This low-carb Turkey Taco Skillet is loaded with nutritious ingredients. Robustly seasoned ground turkey with beans, corn, tomatoes, and green chiles. This taco dish is covered in melty sharp Cheddar cheese and garnished with your favorite taco toppings. Serve this meal over cauliflower rice for a low-carb and filling meal or serve it as a dip with chips!
Turkey Taco Skillet
We can’t get enough of these Turkey Tacos, so today we’re channeling those flavors in a single skillet meal, loaded with delicious ingredients. The turkey is well-seasoned and combined with tender black beans, crisp corn, fire-roasted tomatoes, green chiles, and topped with lots of melty cheese. We love adding some thinly sliced or chopped avocados, fresh lime, and chopped cilantro on top and calling it a meal! While we typically serve this meal with a bag of chips, we have some other serving suggestions for this fun Turkey Taco Skillet meal.
Quick Tip
Not sure about ground turkey? Read all about it here. Still not convinced? Lean ground beef works great in this recipe too!
Serving Suggestions
- Serve with chips. Add your favorite taco toppings straight to the skillet and serve it all family-style with a bag of chips. Dig in!
- Make lettuce or taco wraps. Scoop the turkey taco filling along with your favorite taco toppings (cheese, sour cream, cilantro, onions, etc.) in some lettuce leaves or charred/warmed tortillas.
- Make a burrito bowl. Prepare some cilantro-lime or cauliflower rice, scoop a few spoonfuls of this Turkey Taco Skillet mixture, add your favorite taco toppings, and enjoy!
- Prepare a large salad. Prep a bowl of chopped romaine, add a few spoonfuls of this meal, and your favorite taco toppings. Drizzle on a Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette or Creamy Cilantro Dressing. Crumble up some chips, or add seasoned tortilla strips, for some added crunch.
Once the meat and veggies are prepared in the skillet, it’s all about picking a few of your favorite toppings. Below are some suggestions; our “must-haves” are Cheddar cheese, cilantro, green onions, lime, and avocado.
Turkey Taco Skillet toppings
- Grated sharp Cheddar cheese
- Chopped cherry tomatoes or pico de gallo
- Fresh chopped cilantro
- Thinly sliced green onions
- Squeeze of fresh lime
- Large scoop of sour cream (we use fat-free to keep these on the light side); you can also use Greek yogurt.
- Sliced avocado or scoop of guacamole
- Pickled red onions (I share a quick pickled red onion recipe on these chicken tinga tacos)
Turkey Taco Skillet tips
- Keep the ground turkey cold and avoid over-cooking. Store the turkey in the fridge right up until it needs to be added to the skillet. Don’t set it out or let it come to room temperature. Because of the low fat content, ground turkey isn’t too forgiving when it’s over-cooked; it will become dry, crumbly, and lose flavor. Use a food thermometer and cook it until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
- Use freshly grated Cheddar cheese. To avoid a greasier end dish, I recommend freshly grating the cheese; pre-grated cheese has a cellulose coating that interferes with melting.
- Opt for fire-roasted ingredients. I highly recommend using fire-roasted tomatoes and green chiles; it adds a ton of flavor to this skillet dish, with no extra effort on your end.
- Add fresh ingredients. While you don’t necessarily need both cilantro and green onions, I would pick at least one fresh herb and some lime juice to finish this Turkey Taco Skillet. Fresh herbs and lime juice bring a vibrancy to the dish and an extra dimension of flavor.
- Use quick prep options. For the fastest-possible prep time, use frozen diced onions, pre-minced garlic, and a packet of taco seasoning in place of the seasoning mix indicated in the recipe. Keep toppings to a minimum and enjoy this meal in 20 minutes or less with these changes.
Overall spice of this dish
As written, I would say this is a very mild dish. This, of course, depends on the seasonings you use. I use McCormick® chili powder which is very mild; you may want to reduce amount of chili powder if using a hotter chili powder.
To add spice: add in 1/8 up to 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper and/or a diced jalapeño.
Quick Tip
I recommend ground turkey that is sold in a carton, rather than in a chub (the plastic tube). The chub-style ground turkey tends to be watery and less flavorful.
More nutritious, low carb recipes
- Unstuffed Peppers over cauliflower rice
- Egg Roll in a Bowl with the best sauce
- Egg Wrap with pesto egg whites
- Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet with black beans
- Kale Salad Recipe with a citrus vinaigrette
Turkey Taco Skillet
Equipment
- Large skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup finely diced yellow onion 1 small onion
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic 2 cloves
- 1 tablespoon ground chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon beef bouillon powder
- 1 pound lean ground turkey 93/7; lean ground beef also works!
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 (4-ounce) can mild fire-roasted diced green chiles drained
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1-1/2 cups freshly shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup green onions
- 3 to 4 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
- Chips for serving, see note 1
- Toppings as desired see note 2
Instructions
- Dice onion and mince garlic. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add diced onion. Cook 3–5 minutes or until soft and translucent. Add garlic and cook for 20–30 seconds. Add all the seasonings: chili powder, ground cumin, paprika, powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, salt, pepper, and beef bouillon powder. Stir spices until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Nothing should be burning; reduce heat if needed.
- Press seasoned onion to the edges. Add ground turkey to the center. Crumble the meat into small pieces and cook until no longer pink (but not cooked through all the way), about 5–8 minutes. (If the ground turkey has released liquid, drain off at this time). Add in undrained fire-roasted diced tomatoes and scrape the bottom of the pan to release any browned bits (this is where the flavor is!). Add diced green chiles. Let simmer 2–3 minutes or until most the liquid is absorbed. Add frozen corn and drained and rinsed black beans and gently stir to warm through.
- Reduce heat to low. Sprinkle cheese on top and gently stir to combine and melt. Once melted and incorporated, add green onions and cilantro. Serve immediately with chips (see note 1). Top skillet with your choice of taco toppings such as sour cream, diced avocado, more herbs, fresh lime juice, etc.
Recipe Notes
- Make lettuce or taco wraps: Scoop the turkey taco filling along with your favorite taco toppings (cheese, sour cream, cilantro, onions, etc.) in some lettuce leaves or charred/warmed tortillas.
- Make a burrito bowl: Prepare some cilantro-lime or cauliflower rice, scoop a few spoonfuls of this turkey taco skillet mixture, add your favorite taco toppings, and enjoy!
- Prepare a large salad: Prep a bowl of chopped romaine, add a few spoonfuls of this meal, and your favorite taco toppings. Drizzle on a cilantro-lime vinaigrette or creamy cilantro dressing. Crumble up some chips or add seasoned tortilla strips for some extra crunch.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
every single recipe I have tried of yours has been delish!! This one did not disappoint. Followed the recipe exactly (which is hard for me to do lol) except I added a couple spoonfuls of sour cream when I added the cheese just to make it a touch creamier. YUM!
I am SO thrilled to hear this! Thanks so much for your support Kara! 🙂
Oops, forgot to rate it. 5 stars!
Awe, so thrilled you guys enjoyed this!! Thank you so much for the comment and review 🙂
What an honor to be the first to review this fantastic recipe. We loved it!!! Bravo. We served it with chips — Delish! Only modifications based on what I had on hand – 2 jalapenos and 1 serrano in place of the green chilies, 3 roma tomatoes in place of the can and soy sauce in place of the beef powder. Thank you!!
As always, both my husband and I enjoyed this recipe for dinner. It did use a packet of taco seasoning in place of the seasoning mix due to some time constraints. Put it over mashed potatoes and it was delicious! Another winner from Chelsea!
Sounds delicious!! Thank you so much Eva, I so appreciate all your support! 🙂