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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
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’ve made this twice. The first time I followed the recipe almost to the letter. I did substitute precooked brown rice. It was a little soupy- I should have decreased the liquid. It was delicious! It does need more color- but either way delicious!
The second time I really strayed from the recipe- i has to use what was on hand! I used chicken thighs cut into cubes. I used pan fried gnocchi instead of rice. Frozen peas instead of spinach. Still delicious!
Will definitely make this again!
Such an excellent recipe, loved it. Thank you for sharing it!
I think my rice was a little overcooked but all of the liquid was absorbed so I probably had the heat up a little too high. Nice flavor & quick to make. Didn’t have spinach so used kale instead & it worked out just fine. I would make this again. The lemon gave it a nice pop next to the feta cheese. Thanks for the recipe!!
Made this for both me and my dad, it was pretty good and we finished it in two days. I did have some trouble with the rice being cooked enough and had to add in a bit more broth but it was still tasty. I think next time I will cook the rice separately and hope the same flavors are achieved. I didn’t add the olives because I’m not a fan, and couldn’t figure out where in the store to find sun dried tomatoes. I still enjoyed it though and may think of other things I can sub for the tomatoes and olives next time!
I really don’t love the taste of fresh parsley. Any suggestions on an herb substitute? Looks super delish otherwise.
Thanks!
You could omit it if you’d like or swap with cilantro if you prefer.
This is a keeper! Just happened to have most of the ingredients, I did sub some pepperoncini as someone suggested for the olives. This was such a satisfying meal, had it with a side of roasted broccoli, yum, and tonight we will have with Beth’s fresh cucumber salad. Definitely will add to list of favorites and make again.
I want to use this as a filling for stuffed peppers. I think it would be delicious!
So. Freaking. Good. I made the rice separately in a rice cooker but otherwise followed exactly as suggested. Thrown together in about 25 minutes with the pre-cooked rice. Going to keep this one on the regular rotation. Thanks as always for all your wonderful recipes, Beth!
Do you have to soak the sundried tomatoes in water before you slice or use them?
Nope you can use them right away.
Recipe looks great, but…let’s talk about that OXO pan you show. Can you share where you obtained it/what it is? I LOVE one pot/skillet meals, but it’s hard to find good pans for it. I have on that I LOVE but it’s coated. Yours looks stainless and good and heavy-bottomed. :)
Just wanted to say that I have made this recipe many times and we never get tired of it! I usually cook the rice separately in my instant pot.
OMG this is so good and seriously quick and easy! I used a blend of ground beef and lamb and added chopped asparagus at the end rather than the spinach (because that’s what I had. Otherwise I followed the directions exactly. It’s definitely going on our rotation
Just made this for dinner tonight and it was a family favorite…even with our very picky 2.5 year old! The only note I had is that I had to add an extra 1-2 cups of broth to get the rice cooked through…the 1.5 cups the recipe called for disappeared pretty quickly. Otherwise, it was perfect. Thanks!
I made this with two cups of cauliflower rice which meant I left out the chicken stock. I did this for meal prep this week. Each dish I added a half cup of the greek ground turkey goodness, one cup of spinach and a half cup of chickpeas. I also made a side of tzatiki (spelling). Also omitted olives because my partner hates olives. It was really good even with all my adjustments :D
Great to know!
I`ve made this twice. The first time I followed the recipe almost exactly except for the fact that my sundried tomatoes were packed in oil. DH and I are trying to eat more vegetarian meals so the second time I made it with tofu. I froze the tofu then rinsed and squeezed it to get it closer to the texture of ground meat. I also added more oil to compensate for the lack of fat. Both times it turned out delicious.
Oh great idea swapping in tofu. I’m glad to hear it worked!