These Ground Turkey Enchiladas are full of veggies, baked in red enchilada sauce and topped with cheese for the meal for the whole family. This all-in-one meal is easy to make and is the perfect weeknight dinner or meal prep dish to enjoy throughout the week.
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This ground turkey enchilada casserole is a great way to get dinner on the table especially if you're cooking for a group. These enchiladas are made with simple ingredients like seasoned ground turkey, bell peppers and zucchini but are full of flavor that will keep you coming back to this recipe.
If you're looking for meal prep recipes, this one is perfect! It's easy to make and will get you through the week. Trust me when I say this is the best turkey enchilada recipe ever, you will love it!
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What are enchiladas?
The word comes from the Spanish verb "enchilar", which means “to season with chili.” Enchiladas can be traced back to Aztec times. Since then many different versions of enchiladas have become traditional all over Central and South America and in the United States through Tex-Mex and New Mexican cuisine. You can read more about the history of enchiladas here. This recipe is definitely an Americanized version of this traditional dish. Mexico in My Kitchen has a great traditional enchilada recipe you may want to try.
🌟Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Simple recipe. This recipe is easy to prepare and make on a busy weeknight and is loaded with veggies.
- Great for leftovers & meal prep. This ground turkey enchiladas recipe is great to meal prep for you to enjoy all week long. It's even better the next day as leftovers! If you are a fan of meal prep recipes, try my Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie and Couscous Stuffed Peppers next!
- Family favorite. These tasty enchiladas will quickly be added to your family's weekly meal rotation because they're super flavorful and every family member will become a big fan.
🥘Ingredients in Ground Turkey Enchiladas
This recipe uses ground turkey, veggies and spices you will typically find in Mexican-style dishes such as chili and tacos. A few ingredient notes:
- Bell pepper- you'll need 2 bell peppers, any color will work, use whatever you already have on hand in the fridge or your favorite kind.
- Zucchini- one diced zucchini is added to these turkey enchiladas to add some more veggies to the recipe. Feel free to omit this.
- Ground turkey- I recommend extra lean ground turkey. If you prefer chicken, try green chile chicken enchiladas.
- Enchilada sauce- I personally love Whole Foods' 365 brand red enchilada sauce because of the minimal ingredients but can use your favorite brand or make a homemade enchilada sauce.
- Tortillas- I recommend soft flour tortillas, corn & wheat combo tortillas or Siete Cassava flour tortillas. I don't recommend corn tortillas as they tend to crack when rolled.
- Cheese- I prefer a Mexican cheese blend but any shredded cheese will work.
See the recipe card below for quantities and remaining ingredients.
📖Variations
- Switch up the vegetables. Add green chiles, a poblano pepper or even corn to the filling.
- Use a different protein. Instead of turkey, use ground beef, shredded chicken or beans.
- Swap out the sauce. This recipe calls for red sauce but you can definitely use green enchilada sauce instead.
- Make it vegan. Leave out the ground turkey and the cheese. Use a plant-based ground meat alternative or black beans. Top the enchiladas with vegan cheese when serving.
🔪Instructions
Step 1: Prep and cook the veggies. Begin by dicing the onion, peppers and zucchini to prep the dish and cook them in a skillet for a few minutes over medium heat.
Step 2: Next, add in the turkey and brown while crumbling for a few minutes. Add the spices and ½ cup of enchilada sauce.
Step 3: In the bottom of the baking dish, pour about ¼ cup of enchilada sauce then roll the turkey enchilada filling into each tortilla. Place the tortillas into the baking dish seam-side down
Step 4: Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top along with shredded Mexican cheese. Bake until the cheese is bubbly.
💭Recipe FAQs
Place a ⅓ cup of the ground turkey filling and vegetable mixture onto one side of each tortilla. Roll up the tortilla and place it seam-side down into the casserole dish.
The tortillas need to be heated before rolling. Heat about ½ teaspoon of oil in a skillet and heat each tortilla on both sides for about 30 seconds. You can also heat the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds-1 minute.
These enchiladas can be pre-made and frozen. Make sure to cover the dish with a layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil. Freeze for 3-4 months. Thaw frozen enchiladas overnight in the fridge and bake as directed. I don't recommend freezing in a ceramic dish. Use a disposable pan or metal baking dish.
I recommend any 9x12-inch rectangular baking dish. I prefer ceramic but glass or metal should work.
👩🏻🍳Chef Tips
- Don't use corn tortillas as they can easily rip when rolling. I recommend flour or a corn and flour mixture. For a gluten-free version use cassava flour tortillas.
- Heat tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds or on a lightly oiled skillet to make them more pliable.
- Don't overfill the tortillas or it will be difficult to roll them.
- Let the enchiladas cool for a few minutes before serving.
🥗What to Serve with Ground Turkey Enchiladas
These enchiladas are an entire meal on their own but I always recommend adding your favorite toppings. Here are some ideas:
- A dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt
- Sliced avocado
- Refried beans or black bean avocado dip.
- Green onions or cilantro
- Squeeze of lime juice
After dinner, serve spicy watermelon margaritas or skinny spicy margaritas.
Storage and Reheating
- Leftover enchiladas will stay good in the fridge for 3-5 days if properly covered in an airtight container.
- Reheat in the microwave for about 2 minutes or in the oven at 350 degrees F until warmed.
- Make an extra batch and freeze it to enjoy later.
More Ground Turkey Recipes
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Ground Turkey Enchiladas
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 red onion, diced
- 2 bell peppers, diced
- 1 small zucchini, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- black pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 (15 ounce) jar or can of enchilada sauce
- 8 (8 inch) tortillas, warmed
- ½ cup shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions, bell peppers and zucchini, about 5 minutes. Add the ground turkey to the pan and brown, while crumbling for about 6-8 minutes.
- Stir in garlic, salt, black pepper, chili powder, paprika, cayenne, oregano and turmeric. Pour in ½ cup of the enchilada sauce and stir everything to combine. Turn off the heat.
- Spread ½ cup of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 casserole or baking dish.
- Put ⅓ cup of the turkey mixture onto one side of each tortilla and roll it. Place each tortilla in the baking dish seam side down. Top the tortillas with another ½ cup of the sauce and shredded cheese.
- Bake in the oven on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.
Sarah's Tips
- Don't use corn tortillas as they can easily rip when rolling. I recommend flour or a corn and flour mixture. For a gluten-free version use cassava flour tortillas.
- Heat tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds or on a lightly oiled skillet to make them more pliable.
- Don't overfill the tortillas or it will be difficult to roll them.
- Let the enchiladas cool for a few minutes before serving.
- Leftover enchiladas will stay good in the fridge for 3-5 days if properly covered in an airtight container.
- Reheat in the microwave for about 2 minutes or in the oven at 350 degrees F until warmed.
- Make an extra batch and freeze it to enjoy later.
trish hart says
The ground turkey enchiladas were amazing. I had to make a few revisions since it was a last minute dinner. I did not have peppers or zucchini, so I added black beans and corn. Big hit with the family.
Dawn says
When I reviewed this on Yumly, it wouldn’t let me hit the 5th star, but it’s definitely a 5 STAR recipe. I doubled it cause we have 3 young adult kids and it made a lot!!! Everyone enjoyed them! I used gluten free sauce (no one knew) and a mini chopper to chop the veggies. Poured an entire bag of cheese on each tray ( 4 Mexican cheese type) Recommend it! Doubling made 2 trays.
Thanks Sarah!
Sarah Holt says
Hi Dawn,
Thank you so much for this lovely review! We absolutely love it here also, I may make it too much🙂
Kristin Richardson says
I loved this recipe! I adore enchiladas, but always looking for a healthy and flavorful approach. These came out saucy, crispy in all the right places, and my favorite feature is the re-heatability. These made a great dinner and then an even better lunch the next day. I plan to make these again, double batch, one for the freezer and one for same day.
Sarah Holt says
So happy you enjoyed them Kristin, they are perfect for leftovers!