Time for another confession: I get embarrassingly excited when I find good grocery deals. My husband and I have a Sam’s Club membership until August which is when we’re planning on classing up our act and switching over to Costco. But at Sam’s they have a killer price on ground turkey – it’s l just under $14 for 5lbs, which is a lot of turkey. Whenever I pick it up, I feel like I’m getting a good deal and I get super stoked. This makes me realize I am getting oh so very old. Remember when I used to get excited about parties, go to concerts, and stay up all night? Now I’m in bed by 8pm and get amped over good deals on bulk meats. Whatever man, a good deal is a good deal!
If you asked me what meal I prep the most, it would probably be this dude right here. It’s probably one of my favorite things to make in bulk because, like a chili, it gets better as it sits. Using tomato sauce & chipotle peppers gives much more substance and flavor to the meat than if you were to just cook up some meat and sprinkle taco seasoning all over it. Plus, it keeps it from getting dry which is a huge plus if you’re planning on reheating it throughout the week. Also, the Trader Joe’s seasoning pictured here is my all-time favorite taco seasoning because it’s tasty, it has clean ingredients, and at 79 cents it’s another dang good deal!
A final confession: sometimes I add curry spice to this dish. One time my husband was cooking this and his mistook the curry for cumin and put it all over the meat. He thought he ruined it, but I actually thought the curry made it better! So I’ll often make this just as-is for both of us and then put curry my portion of the meat while I watch my husband silently judge me.
I throw this meat in tacos, of course, but I also really like to have it on hand to make taco salads and “burrito bowls” with cauliflower rice. I end up making this a lot because the macros are really good, it always ends up tasting good, and it’s cheap. That last one is really important as you get old, like me. 👵
Ground Turkey Taco Meat
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground turkey
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 white onion, chopped
- 1/2 jalepeno pepper, chopped
- 1 packet taco seasoning mix
- 2 chipolte peppers, plus sauce
- 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- red pepper flakes, to taste
- sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic & onion. Sautee for 2 minutes.
- Sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes. Add in chopped jalepeno and sautee for another 2 minutes.
- Add in ground turkey. As it cooks, break it up with your spatual into fine pieces. Spinkle with salt. Cook until nice and browned, about 8 minutes.
- Place a stainer in your sink and transfer the turkey mixture into the strainer. We want to drain some of the fat that accumulates in cooking. If you have another perferred method of doing this, go for it!
- Transfer the turkey meat back into the pan over medium heat. Add in your chopped chipolte peper with about 1-2 tbsps on the sauce, depending on your desired level of smokiness.
- Dump in your 8oz can of tomato sauce. Give it a good stir and let it all cook together for about 5 minutes.
- Add in your packet of taco seasoning. At this point, I will sample the meat and sometimes add a little more cumin, chili powder, and red pepper flakes to amp up the flavors.
- Place in a tortilla, over rice or cauliflower rice, and scarf!
Leave a Reply