vegan plant-based crumbles, but my favorite protein to use is turkey because it is so light. 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.

You'll also want to add some veggies. I recommend shredded carrots (about two large carrots or four small) and shredded zucchini (about two medium zucchini). You can add other things like chopped onion, broccoli, bell peppers, green beans, sugar snap peas, corn kernels - or whatever sounds good. It's a great recipe to use up leftover veggies too, or just whatever is in your fridge.

Stir fries are usually cooked in oil or a sauce, and I like to use my homemade stir fry sauce. I make mine with sesame oil, coconut aminos (or soy sauce) and cornstarch. 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!

Finish it off with toppings that add extra flavor, like green onions, white or black sesame seeds, red pepper flakes or sriracha sauce. And then don't forget to stock up on rice, cauliflower rice, noodles or greens or whatever you want to serve with it.

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. If you're serving it over greens, go ahead and wash them and let them sit to dry out.

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!)

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 - another great idea for busy weeknights or lunches, and a great way to use up leftovers from this ground turkey stir fry recipe!

FAQ

More easy recipes for dinner

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