Ground Turkey Butternut Squash Skillet with Rainbow Chard is a quick, nourishing meal ready in just about 30 minutes. This clean, filling recipe can be prepared any night of the week!
Whenever I discuss cooking with friends and family, the common sentiment is there’s never enough time or energy for habitual cooking. I completely get it, and in spite of the fact I cook for a living, I run into the same issue.
Which is why 98% of my meals are prepared in less than 30 minutes in a skillet. Easy, clean, fresh and flavorful, there’s just nothing better than a nourishing and satisfying meal that happens to be quick and easy to throw together at any moment’s notice.
Sure, I have plenty of kitchen tools and appliances, but I’d be perfectly content with 1 cutting board, 1 knife, and 1 cast iron skillet for the rest of forever.
This ground turkey butternut squash skillet only requires a few basic ingredients and hits all your essential macros – high in protein, moderate in complex carbs and fiber, and moderate in fat, you’re looking at a marvelous carb-conscious dinner.
Bonus points: there are plenty of ways you can change up this meal using different produce, meat, and/or flavors. For instance…
Recipe Adaptations:
- Substitute sweet potato, acorn squash, pumpkin, or kabocha squash for the butternut squash
- Swap grass-fed ground beef or chicken for the turkey
- Use kale or spinach instead of rainbow chard
- For low-FODMAP, omit the onion and replace with 1 tablespoon of grated ginger
- Are you a garlic lover? Add 3 to 4 cloves minced garlic
- Looking for an Asian flair? Add some homemade Paleo Teriyaki Sauce!
- Serve with white, brown, or wild rice if you’re in need of more carbohydrate.
Whip up this ground turkey butternut squash skillet after work, or prepare it ahead of time for a meal prep situation! Double or triple it if you have a big family, and/or if you’re batch cooking for work for many days!
More Healthy Skillet Recipes:
- Ground Turkey Taco Skillet
- Basil Coconut Ground Beef Skillet with Vegetables and Rice
- Zucchini and Ground Turkey Skillet
- One-Skillet Ground Turkey Thai Curry with Rice
- Teriyaki Ground Turkey Skillet with Vegetables
Enjoy this colorful, nutritious skillet!
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If you make this Ground Turkey Butternut Squash Skillet, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!
Butternut Squash Skillet with Ground Turkey
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 3 cups butternut squash peeled and chopped
- 1/2 red onion sliced
- 1 1.5-inch nub ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 tsp ground paprika omit for AIP
- 3 to 4 Tbsp coconut aminos
- 1/2 tsp sea salt to taste
- 2 large leaves rainbow chard chopped
Instructions
- Heat the avocado oil in a large cast iron skillet (or stainless steel) over medium heat. Add the butternut squash and red onion. Cover, and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until veggies begin to soften.
- Scoot the butternut squash and onion off to one side of the skillet and place the raw ground turkey on the surface of the skillet (leave the turkey in one hunk). Sprinkle with paprika and add the ground ginger. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until the turkey is seared. Carefully flip the turkey and sear on the other side another 2 minutes. Use a spatula to break up the turkey meat and stir it into the rest of the skillet.
- Add the coconut aminos and chopped rainbow chard. Stir everything well and cover the skillet. Cook until the ground turkey is cooked through and vegetables reach desired done-ness, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Remove the cover and continue cooking until much of the liquid has burned off. Add more coconut aminos and/or sea salt to taste.
Nutrition
Thank you so much for this recipe. It was awesome! I added a bit of cinnamon as per another reader’s comment and some black beans for added fiber. Delicious! Will be adding this to our rotation.
So delicious! Made it how the recipe reads just added a tiny little cinnamon at the end like 1/4 tsp n wow so very good
Ooh, I love the idea of adding a little bit of cinnamon. So genius! Thank you for sharing, Mel! xo
This is a great dish! I made this just like the recipe states, but topped w fresh cilantro leaves and a squeeze of lime. Thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoy it! Love the idea of adding cilantro and lime! 🙂
I just made this because I needed a recipe to use up the butternut squash. It was so good and healthy tasting! We had arugula on hand so that is what I used. I also didn’t have coconut aminos, but I did have soy sauce. Delicious!
I’m so thrilled you enjoy it, Mattie! Thanks so much for swinging back around to share your experience! xoxo 🙂
So delicious! I just made a couple of changes. Since I didn’t have Avocado Oil, I used EVOO. Also, did not have coconut aminos but it gave me the idea to sprinkle a little shredded coconut (about 1/4 c) throughout which went really well with the butternut squash and Swiss Chard! Finally, I’ve used a lot of paprika lately so instead, I used ground dried sage on top of the turkey and it was fantastic. Added a bit of chicken stock at the end to add a little moisture to the dish. Thank you for this and so many of your other great recipes I’m checking out now!
Oooh, sounds amazing! Thanks for letting me know, Amy! I’m so happy you like the recipe xoxoxo
So delicious! Do you think this will freeze well?
Hi Tonya!
In my experience, leaner meats without a sauce don’t tend to freeze well…same for vegetables without a hearty sauce. I haven’t tried it, but I’d say unless you add tomato sauce or some sort of thick cream sauce to it, it may not reheat well. I could be completely wrong though!
My husband and I really enjoyed it. I made it as directed. We will be definitely having this again.
That’s so great to hear, Nichole! I’m happy you and your husband like it! xoxo
This was good. I didn’t cook the turkey like the directions said, I didn’t have enough room in the pan to move the squash to one side. I used a ton of spinach instead of chard. And I left out the liquid aminos because I didn’t have any. It was simple and healthy and I have left over for lunch. Thank you.
I’m so happy you like it, Rachel! Thank you for sharing your adaptations 😀 xoxo