Have a super delicious dinner on the table in 15 minutes with this Asian ground turkey and rice bowl recipe!
In this recipe, ground turkey is cooked with Asian ingredients (like soy sauce, ginger, and rice wine vinegar) and then instant white rice is used (the 5 minute kind), and everything is cooked and ready to go in 15 minutes!
These days with my newborn baby, I’m all about quick and easy dinner recipes that I can get on the table, fast!
The story behind how this recipe came to be goes something like this: I had had a long day and so had my husband Nick. We were both exhausted and the last thing on our minds was dinner. I took a quick nap while he watched Ben, and then when I woke with a grumbling tummy, I knew I need to make something for dinner that was quick.
We were thinking of maybe getting delivery, but I really didn’t want to wait that long, so I opened the fridge and saw I had some quick pickled Asian vegetables and some ground turkey (as I said when I shared these turkey burgers, I rarely buy ground beef, but instead I love ground turkey!) and thought about how fast ground turkey cooks, so I married the flavors together by cooking the turkey with Asian ingredients that I love having in the house: like rice wine vinegar and gochujang (these items can be found in the Asian or international foods aisle at most grocery stores, or ordered on Amazon.)
I whipped up these incredible Asian ground turkey and rice bowls, and start to finish, they took only 15 minutes!!!
I had the quick Asian pickled vegetables in the fridge. You could use unpickled, regular raw vegetables, or you could whip up a batch of quick Asian pickled vegetables to have on hand. The longer the vegetables marinate, the more heat they develop. I had ones that I had in the fridge for 2 weeks, and they had this great heat to them!
These Asian ground turkey and rice bowls are so flavorful, and make the perfect quick and easy weeknight dinner! I’d love to know -what is your favorite meal or dish to make when you’re short on time?
In a large nonstick pan over high heat cook sesame oil and garlic cloves for 30 seconds, then add in the ground turkey and sprinkle with salt. Break up the turkey as it cooks for 5 minutes, then when there's only a little bit of pink showing still, add in the fresh ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chili paste and continue cooking, stirring and breaking up the turkey as it cooks, for another 4-5 minutes. Then turn off the heat. Cook rice according to package instructions and set aside. Chop cilantro and get your vegetables ready (drain the liquid from the pickled vegetables or chop the raw vegetables. If making the sauce to go over the finished dish, stir the ingredients together and set aside. To assemble: divide rice between 4 bowls, top each bowl with 1/4 of the turkey, add pickled veggies and top with a pinch of cilantro and enjoyAsian Ground Turkey and Rice Bowls Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 691Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 148mgCarbohydrates: 80gFiber: 4gSugar: 15gProtein: 49g
Hyperbooks21 says
This was SUCH a hit! My children loved it. I’m just starting to experiment with cooking more and this turned out amazing! And talk about quick. My son literally said this is the best I’ve ever made. It took no time! I’ve never left a review for a recipe before but this was a must. Thank you!!
Sweetphi says
This comment made my day, so happy to hear you enjoyed this meal, and I’m so happy to hear you’re experimenting with cooking!!
Vicki V says
Excellent and quick! I made it Keto with swerve brown for the brown sugar and served it over cabbage slaw instead of rice. So tasty!
Rhonda O. says
I was searching for something different to make with ground turkey. This recipe was very flavorful. My 16 year old daughter stated the sauce could also be used for a marinade or a dipping sauce. She LOVED it. I used ginger paste. Fresh ginger wasn’t necessary, which cut down on prep time. The combination of garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, ginger, sweet chili and soy sauce is a winner. Well done!!
Nicole V. says
Hi from Chicago!
Made this last night for my husband and me. This was really just a perfect dish – I only used one pound of Ground Turkey, and ended up using raw vegetables for my toppings, (carrots, jalapeños and sliced water chestnuts). The added sauce at the end really tops off the flavors of this dish. Will definitely be making this again in the near future! Thank you posting!
Sweetphi says
I’m so happy to hear this!! I love that you added water chestnuts, that’s one I hadn’t thought to put on it and cannot wait to try!
Kristie B says
Loved this dish!! Added water chestnuts and small broccoli florets at the end and let them steam in the covered pan for about 6-mins. Also used garlic chili sauce instead of the paste since that’s all I had. I also ran out of rice vinegar so I added a little apple cider vinegar instead. Served up with brown rice, yum!!
Sweetphi says
I love hearing all the modifications you made based on what you had on hand, makes me so happy you loved this dish!
Kristie B says
Such a great dish, making it again tomorrow. :)))
Anna says
This is very good!
I used 2lbs of Turkey- and almost the same proportions as in the ingredients list and it came out delicious – modified some according to taste…
I only substituted the rice vinegar with apple cider vinegar and chili paste with hot sauce
I saved this recipe
And I definitely will try to make it vegetarian with lentils or chickpeas 🙂
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your feedback, so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe!!
Laura says
My boyfriend and I love this recipe! It was our first time buying ground turkey and were unsure how to to make it. But now we can’t stop eating it! We’ve made it three time in the past two weeks. He loves it way too much and can’t stop asking for it!! Our modification included removing the ginger, we replaced the rice vinegar for apple cider vinegar , and added in chickpeas! A++
Thank you!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for coming back and leaving a comment, I truly appreciate the feedback! Your modifications sound delicious too!
Misty says
Great recipe! I usually have all of these ingredients in hand so a great staple for us.
Could you tell me how the calories, sugar, etc were calculated? For example, the sugar grams listed is 15g per serving. There is only 2 T of brown sugar and the only sugar calories I see…
Sweetphi says
I’m so glad you enjoy the recipe, thank you for the comment! The nutrition information is calculated using an online calculator and can sometimes be totally wonky, so I’d definitely recommend if you’re tracking calories or nutrition information to use whatever calculator you’re using!
Barbara Mrozek says
We loved it and especially how easy it was to make. It was a bit too salty so next time we’ll not add salt and maybe cut back on the soy sauce. I think adding peanuts or water chestnuts will be a good addition the next time around too.
Mad4clay says
Made it tonight with my husband and it was easy quick and delicious. Thanks! Needed something different to do with ground turkey too.
Sweetphi says
I’m so happy to hear that! So glad you enjoyed this recipe!!