With Cinco de Mayo tomorrow, its time for tacos people! I shared my feelings on our American version of this holiday last year in my chicken taco post so I’ll spare you this time around, but I still just love the festivities. Any excuse for tacos and I’m there.
I’ve been making a variation of these healthy turkey tacos for yeeears! The other day, it hit me that its high time I share them with you. I mean, its only fair when a recipe is this good that I don’t hoard it to myself. So, I whipped up a batch, actually took notes on how I make it, and shot a few pics for you.
What I love about these turkey tacos is that they have all of the flavor of ground beef but are much healthier. Just make sure to choose lean ground turkey, otherwise your not getting the full benefit.
Other thing I love about it – the veggies make it kind of fajita like. I love that they add to the flavor and fit seamlessly in the recipe so you don’t feel like you’re adding a veggie just to get a vegetable snuck into the meal. Check these veggies out and tell me you don’t want to eat them. I dare you.
If you want to make this meal even more veggie-filled or if you want to go low carb, replace the tortillas with romaine or butter leaf lettuce. I did that here in this vegetarian version if you want to see an example. Although I love a good tortilla (flour only!), I do love the crunch that lettuce wraps give. Depends on my mood.
What better excuse for margaritas than tacos too. My husband has always been a big fan but I never used to dig them. Just too tart for me. Well, that has all changed. I don’t like most of the syrupy drink mixes but a good from scratch margarita? You can’t pull me away from those things. I could down them by the pitcher.
In looking over pics of these tacos, I realized I missed one of my favorite topping add-ons. Remember when I made these pickled onions? I’d be surprised if anyone but my mother does since no one else read my blog back then, but the recipe still stands as prettty much the best taco topping on the planet. They’re super easy to pull together and make you look like a pro. Don’t be like me, don’t skip that step. 😉
Other best condiment in the world – guac. Love me some guacamole. I can’t even begin to describe how far up on my favorites list this green magic dip is.
Can we take a second to talk about how much cuter and more edible street taco size tortillas are too? I couldn’t find any wheaty sprouted grain over the top health nut mini tortillas so I went with regular flour. Get with the times tortilla manufacturers and bring crunchy granola folks like me some street taco shells with all the weirdo healthy flours already!! Is that too much to ask?
I guess you can do big tortillas too but then you probably can’t eat three of them. And something about sheer quantity in consuming tacos just does it for me.
Plus the minis remind me of eating street tacos in Mexico. A few years ago we went on a friends trip to Cabo and found the best ever taco stand. We ate there every day (sometimes twice a day) for the rest of the trip. I wish I remembered the name of it. I’d go back just for the tacos! These healthy turkey tacos are different but full of the same kind of robust flavor you’d find in a place like that.
Now I’m googling flights to Cabo. How easily I get side tracked when my stomach growls…
Although this salsa doesn’t rival my homemade blender salsa, its incredibly delicious and one of my top three favorite salsas that I buy on the regular. We pretty much always have at least one container of salsa in the fridge since its such an easy, satisfying snack. The chips on the other hand, not so much on the healthy front, but so so much satisfaction.
I’ve been experimenting with bean chips though and they’re really starting to grow on me. As with any healthy swap, you can’t expect it to taste exactly like the real thing. You’ve got to expect that it will have a flavor of its own. With bean chips, I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all though since they’re delicious in their own right. I even crumbled some up on day two when I turned leftover turkey tacos into a taco salad. Try it. Its muy bien.
What are your favorite, can’t live without taco toppings? And are you a Margarita lover or hater? Important questions today but most importantly, happy Cinco de Mayo!!!
Healthy Turkey Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. avocado oil (or whatever type you prefer)
- 1 medium onion (diced)
- 1 red pepper (seeded and diced)
- 1 poblano pepper (seeded and diced)
- 1 Tbsp. minced garlic
- 2 lb. ground turkey
- 1 Tbsp. chili powder
- 2 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- 2 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 2 - 2 1/2 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. pepper
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped (about 2 cups)
- Serve with tortillas and toppings like salsa, guacamole, sour cream, chopped lettuce, diced tomato, shredded cheddar cheese, cilantro, olives, and your favorite other taco toppings
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and peppers and sauté for 4-5 minutes until veggies start to soften.
- Add garlic, turkey, chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano, and 2 tsp. salt, and pepper. Break turkey up with a large spoon or spatula and cook for 7-10 minutes until cooked through.
- Once turkey is cooked, add tomato and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Taste and adjust salt level if desired. Remove from heat and serve.
- Serve with tortillas, and toppings like salsa, guacamole, sour cream, chopped lettuce, diced tomato, shredded cheddar cheese, cilantro, olives, and your favorite other taco toppings.
Recipe Notes
Taco meat leftovers freeze well in freezer safe ziplocks for several months.
This recipe turned out fantastic! However, I do have a question: what are the measurements for the serving size? Would it be 1 cup or 1 1/2 cup?
Happy you liked the recipe too! I know for the nutrition facts provided there are eight servings in the recipe so a serving would be 1/8th of the total amount but I did not measure out how much that actually is. Next time I make the recipe I’ll update and add that information!