Healthy Thai slow cooker ground turkey is an easy dinner recipe that only takes 10 minutes to prepare and can be served in many ways including over rice or noodles.
Asian fare is one of favorite cuisines. Probably because common Asian ingredients like hoisin sauce, coconut milk, garlic, ginger etc. are rich in flavor and they're nutritious.
This Thai slow cooker ground turkey combines the flavors I love with a cooking method that makes executing this dish very easy (thank you crockpot).
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 garlic. use fresh or minced garlic instead of powdered, if desired.
- 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 can be used in place of cornstarch.
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 & onion.
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.
Add Turkey mixture & Vegetables to the slow cooker.
After the turkey/onion mixture is browned, put it into the slow cooker.
Next, add the veggies and stir to combine.
Cook
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.
Serving Suggestions
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.
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 a bit if you do this:
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.
Technically the answer is no as long as you cook it long enough. However, I believe 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
Yes! You can easily put it in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to two months!
Store this Thai Slow-Cooker Ground Turkey in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 days! It's a great meal prep idea to make on a Sunday and enjoy all week long!
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Healthy Thai Slow Cooker Ground Turkey Recipe
Ingredients
Sauce :
- 15 oz coconut milk
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce
- 2 TBS brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 2 TBS sweet chili sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- ¼ tsp powdered ginger
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Turkey & Veggies:
- 20 0z ground turkey
- 1 TBS olive oil
- ½ cup finely diced onion
- 1 bell pepper any color, diced
- ½ cup edamame shelled
- 1 TBS cornstarch or arrowroot powder
- 1 TBS water
Instructions
- Add coconut milk, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, brown sugar, chili sauce, sesame oil, powdered ginger & garlic powder to your slow cooker. Whisk together until smooth. Set slow cooker off to the side.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 TBS olive oil. Add ground turkey and onion and cook until turkey is browned on all sides (about 10 minutes).
- Add the turkey/onion 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 until everything is evenly distributed.
- Cook on high for at least 2 hours, or low for at least 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 garlic. use fresh or minced garlic instead of powdered, if desired.
- 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 can be used in place of cornstarch.
Store/freeze
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5-7 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.Nutrition
More Delicious Recipes
- You'll love these Italian Healthy Turkey Meatballs served over pasta or zoodles!
- And these Paleo Sweet and Sour Meatballs are kid and husband approved!
- Ground Turkey Italian Stuffed Peppers are a great meal-prep recipe or a main dish to feed a crowd!
- Turkey Chili is delicious!
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Erika
Can this be assembled all the way up until tossing it in the crockpot to be put in the freezer?
Susan Holcombe
First time making Thai food in my life, and I am not a "spring chicken"! It turned out delicious, My husband loved it, too, even though I had to buy low-salt soy sauce, and make my own hoisin sauce with less salt for him. It was just great! I used a store-bought rotisserie chicken, which I finely chopped, and served all over rice! I have shared this recipe with many! Thank you!
Sayo
O. M. G. This. Recipe. Is. Amazing!
I didn't make many adjustments just more turkey and black beans instead of the edamame (cos that's all I had in the pantry lol I know it's weird). Also used light coconut milk. Everything else was the same and boy, was it yummy! Had it over cauliflower rice and I couldn't get enough! I'll probably add more spice to it for my preference but I'm so happy I found this recipe thank you!
Terri Greenwald
so good, had everything including bang pho noodles. added eggplant cause i had it. id make this every week..cant wait to try more of your recipes.
Laura
Thank you Terri! I'm so glad you love it!
Jordan
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.
Laura
Thank you Jordan!
Lina
Could this be made in an instapot? If so, how long?
Laura
Hello! I'm certain it could be made in an instapot! I don't own one (gasp!) so I couldn't advise on timing!
Erica
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!
Laura
I buy frozen, shelled edamame because it's easier!
Laura
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!