Ground Turkey Tacos in a flavorful saucy meat mixture that's done in 30 minutes or less. They're perfect for Taco Tuesday, a themed Taco night or simply as a quick and easy weeknight dinner.
This recipe is so simple and can easily be adapted to make burritos, lettuce wraps, nachos, or even taquitos. So, pull up a chair and let's make Ground Turkey Tacos.
Recipe ingredients
- Crispy taco shells
Saucy turkey taco meat
- Ground turkey
- Kosher salt
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Black pepper
- Smoked paprika
- Cumin
- Chili powder
- Red pepper flakes
- Tomato paste
- Chicken broth
Toppings
- Shredded cheese
- Thinly sliced lettuce
- Chopped tomatoes
- Slice olives
- Sour cream
How to cook ground turkey for tacos
Browning the ground turkey meat:
Place a skillet or frying pan over medium high heat and add grape-seed oil or other cooking oil. Add the ground turkey to the skillet and break apart using a spoon season liberally with kosher salt, black pepper and brown just until no longer pink making sure you do not overcook. After the ground turkey meat has browned, drain the liquid and place the browned turkey meat on a clean plate and set aside.
Making the homemade taco sauce:
Place the same skillet over medium high heat and add the tomato paste and seasonings. Saute the ingredients in the skillet for about 3 minutes constantly moving the ingredients around, slowly add in the chicken broth and begin to whisk until all the ingredients are combined. Add the browned turkey meat back to the skillet and simmer in the sauce for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Note: Feel free to use your favorite store brand taco sauce instead of making it homemade, add it to your turkey meat after it has browned and then bring it to a simmer.
Taco shells:
I thought it would be fun to use these crispy taco shells boats. They're so cute. Feel free to use any store bought crispy taco shell, corn tortillas, or even soft taco shells. It's totally up to you.
Assemble:
Divide the turkey taco meat across the prepared taco shells then add your favorite toppings in whatever order you prefer. We like to add the cheese after adding the meat so the cheese can melt from the hot taco meat then top with lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, sour cream and jalapenos for a little heat.
Taco shell variation
Round white or yellow corn tortillas (4 options)
- Make your own crispy taco shell - Add a little cooking oil to a skillet and pan fry your corn tortilla for a few minutes until crispy
- Make it non-crispy - Just place your corn tortilla in a dry skillet (without cooking oil) for a few minutes until warm
- Place your corn tortilla directly on a stove-top burner for several seconds until a slight char appears (this process can happen extremely fast so do not walk away)
- Simply follow the instructions on the packaging
Flour or whole wheat/grain tortilla shells (2 options)
If you prefer a softer taco shell:
- Add the flour tortilla to a dry skillet (without cooking oil) for a few minutes until warm
- Simply follow the instruction on the packaging
How should I season my ground turkey
You should without a doubt season ground turkey liberally. This should be done at the very start of the cooking process. You should at a minimum season with kosher salt and black pepper; however, if you're not using a sauce, I would suggest using a combination of your favorite seasonings depending on the dish that you're making. Here are some of my favorites:
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Red pepper flakes
- Italian seasoning
- Dried herbs
- Fresh herbs
- A couple tablespoons of grape-seed oil or extra virgin olive oil to increase the fat content, so it doesn't dry out
How do you make ground turkey moist
Ground turkey is like chicken breast. They have a low fat content which causes the meat to dry out quickly, and they lack flavor if not seasoned properly. With that being said, turkey meat needs a little more attention to avoid these mishaps. One of the most obvious ways to making ground turkey moist is making sure it doesn't get overcooked.
Even if you do not overcook ground turkey, does not necessarily solve the entire problem. There are other super easy techniques you can incorporate to ensure that your ground turkey stays moist.
- Adding a healthy cooking oil to the pan before browning (or if making turkey burgers add it to the meat as you would the other ingredients)
- Allowing the ground turkey to simmer in a sauce as in this recipe
- If you're not using a sauce, adding creamy ingredients such as (cooked whole beans, re-fried beans, avocado, guacamole, sour cream, or plain Greek yogurt
- Adding wet ingredients (such as salsa or enchilada sauce)
Recipe tips
- Add cooking oil (grape-seed oil, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, or other cooking oil) before adding your ground turkey to the skillet (turkey meat is a lean meat and needs a healthy fat for added flavor)
- Season liberally
- Do not overcook the ground turkey
- Add tomato paste as the base for the taco sauce
- Saute tomato paste and seasonings together before adding liquid
- Add chicken broth as the liquid instead of water when creating the sauce (this adds more flavor)
- Buying store brand taco sauce doesn't make you less of a cook (I buy it myself) remember it's about making things easier, so you can spend more time doing the things you enjoy
- Taco meat freezes beautifully (just take out the freezer and defrost in the fridge overnight) for a make ahead weeknight dinner
- Use to make taco salad, burritos, burrito bowls, lettuce wraps, nachos or tostadas
You may also like these other ground turkey recipes:
Turkey Burger Sliders on Hawaiian Rolls
Looking for more recipe ideas, connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest.
Thanks for visiting.
~Cree
Crispy Ground Turkey Tacos
Ingredients
- 12 taco shells (crispy shells or soft shells)
- 2 lbs ground turkey
- 2 tbsp grape-seed oil (extra virgin olive oil or other cooking oil)
- 4 tsp kosher salt (more or less to taste)
- 2 tsp black pepper (more or less to taste)
Homemade Taco Sauce
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 3 tsp onion powder
- 3 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1-½ cups chicken broth
Your choice of toppings
- 1 cup shredded cheese ((a melting cheese such as cheddar cheese, monteray jack, mozzarella, or a Mexican cheese) )
- 2 cups shredded lettuce
- 2 cups chopped tomato
- ½ cup sliced black olives
- 1 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Prepare all the toppings and set aside.
- Place a skillet or frying pan over medium high heat and add grape-seed oil or other cooking oil. Add ground turkey to the skillet and break about using a large spoon. Seasonally liberally with kosher salt and pepper and continue to brown until meat is no longer pink (DO NOT OVERCOOK). After browning, drain the liquid and place browned turkey meat on a clean plate. Set aside.
Making the homemade taco sauce
- Place the same skillet over medium heat, add the tomato paste and the remaining of the dried ingredients to the skillet and saute for about 3 minutes by constantly moving the ingredients around in the pan (this works well with a whisk). This helps to wake up the flavors and allows the rawness of the tomato paste to cook out.
- Begin to slowly add in the chicken broth and continue whisking until all ingredients are combined. Add the browned turkey meat back to the skillet and gently stir. Bring to a gentle boil lower the temperature and let simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes. If sauce looks too thick, slowly add in a little more chicken broth. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- If using your favorite store brand taco sauce: After browning the turkey meat, follow the instructions on the jar or packaging
- While turkey meat is simmering, heat up your taco shells and fill them with the saucy turkey taco meat and your favorite toppings.
- Freshly squeezed lime juice over the top (optional)
Notes
- Add cooking oil to the skillet before browning the turkey meat (ground turkey needs an added fat to prevent it from drying out)
- Season liberally to prevent the ground turkey from tasting bland
- Do not overcook the ground turkey (this will cause it to taste dry)
- Add tomato paste as the base for the taco sauce
- Saute tomato paste and seasonings together before adding liquid (this truly enhances the flavors of the seasonings)
- Add chicken broth as the liquid instead of water when creating the sauce (this adds more flavor)
- Do not be ashamed using store brand taco sauce (I keep a bottle or two in my pantry for evenings when I'm pressed for time)
- Make an extra batch and freeze for later (just take out the freezer and defrost in the fridge overnight) for a make ahead weeknight dinner
- Use this turkey taco meat to also make taco salad, burritos, burrito bowls, lettuce wraps, nachos or tostadas
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