Ground Turkey Taco Skillet, an easy one-pan weeknight dinner using ground turkey, corn, pinto beans and salsa topped with tortilla chips and cheese.
Ground Turkey Taco Skillet
This reminds me of one my most popular ground turkey recipes, the ground turkey skillet only topped with chips and cheese which is never a bad idea! It’s basically a deconstructed taco, perfect for weeknight dinner! If you want more dinner ideas for taco Tuesday try Slow Cooker Beef Tacos, Cod Fish Tacos or these low-carb, Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps.
This recipe is adapted from Dash of Mandi’s new cookbook The Tex Mex Table. All the recipes in her book honestly look so good, it was hard to pick one to share – a must buy!! I slightly modified her recipe to make it a bit macro friendly. Like any taco, you can really top this with anything you like on your tacos. Some ideas you can try are sour cream, avocado or guacamole.
This skillet recipe is sure to please the whole family, plus its budget friendly and takes under 30 minutes to make.
What’s in ground turkey taco skillet?
This turkey taco skillet is basically a deconstructed taco topped with cheese nachos! Here’s what’s in it:
- Jalapeño – for spice
- Onion – for flavor
- Ground turkey – I like 93% lean but you can use 99% to make it leaner
- Corn – you can use frozen, canned or fresh
- Pinto beans – any bean will work here
- Jarred Salsa – or use an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
- Tortilla chips – use your favorite type, blue chips or baked chips work great
- Shredded Mexican cheese blend
- Spices: Salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, cayenne
- Optional Toppings: Cilantro, chopped tomatoes, pickled onions, lime wedges, and the optional sliced avocado, guacamole, and sour cream
Turkey Taco Skillet Variations:
- Swap ground turkey for lean ground sirloin or chicken.
- For a spicy taco skillet, don’t remove the seeds or ribs from the jalapeño and use a spicy salsa.
- This is a mild dish, if you prefer your meals milder, omit the cayenne, remove the jalapeño seeds and ribs, and choose a mild salsa.
- Sub black beans for pinto beans.
- If you don’t want to serve the turkey mixture with tortilla chips, serve it over rice, quinoa, cauliflower rice, or chopped romaine to make it a taco salad.
- If you don’t want to make pickled red onions, use fresh red or green onions.
More Ground Turkey Recipes You’ll Love:
- Enchilada Turkey Meatloaf
- Easy Healthy Turkey Chorizo
- Baked Mexican Layer Dip
- Turkey Chili Taco Soup
- Turkey and Black Bean Enchiladas
Turkey Taco Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeds removed and diced
- 1 lb 93% ground turkey
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- 3/4 cup canned pinto beans, drained
- 3/4 cup corn kernels
- 12 oz jarred salsa, about 1 jar
- 32 tortilla chips, about 4 oz
- 1 cup shredded reduce fat Mexican cheese blend
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, for topping
- pickled red onions, for topping
- 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes, for topping
- Lime wedges
- guacamole, sour cream, avocado, optional for topping
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. When heated, add the onion and jalapeño and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the ground turkey and season with salt and pepper. Cook the turkey until it is browned, crumbling the meat into small pieces as it cooks.
- Add the chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne, pinto beans, corn and salsa. Mix well. Let the mixture cook for 3 minutes.
- Lightly crumble the chips over the top of the turkey, then sprinkle the cheese over the top of the chips.
- Cover the turkey skillet with a lid and let it cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the cheese melts or place it under the broiler 2 to 3 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and top the turkey skillet with chopped cilantro, pickled red onions, chopped tomatoes, plus optional toppings like avocado, guacamole or sour cream, if desired and serve with lime wedges.
