Spaghetti With Ground Turkey

blancpage's Note:

Ever since I found out ground beef was public enemy #1 for my digestive system, I had to reinvent recipes I've loved since I was a kid. I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (for more info you can check out helpforibs.com). This means I have to experiment a lot, so I came up with this recipe. For the longest time, I always ate spaghetti with just prepared spaghetti sauce and some parmesan cheese. Then I found out how much more satisfying adding ground beef was. Now, I can't even do that, anymore. :'( (not without pain anyway). That's where ground turkey comes in. So, here, I have a simple, and a little healthier version. My bf and my roomie both enjoy it and they can still smother it in cheese if they so wish, lol! I think it tastes pretty good, and is simple to make. This is the perfect weekday dinner when everyone's busy, and goes great with garlic bread and salad. The sauce heats up well from the fridge, and should be fine from the freezer; just add freshly cooked noodles. For variety, other pasta suggestions I use include tri-color rotini, thin spaghetti, penne, medium shells, or angel hair.

• Total Time: 15 mins
• Prep Time: 0 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

• 1 1/4 lbs ground turkey, packages come in about 1 1/4 lbs (lean, extra lean, it's your choice)
• 26 ounces of prepared spaghetti sauce, your choice of brand and flavor (usually 1 can or 1 jar)
• uncooked spaghetti, any variety, and as much as you think you'll need. I usually use about one 16oz package
• parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Brown ground turkey until no longer pink.
2. Note: I am editing this recipe to add that lately I've been sauteeing chopped onion, chopped green pepper, and minced garlic along with the ground turkey; usually it's fine to add all these in at the same time and I have never had a problem with the different veggies and the ground turkey getting overdone/underdone.
3. Drain any fat.
4. Add cooked ground turkey back to the pan, add the can of spaghetti sauce, set aside.
5. Boil water for the noodles. Add a bit of salt once boiling, add noodles, cook per package instructions.
6. While noodles cook, heat up the sauce/turkey mixture. (Edited to add that my two favorite and best sauces are Prego brand Mushroom Supreme and Prego brand Roasted Garlic and Herb. My fave and steadfast combo is either one of these sauces to which I add the browned ground turkey, chopped onions, green peppers, and minced garlic.).
7. Drain noodles. Make sure sauce is heated through.
8. Serve! Ground turkey isn't as cheap as ground hamburger, but it's better for you and I've found you can replace ground turkey in nearly every ground beef recipe.
9. Try browning the ground turkey with some chopped onions too - that's always a yummy addition. But that's just because bf and I love onions.
10. You can also try the spaghetti sauce/turkey mixture over cooked white rice. Ground beef and spaghetti sauce tastes great over white rice, why not ground turkey?.

Reviews

[Chef #978821]

This recipe gave me the great idea of using ground turkey in spaghetti rather than beef, so thank you! I ended up with too little spaghetti sauce the first time I made this so I added ~ 1/2 can of stewed tomatoes/juice and my husband loved it! From now on, I always add the tomatoes and would recommend it to all. Thanks for the recipe!

[Maito]

This is tasty, yet very quick. I used extra lean ground turkey and added a little red wine to the sauce. Thanks, Sommer!