Enjoy a delicious and satisfying but incredibly simple meal with this Turkey Picadillo recipe! Made in less than an hour and filled with nutrient-dense and flavorful ingredients.

A Quick Look

Recipe Name: Turkey Picadillo
Ready In: 70 minutes
Serves: 8 servings
Main Ingredients: olive oil, yellow onion, red pepper, garlic, ground turkey, smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin
Why You'll Love It: Enjoy a delicious and satisfying but incredibly simple meal with this Turkey Picadillo recipe! Made in less than an hour and filled with nutrient-dense and flavorful ingredients.

The perfect at home ground turkey picadillo recipe

There's nothing better than a homecooked meal that comes together in less than an hour and is all made in one pot right on the stove. That being said, this turkey picadillo is great for weeknights! It's ready in just about an hour and can be served a number of ways depending on your family's preferences.

And if you want to make things even easier, throw this in your slow cooker! Just brown the turkey, and then add everything into your crockpot and enjoy at dinner time. It doesn't get easier than that.

Ingredients in this homemade turkey picadillo

This recipe is made with everything flavorful and delicious like onion, garlic, and green olive!

Olive oil: This recipe begins with 2 tablespoon of olive oil, which is used to cook the veggies.
Onion: Next up is ½ of large yellow onion. It needs to be diced.
Pepper: Follow the onion with 1 diced red bell pepper.
Garlic: Add flavor with 4 cloves of minced garlic.
Ground turkey: For the meat, you will need 2 lbs of ground turkey. I use the 93/7 lean type.
Spices: For spices, use 2 teaspoon of smoked paprika, 2 teaspoon of chili powder, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper.
Green olives: Next, dice up 1 cup of green olives.
Raisins: ½ cup of raisins add a unique but delicious flavor component to the dish.
Diced tomatoes: Add tomato flavor with 1 can of diced tomatoes.
Tomato sauce: Then, follow the diced tomatoes with 7oz of tomato sauce. Tomato sauce comes in 15oz cans, so you'll need about ½ of one can.
Chicken stock: Last but not least, you will need 1 cup of chicken stock.

Photo of ingredients for Turkey Picadillo with labels.

Tools needed to make this picadillo

To prepare this recipe, you will need a cutting board, chopping knife, a dutch oven or pot, and a stirring utensil. Then, to measure the ingredients, grab 1 tsp, 1 tbsp, ½ cup, and 1 cup sized cups.

How to make ground turkey picadillo

Turkey picadillo is made similarly to how you'd make taco filling or other dishes with ground meat. It's all made right on the stove!

To begin, heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven or pot. Once hot, add the onions and peppers and cook for 4-5 minutes.

Next, add the minced garlic and ground turkey and cook until the turkey is no longer pink.

Add the spices, olives, raisins, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chicken stock. Stir until everything is well combined. Let simmer over medium heat for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally throughout.

Serve over rice.

Additional ingredients and substitution options

Want to add to your turkey picadillo? Feel free to add red onion, avocado, jalapeños, cilantro, or even black beans to contribute to the flavor!

When it comes to substitutions, you have a lot of options with this recipe.

Yellow onion
Yellow onion can be substituted with red or white onion if preferred. Red will give a stronger onion flavor.

Red bell pepper
Though red bell pepper is preferred here, you can also use green, yellow, or orange.

Ground turkey
Feel free to use any ground meat in this recipe, whether it's turkey, chicken, or beef.

Green olives & raisins
Feel free to omit the olives and/or raisins if you're not a fan. These omissions won't mess up your recipe!

Chicken stock
Last but not least, feel free to use vegetable stock if preferred over chicken stock.

How to serve this turkey picadillo recipe

You can enjoy this dish a number of ways.

As is: This meal can be eaten right from a bowl like chili!
With tortillas: Enjoy it taco or burrito style inside corn or flour tortillas.
With chips: It's perfect for dipping!
Over rice: You can enjoy picadillo over any type of rice.

Storing leftovers

Great news: turkey picadillo is great for freezing! This makes it a wonderful option for making ahead and saving for later. To do so, simply prepare as directed, and then allow to cool before adding to a freezer bag or container. When ready to enjoy, simply thaw and then reheat on the stove.

To store leftovers, place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

If you liked this recipe, you'll want to try these!

There are more healthy turkey meals where this one came from! Here are some great options to try.

Recipe by Erin Morrissey and Photos by The Mindful Hapa

Erin Antoniak