I seriously never get tired of super easy stir fry dinners! I mean, what’s not to love? Only a few ingredients, you can work in a TON of vegetables, and they’re super fast! Using ground meat makes them even easier, because there’s no cutting or slicing raw meat (not a fan of this task). This Ground Turkey Stir Fry is especially great because it’s so versatile. Use whatever vegetables you have on hand, make it spicy or mild, serve it with rice, noodles, or with shredded cabbage for a low carb option. Scroll down for more deets on those options!
This Ground Turkey Stir Fry is another meal inspired by those “macro-friendly” meal delivery services that deliver individual, ready-to-reheat meals to your door. While those services are super convenient, they’re also super expensive and I know I can make similar meals at home for a fraction of the price. :) You can easily adjust the macros in this meal by increasing, decreasing, or eliminating any of these elements: turkey, vegetables, rice, or nuts. Unfortunately, I don’t have the specific macro nutrient information for this meal, and you can read why in my FAQs.
Customize your Ground Turkey Stir Fry
- Reduce the recipe cost by increasing the vegetables and decreasing the amount of ground turkey
- Use ground beef, pork, chicken, or crumbled tofu or tempeh in place of the ground turkey
- Other vegetable options: mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, bean sprouts, snap peas, green beans, water chestnuts
- Top with cashews or sesame seeds in place of the peanuts
- Make it spicy by stirring a tablespoon (or TWO 🔥) of sriracha or chili garlic sauce into the stir fry sauce
- Add fresh some fresh grated ginger to the stir fry sauce for extra zing
- Add cooked noodles to the stir fry at the end instead of serving over rice
- Add a bag of coleslaw mix to the stir fry to bulk it up without adding carbs, similar to my Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry, instead of serving with rice or noodles.
How to Store Ground Turkey Stir Fry
This recipe works great for meal prep, but I suggest only storing in the refrigerator rather than the freezer. Freezing will cause the vegetables to soften further and seep more water. This dish will stay good in the refrigerator for about four days.
Ground Turkey Stir Fry
Servings 5 (about 1 cup stir fry, 1/2 cup rice)Ingredients
Stir Fry Sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce ($0.24)
- 1/2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil ($0.16)
- 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.02)
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes (optional) ($0.02)
- 1 Tbsp water ($0.00)
Stir Fry
- 2 bell peppers ($2.00)
- 4 green onions ($0.22)
- 2 oz. spinach (two large handfuls, or 1/4 of an 8oz. bag) ($0.30)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil of choice ($0.08)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 19 oz. ground turkey* ($3.49)
For Serving
- 1/4 cup chopped peanuts ($0.12)
- 2.5 cups cooked brown rice ($0.60)
Instructions
- Make the stir fry sauce by stirring together the soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, brown sugar, red pepper, and water until the sugar is dissolved. Set the sauce aside.
- Dice the bell peppers and slice the green onions.
- Heat the cooking oil in a very large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the ground turkey and minced garlic. Stir and cook until the turkey is cooked through and no water is left pooling on the bottom of the skillet (8-10 minutes).
- Once the turkey is cooked and the moisture has evaporated, add the bell pepper and green onions to the skillet. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes more, then add the spinach and continue to cook just until it is about half wilted (1-2 minutes).
- Pour the stir fry sauce into the skillet. Continue to stir and cook the turkey and vegetables until everything is coated in sauce and the spinach is fully wilted (about 2 minutes more).
- Serve about 1 cup of the stir fry mixture with 1/2 cup rice and a sprinkle of chopped peanuts over top.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Ground Turkey Stir Fry – Step by Step Photos
First, make the stir fry sauce so it’s ready to go. Stir together 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and 1 Tbsp water. Stir until the brown sugar is dissolved. BTW, I’ve really grown to love the Whole Food’s 365 brand Shoyu soy sauce. It’s very affordable and has great *flavor*, rather than just being salty.
Next prepare the vegetables. Dice two bell peppers (I used red and yellow for more color), and slice four green onions. I am also using about 2 oz. fresh spinach (2 large handfuls or about 1/4 of an 8oz. bag). No preparation needed for the spinach.
Add 2 Tbsp of your favorite cooking oil to a large skillet and heat over medium. Once hot, add 19oz. ground turkey and 2 minced cloves of garlic. Stir and cook until the turkey is cooked through and all of the moisture has evaporated out of the skillet. Soupy stir fry is not good. :)
Add the diced bell peppers and green onions to the skillet. Continue to stir and cook just until they begin to soften (about 2 minutes). Don’t let them cook too much because they will continue to cook over the next few minutes as more ingredients are added. Add the spinach to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes more, or until the spinach is about half wilted, like in the photo.
Finally, pour in the stir fry sauce. If your brown sugar wasn’t completely dissolved and some remains on the bottom of the bowl, make sure to scrape that into the skillet. Stir and cook everything for 1-2 minutes more, or until everything is coated in sauce and heated though.
And that’s it! It’s literally that easy.
Serve about 1 cup of the ground turkey stir fry with 1/2 cup cooked rice and some chopped peanuts over top. Enjoy!
For the nutrition calories, is it also including the brown rice and peanuts or only the ground turkey recipe?
Nutrition facts include all ingredients. XOXO -Monti
I don’t have fresh ginger–would powdered ginger work in the sauce? If so, how much would be added? Thanks.
So the ginger is added to taste. The ratio for subbing fresh with ground is ¼ teaspoon ground ginger for every 1 tablespoon grated ginger. I would start with 1/8 teaspoon and go from there. XOXO -Monti
This recipe was really tasty. I made it with bok Choy, carrots, bell peppers and mushrooms, because that’s what I had. A tasty way to use up vegetables. The stuff on this website is always useful because it’s simple ingredients, usually stuff I already have. Thank you
I agree it tasted salty and lacking fullness of flavor because you are depending on a commercial soy sauce, but it is supposed to be thin and light, that’s ok. I will try reducing the amount of soy sauce next time which I think will work because you are getting a lot of moisture from the vegetables. I used one lbs. of meat not 19 ozs. Also the author does suggest using 365 soy sauce which she says has a better flavor. I was surprised to read some commentors who say they want to double the amount of sauce.
Very easy to make and very tasty. Worth trying it. Will make it again soon.
I 👏🏽 love 👏🏽 your 👏🏽 blog! Seriously—it’s what I’ve been searching for my whole life!!!! Balanced macros, low calorie, lots of veggies, cheap, AND easy??! I didn’t think it was possible. You’re truly a blessing. I’m definitely trying this one out bc ground turkey is my favorite way to cut for summer.
Thank you!! <3 <3 <3
The best thing about this recipe is that you can easily swap vegetables/greens for whatever you have on hand. If you like a lot of sauce, you’ll want to double it.
Wow! Changed to cauliflower rice to cut calories. Next time will double the sauce. Definitely making again!!!
I used green pepper, yellow onion, and a ton of bok choy. I also added ginger to the sauce. My family wolfed it down. Great recipe to pack in whatever veggies you have in the fridge.
I made this with a frozen stir fry veggie mix and it turned out SO GOOD. I was worried about not adding any salt to the meat so I sprinkled a bit in, but it didn’t need it. The sauce flavors it perfectly. And it was so easy to make! Thanks so much for this recipe!!
Love this one!! It’s always a go to for my meal preps!
Does the nutritional information account for the peanuts and rice as well?
Yes, nutritional information includes everything listed in the recipe card. :)
I just wanted to compliment you for getting right to the point with your recipes. A lot of people have long drawn out stories that have nothing to do with the recipe, and while that’s great for people interested in blog posts, sometimes it’s hard to sift through to get to the actual recipes. Your website is no-nonsense and stays on topic. The recipes are great and everything, down to the cost per serving is well-laid out and easy to follow. Just wanted to throw some kudos your way.
Thank you! That means a lot to me. :)
100% agree
Yes I agree it’s nice to read a recipe where the author doesn’t go rambling about something like having to pick up the relatives from the airport while in a rush to put a quick dinner on the table and that is how this recipe came about blah blah blah! Kudos.
One of our favorite recipes on here! Prepared this many times. We make it alongside your sesame cucumber salad for dinner guests and it’s always a hit! Also we like to cook ours in a wok and always use the grated fresh ginger recommendation.
Colorful and Flavorful!
Love this recipe! I add in cooked ramen noodles too. I learned that from one of your other recipes.
My step daughter and I are always trying your recipes and sharing links for them. Your web site is regularly referenced in both our homes.
I want to second the comment about you “getting right to the recipe and not long stories “. I know if I read your commentary before a recipe, it is relevant and to the point. Thank you for your direct writing style. It is most appreciated! 😀