Ground Turkey -How do you eat it?

To get used to the taste of turkey meat, try buying the ground dark turkey meat instead of the breast. I get mine at Whole Foods. Family likes the taste better when cooking with it. We use it in burritos, spagehetti, meat loaf basically anytime you used ground beef.

make turkey salsa! I found this recipe in the biggest loser family cookbook. you take 1 pound of ground turkey (salt and pepper it) and cook it in a skillet like you would for tacos. Then while it is still warm take 1 cup of your favorite salsa and mix them together. Put it in the fridge so it will cool and then enjoy. The cookbook says to spoon the turkey salsa into tostitos scoops (10 scoops is a serving) for a healthy snack. I'm sorry, I'm at work so I don't know what the calories are, but if you are interested, let me know and once I get home I will post the nutritional value.

Turkey burgers. Definitely add some spices. I like Cumin a lot, with some pepper and garlic powder. I also add in a dash of Trader Joe's Sweet Chili Sauce for flavor and to make it moist. I take my "burger" and put it in a iceberg lettuce leaf, with some mustard, heirloom tomato slices, cucumber slices, avocado and a slice of mozzarella cheese.

Also, chili, tacos, turkey meatloaf and spaghetti sauce. You can cook some spaghetti squash to use in place of pasta for a super low cal meal. Just bake a whole spaghetti squash at 450 for 45-60 minutes, cool, cut open and scrape (be sure to remove seeds first). Drain, plate and pour some sauce on top.

You can do wraps -- cook ground turkey in a pan with spices and chopped up veggies, use iceberg or butter lettuce to create wraps. I like to use spicy spices for this, and add a little ground up peanuts on top of the turkey mixture once you put it in your wrap.

You have a lot of options, be creative ... and definitely use spices and other foods to enhance the experience!

Lucy

I use ground turkey in place of ground beef for any recipe...we can't tell the difference anymore!

I don't eat beef or pork so I use ground turkey for everything that requires beef. Turkey burgers are the best! With about two pounds of ground turkey, I use Lipton onion soup mix, a little worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, seasoning salt, pepper, and one egg. You don't need much of the seasoning salt, and the mixture may come out kind of 'loose' (not exactly soupy but not firm either), but shape them into patties anyway, and trust me, they will be moist and juicy, just good!! I put them in a pan on medium heat and cover them up. If you are using a pan that is not non-stick, you may want to spray it with a little cooking spray. Let them cook for about ten minutes on each side, and uncover them for a few more minutes, flipping them over just to brown them on each side. Delicious! Or, you can always grill them, which I also love. You can also use ground turkey to make enchiladas, tacos, turkey meatballs (just do the same thing for the burgers but add breadcrumbs; I use broken up whole wheat bread and that works fabulous!), queso dip, all kinds of stuff.lol Oh yeah, and, you can also add chopped bell pepper and onions to ground turkey for any dish. It really enhances the flavor. The key to ground turkey is knowing how to season it. I hope this helps! Good luck!:-)

I use it all the time. I brown it up with Simply Organic All Purpose seasoning and Sea Salt. Tastes great that way.

Some of my favorite ways:

I mix the browned meat with salsa and put on taco salads (plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream of course)

I mix it with steamed cabbage, DelAllo Fat Free Marinara and Low Fat cottage cheese for a Low Carb/Low Fat lasagne.

I mix it with chili seasoning and stuff multi color bell peppers and bake it with a little cheese on top.

My husband and son are "all in" when it comes to ME eating healthier - until it comes to me COOKING healthier. They don't like the taste of ground turkey either - because they're used to ground beef. So when I started cooking healthier, I had to get sneaky. I started by combining ground turkey with lean ground beef 50/50. Then I gradually added more and more turkey to what I cooked.

Things I make with ground turkey:
Chili - I will say it tastes different... lighter perhaps.
Meatloaf - find a different recipe than the one you've always used... I like Hungry Girls Taco Meatloaf
Turkey Burgers - by the time you add all the condiments - a little firmer texture is the only thing that you notice.
Turkey meatballs - add onions, green peppers, Mrs. Dash, egg white and Quick Oats and simmer in your favorite pasta sauce for a few hours.


But I think the best advice that I can give is... if after trying it a couple of times you still don't like it... don't eat it. What I'm learning is to be "frugal" with my calories... don't waste them on something that you don't love and that isn't good for you. If you like ground beef... buy the leanest ground beef you can find and use it sparingly. Good luck!

I have found that adding a beef bouillon cube or two while browning the turkey helps mask the turkey taste that seems to overpower some dishes to me. Of course, it will increase the sodium, so you'll want to cut back the salt in the rest of your recipe.

Was going to suggest this - you beat me to it! I'd suggest, however, looking for the low-sodium versions in the grocery store. Those bouillon cubes have a whole day's worth of sodium in them!

All the other suggestions about herbs & spices are right on, too. I used ground turkey just like I'd use hamburger in the past - usually add flavoring to it. Italian style bread crumbs have lots of flavor usually (yeah, and that sodium I'm trying to avoid...) so I use that when I make turkey meatballs. Burgers can take on so many styles - curry seasoning is good if you like that. I'm a sort of 'throw everything together' sort of cook, so I find lots of creations.

Then again, once in a blue moon I end up with the horrible stuff I made yesterday (have to actually throw it out) but I think the meat I used actually had gone bad. So it's not my fault, haha -this time... :laugh:

i substitue anything that you would put beef in with ground turkey or ground chicken.

Meatballs or meat sauce
meatloaf
tacos
chili
hamburgers

the list goes on and on and nom nom nom

Stuffed cabbage rolls. We just made them and they were great. I never use ground beef anymore.