This Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet will be ready to eat in less than 30 minutes, and you will be amazed by how flavourful it is. It’s a perfect ONE-PAN meal for your family to enjoy!
When I first made this recipe back in November 2014, it was a chilly Sunday, and I was in search of comforting food. I was thinking of making my zucchini lasagna or my eggplant lasagna.
But I decided to make something using sweet potatoes because I had a lot of sweet potatoes in my kitchen and I also love the flavor of sweet potato. I thought about making my favourite sweet potato soup, but my husband said he felt like eating something with meat.
So, I decided to make this gluten-free, one-pan Ground Turkey with Sweet Potato Skillet to warm us up a bit.
This sweet potato skillet meal is so easy and quick to make and the best part: it’s healthy. In half an hour, this dish will be ready to dig into, and you will be amazed by how flavourful it is. It is definitely a delicious comfort food to share the joy.
I seriously love my cast iron and one-pan meals, like this one or this Shrimp Vegetable Skillet. You can’t go wrong with one-pan meals when it comes to effortless clean up and cooking convenience!
- Extra virgin olive oil — or neutral oil of your choice such as avocado oil.
- Free-range extra-lean ground turkey — you also can use grass-fed ground beef or even ground chicken. Just keep in mind that chicken might cook quicker so it might be drier. Add extra moisture like broth to keep it moist.
- Garlic cloves — I prefer freshly minced garlic to pre-minced garlic.
- Onions — you only need to dice half an onion.
- Yellow pepper — or your choice of pepper. Red and orange peppers are great too.
- Large sweet potato — be sure to dice it small enough that it’ll cook evenly.
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Red chili flakes — optional for a bit of heat.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese — If you’re doing Whole30 or following Paleo diet, don’t add cheese. Feel free to change up the cheese! Make this spicier with some Pepper Jack cheese, Habanero Cheddar Cheese, and more!
- Fresh parsley — for garnishing!
Saute the Ingredients
- In a cast iron skillet ( a large pot works as well), heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the ground turkey and garlic. Use a wooden spoon to break up the ground turkey as it cooks. Stir occasionally, and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Next, add the onions and yellow peppers, and cook until the onions are soft.
- Then, add the sweet potato, red chili flakes, salt, and pepper.
Cover and Cook
- Cover the large cast iron skillet, and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. If necessary, add more olive oil or a little bit of water to cook the sweet potatoes faster.
Add the Cheese and Melt It
- While the sweet potatoes are cooking, preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- When the sweet potatoes are tender, add the shredded mozzarella cheese, and put the skillet in the oven to melt the cheese. When the cheese melts, remove the skillet from the oven, and garnish with parsley. Since we are going from stovetop to oven, it’s important to use a cast iron skillet!
If you have followed Primavera Kitchen for a long time, you probably know that I love cast iron skillet recipes, which are staples in my kitchen. I even have a round-up of Cast Iron Skillet Recipes and Skillet Dinner Recipes. But you probably are wondering why I love them so much. Here are the reasons:
- These types of cast iron skillets are well-seasoned and have a naturally nonstick surface that makes all the difference when cooking.
- They also are safe to use on all cooking surfaces, such as on a stovetop, in the oven, under the broiler, or on a barbecue.
- Also, cast iron skillets are great to retain the heat and distribute it evenly for optimal cooking results.
- They are very versatile since you can use them for sautéing, searing, pan-frying, baking, broiling, roasting, and more.
- And last but not least, they are easy to clean. Here is a post where I explain more about cleaning your cast iron skillet without damaging it.
Cast iron skillets are the best cookware to have in your kitchen, and I truly could not enjoy cooking with cast iron any more. Please, give it a try and once you do, you won’t regret it. I promise! You can find lots of good options at Amazon.
Recipe Tips
-
- Don’t overload your skillet with sweet potatoes because this veggie takes forever to cook, and you may burn your food. If your cast iron skillet is 9-10 inches, the ideal amount of diced sweet potato is between 2-3 cups.
-
- Cover the skillet with a lid and reduce the heat to medium to cook the sweet potato faster.
-
- Or, you can first cook the sweet potato and add it into the pan when the ground turkey is cooked.
-
- You can also add another spice that you have in your kitchen to make this recipe even more flavourful. According to some readers’ reviews, this recipe is also good with cumin, curry, paprika, sage, chili powder, onion powder, thyme, rosemary, and hot sauce.
-
- And, some readers said that they added kale, spinach, and mushroom as well, which make this recipe even more delicious. I’ve already made this recipe with broccoli and green beans, and it worked very well, too. So, be open to adding more veggies if you wish.
- Make sure to store all your portions in an airtight container and, if you prefer, you can also add some rice to the container to serve with. I use glass containers as they don’t hold onto any smells and are easier to clean.
- Be sure to keep the meals refrigerated until you’re ready to eat. When ready to eat, cover it with a damp paper towel when microwaving to keep the moisture in.
- This meal prep will last for up to 4 days when properly stored.
- Before serving it, top with some fresh cilantro, sour cream and even Greek yogurt for an extra protein boost.
- Ground Beef Zucchini Sweet Potato Skillet: It’s very flavorful, easy, quick-to-make, healthy, a one-pan meal and gluten-free! It’s great as leftovers to take to work for lunch.
- Ground Turkey Skillet with Green Beans: A recipe that is definitely easy to make and a tasty meal for your family dinner.
- Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Lettuce Wraps: Fresh and flavourful, this recipe can easily be prepared in just 20 minutes.
- Ground Turkey Cabbage Skillet: An easy recipe that is perfect for a quick dinner during the week. It’s made with ground turkey, cabbage, cheese, and spices.
- Sweet Potato, Kale and Shrimp Skillet: You need only 4 ingredients to make a quick, easy, and healthy dinner meal.
- Asparagus Sweet Potato Chicken Skillet recipe: Another one-pan meal that takes only 30 minutes to be on your table for dinner.
As a memory, I kept this original photo from 2014!
Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound free-range extra-lean ground turkey (you also can use grass-fed ground beef)
- 1 teaspoon garlic clove minced
- ½ cup onions diced
- ½ cup yellow pepper diced
- 1½ cups sweet potato diced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- A pinch of red chili flakes optional
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese (If you're doing Whole30 or following Paleo diet, don't add cheese)
- Fresh parsley for garnishing (optional)
Instructions
- In a cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the ground turkey and garlic. Use a wooden spoon to break up the turkey as it cooks. Stir occasionally, and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the onions and yellow peppers, and cook until the onions are soft.
- Add the sweet potato, red chili flakes, salt, and pepper.
- Cover the skillet, and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender. Don’t forget to stir occasionally. If necessary, add more olive oil or a little bit of water to cook the sweet potatoes faster.
- While the sweet potatoes are cooking, preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- When the sweet potatoes are tender, add the shredded mozzarella cheese, and put the skillet in the oven to melt the cheese.
- When the cheese melts, remove from the oven, and garnish with parsley.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?
Follow @primaverakitchen on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag it #primaverakitchen. We’d love to see your recreation.
amazing! I added Indian spices, raisins and walnuts – super good!
Mm… Sounds yummy 😉
So delicious! And super easy! This is one of my family’s favorite meals.
So happy you liked it!
I made this tonight and it was great! I made a few changes based on what I had. I had a yam I had baked yesterday and I used that so the cooking was quicker. I had some fresh cabbage I wanted to use up. I sauted that with the onion and garlic. The yam added a lot of sweetness to the turkey. I added some red pepper flakes for heat and worchester sauce. It was hard not to eat it all with the melted cheese on top. Easier than making turkey burgers. Would make again.
So glad you enjoyed it! 😊 Love how you used what you had — the baked yam and sautéed cabbage sound delicious, and the sweet–spicy combo is perfect. Thanks for sharing your twists, and happy to hear it’s a make-again! 💛
Hello. Looks yummy. Did you use sweet potato or yams?
I used sweet potato!
Love this recipe!!! How long does it typically take for the sweet potatoes to become soft for you? I felt like it took a bit longer than I thought. Do you keep it on medium/high heat?
I keep it on medium heat. It’s about 10 mins.
I made this last night for dinner. I was looking for something pretty quick to make. It had to be healthy & anti inflammatory. This was quick & delicious. Great recipe!!
Amazing! So happy you enjoyed this recipe 🙂 It’s easy, quick and delicious too.
This recipe is so good! I always run into the issue of the pan burning at the bottom. What can I do differently?
Thanks so much! If the pan is burning on the bottom, try lowering the heat and adding a splash of water or broth as it cooks. Stirring a bit more often and using a nonstick skillet can help too. Hope that solves it — and I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! 😊
I fully didn’t expect this to have so much flavor. Very easy and extremely satisfying. A successful dinner means my wife will keep me around for at least another day. Immediately saved to make again in the near future. Thank you, Olivia!
This made me smile — so glad it was a hit at dinner! 😄 Love that it had so much flavor and was easy to make. Thanks for trying it, and I’m thrilled it’s going into your make-again list! 💛
So good
So happy you like it!
It should be 5 stars by everyone. So tasty, so easy , and little cleanup I added some broccoli to steam at the end. Served with crusty bread. YUM!!
Thank you
Thank you so much! 😊 I love the idea of adding broccoli at the end and crusty bread makes it even better. So glad you enjoyed it! 💛
I made this tonight for dinner because I wanted something outside of the normal dinner rotation— it didn’t disappoint! I added some additional seasonings/spices (turmeric, sage, garlic and onion powder) and it was absolutely amazing! I will definitely be adding this to our dinner rotation!
I love that! 😊 So glad it helped shake up your dinner rotation, and those extra spices sound amazing. Thanks so much for sharing — happy to hear it’s going into regular rotation! 💛
Really tastey receipe
Thank you 😉
Just made this tonight and it was fantastic! I didn’t have a yellow pepper, but I had a zucchini, so I used that instead. So much flavor. Made some homemade garlic toast to go with it.
My husband and I are retired, and now I finally have time to try different recipes. This is a keeper. Thank you!
That sounds wonderful! 😊 I love the zucchini swap, and homemade garlic toast is the perfect side. So happy you’re enjoying trying new recipes—and thrilled this one’s a keeper for you both. Thank you for sharing! 💛
I made this, the taste is wonderful. I think some kind of sauce would have made it hold together better.
I made this tonight and it is fabulous! I did add diced tomatoes and some favorite herbs including fennel and cumin. I also toasted pine nuts and used Romano to melt. Added cannellini beans as well. It was delicious !! Thanks so much for this recipe!! Can you tell I’m Italian? I took a picture but don’t see how to post.
I love this and yes, I can definitely tell you’re Italian! 😄🇮🇹
So glad you enjoyed it! And I wish I could see the photo too. Thank you so much for sharing and for cooking my recipe! 💛
I fixed this recipe but didn’t have some of the ingredients on hand but substituted butternut squash I had for the sweet potato and a red bell pepper for the yellow.
It turned out wonderful. so I guess I turned it into a ground turkey butternut squash recipe.
That sounds delicious! 😊 Butternut squash is such a great swap for sweet potato, and the red bell pepper works perfectly too. So glad it turned out wonderful! 💛
Great recipe. I made a change by adding cumin to the ground turkey leaving out the red chili flakes. Also i did not use the oven to melt the cheese. I just placed the cover on the pot and continued to cook until the cheese melted. My husband said it was outstanding. Definitely be making this dish many more times. Thank you.
So happy you loved it! 😊 Adding cumin sounds delicious. And yes melting the cheese right in the pot is a good shortcut. I’m thrilled your husband thought it was outstanding. Thank you for sharing your tweaks! 💛
So good! I was so happy how quickly it came together. I had the leftovers for breakfast – great protein!
That’s amazing! Happy to hear that 😉