Made with just ten simple (and yummy) ingredients in about 20 minutes, this creamy ground turkey pasta recipe is easy to prepare and, even better, is so tasty and comforting! With a cream sauce, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, it’s easy enough for a quick weeknight supper or special enough for a date night at home.
We love ground turkey recipes around here. And pasta (or carbs, in general). Bring it on! Loves it!
So, it’s no surprise that this ground turkey pasta recipe is giving me all the cozy food vibes.
With lean ground turkey, pasta, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach in a cream sauce, what’s not to love?
How To Make Ground Turkey Pasta
Full details are in the recipe card below, but here are the basics:
Cook your pasta according to package instructions until it’s al dente, then drain (reserving a little pasta water first).
Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a frying or sauté pan, then cook the ground turkey (add a little salt and pepper while it’s cooking).
Once the turkey is fully cooked through, add cream, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper.
Stir everything and cook until the cream has reduced and thickened.
This is not an overly saucy creamy pasta. The cream just lightly coats the linguine and other ingredients (but is it ever delicious).
Add the cooked pasta and baby spinach, then cook until the spinach has just wilted.
Now it’s time to serve! Yummy yum yum!
Tips for Making This Recipe
- Add some buttery flavour and texture with panko. Melt a little butter in a non-stick frying pan, sprinkle in some panko bread crumbs (about a tablespoon per serving) and stir regularly until they’re golden brown and crispy. Then just top the finished pasta with it. So good!
- If you like a little more spice, add in some more crushed red pepper flakes to taste.
Recipe Variations
- Mix up the protein! If you have ground chicken on hand, you can totally use that instead of ground turkey.
- Try a different green veggie! Instead of spinach, try kale. Remove the kale from the stems and cut into bite-sized pieces. Kale (will need to be cooked a tad longer (as it’s heartier). Cook it for a few minutes after the turkey is cooked and before adding the cream (and remaining ingredients). You basically just want it to wilt down a little.
Serving Ideas
Want to make things even more substantial or simply planning a nice meal at home? Try serving this ground turkey pasta with any of these:
- Mixed green salad
- Garlic bread
- Tomato ricotta toast
More Easy Ground Turkey Recipes
If you make this ground turkey pasta recipe, be sure to leave a comment below!
Creamy Ground Turkey Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 ounces dried linguine pasta, or dried spaghetti
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- ½ pound ground turkey
- ½ teaspoon salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
- ⅔ cup whipping cream (35% milk fat), or heavy cream
- ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, removed from oil and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 cups baby spinach, loosely packed
- Grated Parmesan cheese, garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions until it's al dente. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water for later (you may not need it all), then drain the pasta.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying or sauté pan over medium heat.
- Add the ground turkey to the pan and season with ¼ teaspoon each of salt and black pepper. Cook the turkey, breaking it into small pieces and stirring occasionally, until fully cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- To turkey, add whipping cream, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and remaining ¼ teaspoon each of salt and black pepper. Stir and cook for 2 minutes or until the cream has reduced/thickened slightly (this is not overly saucy).
- Add the cooked pasta and baby spinach to the turkey mixture, stirring in. Cook about 1 to 2 minutes or until the spinach has just wilted. If you want to loosen things (make it a little more saucy), you can add a little of the reserved pasta water (start with just 1 tablespoon and see if you want to add more; you don't want to add too much and make it too watery).
- Divide the pasta into bowls and garnish with some grated Parmesan cheese (if desired). Serve and enjoy!
A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
© Girl Heart Food Inc. Photographs and content are copyright protected.
Tried this recipe?
If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!
valentina says
Cozy food vibes are the best! The combination of ingredients sounds so good and so great it can be whipped up so quickly for a hearty and delicious meal. Perfect as we enter fall! 🙂 ~Valentina
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
This looks fabulous and I’m always looking for new ways to enjoy ground turkey. Adding it with creamy and pasta definitely works for me 🙂
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says
Mmmmm…. Fast, simple and delicious!!! You just can’t get any better than that. This is a perfect quick dinner full of flavor!
David @ Spiced says
I absolutely love pasta! This looks like the perfect bowl of comfort food for these early fall days, too. We used to use ground turkey quite a bit, but somewhere along the line, we’ve kinda forgotten about it. Thanks for reminding me – this creamy pasta is the exact kind of pasta that I love!!
Laura says
What a gorgeous dish, Dawn! I love a delicious pasta dish and I always love cooking with ground turkey. And I think I need to use sundried tomatoes a bit more – they offer so much flavor! Going to try this one for sure!