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Home » Recipes » Dinner » Meat + Chicken » Turkey and Zucchini Skillet Recipe

Aug 17, 2018(updated August 23, 2022)

Turkey and Zucchini Skillet Recipe

4.64 from 90 votes
By Dani Spies
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a bowl filled with spaghetti squash, ground turkey and sautéed veggies
an easy turkey skillet dinner
how to make a one pan turkey zucchini meal

This recipe for easy Turkey Zucchini Skillet is full of ground turkey and vegetables, all simmered together for the perfect family-friendly dinner option. This dish is quick, easy and always gets rave reviews. Are you looking for a super simple, healthy meal that can be quickly made on busy weeknights? This is it! 

white bowl filled with spaghetti squash, ground turkey and zucchini with a fork

Okay, so I’ve been fairly addicted to “skillet” meals lately, it’s just one of the easiest ways to get good food on the table fast. This is exactly what we will be needing once the kids are back in school and after-school activities are back in effect.

This particular recipe was one of those, “hungry-for-dinner-with-no-plans-in-mind” meals. I came home on a Tuesday, opened the fridge and just pulled out what I had on hand.

I served this turkey zucchini dish over some spaghetti squash but it would also work with rice, pasta or even a side of some fresh-baked sourdough bread from your favorite bakery. Yum!

How To Make This Turkey Zucchini Skillet Dish

This one-pan meal starts with onions and garlic, which are sautéed in a large skillet. Then ground turkey is browned and mixed with the onions and garlic. Next, zucchini, oregano, salt & pepper, and tomatoes are added to the mix. Give everything a good stir and simmer for 15-30 minutes, depending on how soft you like your zucchini. Serve over a bed of spaghetti squash (or pasta, rice, cauliflower rice, etc) and top with some red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

step-by-step how to cook a turkey zucchini skillet meal

Tips For Turkey Zucchini Skillet

  • As always, use this recipe as a guide and adapt it to whatever you have hanging around in your fridge. You can use broccoli florets instead of zucchini, add in sliced mushrooms and/or add in a handful of fresh baby spinach. This skillet meal is so easy to customize!
  • I use lean ground turkey, but feel free to use your favorite ground meat. Bison, chicken and/or beef are all great choices.
  • While I typically serve the turkey zucchini mixture over spaghetti squash, it’s great over pasta, rice, quinoa and cauliflower rice.
  • You will love this dish served as-is, but it’s also delicious with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top.
turkey zucchini skillet served in a large white bowl with a fork

I cannot get enough of this Turkey Zucchini Skillet, my family loves it and I’m sure your family will enjoy it too!

I’d love to know if you make this (or any) recipe! Tag @clean_and_delicious on Instagram and be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive more healthy, delicious recipes straight to your inbox.

More Skillet Meals You May Enjoy:

  • Unstuffed Pepper Skillet
  • Cast Iron Chicken Thighs
  • Spaghetti Squash Skillet
turkey zucchini skillet dinner served over spaghetti squash
white bowl filled with spaghetti squash, ground turkey and zucchini with a fork
Print Recipe
4.64 from 90 votes

Turkey and Zucchini Skillet Recipe | Easy Weeknight Dinner Idea

This recipe for easy Turkey Zucchini Skillet is full of ground turkey and vegetables, all simmered together for the perfect family friendly dinner option. This dish is quick, easy and always gets rave reviews. If you're looking for a super simple, healthy meal that can be quickly made on busy weeknights, this is it! 
Course: DIET, DINNER, meat + chicken
Cuisine: gluten free, Italian, low carb + keto
Author: Dani Spies
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Total Time40 mins
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 246kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 zucchini, cut into quarters then chopped
  • 2 15 ounce cans of diced tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • optional toppings – Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes
US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  • Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and add oil. Once the olive oil is hot, stir in onions and garlic along with a pinch of salt. Let them cook for 2 minutes or until onions are fragrant and beginning to look translucent.
    oil heating in skillet
  • Push all the veggies to one side of the pan and then using a wooden or rubber spatula, stir in ground turkey and break into small pieces. Season the turkey with salt and pepper.
    cooked onions with ground turkey in skillet
  • Once the turkey has lost its pink color, begin to combine the ground turkey with the onions and garlic.
  • Add in zucchini, oregano, a little more salt and pepper, and tomatoes. Give it a good mix and allow everything to simmer for 15-30 minutes, depending on how soft you like your zucchini.
    zucchini and tomatoes added to skillet with ground turkey
  • Serve over a bed of spaghetti squash (or pasta, rice, cauliflower rice, etc) and top with some red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
    turkey zucchini skillet over spaghetti squash in white bowl

Notes

*We love this dish topped with red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese.
**This would be a great dish for meal prep.  It will happily last up to 5 days stored in an airtight container in your fridge.

Nutrition

Serving: 1.5cups | Calories: 246kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 97mg | Potassium: 1314mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 690IU | Vitamin C: 58mg | Calcium: 132mg | Iron: 4mg

Gluten Free, Low Carb + Keto, Meat + Chicken, Recipes, Video

About Dani Spies

Dani Spies is the founder and host of Clean & Delicious; a weekly cooking show on YouTube and a healthy eating blog that celebrates real, whole foods! She takes a holistic approach to health and wellness and is loved for her approachable, down to earth style both in and out of the kitchen.

Learn MoreWork With Me

Reader Interactions

a bowl filled with spaghetti squash, ground turkey and sautéed veggies
an easy turkey skillet dinner
how to make a one pan turkey zucchini meal

Yum! I love this recipe.

    Leave a review Cancel reply

    If you loved this recipe please leave a comment and star rating below. Questions are also welcome. Cheers!

    Recipe Rating




    Comments

  1. Krista says

    October 14, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    5 stars
    Hey Dani-

    Thanks for the inspiration! I was actually already cooking up some ground beef (with no real plan) and decided to check your site and voila – half and hour later I am eating a skillet meal over spaghetti squash!

    My favourite thing about this recipe is that all the ingredients are the staples that I normally have hanging around the house. I added in some extra veggies I had and was so happy to come out with a satisfying meal after going in with no plan.

    Much appreciated!

    Reply
  2. jade says

    October 15, 2008 at 4:04 am

    5 stars
    Serve with spaghetti squash looks splendid! But you know what? That would count only one dish but not a meal where I live. We need two more dishes (usually one green vegi, one egg/toufou) and soup to call it a meal. (You must have guessed where I live by now) A variety of skillet can be made out of it, such as using meat balls or chopped pork instead of turky, use cucumber instead of zuchinni, hot chili or a sprinkle of mixed nuts can be added…. thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  3. Dani says

    October 15, 2008 at 6:39 am

    5 stars
    Krista – Sounds like we had perfect timing;)!!

    Jade – Hmmm, where do you live?? Maybe China…. I’m not sure, but would love to know!

    Reply
  4. Kaman says

    October 19, 2008 at 3:34 pm

    5 stars
    Hi Dani, I tried this but since I didn’t have fresh tomatoes or zucchini on hand, I used diced canned tomatoes and red skin potatoes and celery instead. It was still really yummy though! Super fast and easy!

    Reply
  5. Roni says

    October 19, 2008 at 7:28 pm

    5 stars
    You are right, my kind of meal! :~)

    Reply
  6. jade says

    October 20, 2008 at 1:55 am

    5 stars
    Hi, Dani, you guessed near-I live in Taiwan. It’s as hot as SoCal this October. The temperature’s been above 80’s for two weeks. I had cold noodles with sesame sauce yesterday. Too hot to have anything else.

    Reply
    • Brandi says

      July 19, 2019 at 9:47 pm

      5 stars
      AWESOME !!!!!!!‍♂️

      Reply
      • Dani says

        July 20, 2019 at 5:21 am

        So glad you enjoyed it Brandi!

        Reply
        • Stacey says

          July 27, 2019 at 1:10 am

          5 stars
          Awesome! I topped rice noodles with it. I have to say I have made 6 of your dishes and you are 6 for 6! My picky 4yo has eaten every one of them! Thank you so much for your videos.

          Reply
          • Dani says

            August 6, 2019 at 5:31 am

            Yay! I’m so glad to hear that Stacey. Thanks for letting me know!

  7. Jameson says

    October 21, 2008 at 4:31 pm

    5 stars
    Dani
    would it be ok to cook the turkey separately to get rid of all the juice?

    Reply
  8. Dani says

    October 23, 2008 at 6:53 am

    5 stars
    Kaman – Glad you liked it!!

    Roni – I thought it might be;).

    Jade – Wow, Tawain!! How cool is the internet?!

    Jameson – Yes, you could definitely do the turkey in a different pan, but let me first say that the extra lean turkey is so lean that it doesn’t let off to much liquid and practically no fat.

    Reply
  9. GIGI says

    November 4, 2008 at 4:51 pm

    5 stars
    HOW FUNNY – I just check an e-mail from a while ago… and it was this recipe… and oddly enough – this is exactly what I am having for dinner – even before watching the recipe! We are just on the same page!

    Reply
  10. Shawna says

    February 9, 2009 at 3:04 pm

    5 stars
    This is an awesome recipe. I tried spaghetti squash for the first time ever with this recipe and loved it! I made extra and leftovers are great mixed in with scrambled eggs the next day.

    Reply
  11. Megan says

    May 29, 2012 at 12:22 pm

    5 stars
    Maybe I’m missing something, but how in the heck are there 70 grams of carbs in this recipe, much less half of it?

    Reply
    • Dani says

      May 29, 2012 at 8:44 pm

      5 stars
      That was a misprint! thanks for pointing it out… I just updated the stats! You’ll notice that the carbs are waaaayyy less;)

      Reply
  12. Cathy says

    January 10, 2014 at 5:46 pm

    5 stars
    This was fabulous. I also added some green pepper strips and rinsed garbanzo beans and a handful of quina since I had extra. Sooooooo good! Froze the leftovers!

    Reply
  13. Jennifer says

    July 1, 2018 at 11:33 pm

    5 stars
    Made this tonight for dinner! It was absolutely delicious!! I did add spinach and some extra garlic. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

    Reply
    • Dani says

      July 17, 2018 at 10:38 am

      5 stars
      Yay! So glad you enjoyed it.

      Reply
  14. James says

    August 24, 2018 at 2:05 am

    5 stars
    Made this for dinner tonight. It was excellent! Thanks, Dani.

    Reply
    • Dani says

      August 25, 2018 at 8:48 am

      5 stars
      So glad you enjoyed it James!!

      Reply
  15. Elena says

    September 2, 2018 at 11:55 am

    5 stars
    This turned out to be scrumptious meal! I accidentally grabbed petite diced tomatoes instead of regular diced tomatoes but it still turned out well. I will definitely be making this again in the future.

    Reply
    • Dani says

      September 18, 2018 at 10:42 am

      5 stars
      So glad you enjoyed it Elena!

      Reply
  16. Julie wood says

    September 6, 2018 at 7:45 am

    5 stars
    It was great. It made my crazy day easy. Especially, with two grown children.

    Reply
    • Dani says

      September 18, 2018 at 10:47 am

      5 stars
      Yay!! Mission accomplished. SO glad you all enjoyed this.

      Reply
  17. Cheryl says

    September 9, 2018 at 7:14 pm

    5 stars
    Made this for dinner tonight and it was so good and full of flavor. I used chayote squash instead of zucchini and served it over spaghetti squash. So good!!!!

    Reply
  18. Janet Wilson says

    November 13, 2018 at 7:18 pm

    5 stars
    Very good, I added Cumin and cayenne pepper and will make this dish again.

    Reply
    • Dani says

      November 14, 2018 at 9:36 pm

      5 stars
      Sounds delicious!

      Reply
  19. Linda says

    February 8, 2019 at 9:05 pm

    5 stars
    Made this for dinner tonight. SOOOOO yummy! I halved the recipe because it was just for my husband and I. I added a little marinara and parmesan to the mixture while simmering just for a little extra flavor. Then mixed in about a cup of cooked Barilla whole grain penne pasta before serving and topped with fresh grated Parmesan. Thank you so much for this recipe. Will definitely make again!! Love your recipes and videos!!

    Reply
    • Dani says

      February 13, 2019 at 8:04 am

      5 stars
      So glad you enjoyed this Linda! I love all the tweaks you made, sounds delicious!

      Reply
  20. Nickie says

    February 19, 2019 at 5:11 pm

    5 stars
    I tried this recipe and I love it! I served it with cauliflower rice.

    Reply
    • Dani says

      February 25, 2019 at 6:47 am

      5 stars
      Cauliflower rice is perfect! So glad you enjoyed this one. Thanks for letting me know.

      Reply
  21. John K says

    July 1, 2019 at 6:43 pm

    5 stars
    Made this tonight and LOVED it… made it with the first fresh yellow squash and zuchinni from our garden too! Will make it again when the tomatoes start coming instead of using the canned. Served over whole wheat pasta.

    Reply
    • Dani says

      July 2, 2019 at 3:39 pm

      5 stars
      So glad you enjoyed it!! Love that you used the veggies from your garden.

      Reply
  22. Luke Constantino says

    July 17, 2019 at 9:10 am

    5 stars
    It sounds very healthy, very tasty! I’m going to give this a try this evening for my family… Thank you.

    Reply
    • Dani says

      July 17, 2019 at 11:39 am

      It’s really delicious and very easy to make. I hope you enjoy it!

      Reply
      • Luke Constantino says

        July 18, 2019 at 3:16 pm

        5 stars
        AWESOME ~ Okay, you got me, it was light, high protein, delicious… Thank you! It a keeper! Have any other really cool fast recipes?

        Reply
  23. Luke Constantino says

    July 18, 2019 at 3:22 pm

    5 stars
    Nevermind. Saw your FB page… I feel stupid, lol! You have a new fan!

    Reply
  24. Mary says

    September 8, 2019 at 9:31 pm

    My family and I really enjoyed this recipe. I am making it again this week.

    Reply
    • Dani says

      September 27, 2019 at 11:54 am

      So glad to hear it Mary!! Enjoy.

      Reply
  25. Jenna says

    September 8, 2019 at 10:32 pm

    5 stars
    I made it tonight and it went great! Quick question – when storing the left overs, are you supposed to drain the liquid? There was quite a bit in the pan. I didn’t add any additional liquid/water, but there was a lot in there.

    Best,
    Jenna

    Reply
    • Dani says

      September 27, 2019 at 11:53 am

      It’s really up to you Jenna! The liquid comes from the zucchini (they hold a ton of liquid). I would probably just pour it off 🙂

      Reply
  26. Diana J Dunham says

    September 19, 2019 at 10:03 am

    Hi Dani,
    How many does this serve or what is the serving size?

    Reply
    • Dani says

      September 27, 2019 at 11:39 am

      Hi Diana! We enjoy this for a family of four (and often have leftovers).

      Reply
  27. Nicole says

    October 23, 2019 at 4:45 pm

    The recipe doesn’t seem to have how to cook it just the ingredients. Am I missing something?

    Reply
    • Dani says

      October 24, 2019 at 7:31 pm

      Sorry for the confusion Nicole! I just fixed that 🙂

      Reply
  28. Eunice Stokes says

    February 9, 2020 at 12:11 pm

    No oregano in the Ingredients section but you say “add oregano” – How much oregano?

    Reply
    • Dani says

      March 17, 2020 at 12:59 pm

      Sorry about that Eunice! I would add a tsp, but you can do it to taste.

      Reply
  29. Stephanie says

    February 9, 2020 at 7:23 pm

    5 stars
    Made this tonight for dinner and my whole family loved it! I can see this being very versatile, that could be served over almost anything just not spaghetti squash. Definitely taking the leftovers for lunch!

    Reply
    • Dani says

      March 10, 2020 at 10:13 am

      Sounds wonderful, Stephanie! So good to hear that the whole family enjoyed it!

      Reply
  30. Karentheresa Morrow says

    October 7, 2020 at 5:50 pm

    Going off the delicious recipe and these reviews, I’m making this tonight! I have all these ingredients and was searching for a meal for them. Thanks in advance!!

    Reply
  31. Erica says

    October 28, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    5 stars
    Prematurely leaving a 5 star rating. It’s cooking now and smells FANTASTIC!!!

    Reply
    • Dani says

      October 30, 2020 at 8:49 am

      Yay!! I hope you enjoyed it Erica. Thank you for taking the time to rate and review:)

      Reply
  32. Irene says

    March 8, 2021 at 6:41 pm

    5 stars
    I tried it just like the recipe said and it was delicious. Was wondering if you can use chicken in place of ground turkey?

    Reply
    • Dani says

      March 8, 2021 at 7:59 pm

      That would totally work!

      Reply
    • Joan A. says

      March 8, 2022 at 6:19 am

      So you add oregano AND Italian seasoning?

      Reply
      • Dani says

        March 11, 2022 at 11:24 am

        I do 🙂

        Reply
  33. Sherri says

    August 18, 2022 at 10:14 pm

    5 stars
    Dani, found your recipe a few weeks ago and made it tonight with our fresh zucchini. It was fabulous, my hubbie did not even know it was turkey & not hamburger! Win Win for me! I did add more fresh grated garlic & fresh basil from the garden. When mixing it all together, I opted to hold the zucchini back and let the turkey, tomato’s & herbs simmer together to evaporate some of the juice from the tomato’s. Once water it was all gone and I had a thicker sauce, I added the zucchini knowing it would thin the sauce some. This worked perfect! I top with Parmesan Reggiano big flakes & a dusting of red pepper flakes! This will be used weekly until zucchini plants are no longer producing! Thank you for the quick, easy, nutritious & healthy meal!! I love your recipes, big fan here 🙂

    Reply
  34. Lorelle says

    August 20, 2022 at 7:20 pm

    This was absolutely delicious! I didn’t have enough zucchini so I added some yellow bell pepper but otherwise followed the recipe. So easily and everyone loved it!

    Reply

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