Ground Turkey and Rice Skillet
Updated
Updated
Lean ground turkey, rice, green beans, tomatoes, and delicious seasonings are combined for a quick and easy all-in-one Ground Turkey Skillet meal!
Looking for more ways to use ground turkey? Don’t miss our turkey meatballs, turkey burgers, and turkey keema.
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Easy Ground Turkey Skillet Recipe
This ground turkey skillet recipe is a family favorite and never disappoints. The turkey and rice soak up all the tasty liquid from chicken broth and canned tomato juice, and the green beans provide a built in vegetable. Flavor-packed, made all in one pan, it’s a great weeknight meal that’s so delicious and hearty. If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, they reheat nicely for the next day, too.
Ingredients Needed
Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy skillet dish.
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- Ground turkey – Lean ground turkey keeps this dish lighter and healthier without compromising flavor that you get from ground beef.
- Onion & Garlic – For aromatics and great flavor.
- Olive oil – Used to sauté the onion and turkey.
- Rice – Dry uncooked short grained white rice is used. Long grained white rice is also fine. (See note below regarding brown rice.)
- Green beans – Fresh cut green beans are our vegetable of choice for this dish.
- Canned diced tomatoes – The tomatoes and their liquid are both added, creating even more flavor.
- Chicken broth – The uncooked rice absorbs the chicken broth as it cooks, adding an extra layer of flavor. Use low-sodium so the dish isn’t overly salty.
- Mustard – For a subtle tangy taste. You can use spicy brown, grainy, or Dijon.
- Worcestershire sauce – Adds depth of flavor.
- Seasonings – Salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried Italian herbs, and cracked red pepper flakes season the dish.
Recipe Variations
- Brown Rice. Brown rice is not our preference, since it takes double the amount of time to cook and doesn’t seem to soak up all the great flavor that white rice does, but it can be substituted, if preferred. You’ll need an additional 1 & 1/2 cups broth to account for the longer simmer time. Also be aware that the longer the green beans cook, they will break down and lose their texture.
- Canned green beans. Fresh green beans are best for this dish, but canned green beans can be used. Make sure to drain them fully and only add them to the skillet toward the last few minutes of cooking, otherwise they’re get too mushy.
- Use Italian diced tomatoes – Swap out the diced tomatoes for Italian diced tomatoes, which is an easy way to add more seasoning.
- Add some heat with Rotel. Many times I’ll use a can of Mexican Rotel instead of canned diced tomatoes, which is a nice combination of tomatoes and chiles. You can vary the heat level by using, mild, medium, or hot.
- Soy sauce. If you don’t have Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce is a great alternative.
How to Make Ground Turkey Skillet
This one pan dish is so easy to make and is flavor-packed. Here’s a summary.
(Scroll down to the printable recipe card for details and measurements, and don’t miss the video below.)
- Sauté the turkey and onion. Add the ground turkey and onion to a nonstick skillet with the olive oil. Brown the turkey, breaking it up into small crumbles, cooking until no pink remains and onion is soft. Drain off the grease. Add in the garlic and cook until fragrant, then season with a touch of salt and pepper.
- Add other ingredients. Add in all the other ingredients, including the seasonings; mix to combine.
- Cover and simmer. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover with lid, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 22 minutes until rice is tender.
- Serve. Remove from the heat, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Video: Ground Turkey and Rice Skillet
Serving Suggestions
This one pan skillet dish provides protein, vegetables, and grains all in one so it’s a pretty hearty meal, but it does pair nicely with a side salad, cucumber salad, or dinner rolls on the side.
Storing Leftovers
- Store leftovers. Allow to cool completely, then store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- To freeze. Cool completely, then store in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating. Note that the cooked green beans will have a much softer texture after being frozen and thawed.
More Easy Skillet Recipes:
- Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls
- Cheesy Mexican Rice Skillet
- Cornbread Hamburger Skillet
- Lasagna Skillet
- Rice and Beans
- Easy Jambalaya
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Ground Turkey and Rice Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 small sweet onion, , diced
- 2 cloves garlic, , minced
- 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, , undrained
- 6 ounces fresh green beans, , cut into 2-inch pieces (about 1 & 1/2 cups)
- 1 & 1/2 cups uncooked short or long grain white rice
- 2 & 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
- 1/8 teaspoon cracked red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons grainy mustard
- 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the turkey and onion; sauté breaking up the turkey into crumbles and cook until onions become soft and no pink remains with the turkey (about 3 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Season with some salt and pepper, to taste. Drain off fat; return to heat.
- Stir in all the other ingredients.
- Bring to boil, cover with lid, then reduce heat to medium-low, simmer for 20-22 minutes until rice is cooked and tender.
- Remove from the heat, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!
This was very good! Looks can be deceiving- surprisingly good flavor!
My entire family loves this dish. It is super easy to make, delicious and it’s even great the next day to take to work or school for lunch. A must try!
I really like one pot/skillet dinners and this was easy to make (not too much prep), pretty fast and delicious!
I just subscribed and I’m thrilled with the amount of recipes and the fact that I can search the categories. I think my first recipe to try is Italian meat balls. Thank you so much for sharing.
My family loved this. I had to use frozen green beans, and just used 2-10 Oz cans of Rotel. I have picky eaters but I really wanted something different from the routine meals. I also loved this is a meal actually done in a half hour start to finish. I am bothered by ppl saying a half hour and it ends up 1 1/2 hrs with the prep, throwing it together and cooking. Thank you super easy and will now be a regular.
Delicious! Definitely a keeper.
This is a great recipe. I love green beans so I will probably double them and reduce the rice (adjust broth used too).
This was simply delicious and so easy! Whole family loved it and will make again.
Found this as a last minute/last ditch attempt to find a dinner recipe and *miracle* I actually had the beans! It was a hit, and really was easy to make. I didn’t turn it down low enough at first and ended up unintentionally toasting the rice on the bottom which added a thrilling little crunch – just shows that it’s even tough to mess up! :D
This was so easy to make and delicious! I was looking for a one pot meal with protein, carb, and veggie for my 13 month old and we both LOVE this! I’ve made it many times now and it’s on rotation! Thanks for sharing
This was great! I made the rice separately in my rice cooker, so I omitted the broth. Also threw in some broccoli that I had. Next time, i think I’ll double the tomatoes
My family loved this recipe! Easy and tasty. Thanks for sharing on TikTok. Love your channel so much.
Amazing Saturday night meal! Overlooked the green beans in the recipe (oops!) and that’s why there was so much liquid. I’m looking forward to leftovers.
This was really good
Followed this recipe with the exception of I was out of Worcestershire sauce and did a quick Google search for a substitute. (Ketchup, hot sauce, white wine vinegar and soy sauce). I also used frozen green beans. Family approved and happy to have a new meal to add to my dinner rotations!
This was so yummy!! Even my picky kids are it. WIN!!
I can see why you say this is an unsung hero – it was perfect! Super easy and delicious. Couldn’t stop eating the rice from the pan.
Loved this meal
I added in PRE-COOKED brown rice and it worked great. Delicious recipe!
I had some ground Turkey and searched recipes. Found this one and it’s absolutely delicious! So easy and full of flavor! Yum!!
I loved this easy recipe so much. so much flavour. thank you for sharing
will this work with instant rice?
I loved it. Great flavor and easy to make. My family had seconds. This is definitely a keeper.
Everyone loved it! I substituted Tuscan kale for the green beans (added about halfway through the 20 minute low simmer) and used a combo of turkey “sausage” and ground turkey – 2 lbs and added about a half cup more chicken broth. Perfect!
nice and easy to make. great taste, will use it again.
Great quick meal! Used mild Rotel that I blended rather than diced tomatoes; gave it a nice zip. May add a bit more seasoning the next time. We enjoyed it!
Delicious
Quick easy and flavorful! Because I’m such a huge fan of green beans I’d probably add a little bit more next time! The Worcestershire and the mustard definitely give it a beefy punch! Great for leftovers too!
Delicious just as written!
I bought some ground turkey on sale and was looking for a good, quick recipe and I sure found it! I added fresh green beans from the garden. I didn’t have the mustard so I left it out. I will definitely be making this great dish again.
We enjoyed this! We used brown basmati rice because that’s all I had and Italian diced tomatoes because we didn’t have Italian seasoning. Ended up
Needing to add about 1 1/2 cups more of chicken broth to account for the longer cooking time needed for the brown rice. Thanks for sharing!
Made this for my family for dinner tonight and everyone, even my picky 4 yr old granddaughter, loved it! It’s a keeper for sure! I added season salt and onion powder to ours as well.
I’ve made this with turkey before and it’s great but I don’t have any on hand tonight. Could i use 1.5 pounds of ground beef and sausage instead
Hi Remy – you can definitely replace the turkey with ground beef and/or sausage, but cut back the amount to 1 1/4 pounds, otherwise there won’t be enough liquid for the rice to cook properly.
Good stuff I also enjoy that the ingredients are already in the kitchen no need to run shopping this recipe save me time and money and my family loved it
Trying to make it even more healthy lol would brown rice instead of white change how this needs to be cooked/how long?
Worcestershire sauce is full of salt. Any suggestions for a substitution?
I am going to try this recipe tonight. Saw the question about replacing worchestershire. My daughter and I are GF and so I use balsamic vinegar and just a little salt. It is easier and cheaper than looking for GF worchestershire. I will be making that substitution in my version.
I used soy sauce instead because we were out of Worcestershire sauce and it was still delicious!
Hi! would spicy brown mustard and/or dijon work? I don’t have grainy (and don’t have dijon atm either, lol!) thanks!
Yep, either are fine!
Made this last night. Eating the leftovers for breakfast. Everyone LOVED it. Kids gobbled it down. 4 year old also had it for breakfast and is asking for more. I followed the recipe except I used frozen mixed Vegs as we just had green beans. Absolutely going in the rotation
Awesome, thanks for the suggestion of the frozen mixed veggies…only ingredient I didn’t have on hand were the green beans, but I had the frozen mixed veggies…perfect!
I just subbed black beans for green and I didn’t have grainy mustard, but it was still delish!
I used long grain white rice since that’s all I had. Didn’t change anything else. We loved it!
Delicious. Even my picky kids ate it. Huge win!
…. Just started making that eight now due to it’s the end of the month and as every adult knows food get low lol. Thanks for this skillet idea we been trying to cut back on the pork… And eating more lean meats chicken, turkey and beef. Pleased to know you create skillets like that
I made this dish and it was a tasty dish. I did add other seasonings to this dish.
This was very good and very easy on my touchy digestive system. Thanks for sharing.
After fasting for 2 days to calm my pancreas down, I made this healthy dish and it was delicious! I left the red pepper flakes out and subbed smoked paprika. Crazy good.
Will not using the grainy mustard alter the taste dramatically????
No, not dramatically, but for optimal flavor I would leave it in.
Just made this…very good! I feel like it could be so flexible on ingredients!! Can’t wait to experiment with it. Thank you for the inspiration.
I made a double batch of this, and it was perfect. Thank you for sharing!
Can you post the calories/nutrition info?
Thanks!
I made turkey skillet but did something wrong. Was very liquidity. Was I suppose to drain tomatoes? I used about a puns of meat. Too much broth? Otherwise it was delish.
Hey Angela, sorry to hear that. As per the instructions you do not want to drain the tomatoes, so that is correct. However, you should have used 1 1/4 pounds of turkey. Maybe that was the issue, since the more meat will soak up more of the liquid. I don’t know, without me having watched you. I’ve made this countless times and it’s never watery.
Ugh… i only have beef broth,… will this work?
Hi Sonya – you can use beef broth, but it will have a much stronger flavor. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I just wouldn’t want it to drown out the other ingredients. Try it!
If I wanted to sub brown rice, which takes double the time to cook, should I cook the rice separately or will all ingredients be ok for that long?
Instructions for that are included in the article and recipe card. Thanks!
I only had canned green beans. I just added them in at the end. It was delicious!
I love this skillet dish. What a wonderful weeknight dinner.
This is totally a keeper recipe!! LOVE.
looooove the new space & name! Congrats girl, it’s beautiful! And your food looks amazing as always!
Skillet dinners 4LYFE.
And man, how much do I still love this white and the new fonts…
Amy I LOVE your new design, it’s so clean and fresh looking. Plus the rebrand. Great name!
Also this skillet dinner is right up my ally, my kind of weeknight meal.
Delicious skillet dinner and one that has great leftovers. I brought leftovers to work the next day and couldn’t wait for lunchtime!