Juicy Turkey Tacos
A recipe for quick and easy ground turkey tacos that are juicy, healthy, and downright satisfying.
Most of you know my love for ground turkey by now. I’m in LOVE with turkey burgers (see one of my favorite turkey burger recipes) and we cook with turkey constantly.
As much as we both love beef, turkey is a lower calorie option that helps to keep the weight down. So! Bring on the Turkey Tacos. I can’t say enough good things about turkey tacos.
They’re healthy, low-calorie, inexpensive to make, super quick and easy to prepare, and flat out delicious. Seriously, you can have this recipe done in about 20 minutes or less.
The only thing holding you back is how many fixings you decide to serve up.
Turkey is your blank canvas protein that absorbs all the flavors you choose to bring to the plate. Choose wisely, though to be honest, it’s really hard to mess this recipe up.
This was always one our go-to recipes when we first got married, all those wonderful years ago.
I’ve adapted it a bit since then, but the base recipe remains the same for 2 people. 12 ounces ground turkey – use your favorite brand, but I tend to use the lower fat options, corn tortillas (gotta be corn!), avocado, jalapeno, some hot sauce or picante sauce. Taco seasonings.
YUM!
Seriously, once you have these, you’ll start to crave them over beef or pork tacos, or at least as often. Come on, Taco Tuesday! We want turkey tacos!
The Key to Moist Turkey Tacos
The key to the moisture is simmering the ground turkey slowly in the water that you add along with your taco seasonings, and leaving just a bit of that water in the pan when you turn off the heat.
The moisture will absorb into the turkey and when you take a bite, you’ll get that juicy deliciousness just like any great taco without all the fat. Hot sauce is good as well for an EXTRA burst of juiciness.
Who doesn’t love hot sauce? We LOVE it!
Patty’s Perspective
There are a few recipes that Mike makes so often, we’re amazed we haven’t yet shared them with you. This is one of them. I’ve always preferred ground turkey over ground beef, and I love the seasonings here, and the way Mike is able to make them truly juicy, not fatty. The surprise each time is the toppings he decides to use. We hope to bring you all those regular yet amazing recipes in 2016!
Try Some of My Other Popular Taco Recipes
- Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas
- Szechuan Salmon Tacos
- Pork Street Tacos with Crispy Fried Habaneros
- Tacos al Pastor
If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper chopped
- 12 ounces ground turkey
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning - Try our homemade taco seasoning
- ½ cup water
- 6 corn tortillas lightly toasted
- Fixings for toppings – I used a bit of crema sour cream, Cojita cheese, picante sauce, roasted jalapeno peppers, diced avocado and chopped cilantro
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Heat a large pan to medium heat. Add olive oil and swirl.
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Add onion, jalapeno pepper and ground turkey. Cook it all together about 8 minutes, or until the turkey is nearly cooked through.
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Add taco seasoning and water. Stir. Reduce heat and allow to simmer about 10 minutes, until most of the moisture reduces and the flavorings thicken up. Leave just a bit of the liquid in the pan to keep the turkey nice and juicy and moist.
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Serve onto toasted tortillas and top with your favorite fixings!
4 comments
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I tried this sauce on turkey meatballs last night and served them to my very picky children and their even pickier cousins.
I’m always looking for new recipes that help us cut back on the processed alternatives. Thanks for putting all of these in one place.
Thanks, Sonia! I appreciate it!
I tried this sauce on turkey meatballs last night and served them to my very picky children and their even pickier cousins. What a HUGE hit! I cannot thank you enough – you’ve added a new staple to their diets …
REPLY: That’s great! Glad it was a hit! — Mike from Chili Pepper Madness.