These sesame ground turkey bowls are a flavorful meal and best of all, ready in less than 20 minutes!
This ground turkey recipe is combined with coleslaw mix (or cabbage), ginger, and garlic in a sweet and savory sauce. This reheats well making it perfect for lunches throughout the week.
A Healthy Ground Turkey Recipe
As much as we love a perfect stir fry recipe, we love also love a recipe that is on the table in about 20 minutes.
- Rice bowls are popular grab-and-go items because they have all the protein, veggies, and fiber to stay energized all day.
- Make it at home and get that same restaurant flavor for pennies.
- This ground turkey recipe has options for other mix-ins, toss in any veggies that are in the fridge!
- Make as a bowl, a lettuce wrap, a burrito, a taco, or roll into a rice paper wrap.
- Serve like a taco-style buffet and place bowls of toppings and mix-ins around the prepared ground turkey mixture and everyone can DIY.
Ingredients and Variations
GROUND TURKEY – Ground turkey is healthy and low in calories but this will work with ground pork or chicken as well.
VEGETABLES – Pre-packaged coleslaw mix is good for a lot more than coleslaw! It is an inexpensive addition and a timesaver in this recipe (and other soups, stir fries and stews)!
Bulk up the recipe with additional finely chopped broccoli, cauliflower, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, even a handful of green peas or chopped water chestnuts instead!
SAUCE – This sauce is so easy to make but if you’re in a hurry, use either teriyaki sauce or stir fry sauce. We love a drizzle of hoisin before serving.
Serve this over a base of fried rice, white rice, quinoa, or brown rice.
How to Make Ground Turkey Bowls
For a quick last-minute supper or a high protein lunch, these are an easy fix that comes together super quick:
- Cook turkey with ginger & garlic per the recipe below.
- Stir in coleslaw mix & cook until the coleslaw is slightly softened.
- Move the turkey mixture to one side of the pan & add the sauce. Cook until thickened and stir into the turkey.
- Garnish with green onions, sesame seeds, and hoisin sauce. Serve over rice or noodles.
PRO TIP: Serve with steamed broccoli, pineapple tidbits, Szechuan Green Beans, or bok choy!
Tips for Turkey Bowls
- Finely crumbled turkey works best in this recipe so it can absorb the sauce and make a better filling.
- If using a variety of veggies, cut them to the same size so they cook at the same rate.
- Feel free to use chopped leftover Roast Turkey from a Thanksgiving or holiday dinner, instead of ground turkey. Simply chop it finely, before adding to the sauce instead of cooking it with the onion and garlic mixture.
Leftovers
Save leftovers in an air-tight container for up to 3-4 days and reheat over the stove, adding a splash of soy sauce or sriracha to boost the flavor.
Freeze cooled leftovers in single-sized freezer bags with the date labeled on the outside for up to 4 weeks. Thaw, reheat, and season before serving.
More Easy Stir Fries
- Honey Garlic Chicken – juicy & flavorful
- Quick Turkey Lettuce Wraps – light & healthy
- Sesame Broccoli Stir Fry – perfect side dish
- Egg Roll in a Bowl – a low carb fave
- Easy Mongolian Beef – a reader favorite
Did you love these Sesame Ground Turkey Bowls? Be sure to leave a rating & a comment below!
Sesame Ground Turkey Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 ½ teaspoons minced fresh ginger
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 2 cups coleslaw mix
- 2 green onions sliced
- cooked rice or noodles for serving
- hoisin sauce and sesame seeds for garnish
Sauce
- ⅓ cup water
- ⅓ cup beef broth or chicken broth
- ¼ cup less sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon sriracha
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
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Cook turkey, ginger, and garlic until no pink remains. Drain fat.
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While the turkey is browning, measure and mix sauce ingredients except cornstarch and set aside.
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Add coleslaw mix to the turkey and cook 2-3 minutes or just until slightly softened.
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Move the turkey and coleslaw to the edges of the pan. Stir the sauce mixture and add it to the center of the pan cooking until hot and bubbly.
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Mix 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of corn starch to make a slurry and whisk into the sauce until it reaches the desired consistency. Simmer for 2 minutes.
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Remove from heat and spoon over rice or noodles. Drizzle with hoisin sauce and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Entree, Lunch
Cuisine American, Asian
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Interesting dish. Needed a bit more flavor. The hoisin sauce should maybe be added to the entire mixture instead of just using it as a garnish.
where does hoisen sauce used?
The hoisin is drizzled overtop for serving.
This is such a delicious dish & so easy to throw together. Made it a few months ago and the other day my young adult granddaughter requested this for her birthday meal. Since she is allergic to beef I have strived to find new recipes using ground turkey & this one has now been added to our recipe box!
My husband and I enjoyed this recipe. Was easy to make . I added bok choy as the extra vegetable. We also added a fine diced jalapeño pepper for extra spice.
That sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing, Kathy.
How much of the hoisen sauce do you use?
The hoisin sauce is just to taste. I would add about a 1/2 to 1 tablespoon drizzled on top of the bowl.
Definitely going to make this again!!! So flavourfull.
My family loves this. I add 2 scrambled eggs and chopped peanuts n it’s delicious!
Delicious!! Super easy for a family of 4.
So easy and so delicious !!!!
So happy you enjoyed them, Mary!
This particular one was okay but probably because of my tweaks. I used coconut aminos rather than soy sauce and added extra cabbage. It was sweeter than I prefer but that’s what coconut aminos do.
Thanks for leaving a comment, Melissa!
I made this tonight and my entire family loved it! It’s so hard finding meals everyone enjoys, so I was incredibly happy when everyone ate it ALL!
That makes me so happy to hear, Leslie!
can you sub coconut aminos for the soy sauce?
That will work just fine!
Where does the hoisin sauce come in? It’s not in the step by step directions.
We use the hoisin as garnish and drizzle on top before serving.
Well, this was a triumph! I used broccoli slaw as that’s what I had on hand. I also halved the recipe (as I’m a single) and added a couple of sliced mushrooms and a handful of bean sprouts (as I had them). With some brown rice on the side, a very fast and filling meal. Could also be used as filling for a wrap or lettuce leaves with hoisin on the side. Yummy!
Sounds delicious, Jocelyn. Thanks for sharing!
So good and super easy! Followed just as written. Will be a favorite around here!
So happy to hear that, Teresa!