If you’re looking for a flavorful and protein-packed weeknight dinner, my one-pot Turkey Spaghetti is easy and delicious! Swapping in lean ground turkey keeps the spaghetti sauce hearty without sacrificing flavor an ensures a healthy and balanced dinner.

This recipe calls for simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry and comes together in just over 30 minutes!

Your New Favorite Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

I grew up in the era of the late 90s and early 00s where every single parent was afraid of too much ground beef and too much fat. My mom made so many ground turkey swaps into what we were eating, like turkey chili or spaghetti and honestly I grew to love it!

I still love ground beef recipes, but I do like to mix things up and make swaps for leaner dinners to give me an overall more balanced diet. And let me tell you, this recipe does not sacrifice one bit of flavor for health!

My recipe for turkey spaghetti sauce leans into lots of flavor building so that the sauce stays lean, but still embraces what a classic spaghetti sauce should taste like. You won’t even miss the ground beef!

Helpful Cooking Tools

• 5-6 QT Dutch Oven
• Sharp Knife
• Cutting Board
• Colander

Key Recipe Ingredients

full list of ingredients, quantities & method in the recipe card at the end of the page.

• Ground turkey. I recommend going with a 93/7 or dark meat ground turkey. You do need a little extra fat in the meat so that it’s not dry.
• Calabrian chile paste. I think the spicy and flavor you get from Calabrian chilies is incredible, but you could swap in a bit of crushed red pepper flakes.
• Onion & garlic. I like to use yellow onion, but really any onion will work here. I prefer to use whole garlic cloves and slice them very thin because it imparts more garlic flavor.
• Tomato paste, crushed tomatoes and tomato passata. Using 3 different tomato products really adds to the richness of flavor here! The tomato paste adds incredible depth of flavor.
• Milk. I know this seems like an odd ingredient, but the milk helps break down the protein in the ground turkey to make the meat really tender and the sauce luscious.
• Fresh & dried herbs. A combination of dried oregano & basil plus fresh basil really takes the flavor of the sauce to the next level.
• Sugar. A tiny bit of sugar helps to balance out the acidity of all the tomato products.

The Best Method for Cooking Turkey Spaghetti

1. Bloom the aromatics & saute the ground turkey. Cooking the garlic, herbs, and Calabrian chile paste in some olive oil over low heat really brings the flavor out! I also like to cook turkey spaghetti in a dutch oven because of the even heat distribution and it’s big enough to accomodate the sauce and pasta.

Jenny’s Tip: When I brown the turkey, I like to break it up really finely! This allows the sauce to cling to the pasta better instead of having it in bigger chunks. Use a flat-edged wooden spatula to really smash and chop the ground turkey as it cooks.

2. Build the sauce and let it simmer. After the meat is cooked through, all that’s left to do is add everything else to the pot and give it a few good stirs. Cover, set the heat to low, and let the sauce simmer for a bit so all the flavors can come together.
3. Cook the pasta and finish it in the sauce. Any good restaurant chef knows that good pasta is not made by simply dumping sauce over cooked noodles! Cook your pasta to just shy of al dente, add some pasta water to the sauce, and let the pasta simmer in the finished sauce for a couple minutes. The noodles absorb some flavor from the sauce and just make the pasta so good.

Slow-Cooker Instructions

Though this recipe is meant to be a quick stovetop pasta sauce, there is definitely room to make this in the slow cooker over several hours!

To make turkey spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker, follow the steps up until browning the turkey and onion. Add that to the slow cooker with the remaining sauce ingredients and set the slow cooker to high for 1-2 hours, or low for 4-5 hours. Cook the pasta separately and let it finish in the sauce for 10-15 minutes.

How to Meal Prep & Store Turkey Spaghetti

I love turkey spaghetti as a healthy meal prep recipe! It’s hearty and well-balanced and holds up really well in the fridge. If I’m making this for meal prep, this is the only instance in which I don’t add the pasta to the sauce. Toss the cooked pasta with a little oil, distribute it into containers, and top it with some of the turkey spaghetti sauce.

If you plan to make and freeze the sauce, I recommend leaving the pasta out of the sauce. Place the cooled sauce in a freezer-safe ziplock bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and then re-warm with cooked pasta.

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If you do give this recipe a try, I love hearing about it! Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram.

More Ground Turkey Recipe to Try

Thanksgiving Turkey Meatballs
Turkey Meatloaf
Turkey Shepherd’s Pie
Southwest Turkey Burgers
Turkey Chili

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