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
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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.
Janice says
Made this tonight. I added spinach, turmeric, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder just for extra flavor. It was delicious. My husband said you can add this one to your make again list. YAY!! Not that he is hard to please but that is a big compliment from him. Thank you!
Olivia says
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe and for your wonderful feedback! I’m thrilled to hear that you enjoyed it, and I’m delighted that it’s made it to your “make again” list. I
Lisa says
This is absolutely amazing. Easy quick dinner. Kids love it too. We have made it going on 3 times including tonight so far.
Olivia says
I’m delighted to hear that you find the recipe absolutely amazing and that it’s become a hit with your family, especially the kids! Thanks for sharing your positive experience, and enjoy many more delicious dinners to come!
Jennifer says
I make this a lot. So easy and flavorful. The only change I make is to add shredded Parmesan cheese at the end.
Olivia says
It’s wonderful to hear that you enjoy making this recipe frequently! Adding shredded Parmesan cheese at the end is a fantastic twist to enhance the flavor. Thanks for sharing your variation, and happy cooking!
Patti says
I first made this recipe in 2018 and rated it as excellent! I added 2 cups of diced mushrooms and 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained. I also added 1/2 tsp of dried oregano and 1/2 tsp of dried basil. Delicious!
Olivia says
Happy you liked this recipe. It’s one of my faves too.
Sierra LaDow says
LOVE this recipe and make it all be time! I love doubling the recipe and for breakfast adding an over easy egg on top. It’s so good! One of my favorite recipes.
Olivia says
I’m so glad you love the recipe! Doubling it and adding an over easy egg for breakfast sounds like a delicious idea. Thanks for sharing how you enjoy it—it’s wonderful to hear that it’s one of your favorites. Happy cooking!
Asher Jade says
I made this a couple days ago! I decided to become pollo-pescatarian and this was the first dish I made. I’m definitely going to make this again!
Olivia says
Happy you liked it!
Holli says
Love this dish have made it several times! I like to add smoked paprika black beans and feta cheese instead of mozzarella.
Olivia says
Sounds delicious! Mixing it up with smoked paprika black beans and feta cheese must add a fantastic twist to the dish. Thanks for sharing your variation!
Janyne says
Hi there- do you know how many ounces are in an serving ?
Olivia says
Hey! I’m not sure about the exact ounces per serving. I’m sorry about that.
Amy Voris says
I’m making this tonight, and based on the comments, this would be a great kitchen sink dinner. I’m thining of adding some spinach, tomato, and black beans I have in my freezer from a “chipotle style bowl” I made last weekend. Thank you!!!
Olivia says
You’re very welcome! Yes this recipe is great with spinach, tomato and black beans 😉
Elena says
I have to say, I was very underwhelmed with this dish. Thank goodness I added some additional spices, or else it would have been flavorless. I won’t be making it again
Olivia says
I’m sorry to hear you were underwhelmed with the dish. Did you follow the recipe instructions exactly? Sometimes small variations can make a big difference in flavor. Your feedback. Thank you!