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Turkey Taco Bowl

November 9, 2020 by Melissa Leave a Comment

Turkey Taco Bowl
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Overview of turkey taco bowl on a white background and close up picture of the turkey. Pinterest image with the words "turkey taco bowls" and "easy meal prep."

This Turkey Taco Bowl is a super easy dinner and does well for meal prep. You can also swap the ground turkey for leftover turkey meat from Thanksgiving dinner.  

Who doesn’t love a good taco bowl? Filled to the brim with warm rice and beans, savory meat, spicy condiments, and creamy toppings, it’s one of my favorite meals. It’s also one of the best comfort foods and so easy to make. This recipe uses ground turkey, which is flavored with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. You can also adapt this recipe to use leftover turkey from Thanksgiving when you’re feeling tired of leftovers. Of course, this works for any type of ground meat or meat substitute as well.

Close up of the turkey taco bowl with avocado, corn, black beans, tomatoes and sour cream

Ingredients

Rice: You can use any rice you like, but to make this recipe even faster – you can use instant rice (brown or white). It’s just rice that is parboiled, so it cooks faster (usually within 10 minutes) on the stovetop.  

Lime juice: You’ll use some of the juice to season the cilantro-lime rice, and you’ll use the remaining juice to season the turkey.


Cilantro: This gives the rice and the turkey a nice fresh taste that goes perfectly with the lime juice.  

Turkey: This recipe calls for ground turkey, but you can also use leftover turkey from Thanksgiving to give leftovers new life. Of course, you could try other ground meat or meat alternatives instead, if you prefer.  

Chipotles in adobo sauce: Chipotle peppers are smoked jalapenos in a richly flavored adobo sauce. These come in a can in the Latin section of the grocery store. You’ll use one pepper from the can as well as a tablespoon of the sauce itself.

Seasonings: This recipe uses garlic cloves, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt/pepper. All of which are the basis of many Latin/Mexican-inspired dishes.

Toppings: Use whatever toppings you like. Some of my favorites are black beans, corn, cheese, sour cream, jarred salsa, avocado or guacamole, fresh tomatoes and/or peppers, and extra limes for squeezing on top of the bowl.

Close up of the turkey taco bowl with avocado, corn, black beans, tomatoes and sour cream

How to Make Turkey Taco Bowls

Once you have your rice cooked according to its package’s instructions, you’ll season it with lime and cilantro. To cook the meat, you’ll start by sauteing the garlic and the chipotle pepper in its adobo sauce. You’ll then add your ground turkey to cook and break it up with a spoon until it’s thoroughly cooked. If you’re using already cooked leftover turkey meat, you’ll just need to cook it long until to become warm. The meat is also seasoned with garlic, chili powder, cumin, and oregano while it cooks. Once it’s done, you’ll squeeze the rest of the lime juice on top. After layering the rice in the bowl with the meat on top, you’ll layer on any toppings you want to use. And that’s it – you have a Turkey Taco Bowl!

How to Meal Prep a Turkey Taco Bowl

If you’re using this recipe for meal prep, I would layer the rice, turkey, black beans, corn, or anything you would want to reheat up in the bowl when the time comes. I would put any dairy (like cheese or sour cream), avocado (or guacamole), jarred salsa, fresh tomatoes, and extra limes in a separate container to be added to the taco bowl once it’s reheated. Of course, you’ll store everything in the fridge until you’re ready to reheat.

overview of turkey taco bowl with tomatoes, cilantro and avocado on the side on a white background.
Print

Turkey Taco Bowl

overview of turkey taco bowl with tomatoes, cilantro and avocado on the side on a white background.
  • Author: Melissa
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20-30 minutes
  • Total Time: 25-35 minutes
  • Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
  • Category: meal prep, dinner, lunch
Scale

Ingredients

  • Cilantro Lime Rice
    • 1 cup of rice
    • Juice of 1 lime
    • Handful of cilantro chopped
  • Chipotle Turkey
    • 1 tbsp. olive oil
    • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
    • 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, chopped
    • 1 tbsp. adobo sauce (from the can of chipotles)
    • 1 lb. of ground turkey (or leftover turkey meat, chopped)
    • 2 tsp. chili powder
    • 1 tsp. cumin
    • ½ tsp. dried oregano
    • Salt/pepper, to taste
    • Juice of half a lime
  • Toppings of your choice like black beans (drained and rinsed), corn (drained and rinsed), cheese, sour cream (or Greek yogurt), jarred salsa, avocado, fresh tomatoes, and extra limes

Instructions

  1. Make rice according to packages instructions. Once the rice is done, squeeze the juice of half of a lime and fold in cilantro. Set aside.
  2. While rice is cooking, heat olive oil over medium-high heat, add garlic, chipotle pepper, and adobo sauce. Saute for about 1 minute. Add ground turkey (or leftover turkey meat) and season with chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt/pepper. Sauté until ground turkey is cooked through (breaking it up as it cooks), or the leftover turkey meat is warmed. Squeeze the remaining half of lime juice over the meat and remove from heat.
  3. Layer a bowl with rice, meat, and toppings. Serve.

Notes

If you’re using this recipe for meal prep, I would layer the rice, turkey, black beans, corn, or anything you would want to reheat up in the bowl when the time comes. I would put any dairy (like cheese or sour cream), avocado (or guacamole), jarred salsa, fresh tomatoes, and extra limes in a separate container to be added to the taco bowl once it’s reheated. Of course, you’ll store everything in the fridge until you’re ready to reheat.

Keywords: thanksgiving leftovers, turkey, chipotle, taco bowl

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Filed Under: Dinner, Meal Prep, Thanksgiving

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Melissa Macher, RDN

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