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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Should the sweet potatoes be peeled? In the picture it looks like they are!
Also, does the recipe call for chili powder?
Thanks!
Yes, it has to be peeled. And you can use chili powder or flakes chili.
I scrubbed the sweet potato and diced it with the skin on (I never peel potatoes). It always turns out fine.
Do you turn the heat down once you cover it to cook the potatoes?
Yes it is medium-low heat.
Excellent dish!
Thanks!
Easy, fast and tasty! What more can you ask for? Definitely will make this again!! ❤️👍Thanks!
Awesome! Happy to hear that 😉
Made this for first time and everybody loved it! The only thing I did different was add a little more sweet potato.
Will definitely be making this again! I melted the cheese on the stovetop with kid on as I don’t have an ovenproof skillet right now.
Wonderful! Yes, you can easily melt the cheese on the stovetop with the lid on 😉
This. Was. Terrible.
Sorry to hear that. Did you follow the recipe instructions exactly?
This was very flavorful and easy to make. Yum!
Exactly this recipe is so easy to make and flavourful too 😉
Love it! I was surprised how flavorful it was.
Right? It’s very flavourful even though the recipe doesn’t call for lots of ingredients. It’s my favourite recipe from the blog!
me nor my family like the taste of it. I had to add other stuff to make it eatable.
Sorry to hear that. Try to add a little bit of tomato sauce or pesto to add more flavour next time.
My friend found this recipe on Pinterest and made it and I am glad I tried it! I’ve been searching for variations in healthy dinners that aren’t bland and boring and this one definitely wins for fun and flavorful! We love sweet potatoes and this was a fun way to eat them, plus we enjoyed breaking out the skillet! Can’t wait to peruse your website to find more recipes to make!
I’m so thrilled to hear you and your friend loved this recipe. Hope you enjoy other recipes from my blog 😉
Definitely add the sweet potato before the vegetables. I did this my first try because I knew the sweet potato would take longer to cook than the onions and peppers…and the turkey was still almost burnt before the sweet potatoes got done. I would maybe even start cooking the potatoes before adding the turkey.
If you close your skillet with a lid the steam will cook the sweet potato very easily, but you can certainly cook your sweet potato before the other veggies 😉
Excellent and easy! This one appeased the masses tonight. Tossed in a little cumin & curry. Used chopped cilantro on top because that is what I had in the house. It was excellent. Adding this to the dinner rotation! The 2 yr old, 7 yr old and adults loved it.
Mm… cumin and curry work absolutely delicious in this recipe 😉
One of my favorite recipes!
Happy to hear that 😉
Any idea how many Weight Watchers points per serving? Thank you
No sorry. I have no idea.
It’s 10 per serving. I checked! 😊
Quick and Easy, delicious. I usually prefer separate tastes for my meal, but this dish was good on its own. Thank you!
Awesome!
So good!! Added green salsa and guacamole and that’s it! Perfect weeknight meal!
That’s so nice. I love that you added guacamole too.
This is my 3rd or 4th time making this recipe. It’s so good, healthy, and easy to make. This time I’m going to let my son who’s 1 year try it out 🙂
Wow that’s awesome! Yes, my two year old boy loves this recipe. Probably your son will like too 😉
I’ve made this recipe a lot! My family really loves it! I try to batch cook sweet potatoes so I use those and it gets done even quicker! I really love it so much, thanks for sharing it!
Yes you can parboiling the sweet potato before making this recipe to cook it even faster. Happy you liked this recipe 😉
This is DELICIOUS!! I found this recipe a few years ago and I’ve been making it a few times a month since then. Sometimes I switch up the ingredients just to shake it up a bit- I usually add a few extra spices like sage and paprika, and last time I had some kale in the fridge that I had put off using because it tastes like a green garbage bag to me and I don’t hate myself enough to eat it on it’s own, but when mixed in with the sweet potatoes and turkey, it had a nice texture and gave the dish a little extra color.
This is a versatile, comfy, and addictive dish. Love it! Thanks for sharing!
This recipe is exactly what you said: versatile, comfy and addictive dish. Also it’s very healthy and delicious. Thanks for your feed back 😉
Looking for a recipe to use what we had on hand, and this was it. I think my hubby added a little extra turkey, and we used a red bell pepper instead of yellow. Didn’t matter – it was excellent!
Amazing! Thanks for your feedback 😉