This ground turkey pasta sauce is rich, zesty, and easy to make! Just a quick prep and the sauce simmers until rich and thick.
This is a healthy ground turkey recipe, perfect served over pasta or even spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles. Add in a side salad and some crusty bread for the perfect meal.
An Easy Weeknight Meal
This saucy recipe is a family favorite.
- It’s a healthier choice made with ground turkey but ground chicken works in this recipe too.
- I love that the prep time is quick and then it’s hands off as it simmers.
- This recipe reheats (and freezes) beautifully so feel free to double the recipe.
Ingredients and Variations
GROUND TURKEY Ground turkey is the perfect lower fat protein in this meal (ground chicken works too).
VEGGIES Onion and garlic with bell pepper give the sauce a great flavor. If you have leftover roasted vegetables, toss them in!
TOMATOES Crushed tomatoes for the base, diced tomatoes for texture, and tomato paste for thickening.
HERBS Fresh herbs are added at the end of cooking for great fresh flavor. If substituting dried, reduce the amount by 2/3 and add them at least 30 minutes before serving as as the herbs will need a little bit of time to rehydrate and flavor the sauce.
How to Make Ground Turkey Pasta Sauce
Cook up this one-pot, healthy turkey recipe anytime a pasta or casserole is needed!
- Brown ground turkey, onion, and garlic in a large stockpot.
- Add remaining ingredients (per recipe below) and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer until thickened.
Serve over pasta, garnish with Parmesan cheese, and don’t forget to serve with a side of garlic toast.
Leftovers
Store cooled turkey pasta sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator for about 4 days. Reheat on the stovetop and serve as desired.
For batch cooking, make at least two batches and freeze in quart-sized zippered bags with the date labeled on the outside. Turkey pasta sauce will keep up to 3 months in the freezer, just long enough to get through the winter!
Ground Turkey Favorites
- Cheesy Ground Turkey Pasta
- Delicious Turkey Meatloaf
- All-Purpose Turkey Meatballs
- Turkey Chili
- Juicy Turkey Burgers
- Sesame Ground Turkey Bowls
Did you enjoy this Ground Turkey Pasta Sauce? Be sure to leave a rating and comment below!
Ground Turkey Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- ¾ cup water
- 1 large green bell pepper diced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil chopped
Instructions
- Brown ground turkey with onion and garlic until no pink remains. (Drain fat if needed).
- Add remaining ingredients (except parsley & basil) slightly breaking up the tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered 1 hour or until desired consistency.
- Stir in parsley & basil.
- Serve over hot pasta.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Pasta
Cuisine Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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This sauce is amazing!!! Seriously the best I’ve had in a long time. I used dried herbs (perhaps you could add the correct dried amounts to the recipe?) and it smelled and tasted heavenly. Thank you so much!
Hi Alex, check out our guide on how to substitute dried for fresh herbs. But in general, it is 1 teaspoon dried for every 1 tablespoon fresh herbs. Hope that helps!
Cannot wait to make this. It fits very well into my WW program. Thanks for all you do
for your subscribers.
Enjoy the recipe Aileen, my family loves this one!