Taco meat is one of the most versatile recipes you can make on a busy weeknight. It can be used to make hard or soft tacos, served over rice, used to make taco bowls, or even served on top of crispy tortilla chips. And with this healthy ground turkey one-skillet taco meat recipe, made using canned tomatoes and green chiles, you won’t be stuck having to clean a lot of dishes afterward. Lots of homemade flavor with very little effort involved.
I’m always searching for an easy-to-make last-minute recipe to use when we have friends or family over for dinner. Preferably one that doesn’t take hours to make and also one that doesn’t require a special trip to the market for a ton of pricey ingredients. And, as much as my friends are delighted to be served yet another grilled cheese sandwich, courtesy of our backyard fire pit, it would kind of be nice to serve them something different every once in a while. That’s where this simple recipe becomes so freaking genius.
Since so many of my friends seem to have serious dietary restrictions, this is a recipe that I can customize to each guest’s personal preferences. It can be served with hard-shelled tacos, soft-shell tacos, over rice, with tortilla chips, over pasta, with Fritos, or even used to make taco bowls. With this ground turkey taco meat, the sky’s pretty much the limit. Our dear friend Al, who recently came over to have dinner with us, was a huge fan. We started out the meal with old-school hard-shelled tacos and then eventually switched over to tortilla chips.
Each of us could customize our tacos or tortilla chips with our favorite toppings and we all decided that this recipe was the perfect meal for a let’s-just-get-together-on-a-weeknight-for-no-real-occasion meal. Diced tomatoes, black olives, green olives, sour cream, diced avocados, shredded lettuce, salsa, guacamole, cheese, and finely diced jalapeños were all great topping options. “Old-School Taco Night” is definitely going to become our new thing, especially since this taco meat can be made ahead of time and even frozen in small or large batches for later use.
Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Pound Ground Turkey Meat
- 1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 3/4 Teaspoon Finely Ground Sea Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 (14.5-oz.) Can Petite Diced Tomatoes
- 1/2 (14.5-oz.) Can Cold Water
- 1 (7-oz.) Can Chopped Green Chiles
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
Directions:
- Place the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the ground turkey and cook it until it is cooked through and no longer pink. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat up as it cooks.
- Add the chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add the diced tomatoes, cold water, green chiles, and honey. Stir to combine.
- Lower the heat to medium and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often.
Suggestions:
- You can use 93% or 99% lean ground turkey for this recipe. Obviously, the 93% lean ground turkey will have a bit more fat in it. I would suggest using whichever ground turkey is on sale for this recipe.
- While the turkey is cooking, measure out all of the spices in a small bowl. Open the cans of diced tomatoes and green chiles ahead of time as well.
- Cook the taco meat until the liquid is almost cooked out. You want there to be a little bit of sauce, however, you do not want the taco meat to be soupy.
- You can easily make this taco meat a day or two ahead of time. This taco meat also freezes well. I recently made a double batch of it and froze it in small vacuum-sealed bags. Now, I can simply defrost and reheat the perfect amount of taco meat depending on how many guests I’m feeding.
Improvements:
- Replace the ground turkey with ground chicken or lean ground beef.
- If you like your taco meat a bit spicier, add a finely chopped jalapeño when adding the dried seasonings.
- Serve this Not Too Spicy Peach Jalapeño Guacamole or this Pickled Jalapeño Guacamole with this ground turkey taco meat.
- Add a can of rinsed and drained beans to the taco meat when adding the other canned ingredients.
Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Pound Ground Turkey Meat
- 1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 3/4 Teaspoon Finely Ground Sea Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 (14.5-oz.) Can Petite Diced Tomatoes
- 1/2 (14.5-oz.) Can Cold Water
- 1 (7-oz.) Can Chopped Green Chiles
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
Directions:
- Place the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the ground turkey and cook it until it is cooked through and no longer pink. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat up as it cooks.
- Add the chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add the diced tomatoes, cold water, green chiles, and honey. Stir to combine.
- Lower the heat to medium and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often.
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