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 low-carb and gluten-free 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!
Ingredients to Make Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet
- 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!
How to make Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet
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!
Reasons why I love 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 50 Healthy Cast Iron Skillet Recipes and 15 Healthy 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 healthy foods. They have no bad chemicals, and as a bonus, they give off a little extra iron for you. As we all know, iron is an essential mineral that we need to avoid anemia and keep healthy cells, skin, hair, and nails.
- 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 and nutritious. 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.
Meal prep tips
- 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.
Substitutions
For this recipe, you can replace a pound ground turkey for ground beef or sausage.
You can also also make this recipe with black beans and sweet potato to turn it vegan and vegetarian. You can add some corn and some chopped tomato on top.
More sweet potato recipes to try:
- Ground Beef Zucchini Sweet Potato Skillet: It’s very flavorful, easy, quick-to-make, healthy, a one-pan meal, gluten-free, whole30, and paleo-friendly!! It’s great as leftovers to take to work for lunch.
- Ground Turkey Skillet with Green Beans: A gluten-free and low-carb 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 gluten-free, paleo, and whole30 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.
Tips
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
If you like this Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet recipe, please share it with your friends and family. Do you want to taste more? Subscribe to my newsletter, and follow Primavera Kitchen on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook for all delicious recipe updates. As always, I really appreciate you stopping by.
Jenna says
Absolutely loved this recipe!!! If you’re trying to make this an easy weeknight dinner I would do the prep beforehand because it does take a little bit longer to cook than expected. I put it in the oven for a few minutes on broil for toasty cheese as well. Definitely will make again!!!
Olivia says
I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks so much for taking the time to share this review. 🙂
Marissa Younger says
I made this tonight and it was delicious! I added some black beans just because they needed to be used up. I also used fresh grated Romano cheese because it’s what was in the fridge. I did roast the potatoes ahead of time to save stovetop cooking time and I think that was a big help. My husband (who had apparently been dreading this meal when I told him it was on the menu, ground turkey isn’t his jam) said he would DEFINITELY eat it again! 🎉 I served it with some toasted and buttered sour dough bread. (We love our carbs. ❤️) I will certainly be making this again. Thanks for sharing!
Olivia says
Thank you so much for your feedback. Happy to hear that your husband loved it too 😉
Gwen Myers says
Love this recipe! It’s one of my go tos for dinner! I don’t eat cheese anymore so tonight I added mushrooms.
Olivia says
Happy you like it!
Kim says
Hi! I am trying to make some healthy prep meals. Do you think this would be suitable for the freezer to have portioned for individual meals?
Olivia says
Yes it freezes really well!
Misty says
We make this often at our house since trying it from your recipe. Thanks for sharing!!
Olivia says
I’m so thrilled to hear that 😉
Amy says
Made this tonight for dinner, sooo good!!! I’m new to cooking with cast iron, and i didn’t have a cover for my skillet so i par boiled the sweet poatoes. It worked out so well! I am always looking for delicious inexpensive recipes, and this one fits the bill! Thank you for sharing!!
Olivia says
Yes if you don’t have a cover for your skillet it’s better to boil the sweet potatoes first. Happy to hear you liked this recipe 😉
Ashley says
can you use frozen sweet potatoes?
Olivia says
Sorry I haven’t made this recipe with frozen sweet potato. You can always unfreeze your sweet potato over night.
Andy says
If I don’t want the cheese do I still have to put it on the oven? Can I make this recipe and skip the oven part?
Olivia says
Yes you skip the oven part.
Kara says
We love this recipe! I do have a question about the nutrition information though – you say serving size is 1/4. Is that 1/4 of the dish/recipe or 1/4 of a cup or ?
Thanks so much
Olivia says
It’s 1/4 of the dish/recipe.
Kayla says
Really looking forward to trying this recipe! Was wondering what sides you would suggest serving it with.
Olivia says
Good question. I would say rice, cauliflower rice, tortillas or even roasted veggies.
Joanna says
I made this tonight. It was quick and easy and even my 17 month old gobbled it up. I added a teaspoon of cumin to spice it up a bit. I will definitely be making it again. Thanks!
Olivia says
Awesome. I think cumin is great for this recipe too 😉
Jan says
Made this recipe tonight, added a couple handfuls of baby spinach, and a few shitaki mushroom. Very easy and tasty. Thank you for posting it.
Olivia says
Love the addition of shivaji mushroom 😉
Jessica Reeves says
I wonder how well it would turn out in a pressure cooker. I keep reading the potatoes take a while so it makes me want to try it in the pressure cooker. 🤔
Olivia says
I didn’t try this recipe in a pressure cooker yet. If you did, please let me know. I would love to know how it turned up!