Savory Ground Turkey & Quinoa One Pot Dinner Recipe

I have a long list of favorite meals I regularly cook for my family but I’ve been slowly replacing some recipes with healthier versions, all the while sticking to my grocery budget.

But I love a good cooking challenge so I’ve embraced this whole heartedly. Today, I’ve got a tasty healthy ground turkey recipe for you that you’re going to love – Savory Ground Turkey & Quinoa One Pot Dinner.

This hearty dinner is healthy, gluten free, and loaded with vegetables and savory seasoning with a light tomato sauce.

I love that it uses ground turkey because there’s less fat than ground beef. It’s also a one pot dinner so that makes less mess to clean up later. That’s a win win for any mom’s book!

I absolutely love making ground turkey recipes because it tastes just as good as ground beef, but it’s often cheaper.

But I don’t just settle for any ground turkey from the store. I like to know exactly what I’m feeding my family and where it comes from. 

So I buy Shady Brook Farms turkey.

Shady Brook Farms turkeys (known as Honey Suckle White in other parts of the country) are raised by independent family farms with no growth-promoting antibiotics.

There’s no hormones or steroids either, but you should know that’s illegal for any poultry farm/ brand, so don’t be fooled into paying more for chicken that’s labeled “no hormones” because the one next to it doesn’t have hormones either!

A couple weeks ago, I flew down to Virginia to visit one of the 700 family farms that raise turkeys for Shady Brook Farms / Honey Suckle White turkey.

I was told the turkeys were raised with love and it’s true. I got to personally meet the farmers – Craig & Nancy Miller. They are wonderful, down-to-earth, kind, caring people and there was no doubt that they took great pride in their farm and raising turkeys.

(Craig and Nancy, if you read this, it was an absolute honor to meet you and see your farm and turkeys. You are doing an amazing job. Thank you again for opening your farm and home to us!)

You’ve probably heard stories of barns crammed full of sick caged chickens that can barely walk.

Nothing could be farther from the truth with Shady Brook Farms / Honey Suckle White turkeys.

Friends, I got to walk inside of Craig & Nancy’s new gigantic barn. When I say gigantic, I mean HUGE. The photo below shows less than half of it!

(There’s avian bird flu killing poultry in the US like crazy now, so they had us dress up in these haz-mat suits to protect the birds. )

Scarlett from Made It, Ate It, Loved It and Wendy from Around My Family Table and me.

There were 25,000 baby turkeys, but I never would have guessed there were that many because there was so much empty space for them to run around. The crazy thing? We were only in half of the barn! The farmer opens the other half when the turkeys are bigger so they’ll have even more room.

Look at how cute they are!

And don’t be fooled, they are NOT crammed in this barn – these babies were very curious and followed us all around the barn. So where you see tons of baby turkeys in one spot, I can promise you that behind me and to my right and left there was empty space. I wish I could show you a picture of just how huge and nice that barn was, but there was “secret” equipment we can’t publish.

The other thing? There was no smell! That barn was so pristine clean, I never would have guessed there were thousands of baby birds had I not seen them with my own eyes.

After touring the barn, we were invited into Craig & Nancy’s own kitchen where we chatted about the turkeys and how things work on the farm.

I learned that they do not use antibiotics for growth promotion. If a turkey gets sick, they will use antibiotics if needed, but of course we want them to care for a sick animal! It’s unnecessary use of antibiotics that we want to avoid. 

Prevention is the #1 thing at Shady Brook Farms / Honey Suckle White farms. It’s easier and more cost effective to prevent illness and take good care of their birds in the first place with clean water, food, and good sanitary conditions than to treat sick birds. It’s in everyone’s best interest to keep the birds happy and healthy.

Not only are Shady Brook Farms/ Honey Suckle White turkeys well taken care of and not given antibiotics for growth promotion, but their food doesn’t cost a premium! I’m not talking just whole turkeys for Thanksgiving – there’s ground turkey, bone-in turkey breasts, sausage and brats, turkey burgers {<<amazing!}, turkey meatballs, and even franks. Check out their full selection of food here: Shady Brook Farms turkey / Honey Suckle White turkey.

Craig & Nancy’s farm is just one of 700 family farms that are individually owned and operated for Shady Brook Farms / Honey Suckle White turkey. When you talk about supporting farmers, this is one awesome way to do it that without spending a fortune. Check out the 700 Reasons website – you can see video and read stories from many of these hundreds of family turkey farms.

Craig & Nancy were given the gift of an amazing painting from the folks at Shady Brook Farms. 

Watch their story here:

Can you see why I’ve fallen in love with Shady Brook Farms turkey? It’s affordable good food I can feel great about feeding my family.

Back to our delicious ground turkey recipe….

I’ve recently fallen in love with quinoa so this quinoa dinner recipe is perfect. I made it a few times before I came up with this perfect combination of sauces and seasoning and it’s delicious. You’re gonna love it. 

Savory Ground Turkey & Quinoa One Pot Dinner Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups quinoa, cooked
• 1 lb Shady Brook Farms or Honey Suckle White ground turkey
• 2-3 large carrots, chopped thinly
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced or 1 tablepoon minced garlic
• 1-15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1-6 oz can tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2-1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup frozen peas

If you haven’t already cooked your quinoa, cook it now (boil 3 cups of water – sprinkle in a little salt, then add 1.5 cups quinoa. Boil again, then turn heat to low, and simmer (with lid on) for 10-15 minutes or until cooked and liquid is gone.) You can do this in your large pan for this meal. And chop your vegetables while you’re waiting.

Brown your ground turkey, then drain and transfer to a bowl.

Add a little olive oil to your pan along with the carrots, red pepper, onion, tomato, and garlic. Stir, then add the cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper. 

Cook for 5-8 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, or until the carrot is somewhat soft. (You can cook longer if you want the carrots completely soft).

Add the ground turkey, tomato sauce, tomato paste, cooked quinoa, and frozen peas.

Sir to combine and heat for a few more minutes. 

Serve and enjoy!

This hearty ground turkey recipe is budget friendly and sure to become a family favorite. It serves 6-8 people so there’s plenty to go around. If you need to feed even more people, just increase the amount of quinoa and vegetables slightly – you may need a little more tomato sauce and spice. 

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Check out these tasty turkey recipes too: Turkey Kabobs & Fair-Style Turkey Legs