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Home » Ground Turkey Recipes » Greek Style Ground Turkey Skillet with Spinach

Greek Style Ground Turkey Skillet with Spinach

Published: Oct 13, 2019 · Modified: Dec 12, 2021 by Cooking Chat · This post may contain affiliate links

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Greek Style Ground Turkey Skillet with Spinach features Mediterranean flavor from olives, feta cheese and lemon juice. Try this easy recipe for a healthy meal on a busy night! Originally published in 2016, updated in 2019 with some new photos and a wine pairing suggestion. Disclosure: The wine recommended was provided as a complimentary sample. The post also contains affiliate links.
Greek Turkey Spinach dish in an iron skillet.

This Greek Style Ground Turkey Skillet recipe was originally created for Sunday Supper event focused on easy skillet recipes, hosted by Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake. My cast iron skillet gets a lot of use, and I was happy to create a new recipe to enjoy with it.

I make a lot of food in the skillet, but wanted to do something a little different. I’m interested in finding some more ways to eat ground turkey, and thought I’d make a ground turkey skillet dish.

I decided to cook up ground turkey with some onions and garlic, and add some spinach for color and nutrition. I started thinking about some Mediterranean flavors for the dish–oregano, cinnamon, feta, olives and lemon juice. The result was this flavorful and easy Greek Style Ground Turkey Skillet recipe.

If you want another way to use ground turkey, try our Easy Black Bean Turkey Chili! Or another good one is this Turkey Cabbage Skillet recipe.

For another Greek flavored dish, try our Greek Spaghetti recipe!

Making This Recipe

Ground Turkey Skillet plated

This easy turkey skillet dinner comes together in just over half an hour. I like this ground turkey skillet recipe served with orzo, so I’m writing it up that way. You could try it with couscous, too, if you like. Here are a few tips:

  • Get the onions cooking in the cast iron skillet, followed by the bell pepper.
  • Start the water boiling for the orzo after you add the pepper.
  • After adding the ground turkey to the skillet, use a heavy spoon to gradually break up the turkey and stir it up with the peppers and onions. adding ground turkey to skillet
  • How long does it take to cook ground turkey on a skillet? In just three minutes or so of cooking, the outside of the turkey will start turning white. But of course you want to be sure the turkey gets cooked through. Simmering the turkey with the tomatoes and other vegetables for a good ten minutes after the outside of the meat has browned will ensure it gets cooked through. adding spinach to ground turkey skillet
  • The baby spinach gets added to the skillet at the very end of the cooking. It will wilt within a minute or so.
  • I originally used cinnamon in this dish, but during my latest remake I used thyme instead. I thought it would be better with the wine pairing in mind. Either spice is fine for a tasty dish.stirring orzo into ground turkey skillet
  • When I first made the recipe, I served the ground turkey mixture over the orzo as I plated it. During our recent remake, I stirred the orzo into the skillet after the pasta had cooked. That worked pretty well, as shown above.

Greek Turkey Spinach Skillet recipe
Wine pairing

We initially had our Greek Turkey Spinach Skillet with a Picpoul de Pinet, a white wine grape found in the Languedoc region of France. I picked that mostly because I thought it would be the best option out of what I had on hand. Coming back and reading that I paired a fairly light white wine with this dish, I figure my cellar must have been pretty bare at the time!

Making this ground turkey skillet again, red wine just seemed like the way to go. Maybe because the evenings are starting to get chilly!

A Greek Agiorgitiko could be a good red keeping with the flavors of the dish. But I didn’t have any on hand. Ultimately this ground turkey skillet recipe is generally Mediterranean as much as it is Greek per se.

I’d just gotten a shipment of wines from the Rhone appellation Rasteau, which is about 90 minutes from the Mediterranean sea. Seemed like trying one of those bottles made sense!

Trying a Rasteau red wine

greek style turkey skillet with wine pairing

Like most red wines from the Rhone Valley, Rasteau red wines are a combination of Grenache (at least 50%), Syrah and Mourvedre.

I had a general sense that the tendency of reds from the region to have a rustic character could work well with the Mediterranean flavors of our ground turkey skillet dish. But I was a bit concerned about how higher alcohol would play with the turkey and tomatoes. In other words, the dish is on the lighter side and also has some acidity to contend with.

Not knowing much about the four wines we have to try from Rasteau, I picked the one with the lowest alcohol to pair with the dish — the 2016 Famille Perrin L’Andéol Rasteau AOC ($24, 13.5% ABV). With a light scent of a forest floor on the nose, I tasted bright cherry fruit and a bit of oak with charcoal undertones. Medium bodied, with good structure and medium acidity.

I was quite pleased with how the Rasteau from Famille Perrin worked with the ground turkey skillet. The rustic aspect of both the wine and dish played well together, and there was also enough acidity to pick up the tomatoes in the recipe.

I would definitely encourage you to pick up this bottle to pair with this ground turkey recipe; or try another Rhone red blend if you have one on hand.

Learn more about Rasteau AOC wines and grab another healthy recipe in our Chicken Lentil Stew with Rhone Wine from Rasteau article.

Stay tuned for more about Rasteau AOC wines! We will be focusing on the region for the November French Winophiles event and will be sure to link to our article on the topic.

Print

Greek Style Ground Turkey Skillet

Greek Turkey Skillet
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 6 reviews

Delicious Greek Style Ground Turkey recipe features ground turkey and spinach cooked in a skillet with tomatoes, onions and garlic, with feta cheese, olives and lemon juice providing some good Greek flavors. Serve with orzo.

  • Author: Cooking Chat
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 35 mins
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
  • Category: Main
  • Method: skillet
  • Cuisine: Greek

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 colored bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • ¼ cup red wine
  • 1 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbs lemon juice
  • 3 cups baby spinach
  • 10 ozs orzo
  • ¼ cup feta cheese, plus additional for serving
  • 8 olives, sliced

Instructions

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat.
  2. Add the onion, cook for 5 minutes.
  3. Stir in the bell pepper. Cook for a few more minutes, then add the garlic and cook for one more minute.
  4. Add the turkey, breaking it up with a heavy spoon. Stir to combine with the other ingredients, then stir in the red wine.
  5. When the red wine has been absorbed after a minute or two, stir in the tomatoes, followed by the oregano and cinnamon. This is a good time to put on begin cooking the orzo to serve with the turkey spinach skillet.
  6. Simmer the turkey and vegetable mixture for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  7. Stir in the spinach, and cook for a few more minutes, until wilted. Stir in the lemon juice, olives and feta.
  8. Drain the cooked orzo, and scoop a serving onto a plate. Scoop a serving of the turkey spinach skillet mixture over the orzo and enjoy! Alternatively, when the orzo is cooked you can stir the cooked pasta in with the turkey skillet mixture and combine it there, prior to plating.

Notes

  • In just three minutes or so of cooking, the outside of the turkey will start turning white. But of course you want to be sure the turkey gets cooked through. Simmering the turkey with the tomatoes and other vegetables for a good ten minutes after the outside of the meat has browned will ensure it gets cooked through.
  • Thyme can be used instead of cinnamon in this recipe.

Keywords: skillet recipes, ground turkey, Greek recipes, ground turkey skillet, easy turkey skillet dinner

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close up of skillet with ground turkey and vegetables with a text overlay.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Liz

    September 11, 2016 at 12:01 pm

    This is a gorgeous dish!!! Plus I love all the yummy ingredients you added!!!

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      September 11, 2016 at 12:30 pm

      Thanks Liz! I think colorful dishes usually taste pretty good!

      Reply
  2. Wendy, A Day in the Life on the Farm

    September 11, 2016 at 2:47 pm

    This sounds perfect David. Healthy, tasty and nutritious. Love Mediterranean food.

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      September 11, 2016 at 4:44 pm

      Thanks Wendy! I do more Italian than Greek, but I do enjoy pretty much anything Mediterranean!

      Reply
  3. The Ninja Baker

    September 11, 2016 at 4:40 pm

    I’m all for any dish with feta cheese…Especially one that is so pretty and colorful. Very impressive too that you’ve recommended just the right wine =)

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      September 11, 2016 at 4:45 pm

      Love feta here…oh yeah, and wine too!

      Reply
      • Dorothy Pike

        July 08, 2022 at 2:16 pm

        I’ve searched and searched for a different spin on ground turkey. They are all The Same! Until I found yours. Blessed be. Lol. It’s has a different taste profile and subtilty of different spices. SO appreciated. I’ll be looking to you for new taste sensations. Keep it up and nicely done!

        ★★★★★

        Reply
        • Cooking Chat

          July 09, 2022 at 5:51 am

          Thanks Dorothy, appreciate the feedback!

          Reply
          • Lisa

            February 14, 2023 at 12:17 am

            This recipe is delicious, different, and I like that its healthy. I didn’t have red wine, so I used reduced sodium beef stock. Would recommend!

          • Cooking Chat

            February 14, 2023 at 7:18 am

            Glad you enjoyed it! The beef stock is a good substitution.

  4. April

    September 12, 2016 at 5:05 am

    I love the flavors and colors going on in this dish!

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      September 12, 2016 at 5:30 am

      Thanks April!

      Reply
  5. Kelly Anthony

    September 06, 2018 at 6:11 am

    We love a good skillet meal at our house especially on the night when everyone is tired from the day. I also like how this one is packed with veggies and protein.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      September 06, 2018 at 5:16 pm

      Skillet meals are great for sure!

      Reply
    • Crissy

      January 08, 2023 at 5:25 pm

      Excellent recipe! A+ To make this lower-sodium I had to modify a few things: canned diced tomato was no salt added, feta was replaced with no-salt Farmers cheese and we served it over plain rice instead of pasta. This recipe will go into our meal rotation! Thank you!!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Cooking Chat

        January 09, 2023 at 7:01 am

        Glad you liked it, Chrissy. Those sound like good adjustments.

        Reply
  6. Shanika

    September 06, 2018 at 6:16 am

    This dish looks so delicious! I love eating turkey as well so this works!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      September 06, 2018 at 5:15 pm

      Thanks, we enjoy a lot of turkey here.

      Reply
  7. Ellen

    September 06, 2018 at 6:41 am

    Love that this is made in about 30 minutes! It will be perfect for those busy weeknights.

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      September 06, 2018 at 5:15 pm

      Good to have quick & healthy meals in your back pocket!

      Reply
  8. Shinta Simon

    September 06, 2018 at 7:07 am

    This is a great idea for an extra-special dinner. I especially like that you used feta in the dish, and paired it with these beautiful Mediterranean flavors. It does look great!

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      September 06, 2018 at 5:14 pm

      Special but easy enough for a weeknight!

      Reply
  9. Demeter

    September 06, 2018 at 7:18 am

    This skillet looks fully loaded! So many great flavors and I love how easy it is to get on the dinner table!

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      September 06, 2018 at 5:14 pm

      Thanks, definitely a lot packed in here!

      Reply
  10. Amanda

    October 20, 2019 at 1:43 pm

    This is such a fabulous recipe! The red wine adds such a nice depth of flavor, and those beautiful colors make for a great presentation. Thanks so much for sharing!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  11. Aleta

    October 21, 2019 at 9:41 am

    Oh yum this looks incredible! I love the Greek style ingredients, especially the orzo, and I love the idea of swapping out the cinnamon for thyme depending on what wine to serve it with!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      October 21, 2019 at 5:29 pm

      Thanks Aleta! A little change with the spice can make a big difference for the wine pairing!

      Reply

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