Author: Tiffany McCauley
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This ground turkey spaghetti is the perfect, quick, and easy dinner for busy weeknights!
I don’t know about you, but as a busy mom and business owner, there are just some nights when I absolutely do not want to have to think about what to make for dinner. Nights when the last thing I want to do is stand at my stove again or do more dishes. It’s on nights like this that I turn to my simplest of recipes. Recipes I can have on the table in 30 minutes or less, from prep to plate.
That handful of quick recipes are recipes my little family loves. They are clean and healthy, nutritious and tasty, and most importantly, they are simple and quick to get on the table.
Now I love pasta. Pasta has always been a super easy dish for me to make. But while I love it, I always have to be sure I’m balancing all those carbs with some protein and veggies. So I came up with this little concoction that makes for a really great meal. You basically get your carbs, fats, proteins, and plenty of veggies in one dish, and everyone loves it, guests and kiddos alike!
HOW TO COOK GROUND TURKEY SPAGHETTI
This is a two-pot dish. So all you’ll need beyond your pot an skillet are a cutting board and a cheese grater. Some measuring spoons will be helpful here too.
First, you’ll want to start your pasta to cook in the pot. Cook according to pasta package directions. You can use any pasta you prefer for this. I use a whole grain spaghetti made of rice and quinoa from Trader Joe’s. But any pasta works!
While that’s cooking, you’ll want to grate your zucchini and then cook everything (except the pasta, obviously) together in the pan. Everything gets dumped together, which makes it super fast and easy. Just make sure you get the meat well-cooked here.
Once the pasta and the sauce are finished, simply combine them in the pot after straining off the water from the pasta. Easy-peasy!
SPAGHETTI RECIPES:
- Spaghetti Pie
- Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti
Ground Turkey Spaghetti
An easy, quick dinner for busy weeknights.
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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 217kcal
Ingredients
- 1 lb. whole grain spaghetti noodles
- 1 ½ lb. lean, ground turkey
- 3 medium zucchini (grated)
- 1 tbsp. garlic powder
- 1 tbsp. onion powder
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 12 oz. jar your favorite spaghetti sauce (or as much as you like – read the ingredient list!)
US Customary – Metric
Instructions
Cook your pasta to package directions.
While the pasta cooks, place turkey meat, zucchini, garlic powder, onion powder and olive oil into a large frying pan and cook until the meat is done. You are not using a lot of oil, so be sure to keep the heat at a lower setting. The water from the meat and zucchini will help to cook everything. (You can add more oil if needed)
Drain your pasta and return to the pot.Stir in the meat and then the sauce.
Notes
Please note that the nutrition data given here is a ballpark figure. Exact data is not possible.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 217kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 276mg | Potassium: 649mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 352IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 2mg
Author: Tiffany McCauley
Title: Journalist
Expertise: Food, cooking, travel
Bio:
Tiffany McCauley is a nationally syndicated journalist and an award-winning cookbook author. She is also a food blogger. She has been featured on MSN, Huffington Post, Country Living Magazine, HealthLine, Redbook, and many more. She has helped thousands of people learn to cook simple, clean, and healthy foods in their own home kitchens. She lives in Maine and loves Elvis, sunflowers, and a good seafood chowder, as well as travel writing.
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What brand of pasta do you use?
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Leah – I buy a 100% whole wheat pasta or brown rice pasta at Trader Joe’s. But many stores carry them.
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What kind of pasta sauce do you use, Tiff?
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LN – I buy the Trader Giotto’s brand at Trader Joe’s. It’s a dairy free marinara sauce. But many marinara sauces out there are clean. You just have to read labels till you find one. Hope that helps!
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Hi Tiffany,
What is a clean jar of spaghetti sauce?
SilviaReply
Silvia – Any jar of sauce that has a list of clean ingredients. No added sugar and only ingredients you recognize as something you would cook with in your own kitchen.
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Yes. Simple, real, clean food. Love spaghetti. Thanks for sharing your twist!
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Nicki – There’s a lot to be said for simple foods! Enjoy! 🙂
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Tiffany, this looks like a great recipe! I wouldn’t have thought of adding grated zucchini…so that’s a great way to get some added veggies! Also, I’m relatively new (within the last month) to clean eating, and I’ve been going to Whole Foods as my “go-to” for clean foods, which can get REAL expensive, real fast, so thanks for mentioning clean pastas and sauces from Trader Joe’s. I’ll be sure to check that out!
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Courtney Ann – I do about 90% of my shopping at Trader Joe’s. No need to spend your whole paycheck at whole foods. Trader Joe’s is fabulous!!
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Love the idea of using shredded zucchini. I like to do that with carrot in mac and “cheeze!”
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Michelle – Oh yum!! 🙂
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How do I know if the spaghetti sauce has no added sugars? I see sugar in the ingredients so does that mean it is added? I am having a hard time finding a good spaghetti sauce and we don’t have a Trader Joe’s here.
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Lori – Yes, if it’s listed in the ingredient list, then it’s added sugar. It can take a little time to find a clean sauce. I read a lot of labels before I found mine. Check your local health food store. They are usually a safe bet.
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yummm! this looks amazingly good!
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TF – 🙂 Enjoy!
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Bc – A clean sauce is a sauce that has no added garbage in the ingredient list.
For example, if your jar of sauce says: “tomatoes, garlic, onions and salt”, it’s clean. You recognize each ingredient as something you would cook with separately in your own kitchen.
But if the ingredient list says, “tomatoes, garlic, onions, dextrose, sugar, hydrogenated oil, high fructose corn syrup” it’s not clean. You wouldn’t buy dextrose or hydrogenated oil to cook with in your own kitchen and you certainly don’t want the white, refined sugar.
Hope that helps.
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I made this recipe tonight and it was fantastic. My husband raved about the sauce and my 6 year old said it was the best spaghetti I ever made. He never even noticed all the grated zucchini! THank you so much for your site :))
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Dana – That’s wonderful! I’m so happy everyone enjoyed it!
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Megan – I get mine at Trader Joe’s. It’s their marinara.
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No, keep everything else the same.
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I’m vegetarian and I made this last night with Morningstar crumbles and added some roasted garlic cloves, it was amazing! I’m trying to get away from Morningstar products though as they’re NOT non-GMO. Does anyone have recommendations for similar non-GMO soy crumbles?
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Aileen – I think you will be hard pressed to find non-GMO soy products. Especially if they are processed like these types of burgers. Let me know if you find one though!
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I add spinach mushrooms to the zucchini a little hot sauce it’s DELISHES
sometimes I leave out the zucchini and make zucchini noodles with my vegettte machine it looks like spaghetti And is DELISHES
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Maureen – Awesome! I love Zoodles! I actually like them more than pasta now.
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