One Pan Quinoa with Ground Turkey, Kale, Mushrooms, Tomatoes (VIDEO)
One pan quinoa with ground turkey, kale, mushroom and tomatoes – a great clean-out the fridge meal!
Yesterday you read about the food blogging retreat I hosted – Sharing by the Shore. Well, what I didn’t include was what happened Thursday when I arrived to set up the retreat.
I had just dropped off a huge load of groceries and swag at the house we rented and I had more or less been driving ALL DAY LONG. It had taken me about 5 hours to arrive in Suttons Bay after leaving my house fairly early that morning. I got back in the car to drive the 35 minutes to the airport to pick up Krista and I get an email from Cherry Republic. The email says that Traverse City will start shutting down roads for the 6:00 parade at 4:00. I look at the clock – 4:02. I chatted with the chef at Cherry Republic and he said I could get to their store to pick up some swag if I took an alley – but, FYI, it was a one way alley. He gave me directions….but I’m not so great with those. I had already gone past the store on my way to the airport so I had to backtrack quite a bit.
Roads were already being blocked. I drove around for an HOUR trying to get to Cherry Republic (don’t worry – Erin jumped in and took over Krista’s airport pick-up!). I finally found that dang alley! Hooray. Except, I was at the wrong end of the one-way alley. At that point, I was OVER IT and I had a 6:00 wine tasting/dinner to make, which at this point I desperately needed. So, I headed back out of Traverse City. This also took me nearly an hour. Every road I turned down was blocked or full of traffic attempting to do the same thing I was trying to do – get outta town!
I finally reached a road I was familiar with, the main highway going through Traverse City. Except I was on a small side street running parallel to it. But I knew eventually I would be able to get on that road I needed to. I finally had a stretch of clear road! I finally knew where I was going! I was finally FREE. And then. Red lights. Blue lights. Sirens.
“Do you know why I pulled you over?”
NO I DO NOT
“Do you know what the speed limit is here?”
NO I DO NOT
“There’s a playground right there – we get a lot of complaints about speeding here.”
*cue tears*
I was so so so SO over driving, being stuck and lost, and getting NOTHING accomplished. And then THIS.
Mr. Police Officer (PS: shouldn’t you be directing parade traffic?): “Keep your head up…..enjoy the rest of your weekend.” Oh and by the way, here’s your ticket.
I’m sorry for all the crying, Mr. Police Officer. You gave me my first ticket ever and made me feel like a bad human being because THERE WAS A PLAYGROUND. So now I’m missing my kids, feeling bad about all the other kids in the world, and I have a speeding ticket. And my make-up is all jacked up.
Still, fantastic weekend. And immediately after getting the speeding ticket, I got to go hug some beautiful friends and then taste some wine with them. Not a bad way to recover if you ask me.
Anyways, 600 words later. If you’re still here, let’s talk about this one pan quinoa with ground turkey! It’s the bomb on evenings where you’ve just HAD ENOUGH of the day and want to make something quick, easy and nutritious for dinner.
About this One Pan Quinoa with Ground Turkey
This meal falls into the category of “I didn’t know what I was making for dinner until 10 minutes after I started cooking it.”
This one pan quinoa dinner might not be the most beautiful looking thing in the world, but it certainly is tasty! And healthy.
As you know, I frequently make and freeze quinoa which makes this meal even easier (and legitimately one pan, if you already have the quinoa prepped).
I like the Italian flavors in this one pan quinoa with ground turkey – mushrooms, tomatoes, and a good dose of fresh herbs. Basil, parsley, and oregano seem to be the easiest for me to grow. Maybe your thumb is greener than mine. Between the beautiful fresh herbs, a little slosh of wine, and some grated parmesan on top, this sauté has really great flavor. It might remind you of spaghetti (or it might not), but it’s super fresh, flavorful and healthy. And easy to make. WIN.
One more bonus of this one pan quinoa with ground turkey is that it packs a punch – by my non-nutritionist calculations, you’re getting 40 grams of protein per serving and less than 450 calories. It’s a dinner-win, if you ask me!
More quinoa, please!
Are you a quinoa fanatic like I am? Try these quinoa recipes, or:
- Quinoa Wheat Berry Salad
- Apple Spice Quinoa Pancakes
- Lentil and Quinoa Vegan Bolognese
- Savory Quinoa Muffins
- Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad from Joyful Healthy Eats
- Mediterranean Quinoa Burgers from Well Plated
One Pan Quinoa with Ground Turkey, Kale, Mushrooms, Tomatoes
One pan quinoa with ground turkey, kale, mushroom and tomatoes – a great clean-out the fridge meal!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 16 ounces ground turkey breast
- one small yellow onion, sliced into thin half moons
- 16 ounces of mushrooms, cut into slices
- 4 tightly packed cups baby kale leaves
- 2 cups chopped tomatoes (I used 10 Campari tomatoes cut into quarters)
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 3 cups cooked quinoa
- 2 tablespoons fresh herbs, minced (I recommend a mixture of basil, oregano and parsley)
- Parmesan cheese to garnish
Instructions
- In a large high-sided skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add turkey and onions and season with salt and pepper. Break up the turkey and cook until turkey is cooked through and brown.
- Remove turkey and onions to a bowl and add mushrooms to pan. (You can do this in batches as well if need be to get them nice and brown.)
- Sauté mushrooms until golden brown and cooked. Add tomatoes and kale and cook until kale is wilted.
- Increase heat to medium high and add turkey and onion mixture back in. Add wine.
- Bring to a boil and cook until wine is reduced by about half.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in quinoa and herbs. Continue to cook until warmed through, serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 of 4Amount Per Serving: Calories: 471Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 118mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 8gSugar: 8gProtein: 46g
RachelCooks.com sometimes provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietitian. Please consult a medical professional for any specific nutrition, diet, or allergy advice.
Husband’s take: He loves this too!
Changes I would make: None are necessary. But if you have other things to use up in the fridge, feel free to make some changes. Red bell peppers would be tasty. If you have spinach instead of kale – do that!
Difficulty: Easy – especially if you’ve done some meal prep and prepared quinoa in advance. If you don’t have quinoa – try farro or barley or even rice! Pasta would be great too!
29 Comments on “One Pan Quinoa with Ground Turkey, Kale, Mushrooms, Tomatoes (VIDEO)”
Loved this! I used a balsamic vinaigrette instead of the dry white wine…solo good!
Oh yum! That sounds terrific! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
This looks so simple, and I love all those veggies!
Thank you!
What a wonderful, healthy recipe!!
Do you have a substitute for white wine? I personally dont like the taste of wine when cooking
You can use chicken broth or stock. :)
I really really liked this and so did my family. It felt balanced and filling. The turkey/onion/mushroom combo is always killer especially with some tasty super grain, Thank for sharing!
So happy to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to let me know :)
Gee Rachel, I wonder how you were able to navigate during those 5 hours to safely arrive at TC if you weren’t paying attention to the road or your surroundings? Some people are idiots and don’t have a life, so they enjoy going around the internet making people feel awful to make themselves feel better. I don’t get it, but whatever, they’re the ones who are putting out bad karma.
As for your recipe, I think it sounds wonderful and I’m so glad you finally had a good ending to your frustrating day!
Thank you so much for your kind words. <3
Sounds like you shouldn’t be driving since you are obviously not paying attention to the road and your surroundings. Maybe you should take Ubers from now on so no one gets killed.
I came here for the recipe, not a sob story, and after its all said and done.. the recipe didn’t sound that interesting to even bother with.
I do believe Uber drivers have killed more people than I have (still at zero over here!) but I’ll keep that advice in mind, Mike. Have a great day, I hope you find that interesting sob-story-free recipe you’re looking for.
I guess your mother never taught you that if you don’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all. I feel sad for you that you seem so miserable!
:)
Mike..um…its a BLOG… and you are a jerk…its a GREAT recipe.
;) Thanks, Anne.
Do you drain turkey/onions before adding back in? Or do you use that liquid to cook mushrooms? I end up with a lot of liquid if I keep it, but if I drain it all, my mushrooms burn. Love this recipe but could probably execute it better!
I use the very lean turkey breast so there isn’t much (if anything) to drain from it. If you used a greasier blend of meat then yes, I would drain it. If your mushrooms are burning you could add a touch more oil or reduce the heat. Hope that helps!
Hey!
I found this recipe because I wanted a savory quinoa recipe that was relatively simple. This did the trick. I did make a few modifications.
+ 6 cloves of garlic
+ crushed red pepper flakes
+ substitute spinach for kale
I also cooked the quinoa in a vegetable stock / herb blend. Other than that, I followed it to the letter. It was delicious. Thanks!
So glad you liked it! I’d amp up the garlic too, but my husband would have a fit. ;)
This was amazing!!!!! The flavors are spot on – clean, yet flavorful. I had no wine, so I used chicken broth. Still a winner! Thanks for creating and posting! This is going to be regular at my house.
Teri
P.S. This was my first exposure to quinoa. :) Not as intimidating as I thought.
I’m so glad you loved it! I hope this is the beginning of a long and happy relationship with quinoa. ;)
Last time I got pulled over I was lost in campus construction trying to get to my volunteer gig at the children’s hospital. Thank goodness I must have looked frazzled as I got off with a warning. So sorry about your ticket, but the rest of your weekend looked wonderful!!! As does your quinoa :)
Yikes! I’m very sorry to hear about the ticket, especially after the overwhelming driving experience you encountered. Glad the rest of your weekend was great.