Thai Slow Cooker Ground Turkey
Posted Jan 20, 2019, Updated May 15, 2024
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This Thai slow cooker ground turkey recipe is an easy & nutritious dinner that only takes 10 minutes to prepare. It can be served in many ways including over rice or noodles.
Asian cuisine is one of favorites. Probably because common Asian ingredients like hoisin sauce, coconut milk, garlic, ginger etc. are rich in flavor and nutritious.
This Thai slow cooker ground turkey combines the flavors I love with a cooking method that makes executing this dish very easy (crock pot).
This ground turkey recipe is an easy dinner that only takes 10 minutes to prepare. It can be served in many ways including over rice or noodles.
Thai Slow-Cooker Ground Turkey: Ingredients & Substitutions
Here are a few potential substituions for this healthy slow cooker turkey recipe!
- Ground turkey. Ground chicken or beef work well in this recipe.
- Soy sauce. For a paleo version use coconut aminos.
- Brown sugar. honey or coconut sugar are great substitutes for browns sugar.
- Powdered ginger. use fresh minced ginger instead of powdered, if desired.
- Bell Peppers & Edamame. use your favorite vegetables. Sometimes I even put sweet potatoes in the dish.
- Cornstarch. Arrowroot or tapioca starch work well.
How to Make Slow-Cooker Ground Turkey
This Thai Slow-Cooker Ground Turkey is crazy easy to make, but we’ll walk through the process step-by step and don’t forget to watch the video.
Make the Sauce
The first step in this recipe is making the sauce. Whisk the sauce ingredients together in the container of your slow cooker. No need to dirty an extra bowl by whisking it in a separate dish.
Brown the Ground Turkey
Next, brown the ground turkey & onion together in some olive oil before adding it to the slow cooker is a key step in making this healthy ground turkey recipe. Browning adds both texture and flavor to this dish.
Cook in the Slow Cooker
After the turkey/onion mixture is browned, put it into the slow cooker.
Next, add the veggies and stir to combine.
Since the turkey in this recipe has already been cooked, this dish only needs to be cooked until the veggies are done. I recommend cooking it on high for at least 2 hours, or on low for at least 4 to give the flavors time to blend.
I love this recipe because It doesn’t need to cook all day to still be delicious.
Thicken the Sauce
If necessary, use cornstarch (or tapioca starch) and water to thicken the sauce in the crockpot. This step isn’t always necessary. It mostly depends on the water content of the vegetables you use.
Cook for 30-60 minutes on high or until sauce is thick. Add the cornstarch and water to the mixture in the crockpot, then leave the top slightly ajar and cook for 30-60 minutes, until thickened.
Serve
Here are a few delicious ways to serve this Thai Slow-Cooker Ground Turkey (other than all by itself, of course!
- I always serve it with crushed peanuts or cashews sprinkled on top.
- Serve it over Noodles or vegetable noddles of your choice (zucchini, sweet potato, etc).
- Enjoy it with rice of any kind (white, brown, fried rice, cauliflower, etc)
- Over a salad
- Stuffed inside a baked sweet potato
Store/Freeze
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5-7 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Slow Cooker Ground Turkey Recipe FAQs
Yes you can! If you’d prefer to skip the browning step you can add raw or frozen ground turkey to the crockpot. However, I’d recommend modifying the method:
Cook the ground turkey alone in the sauce for at least 3-5 hours (on low or high), until it is cooked.
You may need to skim fat off the top of the sauce or break up the meat during this process so it doesn’t end up in clumps.
Add the vegetables after the meat is cooked and continue on with the recipe.
You don’t have to, however, browning the ground turkey gives this recipe the best texture and flavor, and I do not recommend skipping this step.
Most of the ingredients in this recipe are naturally gluten-free! However here are a couple that you need to be mindful of and choose gluten-free varieties:
Gluten-free hoisin sauce
Gluten-free Soy sauce
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Thai Slow Cooker Ground Turkey
Ingredients
Sauce
- 15 ounces coconut milk
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 2 Tablespoons sweet chili sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- ¼ tsp powdered ginger
Turkey & Vegetables
- 20 ounces ground turkey
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ cup finely diced onion
- 1 bell pepper any color, diced
- ½ cup edamame shelled
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot powder
- 1 Tablespoon water
Instructions
- Add coconut milk, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, brown sugar, chili sauce, sesame oil and powdered ginger to the container of a slow cooker. Whisk together until smooth. Set slow cooker off to the side.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon sesame oil. Add ground turkey, minced garlic and onion and cook until turkey is browned (about 10 minutes), stirring often.
- Add the cooked turkey mixture to the crock pot and stir until it's evenly distributed in the sauce.
- Add diced bell peppers (or any color of your choosing) and edamame to the crockpot and stir.
- Cook on high for 2 hours, or low for 4 hours, until the veggies are cooked to your liking.
- To thicken the sauce: Mix together cornstarch and water, add to crock pot and cook on high for 30-60 minutes, with the lid slightly ajar.
- Once veggies are cooked to your liking and sauce is thick, serve over rice or noodles.
Video
Notes
- Ground turkey. Ground chicken or beef work well in this recipe.
- Soy sauce. For a paleo version use coconut aminos.
- Brown sugar. honey or coconut sugar are great substitutes for browns sugar.
- Powdered ginger. use fresh minced ginger instead of powdered, if desired.
- Bell Peppers & Edamame. use your favorite vegetables. Sometimes I even put sweet potatoes in the dish.
- Cornstarch. arrowroot or tapioca starch are good substitutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Win! I didn’t have the sweet chili sauce so I used plum sauce with crushed pepper but it turned out lovely. I’ll definitely make it again and try it with sweet potatoes.
Thank you Jordan!
Could this be made in an instapot? If so, how long?
Hello! I’m certain it could be made in an instapot! I don’t own one (gasp!) so I couldn’t advise on timing!
I am looking forward to making this but I have one elementary question since I’ve never cooked with edamame before. Do I buy it frozen or fresh for this recipe, or doesn’t it matter? Thank you!
I buy frozen, shelled edamame because it’s easier!
Really good! I don’t usually cook with ground turkey so I was skeptical. But it turned out great. I couldn’t follow the recipe exactly because I didn’t have all ingredients. Changes I made: for hoisin I subbed soy sauce + black bean paste + honey + vinegar. I was out of sweet chili sauce and my kid has a sesame allergy so I just left those out. Due to time I also just made this on the stovetop- 30 minute meal! I found this such a great recipe to work with and (obviously) very flexible. I look forward to trying it with the right ingredients once I can get to the store, but even so, the whole fam had seconds!
Cooking this in my crockpot right now! It smells SO GOOD. We are going to eat it with Quinoa tonight 🙂 cannot wait to taste it. Thank you!
Oh my! I surprised my husband with this dish yesterday and he absolutely loved it! It will become a part of our meal cycle.
Thank you!!!
Thank you! I’m so glad you both enjoyed it!
How would you cook this on the stove or in an electric fryer? Thanks!
Another hit with my family! Really tasty and easy…I have been experimenting with adding different veggies depending on what I have on had. This recipe is a keeper, thank you!
I’m so glad you love this dish Amy!!!
Mmmm this looks so yummy! I”m so glad you republished this; I’m bookmarking and HOPING to make it soon. 🙂 We love Asian cuisine in our house.
You and your family will love it Emily!
Loved this! I put this in the pan first time making it and it turned out just as delicious in ~20 minutes. Easy to substitute things, i.e. pork in place of turkey, sambal in place of sweet chili sauce, et cetera.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Hannah!