Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet

By: Olivia Updated: 5/30/23

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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!

Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet - a delicious gluten free skillet dish

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!

overhead view of a white skillet containing ground turkey and sweet potato

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!

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