This Ground Turkey Pasta Recipe is a super easy, cheesy, and flavorful weeknight dinner made with lean ground turkey and pasta smothered in a creamy tomato sauce. Guaranteed to have the whole family begging for seconds!
Easy Ground Turkey Pasta
Easy pasta recipes like this one are fast becoming my go-to dinners for busy weeknights – or anytime I’m unsure what I feel like making for dinner. Quick and delicious, it’s also one of my favorite ways to use up leftover veggie scraps, helping to waste less and spend less money on groceries each month.
Cheesy, creamy, and filled with loads of ground turkey, this ground turkey pasta is a true winner. Filled with simple ingredients, it tastes like restaurant-quality pasta, minus the hefty price tag.
My 7-year old, not usually a fan of any type of tomato-based pasta sauce, licked his plate clean and asked for seconds. Perfect served with a light green salad or some roasted veggies, the whole family will love this comforting ground turkey pasta.
How to Make Ground Turkey Pasta
- Cook noodles in a large pot of salted water according to package instructions. After the pasta has finished cooking, reserve 1 cup of boiling pasta water before draining.
- Grab a large pan or Dutch oven to cook everything in.
- First cook the onion in a little olive oil, then add and cook the ground turkey.
- Add the garlic, season, and sprinkle with flour (use gluten-free flour if you need to). Mix, then add the chicken broth and tomato sauce.
- Bring to a simmer.
- Add the cooked pasta and half-and-half (or heavy cream). Thin the sauce with reserved pasta water, if desired.
- Stir in some of the cheese and top with the rest. Allow the cheese to melt and serve. So easy, right?
That’s all it takes to a delicious, winning, cheesy ground turkey pasta dinner.
Can I make Ground Turkey Pasta Gluten-free?
Absolutely. In fact, nowadays there are several gluten-free pasta alternatives including chickpeas pasta, lentil pasta, bean pasta, and I think I’ve even seen cauliflower pasta! Any of these options would work great in this ground turkey pasta.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- This recipe is also wonderful when made with lean ground beef or ground sausage in place of ground turkey.
- I used penne pasta to make this recipe, but feel free to use any small or medium-size pasta shape including bowtie, shells, rotini, fusilli, rigatoni, etc.
- For best results, use at least half-and-half or heavy cream. Anything lower in fat may separate when combined with the tomato sauce.
- Add additional veggies if you feel up to it. Some of my favorites include peas, mushrooms, kale, spinach, and asparagus.
I hope you LOVE this easy ground turkey pasta recipe! It’s:
Creamy
Comforting
Rich
Delicious
Quick
Luscious
Cheesy
& full of protein!
Perfect whenever you’re not sure what to make for dinner, I love serving this pasta with a small green salad or fruit salad.
Looking for more delicious pasta recipes? Try these reader favorites:
- Easy Bacon Broccoli Pasta
- Creamy Ham and Pea Pasta
- Creamy Buffalo Chicken Pasta Recipe
- Easy Pasta Primavera Recipe
- Penne Arrabbiata Recipe
- One-Pot Homemade Hamburger Helper
- Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta Recipe
Have you tried making this Cheesy Ground Turkey Pasta Recipe?
Tell me about it in the comments below! I always love to hear your thoughts. And tag me #theforkedspoon on Instagram if you’ve made any of my recipes, I always love to see what you’re cooking in the kitchen.
Ground Turkey Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 oz penne pasta - or pasta of choice
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion - diced
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2 teaspoon salt - divided
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 5 cloves garlic - minced
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- fresh parsley - to garnish
- red chili flakes - to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (I usually add at least 1 tablespoon of salt) and cook the pasta 1-2 minutes less than the package instructions. After the pasta has finished cooking, reserve 1 cup of boiling pasta water before draining. Set the pasta aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan or Dutch oven set over medium heat. Cook the onions until soft and translucent, approximately 5 minutes.
- Add the ground turkey and cook over medium to medium-high heat, breaking it into small bite-size pieces. Once cooked, season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning and stir in the minced garlic. Mix to combine and continue to cook for an additional minute or so.
- Sprinkle the ground turkey with 2 tablespoons of flour and mix well to combine. Pour in the chicken broth and the tomato sauce and let it come to a simmer.
- Add the cooked pasta to the pan and pour in the half-and-half. Stir to combine.
- For a thinner sauce, slowly add additional chicken broth or reserved pasta water. For a creamier sauce, add additional half-and-half.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in half of the mozzarella cheese and half of the cheddar cheese and top with the remaining half cup of each.
- Reduce heat to low and cover your pan or Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid until the cheese is melted. Remove from heat and enjoy!
Jessica's Notes
- You may also make this recipe with ground beef.
- For an extra creamy sauce and pasta, swap the half-and-half for heavy cream.
- For bubbly, golden cheese on top, preheat your oven to 400° F. After your pasta has been assembled and topped with cheese, transfer your (oven-safe) pan or skillet to the oven. Cook for about 5-10 minutes or so, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- The small cherry tomatoes that you see in the photos were added last minute as they would have otherwise spoiled in the refrigerator. Feel free to do the same with any vegetables you may have that are about to spoil.
Nutritional Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.)
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Hi Jake, with all due respect, this is my job and how I earn a living. The ingredients didn’t buy themselves, the recipe didn’t magically cook itself, take its own photos, upload themselves to the computer and then edit themselves. And then there’s the recipe post with all the information you need to make the recipe, that definitely didn’t write itself. Then there’s the social content and sharing. Add it all up and this one “disgusting” free recipe took about 8-10 hours to complete, start to finish. If you prefer to get recipes without ads, there are plenty of websites you can pay a monthly fee to access or maybe buy a cookbook. Hope you have a great night!
Jake, if you don’t want ads, get your recipes from a book.
Can you tell me how you added to tomatoes. Just at the end or did they cook some?
In the note section of the recipe card I gave the details of those tomatoes:
”
The small cherry tomatoes that you see in the photos were added last minute as they would have otherwise spoiled in the refrigerator. Feel free to do the same with any vegetables you may have that are about to spoil.
”
You can add them during or after step 4, depending on how well you want them cooked 🙂 .
It’s like Alfredo sauce which I love, with additional ingredients.
My husband loved this as did I.
We’ll be making it again.
And again. And again.
Can you freeze afterwards?
If frozen, I think the noodles will be too mushy and soggy once reheated for this recipe, so I would not recommend it.
My husband and I loved this recipe! I didn’t have tomato sauce so I substituted diced tomatoes, added mushrooms and used a little less pasta. It was a little runny, but tasted awesome! It was equally great leftover. We will definitely be making again! Thank you!
Thanks for the lovely feedback and rating Jennifer 🙂
Is the nutritional facts amount based on 6 servings or just one serving ?
one serving 🙂
I used 2% milk instead of the cream because I didn’t have any. Otherwise delicious!!!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing your feedback Chris 🙂
This is like spaghetti meets Mac and cheese. My kids liked it, but my husband said there was a weird flavor. I would add in more flavor for adults, like a white wine.
Would it still taste good leaving the cheese out of the sauce? I have people who aren’t cheese lovers.
I am sure it will still taste great, but I don’t know for sure as I have not tried it without the cheese.
OK, I will try it and see. It looks so yummy and I miss cheesy pasta and when cooking for people who don’t love cheese it’s hard to find a happy medium 😉 Just wanted to make sure the sauce is creamy enough with just the half and half. Thank you so much for responding!
I have made this a few times and it’s been a hit both times. I’ve used a veggie pasta and the kids couldn’t tell the difference. Also tried ground chicken and it was a very tasty!
Thanks for the feedback and rating Marisa – I love hearing how your kids enjoyed it 🙂
Loved this! I used chick pea pasta because I’m gluten intolerant and my kids loved it! This is definitely a keeper!
Thanks Elise 🙂
That was so good! I had a switch a few ingredients since I didn’t have the exact ones you used. I used spaghettis, I use diced tomatoes that I liquified in the food processor, I switched mozzarella for Parmesan. But wow! So delicious. Thanks!
Thanks for the good feedback Angel 🙂
looks yummy. question – can you make the night before and bake in oven for dinner the next day.
You can prepare the turkey the night before, but I would wait to do the pasta until the next day so that it is fresher the next day 🙂
thank you
Enjoyed this recipe. Very delicious and easy to make. Didn’t have half-and-half so substituted 1tablespoon of butter and 1 cup of milk.
I am happy you enjoyed this recipe Moni 🙂
This was delicious! I added a few chilies from my garden and it complimented it perfectly!!Thank you so much for this recipe. It’s simply amazing.
Although it was a bit runny, we absolutely loved the flavors in this rich pasta dish.
5 stars for sure!
Very delicious! I followed the recipe exactly only difference is I use chickpea pasta ❤️