About This Dish

This rich and cozy Ground Turkey Taco Casserole is for Mexican food enthusiasts. It has big, robust flavors.
I’m here with a ground turkey version of my Ground Beef Taco Casserole to celebrate cheesy delight and classic taco flavors.

The mix of chewy rice, robust beans, fresh veggies like onion, garlic, and bell peppers, plus lots of cheese and salsa is a gooey party for your taste senses!

One of the best things about the dish is that it doesn’t take much time to get ready. You only need to saute the onion and ground turkey a little bit before putting them all in a casserole dish, stirring them, and baking them!

Wow!

I think it’s a great idea to make this Mexican-inspired dish on the weekend so you can have it for lunch at work or on hectic weeknights.

After a long day at work, just heat up a big serving and enjoy the taco goodness.

Ingredients

Let’s go over the short list of ingredients for the ground turkey taco casserole. The good news is that you can find all of these simple ingredients at any grocery store.

• Ground Turkey: The meal’s lean protein comes from one pound of lean ground turkey. You can use either 99% lean or 97% lean; both work well.
• Fresh vegetables: yellow onion, fresh garlic, and bell peppers give this cheese dish a fresh taste.
• Cooking oil: such as olive oil or avocado oil, to sauté the onion and brown the meat. Avocado oil is preferred for omega-3 fatty acids and high smoke point.
• Salsa and Green Chilis: Use your favorite store-bought tomato salsa and a can of green chilies to add a lot of flavor.
• Black beans: Adds pleasant texture, dietary fiber, and makes it filling.
• Uncooked white rice: The star element that unites all ingredients. Use long-grain white rice uncooked. Brown rice requires longer cooking time.
• Stock: Chicken broth is recommended to cook the rice, but beef broth or water also works.
• Colby Jack Cheese: About three cups shredded cheese, preferably freshly shredded block cheese for better melt and creamy gooey texture. Cheddar, Monterey jack, or pepper jack are good alternatives.
• Chili powder and sea salt: Add taco flavor. Choose chili powder to match spice preference.

• ○ 1 tablespoon of olive oil or avocado oil
• ○ 1 yellow onion, diced
• ○ 1 pound ground turkey
• ○ 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• ○ 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ○ 3 tablespoons chili powder
• ○ 2 cups chicken broth
• ○ 1 cup of salsa*
• ○ ⅔ cup of white rice
• ○ 1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained
• ○ 1 (7-oz) can green chilis
• ○ 1 tsp sea salt to taste
• ○ 3 cups grated colby jack cheese
• ○ 1 ripe avocado sliced
• ○ 3 stalks green onion chopped
• ○ ½ cup sour cream
• ○ ½ cup to 1 cup salsa

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 and spray a 13” x 9” casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. Heat the avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté until softened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the uncooked ground turkey to the skillet and use a spatula to cut it into bite-sized bits. The ground turkey doesn’t need to be cooked through just yet, but heat it until much of the pink is gone. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
3. Transfer the diced bell pepper, minced garlic, chili powder, chicken stock, salsa, uncooked white rice, drained black beans, green chiles and sea salt to the prepared baking dish. Stir everything well until incorporated.

4. Stir in the ground turkey and onion mixture and sprinkle the cheese on top.
5. Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.
6. Remove the baking dish from the oven and remove the foil.
7. Place the oven on the High Broil setting and broil the casserole for 5 to 8 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and turns slightly golden brown. At first, the casserole will look a little watery, but as it rests, the rice will soak up the water.

Serving Suggestions & Tips

Don’t forget to get some of your favorite taco toppings, such fresh cilantro, green onions, tomatoes, sour cream, additional cheese, and avocado.

Serve the casserole with your choice of toppings such as chopped or sliced avocado, guacamole, black olives, corn chips, sour cream, salsa, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, olives, pico de gallo, more shredded cheese, etc.

You may also serve the casserole with refried beans and flour or corn tortillas so that people can build burritos or tacos out of it.

I love making this turkey taco casserole ahead of time because it tastes even better the next day and the two or three days after that.

You may keep leftover casserole in the fridge for up to a week in an airtight container. You can also put the casserole dish in plastic wrap or the foil you used to bake it to keep it safe.

To make evening meals easier, try putting each serving in its own meal prep container.

Recipe Variations

• Instead of ground turkey, use ground chicken or ground beef.
• Change the chili powder to taco seasoning.
• Instead of black beans, use pinto beans or kidney beans, or leave the beans out completely.
• Use 2.5 cups of pre-cooked brown rice instead of white rice, and cut the chicken broth down to ½ cup if you like brown rice better.
• For fewer calories and less fat, cut the cheese down to 1 to 2 cups.
• If you like, you can use 2 tablespoons of garlic powder instead of raw garlic.
• Instead of one cup of salsa, add taco sauce or enchilada sauce.
• Instead of baking it, make this a ground turkey skillet by cooking it on the stove.
• Use 3 to 4 cups of shredded leftover turkey from Thanksgiving instead of ground beef.

Low-Carb Option:

Are you looking for a casserole recipe that doesn’t have a lot of carbs? This is what you can do.

Use 4 cups of cauliflower rice instead of rice. You may prepare riced cauliflower yourself by chopping up cauliflower florets in a food processor, or you can buy a few bags of it from the grocery store’s freezer area.

We require less liquid since that we aren’t utilizing rice anymore. Use between half a cup and a full cup of broth. Use the amount that appears right for the filling of the dish. You want it to look wet but not too watery.

Final Thoughts

Make this simple casserole the next time you want some cheesy love or Mexican food!

This Mexican dish is an easy way to make quick midweek dinners that will impress the whole family.