Delicious and nutritious turkey and zucchini spaghetti served with whole grain pasta.
We all have days where we get super busy and don’t have a lot of time to make a fabulous dinner. We want something quick, easy and healthy to make, right? That’s why I always try to keep my pantry stocked with ingredients that I can use to whip up various quick & easy family-friendly meals. Marinara sauce is something that I always have on hand, and I always stock ground chuck, and turkey (my daughter absolutely loves turkey) in the freezer. Someone asked me, is ground turkey healthier than ground chicken? If we’re getting really granular, ground turkey is generally a little leaner than ground chicken. choosing lean ground turkey more often will help your heart in the long run. By the way, You can even brown up the meat ahead of time and freeze it to prepare this dinner even faster! Zucchini is also something that I usually always have in the veggie drawer of my fridge. I love zucchini and use it in stir-fries, as a veggie pizza topping, and also to make yummy Crispy Zucchini Wedges (see my blog post and recipe that I posted a while back). So, with a few simple ingredients, I can have dinner on the table in hardly no time at all. My family has recently made the switch to using whole grain pasta and we’re glad we did – we love it! You can whip up this yummy spaghetti dinner on a weeknight or weekend in about 30 minutes. Try it tonight!
Happy cooking!
TTFN,
The Baroness
- 1 TBS extra light olive oil
- 1.25 lb. package ground turkey
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce
- 1 medium zucchini, shredded
- 1/2 tsp italian herb blend seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
- Using a large skillet heat olive oil on medium high heat until hot. Add onions and sauté until translucent. Add garlic and sauté for about an additional minute (do not brown). Add ground turkey and cook turkey, breaking up into small chunks with a spoon while cooking, until browned.
- Reduce heat to medium, add marinara sauce, seasonings, salt and pepper, and then simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring water (salted to taste) to boil and cook pasta according to package directions, making sure to retain some of the pasta water for later use.
- Add zucchini and simmer for about another 10 minutes.
- Add about 1/4 cup pasta water to the sauce at the end to bring sauce to desired consistency.
- You can use ground beef (chuck), and regular pasta if desired.