This Korean Ground Turkey recipe is a fast, healthy, and convenient family weeknight dinner. With no prepping this meal comes together in only 20 minutes! Great served along with steamed vegetables, this is a meal you will come back to time and time again!
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So this recipe is a total cheater recipe, it is many times removed from the original Korean Beef that it is based after, so before anyone calls me out on it not be authentic I 100% realize this. I was most interested in coming up with a cheap, healthy, and fast version of this beloved dish that anyone can make. Korean Ground Turkey & Rice Bowls are so incredibly easy, it is a recipe that literally anyone could make and it is done fast, like dinner on the table in 20 minutes fast.
So why’d I do all these switches:
• I wanted to ditch the red meat and go with a leaner white meat option.
• Ground turkey where I live & shop (costal New Hampshire Market Basket’s) is way cheaper then ground beef. This might not be the case for everyone everywhere but I have come accustomed to grabbing for the ground turkey instead of beef.
• You can use very low fat ground turkey and it will still taste amazing, a lot of times ground turkey can be a little tasteless, not in this recipe the sauce adds so much flavor, to quote my husband, ‘I didn’t know you could make ground turkey taste this good’.
• I tried to keep the sauce simple but I did change out the traditional brown sugar for honey. I try to keep my family away from refined sugars and try to stick with natural sweeteners if necessary. In this recipe my husband actually preferred the honey flavor over the brown sugar flavor!
Overall I hope you enjoy these Korean Ground Turkey & Rice Bowls for a super quick weekday dinner or lunch!
How do I make Korean Ground Turkey?
With essentially no prep this meal comes together incredibly easy!
To start you will want to get your rice cooking, depending on your method or package instructions this will likely take longer than then it takes to cook the turkey, so get it started first. Follow the package instructions or hop over to my post about How to Cook Rice on the Stovetop for an easy method!
To get the turkey going you will heat a large skillet over medium heat. Crumble and brown the ground turkey 8-10 minutes until fully cooked. Drain out grease if needed.
While turkey is cooking, make the sauce. Add garlic, honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, red pepper flakes, and black pepper to a bowl. Mix together.
Once turkey is fully cooked add the sauce to the skillet. Cook 3-4 minutes until the sauce thickens/absorbs into the turkey.
To serve fluff and scoop rice into bowls. Divide the turkey over the rice and garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.
Serve immediately and enjoy! Goes great with steamed broccoli or carrots.
TIPS & TRICKS:
• For the rice: use whatever rice (or grain) you prefer. In my opinion white rice tastes best but might not be the best option for you, choose brown rice or even cauliflower rice for a healthier option.
• This dish goes great with some steamed broccoli
• Remember to start your rice cooking before you start on the ground Turkey, it takes longer 🙂
• I have gotten a lot of feedback that people love to double the sauce, so by all means double the sauce!
Korean Ground Turkey & Rice Bowls
flavorful Korean style ground turkey served over steaming rice and garnished with green onions & sesame seeds
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 2 cups uncooked rice (white or brown)
- 4 cloves garlic, grated or minced
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- green onion & sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Cook rice according to package directions.
- In a large skillet, over medium heat brown the ground turkey 8-10 minutes until fully cooked.
- While turkey is cooking, make the sauce. Add garlic, honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, red pepper flakes, and black pepper to a bowl. Mix together.
- Once turkey is fully cooked add the sauce to the skillet. Cook 3-4 minutes until the sauce thickens/absorbs into the turkey.
- Serve the turkey over the rice. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Amount Per Serving: Calories: 617.14Total Fat: 11.64gSaturated Fat: 2.79gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 120mgSodium: 943.64mgCarbohydrates: 96.83gFiber: 0.32gSugar: 17.51gProtein: 30.33g
Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.
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Peace & Love
Lauren, The Schmidty Wife
(post updated 04/30/2019 to include additional information)
P.S. Looking for other quick dinners? Try my 20 Minute Chicken Stir Fry, One Pot Southwest Quinoa or my Thai Peanut Chicken & Veggie Bowls.
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I came across this recipe searching up recipes for some ground turkey I needed to use up and normally I wouldnt leave a review but had to. This was absolutely delightful and I actually had all the ingredients here and very pleased with how this tasted. Definitely will be making again! Thank you for sharing this!
I made this recipe tonight and it’s a keeper! I needed something different for ground turkey night- tired of sloppy joes and chilli. I did double the sauce and I’m so glad I did. The only thing I did differently was I used a tsp fresh grated ginger (2 tsp for the double recipe) in place of the 1/4 tsp ground ginger, just because I’m a huge fan and always have the root in the freezer. Thanks again!
So happy you liked it Erin! 🙂
This was exactly the kind of quick, easy recipe I needed for tonight! It was delicious for our lovers of spicy foods, but it was too hot for the kiddos and the flavor wimps.
Next time I make this, I’ll leave out the red pepper and double (or maybe even triple!) the sauce. I think that’ll make it perfect for our family.
Question, we all loved the recipe BUT my kids wanted more sauce. Is there a way to increase the amount of sauce without increasing the salt (soy) content? The flavor was so yummy but I’m afraid to double the sauce or maybe that would be fine. Please advise and thank you!
Great question! I would recommend grabbing a bottle of low-sodium soy sauce if you wanted to double the sauce, this would automatically reduce the sodium intake by about 40%! This lets you double the sauce while the sodium content would be much less than if you used regular soy sauce.
I was googling recipes for a batch of ground turkey that was about to go bad and stumbled across this recipe. I used to make a beef version of this a few years back but grew sick of it- this sauce is so much better! We’ll be throwing it into our normal rotation, thanks so much it was delicious!!
Yay! I am so happy you found it Rachel! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
We are always looking for ways to use ground turkey. This did not disappoint. I added lime to the sauce and served with a slice of lime and thinly sliced radishes, along with the green onions and sesame seeds. I also double the recipe for the sauce. It’s a keeper. Thanks!
Thanks so much! I love the idea of adding radishes and lime!
I made this for my family tonight, i doubled the recipe, and instead of 2/4 honey i did 1/4 brown sugar, 1/4 honey. Toddler Approved! Amazing with shredded carrots.
I made it! It’s super easy and delicious. I had a carrot in the frig, so I cut that up in tiny pieces and cooked with the meat.
You don’t season the ground turkey? No salt, pepper, or any other Korean seasoning? All seasoning just in the sauce?
I always get nervous when I see a Korean dish because I have tried many that fall flat on flavor. This dish was very flavorful. I substituted to low sodium soy sauce and it still had a great flavor. Thank you for sharing! My kids have asked me to make it again and want the recipe.
I have a lot of food allergies and we were getting a little tired of the same ole same ole with turkey meat. I stumbled across this and made it. Super easy to make. I doubled the sauce as recommended by others but then we didn’t use it all. I did halve the red pepper and pepper because several of us like a little kick but our tummies do not. It was excellent! For my daughter’s bowl, I served it in traditional Korean bowl style — rice on bottom, and then sections on top with the meat, some corn, and some shredded lettuce. I may go all the way and add the egg next time. My daughter let me know that this was one of her favorite meals that I’ve ever made for her so I’ll definitely be making it again.
This was absolutely wonderful! Very flavorful. In fact, I’ve now made it so many times I had to come back and comment. Believe me, that’s not something I have EVER done, so kudos! My boyfriend is obsessed with this and it’s super easy to make. Thank you!
You just made my day! Thank you so much for coming and leaving a comment, I really do appreciate it!