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This ground turkey tacos recipe is quick, easy, and has a delicious seasoning blend! With endless topping possibilities, these tasty and inexpensive tacos will go on repeat.
You may also enjoy my Shrimp Tacos, Salmon Tacos, or Steak Tacos next.
Why you’ll love it
These 20-minute ground turkey tacos are my go-to when I’m craving a fresh, satisfying meal. I make them so often that I don’t even bother measuring out the ingredients anymore! I adore piling them high with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, salsa, a squeeze of lime, etc.
Ground turkey is lean, mild flavored, and a great budget-friendly choice for this quick taco recipe. It also takes on the flavors of other ingredients well like in my homemade taco spice blend, which has smoked paprika and other savory goodness! It’s kid friendly too.
What you’ll need
- Olive oil – for pan frying
- Ground turkey – I typically prefer buying ground turkey thigh since it’s a bit more flavorful and tends to dry out less quickly, but ground turkey breast works great too
- Seasoning blend – mine is a simple blend of chili powder (most are mild), smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and ground cumin. You’re welcome to use a pre-made taco seasoning if you like, but controlling individual ingredients is my preference!
- Tomato paste – a pop of color
- For serving – tortillas and any of my suggested toppings below!
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Cast iron is my favorite to cook with. Here’s the skillet pictured. Use a spoon or meat masher too.
- This handy taco stand keeps them from falling over when serving.
- These nested magnetic measuring spoons stay put in the drawer!
How to make ground turkey tacos
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Prep the toppings as you go. To a skillet, add the oil, ground turkey, and spices. Cook until fully cooked through, breaking it up as you go along. Stir in the tomato paste. Season with salt & pepper as needed. Assemble the tacos with suggested toppings below.
Pro tip
To warm your flour tortillas all at once, wrap them in foil and warm in the oven at 375F as you’re working on the rest of the recipe. I like to warm corn tortillas in a skillet or (super carefully!) directly on the flame of my gas stove.
Toppings for ground turkey tacos
- Fresh toppings include iceberg or butter lettuce, chopped cilantro, sour cream or Greek yogurt, and tomatoes and/or salsa.
- Sliced avocado or my Homemade Guacamole, this Jalapeno Slaw, and scallions/red onions or my Quick Pickled Red Onions are other options.
- A squeeze of lime juice, cotija or Mexican blend cheese, and drizzle of hot sauce or my Chipotle Ranch Dressing works too!
Substitutions and variations
- I add tomato paste for a bit of color, but it’s optional. I often skip it when making a quick lunch. For a saucier taco recipe, use more tomato paste and some water. I load up my tacos with tons of toppings, so I keep the meat itself fairly dry.
- You can definitely switch up the seasonings and use more/less of each spice. I sometimes use southwest seasoning or Tex-Mex seasoning as well as part of the seasoning blend.
- Try my similar Super Easy Ground Beef Tacos instead.
Leftovers and storage
- Store any leftovers of the seasoned ground turkey in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Freeze the cooked mixture in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
- Reheat in a skillet until warmed through, adding a splash of broth or water if needed.
If you made these easy ground turkey tacos, please leave me a review below! Or tag me on Instagram so that I can see your photos.
Ground Turkey Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
- Salt & pepper to taste
- For serving: flour or corn tortillas
- Toppings (optional, to taste): sour cream, avocado, cilantro, salsa, hot sauce, onions, cheese, etc.
Instructions
- Prep your toppings beforehand or while the meat is cooking.
- Add the olive oil to a skillet along with the ground turkey and the spices. Cook, over medium-high heat, breaking the meat up as you go along, for about 8-10 minutes or until cooked through.
- When the meat is close to being done, stir in the tomato paste. Season with salt & pepper as needed.
- Assemble the tacos as desired and enjoy immediately.
Notes
- This recipe makes about 2-3 tacos/person (if you add plenty of toppings). I recommend doubling the recipe if you’re feeding very hungry folks.
- To warm flour tortillas all at once, wrap them in foil and place in a 375F oven while you’re prepping everything. I warm corn tortillas in a skillet or directly on the flame of my gas stove (very carefully!).
- Nutrition for this recipe is just for the taco meat as toppings and the size/brand/ingredients of tortillas vary.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
This recipe was originally published on October 12, 2015. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
Made these tonight and they were delicious everyone cleaned their plates. They asked for these again next week!! Rarely are the plates almost clean enough to put back in the cabinet. Thank you
You’re very welcome, Carol!
From what I could see under all the advertising it looks good. You are doing this for income we get it, but with all the ads we can’t read the recipe. Maybe a charge a little more for the ads & restrict the number. Omg they are even blocking this comment!
Can you please email me screenshots? natasha [at] saltandlavender.com
This is a favorite at my house! This spice blend is the perfect taco seasoning. Honestly, my picky son couldn’t Even tell it was turkey with the spices!! Delish and it’s on repeat in my family!! Thank you so much!
That’s so nice to hear!! 😀 Thank you for letting me know!
Our family Loves ground Turkey Tacos, they are the Best.
Thank you so much, Kathy!! 😀 Appreciate your review!
My protein-eating weight-lifting son says these are “da bomb” so big compliment to you! Very tasty seasoning.
Haha I love that!! 😀
I’ve been cooking with ground turkey for so long that ground beef tastes off when I use it! Always make tacos with turkey, my taco seasoning mix is similar to yours. But I’ve also put in a can of black beans, low sodium, drained, and rinsed. and canned or frozen corn. It stretches the meat to another meal, usually nachos!
We used to use taco shells,🌮 but have switched to taco salad 🥗 style, with the fixings on top, tomatoes,🍅 black olives, green onions and cheddar cheese. And guacamole 🥑 to the side. 😋 (Now I’m hungry, lol)
My other trick is using Greek Yogurt instead of sour cream. I use 0% plain Fage. It’s never been “called out “, and you can use it for anything you would use sour cream.
Love this recipe!! A keeper!! I was wondering how many ounces is in one serving?
I’m so glad you enjoyed the tacos! 🙂 Re: serving size, I’m not sure… I just plug the recipe ingredients into the built-in nutrition calculator and it divides it by the number of servings (4 in this case). I’m no math whiz or nutritionist, so your guess is as good as mine haha. 1 pound of turkey = 16 ounces, so I suppose a bit over 4 ounces of the turkey mixture per serving?
Delicious! Love this recipe…so easy and tasty
Thank you!! So glad you enjoyed it, Alison!
These look DELICIOUS! I’ve enjoyed chicken tacos before but have never tried it with turkey. Looking forwards to trying out this recipe.
Thank you 🙂 Yeah, turkey is something a little different and a bit healthier than ground beef. Let me know how it goes!