Our Favourite Things to Make with Turkey Mince
When you’re looking to lower the calories in your favourite mince dishes, making a swap to turkey mince is a great place to start. A leaner alternative to cooking with beef, lamb or chicken, its mild flavouring goes nicely with your favourite herbs, spices and sauces.
An ingredient you can get creative with, you won’t regret adding it to your shopping list! From spicy meatball dishes to one-pot curries and warming broths, there are so many tasty recipes that’ll work this low-fat, high-protein ingredient into your slimming plan.
We’ve rounded up some of our favourite turkey-based ideas to get you started!
Turkey Burgers
When you’re looking to make burger night more slimming friendly, turkey mince is your best friend. Our Turkey Burgers come in at a super lean 176 calories per patty, and they don’t skimp on flavour either. With the help of a surprise ingredient (blended aubergine!), they’ll leave the oven delightfully moist, without falling apart.
Because this is a fairly wet recipe, the patties don’t brown much (even after 20 minutes of cooking).You can serve up some peace of mind by using a meat thermometer to check that they’re piping hot in the middle, or you can pan-fry them for an additional few minutes on either side. When you’re happy, pile them high with pickles and your favourite burger sauce!
If turkey patties take your fancy, you might like to try our Turkey Cranberry Burgers too.
Hoisin Turkey Meatballs
Try making our Hoisin Turkey Meatballs next time you’re in the mood for a Chinese-style fakeaway. While you’ll normally find meatballs in a tomato-based dish, we decided to try an Asian-style sauce and were left with no regrets!
To replicate the tangy balance of sweet and sour you’d normally get in takeaway-bought hoisin sauce, we’ve used a nifty combination of sweetener, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and peanut butter powder to lower the calories.
This dish is a batch-cooker’s dream! Pair the bold, versatile flavours with a different side each time (rice, noodles, chips or Creamy Mashed Potatoes will work!), so it always feels fresh.
Margherita Meatball Traybake
You can’t beat the quick, simple convenience of a traybake. We’ve taken inspiration from pizza-inspired flavours to put together this Margherita Meatball Traybake, and it always goes down a storm!
If juicy meatballs, oven-baked potatoes and vegetables in a rich tomato sauce don’t win you over, the bubbly topping of melty mozzarella definitely will. Add the ingredients to a baking tray and let the oven do the hard work for you. You’ll only have the washing-up to worry about after, and there won’t be much of that!
An explosion of Italian-style flavours, the whole family will love this one with a side of garlicky Crispy Green Beans. It’s a Weekly Indulgence recipe (at 464 calories per serving), so it’s one to keep in mind for special occasions or weekends when you fancy an extra-tasty dinner.
Lasagne Courgette Boats
These Lasagne Courgette Boats are our slimming-friendly twist on a traditionally pasta-heavy recipe. Scoop the middles from your courgettes to create a space for your filling, but don’t let the pulp go to waste – add it to your veggie-filled turkey bolognese for a nutritious boost!
Turkey mince pairs really well with Italian-style herbs, and we use a time-saving mix for this recipe. Once you’ve loaded up your ‘boats’, bake them in the oven for 30 minutes until the courgettes are cooked through and the cheesy topping is golden brown.
Preparing these yummy boats is plain sailing, even if you’d never know it from how much they impress friends and family. Why not serve them with Cheesy Garlic Bread on the side?
Cheesy Fajita Orzotto
Nothing says midweek comfort food quite like our Cheesy Fajita Orzotto! It has all the silky indulgence of risotto for far less effort. We’ve used turkey mince because it soaks up the fajita flavours nicely, and pairs like a dream with the melty reduced-fat Cheddar cheese.
A low-maintenance showstopper, you can leave your minced meat, veg, orzo and stock to simmer away in the pan (you’ll want to stir it now and again, so the orzo doesn’t catch on the bottom!). When your orzo is fluffed up and velvety, freshen up the cheesy flavours with a squeeze of lime and a sprinkling of coriander.
You’ll be happy to know this winner is fridge and freezer-friendly, so you can save your extra portions for a rainy day.
Turkey Bun Cha
Don’t be put off by the number of ingredients in our Turkey Bun Cha! The prep pays off with seriously delicious results. If you know you’re going to be making this dish, you can always speed things up by preparing the homemade turkey meatballs in advance (they’ll keep in the freezer until you’re ready for them!).
Inspired by Vietnamese street food, our broth packs a fragrant garlic, ginger and chilli punch. With plenty of fresh crunchy veggies and noodles to slurp, it’s a super satisfying Thai-style lunch or light dinner for only 361 calories per bowl.
Tex-Mex Meatballs
If you’ve not tried our Tex-Mex Meatballs yet, you’re definitely missing out. It’s been a hit with our Facebook group ever since it was published in our third cookbook (Pinch of Nom: Quick and Easy, pages 50-51), and it’s not hard to understand why.
Good for you, and even better for your budget, we’ve used mostly store-cupboard staples to make the chilli-infused tomato sauce, and made our meatballs fiery with trusty spice-rack essentials.
Don’t forget to garnish with roughly-chopped coriander before serving! It takes the Tex-Mex spices to the next level. Try these flavoursome meatballs with steamed veg, potatoes, rice or pasta – they’ll be delicious no matter which one you choose!
Turkey Meatloaf
Even the fussiest eaters can’t get enough of our Turkey Meatloaf. We’ve combined turkey breast mince with enough nutritious veggies to get your 5-a-day, and you’d never tell from the taste! With onions, carrots, red peppers and courgettes in the mix, the whole loaf stays nice and moist even after half an hour in the oven.
It’s no secret that turkey works really well with rich, Italian-inspired flavours, which is why we’ve coated our meatloaf in a gorgeous garlicky, tomato glaze.
As excited as you’ll be to try your first bite, let your meatloaf rest for 5 minutes before slicing – it’ll stop it from falling apart!
Turkey Keema
An oldie but a goldie, our Turkey Keema tastes like it’s from a restaurant for a fraction of the cost and calories – and you can have it on the table in under an hour!
By combining fresh ingredients with spices and lean turkey mince, we’ve made an Indian-takeaway-inspired classic slimming friendly, without compromising on bold flavours. Whether you serve it with rice, Naan bread or potatoes, it never disappoints.
We like to garnish ours with a lemon wedge. A zesty drizzle really brings the flavours to life!
You’ll need to pull our first cookbook off your shelf to make this one (pages 78-79).
Have we inspired you to cook with turkey mince?
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