This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Wondering what to make tonight? Quickly throw together this hearty one pot meal of turkey and potatoes! Serve over roasted veggies, traditional rice, or cauliflower rice for a healthy and satisfying dinner.
Update: This recipe was originally published in 2020 and has been republished with all new photos.
This Ground Turkey and Potato Skillet was loosely inspired by a classic picadillo. It has very different flavors – a picadillo includes olives and raisins. That’s not going to fly with my children. Or my husband, if I’m being honest. But I wanted to take that general idea and make it family friendly with very simple ingredients. We all need hobbies and that’s mine.
This meal is an accurate reflection of my favorite kind of meal to make at home. It may not be the prettiest, but it’s tasty. The addition of potatoes keeps it hearty. And it’s just so easy! This is exactly the sort of comfort food I need in my life right now. How about you?
Ingredients for Ground Turkey and Potato Skillet
- Ground turkey: Lean ground turkey or lean ground beef are both great options. Another lean ground meat like ground chicken can also be used.
- Potatoes: I prefer yellow or gold potatoes. Russet, sweet, or red would all work beautifully too!
- Olive or avocado oil: The oil helps sauté the diced potatoes until tender. I recommend olive or avocado oil but you can use any oil you’re comfortable cooking with.
- Canned tomato sauce: You can find canned tomato sauce in the grocery store on the aisle with canned tomatoes. This will add a rich tomato flavor to our dish.
- Garlic: You can mince your own garlic or use a jarred variety.
- Seasonings: Dried oregano, dried basil, dried parsley, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper are the simple herbs and spices we’ll use to flavor this one pot meal. You can also experiment with whatever you have in your own pantry!
How to Make Ground Turkey and Potato Skillet
To create this meal, you’ll start by seasoning and browning the ground turkey. Set aside. (Of course you can easily use a lean ground beef if that’s what you have on hand or prefer.)
Then the potatoes go in the pan to get a little color. Now incorporate the turkey, garlic, tomato sauce, water, and more seasonings. Reduce the heat, cover, and let it all simmer until your potatoes are tender.
It’s next to impossible to screw this up. It’s just that easy!
How to Serve This
Oh there are so many ways to serve up this easy meal. You can clearly enjoy it as is and it’s just perfect. Flavorful. Healthy. Satiating thanks to those potatoes.
But perhaps you want to add something to stretch this dish a bit further? I know I always like something green on our plates! Pile this delicious combo of turkey and potatoes over roasted veggies like my Spicy Roasted Broccoli or Easy Roasted Broccoli (if you don’t like heat). That will give you an added boost of vegetables! This is also crazy delicious over traditional or cauliflower rice!
Other veggies that work beautifully either layered under or just served beside this skillet meal are Garlic Green Beans, Simple Sautéed Cabbage, or Roasted Green Beans with Almonds.
Want to add a salad to your meal? My Easy Homemade Italian Dressing will beautifully flavor a side salad.
No matter how you choose to serve this, you’re going to love it. This recipe earns rave reviews on Instagram for good reason!
More recipes like this:
Beef & Veggie Bowls with Comeback Sauce
Green Chile Chicken & Potato Skillet
Ground Turkey and Potato Skillet
Ingredients
Ground Turkey
- 1 pound lean ground turkey, I use 93/7. You can use ground beef if you prefer.
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
Potatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive or avocado oil
- 4 cups diced potatoes, Dice small to ensure they cook quickly.
- 8 ounces canned tomato sauce
- ½ cup water
- 2 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Add your ground turkey (or beef) to a skillet on the stovetop. Use your spatula to crumble the meat. Cook on medium high, stirring occasionally, until browned. Stir in salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and oregano. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Add the oil to the skillet. Once the oil is hot, add the diced potatoes. Sauté on medium high heat, stirring occasionally until sides of potatoes have browned. This can take 5 to 10 minutes depending on your stove and the size of your potatoes.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add your cooked ground turkey, tomato sauce, water, minced garlic, oregano, basil, parsley, salt, pepper, and onion powder to the skillet with potatoes. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
- Taste and add more salt or pepper if desired.
- Serve over roasted vegetables (I recommend my Spicy Roasted Broccoli or Easy Roasted Broccoli), traditional rice, or cauliflower rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious! Everything was on point!!
Super good. My boys (super picky eaters) LOVED this. Its a Christmas miracle quite frankly. I was only lacking parsley, so I did an extra dash of oregano and basil. Melting a little cheese when you serve it didn’t hurt either. Serving on top of sauted broccoli and cauliflower = parenting win! Cheers!
Such an easy meal to throw together with lots of flavor! I’m all about fast and easy with kids and you always nail it! Adding this one on repeat!
That’s so great to hear! Thank you so much!!
I’m enjoying trying your recipes
Thank you! So happy to hear that!
Just tried this recipe, potatoes are still not tender after 42 minutes of simmering. Clearly not accurate, I recommend boiling them first
Hi Andrew. This is definitely accurate. I would recommend making sure your potatoes are diced small enough and that your stovetop heat is high enough. This is how we make skillet potatoes weekly. 😉 Enjoy your weekend!
So yummy!!! The whole family was very skeptical at first, but then asked for seconds. A perfect combination of spices.
Was looking for a good ground turkey recipe. Found this one, it looked and sounded good so I decided to give it a shot. Its very good and easy to make, but kind of on the salty side for me. Next time I’ll use 1/2 the salt in the ingredients list.
I’ve made this recipe 4 times in the last two months. Love that it uses things I usually already have around the house and it’s quick! It also reheats really well with eggs for breakfast the next day!
Easy to make I added kale to mine at the end give it some color
Great recipe. Different. But Taste great.
This recipe was excellent! I had tomato basil sauce open in the fridge and used that instead of the tomato sauce. I served it over roasted cauliflower and asparagus. Delish! Next time I’ll add sliced mushrooms to the skillet.
I love this meal, especially with the broccoli added. I used White sweet potatoes since we prefer then to regular also added some mushrooms. Yummy will be making again soon