These flavorful Ground Turkey Taco Bowls with a Southwest twist are a delicious way to lighten up your menu. You won’t believe how quick and easy they are to prepare!
Ground turkey recipes like these tasty bowls, my Turkey Chili and The Best Turkey Burgers are on regular rotation on my dinner menus.
I do a lot of Mexican and Southwest-inspired meals around here. Tacos, smothered burritos, shredded beef enchiladas, and everything in between. There is typically one common denominator in these meals and that my friends, is cheese! And, plenty of it.
This recipe came about in my attempt to create a meal including the flavors we love that would not break the calorie bank. And, it had to be fast and easy enough for me to include on my menu on even the busiest of days.
These Southwest Turkey Taco Bowls hit the mark. They are so incredibly simple to put together and can be modified to suit your taste by adding additional veggies or different toppings. This mixture is also delicious rolled into tortillas.
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Ground turkey: I use 93% lean ground turkey for most of my ground turkey recipes.
- Veggies: Red bell pepper and frozen corn.
- Seasoning: This recipe is just one of an ever-growing collection that use my Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix. It’s a combination of chili powder, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder and other spices. You can use a store-bought spice mix, if you’d like.
- Diced tomatoes: A can of Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies in either mild or spicy is a quick way to add a lot of flavor. Fire roasted diced tomatoes work well too.
- Beans: A can of black beans. Pinto beans are great too!
- For serving: Cook up a batch of Cilantro Lime Rice or any rice you love.
How to Make Ground Turkey Taco Bowls
- Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet. Add the ground turkey and bell pepper and cook, stirring to break up the ground turkey, until it is thoroughly cooked. Drain the excess grease from the skillet and return it to the heat.
- Add the taco seasoning and Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Add the black beans and frozen corn.
- Cover and simmer for about 5 more minutes, or until the beans and corn are warmed through.
Variations
Rice Bowls: This ground turkey mixture is delicious served over Cilantro Lime Rice with toppings like fresh cilantro, sour cream, avocado, lime wedges, and hot sauce. To add a healthy serving of whole grains, we also love it over brown basmati rice. See the recipe card below for instructions on my favorite way to prepare brown rice for these bowls.
Low Carb Turkey Taco Bowls: Skip the rice altogether and spoon the Southwest turkey taco mixture over mixed greens, shredded lettuce, or cauliflower rice for a healthy, low carb meal.
Veggie Loaded Bowls: Use this recipe as an excuse to purge your produce drawers of any veggies you need to use up. A variety of vegetables including mushrooms, zucchini, and fresh baby spinach will add flavor and nutrition to these bowls.
Southwest Ground Turkey Wraps: Skip the rice altogether and roll the turkey taco mixture into toasted tortillas with any toppings you love for a family-friendly meal.
Meal Prep: This ground turkey mixture is an excellent choice for meal prep. Load up meal prep containers with cooked rice or greens, the turkey taco mixture and your favorite toppings for a delicious workday lunch.
More Easy Mexican-Inspired Recipes
- Easy Ground Beef Tacos
- Turkey Tacos
- Chicken Tortilla Casserole with Salsa Verde
- Chicken and Veggie Baked Tostadas
- Turkey Black Bean Enchilada Bake
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Southwest Ground Turkey Taco Bowls
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 pound 93% lean ground turkey
- ½ medium red bell pepper, diced
- 1 tablespoon Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix, or store-bought
- 10 ounces Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies, (I used mild)
- 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- ½ cup frozen corn, no need to thaw
- 1 recipe Cilantro Lime Rice
Optional Toppings
- cilantro, sour cream, avocado, hot sauce
Instructions
- Add the vegetable oil to a 12-inch skillet and place it over MEDIUM heat. Add the ground turkey and bell pepper and cook, stirring to break up the ground turkey, until it is thoroughly cooked. Drain the excess grease from the skillet and return it to the heat. Add the taco seasoning and Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes. Reduce the heat to LOW, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes or until most of the liquid from the diced tomatoes has been absorbed or cooked off.
- Add the black beans and frozen corn. Cover and simmer for about 5 more minutes, or until the beans and corn are warmed through.
- Serve over Cilantro Lime Rice with cilantro, sour cream, avocado, and hot sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
This post was originally published on April 24, 2017. It has been updated with new text and images.
Love easy dishes like this! Yum!