This is an easy family night ground turkey spaghetti recipe you can whip up for your family with a few simple ingredients. A simple ground turkey bolognese style sauce is easily made with diced tomatoes that pops with flavor and richness.
make the easiest ground turkey spaghetti sauce
This tasty Italian-inspired turkey bolognese comes together pretty easily. If you have a can of diced tomatoes lying around, it all comes down to dicing up a few ingredients and letting it all work in the pot for you.
Mushrooms Add Richness
There’s just one quick trick up the sleeve here and its the mushrooms. While the sauce simmers, you brown the mushrooms on the side in a separate pan and then toss them in at the end while you reduce the sauce a bit and they add soooooo much richness and flavor.
Related: Easy Ground Turkey With Broccoli & Rice
Dice, Toss & Simmer Ground Turkey Sauce
When you dice up your onion and bell pepper, sweat them in the pan a bit with a dash of olive oil and season them. Toss in your minced garlic and give it all a good stir. When these have sweat out a bit in the pan and turn fragrant, add your ground turkey ( I used a pound of Jennie-O 93% lean).
Break It Up & Brown It
Add another little pinch of sea salt when the turkey hits the pan so you have some seasoning built into the meat as you break it down with a wooden spoon to brown. Add in your seasonings and continue to cook until everything is evenly browned.
Once the turkey is browned, add in your diced tomato. Add in the dash of soy and Worcestershire and give everything a nice stir. When finished adding ingredients, cover up the ground turkey bolognese sauce and set it on a nice low simmer for 35 minutes.
related: saucy bowtie pasta with chicken and spinach
Add Pan-Tossed Mushrooms
While that works itself nicely in the pan, quarter your mushrooms and add them to a pan on medium heat with a little butter+olive oil. Hit ’em with a sprinkle of sea salt and cracked pepper and brown them in the pan and add them to the sauce at the very end when everything is done simmering. This is my favorite part of the sauce because it just adds a little extra touch of richness and flavor…makes it taste like it’s been cooking for much longer than it has.
Some Spinach For A Pop Of Green
When it’s all done simmering, reduce it for about 10 or 15 minutes extra to thicken it a bit. Then toss in a handful of rough chopped spinach to give it a pop of color and top it all off with fresh parmesan and serve with a sliced baguette! You’re gonna want a little bread to dip into that sauce…
If you’re looking for more turkey-tastic dishes, check out this nice list of ground-turkey ideas from delish.
Easy Family Night Ground Turkey Spaghetti
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground turkey - (I used 93% lean)
- 1 8oz Package of Mushrooms - Baby Bella or White
- 1 28 oz Petite diced tomato
- 1 each Yellow Onion & Bell Pepper - diced
- 3 big cloves Fresh Garlic - minced
- 2 tbsp Good Fruity Olive Oil
- 1/2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 1 tsp Coarse Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper
- 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tsp each of Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Paprika
- 1 cup Fresh spinach leaves - rough chopped for stirring in at the end
- 1 box thin spaghetti noodles - cooked and strained
Instructions
- In a wide 4qt pan over medium/high heat, heat olive oil until hot and glossy and toss in diced bell pepper and onion. Season with a light pinch of sea salt and ground pepper when they hit the pan. Stir and sweat them in the pan until softened and fragrant, about 5 minutes or so. Now toss in minced garlic and give it a stir.
- Add the ground turkey and brown it in the pan with the other ingredients. As the ground turkey is browning add in the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper. Continue to brown the ground turkey breaking it up evenly with a wooden spoon.
- Once the turkey is finished browning, add the can of diced tomatoes to the now seasoned, browned ground turkey. Now add in soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, dash of butter and sugar. Give everything a stir to combine. Bring everything to a simmer and then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer on low for 35 minutes.
- While the ground turkey simmers, take mushrooms and brown them in a pan over high heat with a little olive oil, butter, salt and pepper. Cook in the pan on medium/high heat until they start to release their juices and get golden and begin to brown and carmelize with the butter. About 10 or 15 minutes. Set aside. Note: Be sure not to slice mushrooms but rather quarter them into small chunks. They hold up better in the sauce and during cooking.
- Once the ground turkey sauce is done simmering uncover it, taste it for seasonings and adjust it if needed. Now add the browned mushrooms to the sauce and give it a stir. Optional: Leave halfway uncovered and reduce it for another 10 or 15 minutes to thicken it. It will make a chunkier sauce and the flavors will intensify and become richer. It's a little extra step that makes a delicious difference!
- Once finished, add in the roughly chopped spinach, stir it in and serve over freshly cooked thin spaghetti pasta. Serve with a sliced baguette and top with fresh ground parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
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