OMG yum yum yum! This recipe is an instant new favorite! I’ve been all about the skillet and one-pot meals lately because I’m super busy, so today I made this Greek Turkey and Rice Skillet, which is like a deconstructed version of my Greek Turkey Burgers. The recipe is super simple and uses small amounts of super flavor potent ingredients, like feta and Kalamata olives, to deliver a big flavor punch without driving the price way up.
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Lower Carb Options
I went a little lower on the carb to meat ratio than I usually do, which made the final cost per serving a bit higher, but that’s what fit my needs today. You can make this a super low carb meal by eliminating the rice and broth, doubling the spinach, and adding in some fresh diced tomatoes at the end (you won’t need to simmer since there’s no rice to cook, just stir and cook until heated through). A can of white beans or garbanzo beans would also be nice in there.
Keep Expensive Ingredients in Check
I love using small amounts of feta (and I’m talking small, like 1 oz.) to really punch up the flavor in recipes, but you can’t usually buy just one ounce of feta at a time. So, I buy an 8 oz. block of feta, cut it into four 2 oz. cubes, and freeze them. They thaw fairly quickly at room temperature and then I can use one or two ounces as needed. Like other cheeses, feta does get more crumbly after the freeze/thaw cycle, but I always crumble it over my dishes anyway so it’s not a problem. :)
Trouble Cooking Rice?
Just another couple of quick notes about this one skillet cooking method. You must have a quality thick bottomed pot for this to work. If it heats unevenly you may have some rice that gets scorched while other rice remains uncooked. If you often have trouble with cooking rice or these one pot methods, try cooking the rice separately in the broth, then combining it with the other ingredients in the skillet after cooking.
Greek Turkey and Rice Skillet
Servings 4 to 6 servings (7 cups total)Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.13)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 19 oz. Ground turkey, 97% lean ($4.59)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
- 1 cup long grain white rice, uncooked ($0.66)
- 1/4 lb frozen cut leaf spinach ($0.42)
- 1/3 cup sun dried tomato halves (about 7 pcs), sliced ($1.00)
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced ($1.08)
- 1.5 cups chicken broth* ($0.21)
- handful fresh parsley ($0.25)
- 1 fresh lemon ($0.75)
- 1 oz feta ($0.56)
Instructions
- Add the olive oil and garlic to a large deep skillet and sauté over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or until the garlic is fragrant. Add the ground turkey, oregano, salt, and pepper to the skillet. Continue to sauté until the turkey is cooked through (about 5 minutes).
- While the turkey is cooking, slice the olives and sun dried tomatoes. Once the turkey is cooked through, add the rice, frozen spinach (no need to thaw first), olives, and sun dried tomatoes to the skillet.
- Add the chicken broth and stir until everything is very well combined. Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium high, and allow it to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low or medium low, and allow it to gently simmer for 15 minutes. Use the lowest level of heat that maintains a steady simmer in the skillet.
- After 15 minutes, give the skillet a brief stir, replace the lid quickly, turn off the heat, and allow it to sit for an additional 10 minutes.
- While the skillet is resting, zest half of the lemon and slice it into wedges. Roughly chop the parsley. Give the skillet a final fluff and stir, then top with lemon zest, parsley, and crumbled feta. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over top.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Greek Turkey Rice Skillet – Step by Step Photos
Begin by adding 1 Tbsp olive oil and 2 cloves of minced garlic to a large deep skillet. Sauté over medium heat for about one minute, then add 19oz. ground turkey (97% lean), 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Continue to sauté until the turkey is cooked through. I used Honeysuckle White ground turkey, which inexplicably comes in a 19oz. package.
To the cooked turkey add 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice, 1/4 lb. frozen cut leaf spinach (no need to thaw first), about 1/3 cup dried tomato halves (about 7 pieces) sliced thinly, and about 1/2 cup Kalamata olives (sliced). I use sun dried tomatoes that are *not* packed in oil. I get them in little bags in the produce department and only use a small handful at a time in recipes. The rest store easily in my pantry.
Instead of buying a whole jar of olives, which usually runs $6-$7 dollars, I just grabbed a handful from the olive bar in my grocery store. I did a price calculation to compare the price per pound for the olive bar vs. the jar olives, and they were almost the same, so I opted for the “no leftovers” choice.
Also add 1.5 cups chicken broth to the skillet, then give everything a good stir until the ingredients are evenly combined. I use Better Than Bouillon to mix up the exact amount of broth that I need for recipes and the jar of concentrate stores easily in my fridge without spoiling. Super convenient.
Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow the broth to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low or medium-low (the lowest temp where it maintains a gentle simmer), and let it simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, give it a quick stir, replace the lid, turn off the heat, and let it sit for an additional 10 minutes. After that the rice should all be tender and the broth completely absorbed.
While the skillet is simmering, zest the lemon and then cut it into wedges. Roughly chop the parsley. Sprinkle the lemon zest, parsley, and feta over the skillet once it’s finished cooking.
Serve with the lemon wedges to squeeze over top just before eating. NOM. I could seriously eat that whole thing!
So many colors and flavors in this Greek Turkey and Rice Skillet!
I love how this looks like confetti! The first time I made it I followed your recipe almost to the letter (used beef instead of turkey because that’s what I had) and it was delicious — so addictive! Then, inspired by your pastambalya recipe, I tried using whole wheat rotini instead of rice. I had to add an extra 1/2 of liquid and an extra 1/2 tsp of salt (maybe because the pasta has more bulk than rice, maybe because I used homemade chicken stock instead of bouillion so there was already less sodium). It had a much creamier texture, as expected, but still delicious!
Mu husband LOVES this recipe so I make it quite often and he takes the leftovers the rest of the week. I made it last night (with ground chicken) and then today decided to repurpose the leftovers. I steamed some peppers for 10 min, mixed the leftover rice with an 8oz can of tomato sauce, and stuffed the peppers with the rice. Then I baked them off for 35 min at 350 (topping with cheese at 30 min). They were hands down THE BEST stuffed peppers I have ever made.
I made this using ground pork, because that is what I had on hand. Turned out delicious.
You can get Julienned sun-dried tomatoes at Trader Joe’s for pretty cheap. I also get my olives there, great for dressing up a frozen pizza
This was really delicious! We don’t eat olives, so we didn’t add them. What a simple, easy to make dish! We will definitely make this again!
We made this last week and absolutely loved it. My fiance and I like a little bit more spice in our food, so I added a little cumin and cayenne to the turkey so that it had a bit more flavor. It made it pretty delicious, with a a nice subtle amount of heat on it. I think we will also add a bit more sundried tomato, since the sweetness from those were a really nice balance with the heat of the turkey and the saltiness of the olives. Definitely will make again.
Total winner. Absolute keeper.
Didn’t have any spinach so we used a package of frozen chopped turnip greens. Still awesome.
This sounds absolutely amazing. My boyfriend is OBSESSED with feta and kalamata olives. Perfect dish. Will definitely be making this soon.
Just made this tonight and the whole family, including the 2 picky eaters, loved it. This was so easy, and I’m sure it would have made great lunches for tomorrow if there had been any left.
I made this tonight. Someone earlier mentioned they doubled the spinach and left out the olives and I did the same. Just not a fan of olives. I also subbed the rice for quinoa which worked perfectly.
I made some of your Falafel to go with it, had had some tzatziki on the side. I even dolloped some tzatziki on top of the quinoa mixture once served which I don’t regret in the slightest. Great meal all around.
This recipe is a keeper. Easy & delicious! Thanks Beth!
Great rice dish! Even my kids like it. I didn’t do lemon at the end as I don’t like lemon in savory dishes. I know I’m weird. I’m going to try this same combination with uncooked turkey in grape leaves. My hubby loves dolmates but only eats if it swims or flys so I think this will work. They’re for him really, as again no lemons please.
This was delicious! I subbed cooked swiss chard (I am overrun thanks to my CSA) for the spinach and roasted some overlooked grape tomatoes to sub for the dried so I wouldn’t have to throw them out. Really delicious and really easy. Thank you for posting such consistently great recipes, Beth!
I made this tonight and I love it. I made mine with brown rice and super grains. On the side I had fried eggplant and falafel.
Another winner! There were no leftovers. I deal with picky eaters and this got a thumbs up all around. Thanks for the great recipes.