Easy, healthy, light, high protein and low carbohydrate. Nothing could be better than this skillet ground turkey curry with spinach, garbanzo beans and dates. Perfect for a weeknight meal, it’s made in one pan and is ready in 15 minutes.
This recipe was a fluke that instantly turned into a favorite. I had attempted to quickly throw together a dinner that used ground turkey that wasn’t spaghetti and meat sauce or meatballs. I recall wanting to create something close to the Thai dish larb, which is often ground chicken, served room temperature with a light lime dressing. (If you haven’t tried it, it’s really great for a lighter, high protein lunch.)
My vision was to create something light…with meat…which is a challenge!
Heaven only knows how I came up with this, as it’s so different, but it’s been a favorite on the rotating weekly menu for years now! And if you love this recipe, you’d love the Greek Turkey Lentil Skillet.
What to Love About Ground Turkey Curry
- It’s low calorie.
- It’s high protein and low carbohydrate.
- It’s easy and quick, ready in 15 minutes.
- It’s made with minimal mess: 1 pan!
- It’s a balanced meal that incorporates fruits, vegetables, beans and lean protein.
- It’s high fiber.
- It’s cheap!
A Few Tips
Brown it!
Nothing tastes better than brown food. How do you do it?
- Heat a large cast iron skillet, like my favorite Le Creuset
, with a bit of high smoke point oil (not olive oil) until shimmering.
- Press ground turkey into pan in 1 even layer.
- DO NOT MOVE IT.
- Let it cook in that spot for about 5 minutes.
- Flip and do the same to the other side, avoiding the tempting “stir”.
And after adding the dry spices, be sure to let them cook and be in contact with the dry heat of the pan. Yes, they need to be cooked too. It richens the flavor.
Let the steam from the turkey wilt the spinach. Just dump it right on top. After a minute or so, you can fold it into the dish.
Turn off the heat and mix everything together before serving. THEN add the citrus juice. If you add the lemon or lime juice too early the heat will kill the tang. This dish is awesome served hot, warm or cold. But wait. What do you serve it with?
Serve it on top of my famous cabbage, cilantro and green onion mix. The crunchy, cool, flavorful cabbage beautifully compliments the turkey curry and chewy dates. Oh, and don’t forget the red wine and some humus and pita chips.
I hope you try this and love it as much as we do around here. Be sure to save it in your recipe box on yummly or pinterst for later!
- 2 Tablespoons Avocado, coconut or other high smoke point oil (split)
- 1 pound Ground turkey, raw
- 4 Tablespoons Curry powder
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Sea salt
- 1 15 oz. can Garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed and dried
- 3 cups Spinach, fresh
- 1/2 cup lemon or lime juice
- 10 each dates, pitted
- Large Cast Iron Skillet
- In skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon oil over medium-high heat until shimmering.
- Add turkey in 1 even layer. Let cook 5 minutes to brown the meat well. Flip and cook the rest until almost cooked through.
- Turn heat down to medium-low.
- Add dry spices: curry, turmeric, garlic powder and salt. Stir to mix.
- Add remaining 1 Tablespoon oil.
- Add garbanzo beans, mix and cook for a couple minutes to slightly brown.
- Top with spinach. Let steam from turkey wilt the spinach. Fold into turkey and beans.
- Turn off heat.
- Add lemon juice and dates and stir to mix.
- Serve atop The Ultimate Cabbage Mix (recipe link above).
- Kcal 338 | Fat 15g | Sat Fat 7g | Chol 72mg | Sodium 452mg | Carb 31g | Fiber 8g | Sugar 13g | Protein 22g
I’m sure you’ll love the Greek Turkey Lentil Skillet if you’re into this one!
Share This Article
This dish sounds great! What a fab combo of flavors! Don’t you just love when a fluke meal turns into a fave recipe?!
Thank you! I wholeheartedly agree!
This looks really interesting but I’m unclear what happens after you flip the turkey – do you remove it so you can cook the spices in the dry heat of the pan? and when do you crumble up the turkey?
Great question, thanks for asking! It’s up to you, but I just add the spices to the turkey towards the end of browning it. And it is mostly crumbled while mixing in the spices. Hope this helps!
So delicious! I was trying to figure out what to do with turkey and chickpeas. I didn’t have dates so I used raisins (just as good!). Thank you for sharing! Definitely will make again.
Thank you so much for your comment; I’m so glad you enjoyed!!!!
My family isn’t a huge fan of dates, raisins or anything like that. Trying to think of something else sweet that may be a good substitute. What are your thoughts on using dried apricots?
I think dried apricots would be a fabulous substitution! Great idea!
What powdered curry do you use? I have curry past, but I am looking for a good curry powder to keep on hand. Thank you!
I shop around, but usually get the one at Trader Joe’s!
Ugh this was so dry and awful, the curry was too much as was the lime juice, and I only used 1/4 cup!
I’m so sorry you didn’t like the recipe! I will say, if overcooked/cooked at too high a heat at the end it can become dry. If I see that I will drizzle olive oil after cooking. Just be sure you use lemon, not lime, I can not attest to what the substitution would taste like, but I’d imagine the amount would be much different, as lime is so much more pungent than lemon.