This low-carb ground turkey bowl recipe is so delicious! It’s the best, easy meal prep with a variety of different elements that meld together perfectly: flavorful extra-lean protein, fluffy cauliflower rice and tender sauteed veggies.
I love having these bowls on hand. They make the most convenient, well rounded, grab-and-go lunches for the office. Simply microwave until warmed through and you’ve got a yummy, hot and healthy meal. When you’re tired of eating the same thing every day, this is a great way to mix things up.
This Ground Turkey Bowl is also very flexible and offers a lot of room for creative freedom. You can the swap cauli rice for a different flavor like my golden cauliflower rice or garlic parmesan cauliflower rice. Not super concerned about keeping your bowls low-carb? Feel free to make some regular, fluffy rice or quinoa instead!
Rather than sautéing red bell pepper and green beans, try roasted balsamic veggies, air fryer brussels sprouts or roasted sweet potato cubes. And of course, you can use a different protein like ground beef or chicken if desired.
Ingredients To Make Ground Turkey Bowls
- Oil — Extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil and/or sesame oil.
- Yellow onion — Adds excellent flavor to your ground turkey!
- Ground turkey — Look for an extra-lean option at the grocery store, you can also use ground beef or chicken as a substitute, if preferred.
- Seasonings — Dried parsley, ground cumin, red pepper flakes, ground coriander, salt and black pepper.
- Cabbage — Chopped into small pieces and cooked with lean ground turkey. You can also use kale!
- Veggie broth — Chicken broth will also work.
- Tomato sauce — Make your own tomato sauce or use your favorite brand.
- Head cauliflower — I prefer to make my own cauliflower rice by pulsing florets in a food processor, but you can totally use store-bought cauli rice to save time! It’s typically found in the produce section or with the frozen foods.
- Garlic — Chop up two fresh cloves or use a jar of minced garlic.
- Soy sauce — Look for a gluten-free brand, if necessary. Many contain wheat. You can also use teriyaki sauce or tamari or fish sauce if you prefer.
- Vegetables — Green beans, red onion and red bell pepper. Feel free to substitute different veggies and use up what you’ve got on hand.
Instructions to make Ground Turkey Bowl
Prepare turkey:
- In a large skillet, sauté onion in olive oil over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes. Then add ground turkey, dried parsley, cumin, red pepper flakes and coriander. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat apart and brown completely.
- Next, mix broth and chopped cabbage into the skillet, then cook everything together for about four minutes while stirring occasionally.
- Finally, add your tomato sauce and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Simmer three minutes longer, ensuring the cabbage is tender. Transfer turkey mixture to a large bowl on the side and return skillet to the stovetop.
Make cauliflower rice:
- Chop your head of cauliflower into florets and place pieces in a food processor, then pulse for around 30 seconds until it looks like rice.
- Add sesame oil to your skillet (the same one you used for turkey). Add minced garlic and sauté over medium for 30 seconds.
- Dump in riced cauliflower and soy sauce, mix well to combine and sauté until tender. Avoid overcooking because this can lead to sogginess. Again, free up your skillet and transfer everything to a separate large bowl on the side.
Sauté veggies:
- We’re almost done! Add green beans, bell pepper, red onion, salt and pepper to the skillet along with some additional olive oil.
- Sauté over medium heat until slightly tender. You don’t want to overcook the veggies because they’ll soften a bit more when you reheat your meal-prep bowls.
Assemble:
- Evenly divide turkey, rice and vegetables into 4 glass containers. Place a lid on each container and refrigerate!
Before serving, top your ground turkey bowl with sesame seeds, green onions or wedge of limes if you prefer.
To give it a Mexican twist, you can serve these ground turkey bowls with black beans, salsa, and a generous sprinkle of fresh cilantro on top.
More Meal Prep Friendly Recipes
Recipe Tips
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- Be sure to break up your ground meat really well so you don’t have big chunks. Remember that you can use ground beef or ground pork or ground chicken if you prefer (or if that’s what you’ve got on hand)!
- Need to save some extra time? You can buy riced cauliflower at the grocery store rather than making your own at home.
- When you chop up your vegetables, make sure they are about the same size. This will help with quick, even cooking.
- If you want extra crisp veggies, chop them into larger pieces so they maintain a nice crunch!
- If you need to buy meal prep containers, I recommend selecting a brand with leakproof lids to avoid mess and spills. Buy quality containers that won’t break easily and are safe for use in the microwave and freezer.
- You can add other vegetables you prefer in this recipe such as carrots, broccoli and peas.
- You can make your rice bowl with white rice or brown rice too.
How To Store Your Meal Prep Bowls
- To Store: Place your Ground Turkey Bowls in the refrigerator after assembling. They should keep for about 4 days!
- To Freeze: I don’t really recommend freezing these meal-prep bowls because the cauliflower rice and veggies won’t maintain their texture once thawed, you can freeze leftover cooked turkey on its own, if desired.
- To Reheat: To heat up your bowl, microwave on high in 30-60 second intervals until warmed through completely.
What To Serve With Your Bowls
I really love packing a ground turkey bowl for lunch. It’s super easy to heat up at the office! Typically, I also enjoy them with a little something on the side, here are some fun ideas:
- Enjoy your bowls with a small side of colorful and fresh fruit salad!
- Pair your meal prep with a savory cauliflower muffin or low-carb dinner roll (and perhaps a bit of garlic butter). Yum!
- Why not pop a deviled or hard-boiled egg in your lunchbox for some extra protein?!
- Whip up some chia pudding in a small to-go container and have it for dessert.
- Really have a sweet tooth? Pack up a low carb strawberry bar, low carb chocolate coconut bar or delicious peanut butter oatmeal cookie! Sometimes you just need a sweet treat to get through the day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Seasonings and aromatics (like onion or garlic) will add SO much flavor to ground turkey. If you need a little something extra, add a bit more salt and pepper until you get the taste you want! The tomato sauce and veggie broth in this particular recipe also add lots of extra yumminess.
Definitely not! If you’ve got something else on hand, like ground beef, pork or chicken, feel free to use that instead.
Yes! Both raw and cooked ground turkey can be frozen for 3-4 months before a experiencing a decline in quality.
Ground Turkey Bowl
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Ingredients
For the Ground Turkey
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup yellow onion chopped
- 1 pound grass-fed extra-lean ground turkey
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
- Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- 4 cups cabbage chopped, or use kale, Brussels sprouts
- ½ cup vegetable broth
- ¼ cup tomato sauce I use this sauce
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
For the Cauliflower Rice
- 1 small cauliflower head cut into florets
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce
For the Sautéed Veggies
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cups green beans ends trimmed
- 1 cup red onion chopped
- 1 large red bell pepper chopped
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Ground Turkey
- In a cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add chopped yellow onion and sauté for 3-5 minutes, or until tender.
- Add the ground turkey, dried parsley, ground cumin, red pepper flakes and coriander. Use a wooden spoon to break the turkey apart and cook for about 7 minutes until fully browned.
- Next, add chopped cabbage and vegetable broth. Mix well to combine and simmer for about 4 minutes until the cabbage cooks down. Stir occasionally.
- Pour in the tomato sauce and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Cook for 3 minutes more or until the veggies are tender. Transfer mixture to a large bowl on the side and return skillet to the stovetop.
For the Cauliflower Rice
- Pulse the cauliflower florets in a food processor for about 25-30 seconds until you reach a rice-like consistency.
- In the same large skillet you used to cook the ground turkey, add 2 tablespoons of sesame oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add the cauliflower rice and soy sauce. Mix everything well to combine. Be careful to not overcook the cauliflower as it can become soggy. Transfer cauli rice to a separate large bowl on the side.
For the Sautéed Veggies
- In the same large skillet you used to cook the ground turkey and the cauliflower rice, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add all the veggies, salt, and black pepper. Stir well.
- Cook until the veggies are tender. Be careful not to overcook them.
Meal Prep Instructions
- Place an even amount of ground turkey, cauliflower rice, and veggies into 4 . Cover with the lid, and place in the fridge for up 4 days. Heat in the microwave for about 1½-2 minutes. The time depends on the power of your microwave. Enjoy!
Tips
- Need more meal prep recipes? Here are some of my favorites: Spicy Salmon Vegetable Meal-Prep Bowls, Spicy Chicken Meal-prep Bowls, and One-Sheet Pan Shrimp with Cherry Tomatoes.
- Always make sure to break down the ground meat as it cooks to avoid large chunks.
- You can buy pre-made cauliflower rice to save time. Use regular white rice, brown rice or quinoa if preferred.
- Make sure chopped veggies are all similar in size for even cooking.
- For crisp veggies, chop them into bigger pieces.
- Feel free to use different vegetables!
- Need meal prep containers? Buy a brand with leakproof lids and ensure they’re both freezer/microwave safe!
- To store: Store meal prep bowls in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- To reheat: You can reheat this meal prep in the microwave.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
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Jennifer says
I made this on Sunday for my lunches this week and its delicious! A friend sent me a link to this recipe and so very glad she did. I have one question though, in the ingredients it calls for vegetable broth. However, I didn’t see anywhere in the cooking instructions where to actually use the broth. Mine still turned out great but just wondered if I missed something.
Olivia says
Hi, Jennifer. You use the broth while cooking the ground beef. Thanks a lot for pointing it out. I just adjusted the recipe to clear further confusion.
Erica says
What are the nutritional facts in this recipe?
Olivia says
I will add soon. Thanks.
Olivia says
I just added the nutritional facts in the recipe box for you.
Courtney says
The nutritional facts, is that for the recipe as a whole or per serving?
Olivia says
It’s per serving.
Bri says
When you say “4 cups cabbage, kale, and Brussel sprouts”, do you mean 4 cups of each?
Olivia says
No, I mean all together.
Maria vilma Ribas says
Delicioso e pratico
Melissa says
How many cups of cauliflower rice do you think you end up with? My grocery store now sells pre-packaged cauliflower rice and that would save a lot of time. 🙂
Olivia says
About 3 to 4 cups.
Kirsten says
What in this makes the carbohydrates and sugar so high? I really want to make this but I’m trying to cut sugar out
Olivia says
This because of the tomato sauce (choose one without sugar in it).
Laura says
What can I substitute the veggie broth for if I don’t have any at home? With chicken broth do?
Olivia says
Yes you can use veggie broth or chicken broth.