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.
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!
Made this tonight and it was delicious. Used Italian seasoning since I didn’t have plain oregano and I didn’t have parsley. Will definitely make again.
I love this recipe!! I made it the first time when it came out and loved it, then I went vegan and found the recipe again and decided to modify it for a vegan diet. I replaced the turkey with crumbled firm tofu, chicken stock with veggie stock (homemade w/added vegan chicken flavored bouillon cube), and skipped the feta. Still came out fantastic!! I guess you can’t really beat the combo of sun-dried tomatoes, kalamatas, parsley, and spinach!
This is the best meal i’ve ever made from budget bytes and possibly the best thing I’ve ever personally cooked. I have never scarfed down anything so fast in my life. Used fresh spinach instead of frozen. Dunno if that makes a difference. Anyway, so flavourful and easy to make. Make this.
I’m super happy with the way this turned out! The only thing I did differently was add onion, and use brown rice which I pre-cooked rather than simmering in the pan with everything else.
Do you know the nutritional facts or the calorie count per serving?
No, I’m sorry I do not.
MY FAVORITE RECIPE by far on this site! I easily make this once a week and NEVER get sick of it. I’ve gotten a little creative and started adding artichoke hearts, etc. My boyfriend loves it and frequently requests that I make it.
wow!! this was very cheap & tasty! olives were a little out of my budget but i had an extra half red onion I threw in with the garlic and it was great! tasty tasty
Another winner! I was looking for a new way to use up cooked rice that wasn’t fried rice, and found this delicious recipe. I didn’t have olives, so left them out, added more spinach because we like it, and subbed cilantro for the parsley as that is what was on hand, and of course used the already cooked rice. Served it with steamed green beans with a little olive oil and lemon, and a simple cuke/tomato/red onion (w/ a splash of oil and red wine vinegar) plate. It was a rousing success! Quick, easy, delicious, and budget friendly!
This was so good and a pretty flexible recipe! I subbed in shredded Parmesan cheese for the feta and spanish olives for the Kalamata olives, and it still tasted great. I served it with cucumber slices for a little crunch. Thanks for another great recipe!
Would this freeze well? I’m considering prepping this cooked and carrying it frozen for a meal while we visit Mount Rushmore…
Yes, I think this would freeze well. :)
Love this recipe! Quick, easy, mostly pantry staples and super speedy cleanup! I’ve added a can of white kidney beans a couple times to bulk out the fibre content and add protein while stretching the meat and its delish!
Ohhhh yes. This is for sure going in to the regular rotation. I used Basmati rice, and it was excellent! I am a little weird about cooked spinach (especially when I know I’m reheating leftovers) so I left that out and served sliced tomato with salt and pepper and some steamed cauliflower on the side. I doubled the feta (because, feta) and used about 20 olives total. We always have these on hand so it’s no big for me. Thank you, once again, Beth for being my meal planning inspiration! I don’t know what I would do without ya!
I made this the other night, and it was great! Light, flavorful, and kept well for leftovers. Do you think it would be possible to make it with brown rice instead of white?
It would definitely require some alterations to use brown rice, since brown rice needs more liquid and a longer cooking time to soften.
Question: Any advice on how to make this with cauliflower rice instead?
You’d need to change the method quite a bit, unfortunately. Regular rice absorbs moisture as it cooks, whereas cauli rice releases moisture. So you wouldn’t be able to use quite the same method. It would require some testing to find the best method.
Excellent balance on this. I’m not great in the kitchen, but my wife loved this. I served it with a broiled Romaine and cheese wedge and was told I can make it again some time soon, :)