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
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- 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.
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- Cover the skillet with a lid and reduce the heat to medium to cook the sweet potato faster.
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- Or, you can first cook the sweet potato and add it into the pan when the ground turkey is cooked.
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- 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.
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- 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?
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Hi there,
I was going to make it tomorrow. Was curious if I should drain any of the turkey fat before putting the other ingredients in?
Thank you!
Yes you can.
I’m a newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetic. I found this recipe when searching for “easy recipes for Type 2 diabetics.”
I made this this evening, it was wonderful, I added too much red pepper flakes (my bad), but the sweet potatoes helped with that. I only had montery jack cheese on hand, and it was a nice substitution.
Thank you.
Happy you liked it. It’s an easy and delicious recipe for sure 😉
I made this last night, added mushrooms that I had. I honestly wasn’t expecting a whole lot for such a simple meal, but wow was I surprised! I was delicious and I will be adding it to my regular meal rotation!
Amazing!! Thanks for your feedback!
This is our favorite go to recipe for quick, healthy dinners. It’s got all the good ingredients!
So happy to hear that!
We are new to the vegetarian game, but we also looooooove this recipe! What would you recommend adding in to replace of the ground turkey to still get a good amount of nutrients?
Thanks!
You can use tofu or lentils.
OMG!!! This is easy and amazing!!!
Thank you!! Happy you liked it.
I have been making this recipe (exactly as shown) for years. It’s one of my favorites and I make it often. Thank you for a delicious recipe!
Wow such a good feedback! Thank you so much!
I have been making this for a good year or more now. I add fresh spinach as well into ours and extra red chili flakes as we like spicy! I do microwave my sweet potatoes a bit first and that speeds up the cooking time.
Glad you like this recipe!
Needed something simple, fast, and good this evening and this looked like it would fit the bill. I’d did! We will be having this in the future.
Awesome!
Hot damn! This was delicious!! I added diced yellow squash and subbed green pepper cause its what we had. Sooo good! Used only 1 tbsp of oil and fat free kraft mozzarella to make it even healthier but omg this is a new favorite.
Right? This is so good! One of my favorite recipes on the site.
Made this recipe today cause I wanted to start eating healthy food, and OMG! It was a big hit with my Family. I added some diced zucchini & left out the cheese. I will definitely ake it again.
That’s amazing! Happy you liked it!
Is this serving size a 1/4 cup per person? I am making this for dinner and tracking calories etc. thanks !!
This has become one of my go- to weeknight recipes. I also add spinach, like someone else mentioned to boost up the veggies. Sometimes, I melt the cheese right on the stove top, rather than heating up the oven and it works just as well. This is a great combination.
Indeed it is 😉 Glad you liked it!
The recipe was easy to make with staples I always have in my refrigerator. However I found it to be really bland. Needs more seasoning, more onion, more garlic I did add a few leftover Kalamata olives which added a little flavor. If I make it again I would add a 1\2 cup sliced kalamata olives stirred in at last.minute .
Can you make this even if you do not have a cast iron pan?
Absolutely!
This is a delicious meal that is simple to prepare, and comes together quickly. This is one of my go-to dinners!
This recipe is my go to dinner too. So easy, healthy and delicious!
Super easy, really tasty. I had yams and feta instead of sweet potatoes and mozzarella and it worked well. I needed something healthy tonight and this did it for me. Will make again with whatever I have in my fridge as substitutes.
Awesome!!
Love this recipe! I’ve been making it at least once a month for about a year now. One of my husbands favs! I tweak it a little every time I make it though, adding either spinach, kale or Swiss chard. I’ve also used ground beef or ground chicken thighs in place of ground turkey. All delicious and super healthy! Also, I have a glass top stove so I use a regular skillet still comes out great every time!
Your comment made me so happy!
I have been making this recipe for years now. It is so good. I used broccoli and cheddar instead of yellow pepper and mozzarella the last time, because that’s what I had, and it was delicious and a bit more colorful. Thank you for this recipe!
Thank you so much! Your comment is SO kind, and it makes me happy to hear that you have been making this recipe for years now. Thanks for taking the time to leave this review!
Delicious! I added pepper jack cheese instead of mozzarella.
Happy you liked it!
It’s so delicious ty
You’re welcome!
Can red pepper be used instead of yellow? And are the potatoes peeled?
Yes it can!