Weeknight Baked Turkey Tacos
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
30 mins
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Cook Time
15 mins
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Total Time
45 mins
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Servings
4 to 6 people
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Course
Main Course
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Cuisine
American
Weeknight Baked Turkey Tacos
Description
This recipe starts by seasoning lean ground turkey with a mix of ground cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper for a balanced, mildly smoky flavor. The seasoned turkey is cooked until browned and drier in texture, with an optional tip to add stock or tomato sauce if a saucier taco meat is preferred. The oven is preheated to 400°F to bake the tacos assembled in a 9x13 casserole dish with taco shells arranged to hold filling.
The cooked turkey is spooned into the shells, sprinkled with Chihuahua or cheddar cheese, and baked until the cheese melts and shells warm through. This hands-off baking step also crisps the taco shells slightly. The simple fresh pico de gallo consists of quartered cherry tomatoes, diced sweet onion, chopped cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper to add a cool, tangy counterpoint to the warm, savory filling.
This approach offers a weeknight-friendly, batch-prepped taco dish that can serve a crowd without stovetop assembly for each taco. The recipe allows customization of the meat’s moisture level and cheese type according to preference. Serving with shredded lettuce and chopped avocado adds freshness and creaminess, rounding out the flavors and textures.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey you can sub beef, lean
- 1 teaspoon cumin ground
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly cracked
- 12 to 15 taco shells hard
- 1 to 2 cups Chihuahua cheese or cheddar, grated
- lettuce for serving, shredded
- avocado for serving, chopped
quick pico de gallo
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes quartered
- ½ onion diced, sweet
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- ½ lime juiced
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line up your taco shells in a 9x13 baking dish. They won’t fit exactly like a puzzle, and based on the shape of your dish, you can lose or add a shell.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat. With ground turkey, I rarely add any oil to the skillet. If needed, you can add 1 teaspoon of olive oil (or your oil of preference).
- Once the skillet is hot, add the ground turkey and break it apart with a wooden spoon or meat chopper.
- Cook, stirring and breaking apart the turkey often, until it begins to brown. Add in the cumin, paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir well to disperse all the seasonings. Cook until the turkey is just browned.
- I love seasoned turkey for tacos like this, on the drier side – it’s a personal preference. If you’d like it saucier, follow the directions below. You can also add in a tablespoon of beef or vegetable stock, or even tomato sauce, to make it saucier.
- Sprinkle a bit of cheese in the bottom of each taco shell. Top with a few spoonfuls of ground turkey. Top with more cheese.
- Place the baking dish in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until everything is melted and warm. You can make the pico at this time if you haven’t already.
- When the tacos are done, bring them out and cover with shredded lettuce, chopped avocado and the pico de gallo. Let cool for a minute then serve.
- Note: if you find yourself with extra ground turkey, just store it in the fridge. I use it to either make a quick quesadilla, throw on a taco salad or make a single taco if needed. (Always needed.)
FOR A SAUCIER GROUND TURKEY
- I use a slurry to make my taco ground turkey saucy. Fill a shaker cup with ½ cup cold water or beef/vegetable stock. Add 1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour, masa or whole wheat flour to the liquid and cover it. Shake for at least 30 seconds. With the turkey skillet on low heat, slowly stream in the slurry while stirring with a wooden spoon. Stir often and cook over low for about 10 minutes.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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