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American

Turkey Cabbage Skillet

Ground turkey, cabbage, and tomato cook down in one pan into a savory dinner that uses a cheap vegetable as the bulk. It is not a diet plate. The tomato and salt make it taste like food.

Prep
10 min
Cook
20 min
Total
30 min
Servings
4
Difficulty
Easy
Jump to recipe
Ground turkey and cabbage skillet with tomato.

Why you’ll love it

  • Cabbage stretches a pound of turkey.
  • One pan.
  • Tomato keeps it from tasting steamy and plain.
  • It reheats well for lunch.

Ingredients

Servings4

Ingredient amounts scale. Oven temperature and cook time do not. Salt, spices, and leaveners are a starting point after you scale. Taste and adjust.

Rough grocery estimate for the full recipe: about $9–12 at a typical US supermarket. Prices vary by store, region, and season.

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Instructions

  1. 1

    Cook the turkey and salt over medium-high, breaking it up, until no pink remains and it is 165°F, about 6 minutes.

  2. 2

    Add the onion and cabbage. Cook 6 minutes, until the cabbage wilts.

  3. 3

    Add the garlic, tomatoes, paprika, pepper, and Worcestershire.

  4. 4

    Simmer 8 minutes, uncovered, until the cabbage is tender and the liquid has cooked down.

  5. 5

    Taste for salt.

  6. 6

    Serve in bowls. A spoon should come up with meat and cabbage, not watery broth.

Pro tips

  • Cabbage shrinks. Start with more than looks reasonable.
  • If it is watery, keep the lid off.
  • Worcestershire is salty. Add salt at the end.

Easy substitutions

Ground turkey
Ground beef, cooked until no pink remains.
Diced tomatoes
A cup of crushed tomatoes.
Worcestershire
1 tsp soy sauce.

Storage and reheating

Storage

Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Reheating

Warm in a skillet until hot.

Nutrition

Estimates per serving, using standard ingredient averages and rounded to the nearest gram. This is not a lab analysis, and it shifts if you change brands or add sides.

Calories
260
Protein
28 g
Carbs
12 g
Fat
11 g
Fiber
3 g

Budget friendly · Stovetop, One Pan · Dairy-Free

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From the kitchen

Kitchen tools we love

Practical tools these recipes actually use. This is not a review roundup, and these are not paid placements. If affiliate links are added later, they will be labeled and disclosed.

  • A heavy 12-inch skillet

    Most of the chicken and steak recipes are written for one pan that holds heat. Stainless or cast iron both work.

  • An air fryer with a real basket

    The air-fryer recipes expect a single layer. A crowded basket steams instead of browning.

  • A half-sheet pan

    Drumsticks, potatoes, sausage, and carrots all use one. A dark pan browns faster than a very shiny one.

  • A sharp chef’s knife

    These recipes do not need a specialty blade. A sharp 8-inch knife is faster and safer than a dull one.

  • A large cutting board

    Big enough that the onion and the raw chicken are not sharing the same puddle.

  • Dry cups and a liquid cup

    Desserts in particular expect level dry measures and a separate cup for milk.

  • An instant-read thermometer

    Use it for poultry, pork chops, and meatloaf. Color is a weak guide.

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Ingredients