Ground Turkey Recipes for Dinner: 25-Minute Greek Turkey Skillet with Lemon Rice

5 days ago

3 min read

Updated: 15 hours ago

Greek ground turkey skillet with lemon oregano rice, cherry tomatoes, feta and fresh dill

25 minutes, one pan, feeds four

The rice cooks in the same pan as the turkey, absorbing all the oregano and lemon as it goes. Toasting the dry rice in the pan fat for a minute first is what keeps the grains separate instead of sticky. Cherry tomatoes go in near the end so they hold their shape, and feta and dill finish it off the heat.

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Why this one works

Toasting dry rice in fat before adding liquid is the single technique that separates good skillet rice from gluey rice.
Lemon zest goes in early with the rice; lemon juice goes in at the end. Juice boiled for twenty minutes tastes bitter.
One pan, four servings, and almost everything is a pantry item.

At a glance

Prep time: 8 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Protein: 42g per serving
Calories: 642 per serving

Ingredients

Turkey

1.5 lb (680g) ground turkey, 93% lean
2 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Lemon rice

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1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice, rinsed and drained
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Zest of 2 lemons
1 bay leaf

To finish

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
Juice of 2 lemons
3/4 cup crumbled feta
1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, optional

Instructions

Brown the turkey. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high. Add the turkey, break it up once, then let it sit undisturbed for 3 minutes at a time so it browns. About 8 minutes total. Move it to a plate.
Soften the onion. Add the remaining oil and the onion to the same pan and cook 4 minutes until translucent, then the garlic for one more minute.
Toast the rice. Add the rinsed rice and stir constantly for 90 seconds, until the grains look chalky and smell slightly nutty and toasted. Do not skip this — it is what keeps the finished rice fluffy.
Season and add liquid. Add the oregano, cumin, salt and pepper and stir for 30 seconds. Pour in the chicken broth, add the lemon zest and bay leaf and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom clean.
Cover and cook. Return the turkey to the pan, stir once, then cover tightly, drop the heat to low and cook 15 minutes. Do not lift the lid — the trapped steam is doing the cooking.
Add the tomatoes. Scatter the cherry tomatoes over the top, replace the lid and cook 3 minutes more, just until they soften but still hold their shape.
Rest, then fluff. Take the pan off the heat and leave it covered for 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and fluff the rice with a fork.
Finish off the heat. Squeeze over the lemon juice and scatter with feta, dill, parsley and olives. Serve straight from the skillet.

Notes and swaps

Brown rice needs 40 minutes and an extra cup of broth. Add the tomatoes in the last 5 minutes either way.
Ground lamb instead of turkey is excellent here and much closer to the original.
Leftovers keep 4 days and are good cold, almost like a rice salad.