These ground turkey meal prep bowls have a delicious Korean-inspired sauce! Packed with flavor and under 400 calories per bowl, you can prep this recipe on the weekend for healthy and delicious lunches through the week.
It's amazing how versatile ground turkey can be! From Thai turkey lettuce wraps to turkey taco lunch bowls, it's not only versatile, but works great in meal prep as well.
Inspired by Korean beef, ground turkey is cooked up in a mixture of sweet and savory sauce that adds flavor to rice and vegetables. You can store it in the fridge or the freezer...perfect for stocking up on healthy meals!
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Reasons you'll ♡ this recipe
- it's ready in under 30 minutes, making it great for a quick meal prep or weeknight dinner
- it freeze/thaws great
- the sauce adds the perfect amount of flavor to the turkey, rice and vegetables
About Korean beef
This recipe was adapted from Taste of Home's Korean Beef and Rice, which in turn, was inspired by Korean beef bulgogi. Beef bulgogi is a traditional Korean recipe that consists of thin strips of beef marinated in a delicious sauce. The beef can be skewered, then grilled, or sauteed in a frying pan. The marinade can vary widely by chef, but typically consists of a mixture of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, green onion, sugar and pear.
If you are interested in reading more about the history behind beef bulgogi, I encourage you to read this article.
Adapting these flavors into a 30 minute recipe
My goal for this recipe was to adapt the traditional flavors, but lighten it up, speed up the prep, and make it with ingredients that are readily available to North American (US/Canada) home cooks. With those goals in mind, that is how these Korean turkey bowls came about.
Ingredient notes
- ground turkey- feel free to swap for ground beef, or chopped chicken thighs. I don't love ground chicken because it can end up drying out. Mashed tofu also works well in this recipe.
- soy sauce- if you are gluten-free, you can swap for tamari, coconut aminos or liquid soy seasoning
- honey- balancing out the soy sauce with a touch of sweetness is essential, but you don't necessarily need to use honey; feel free to swap for maple syrup or brown sugar. Monk fruit sweetener works if you want to make it low carb (see recipe card for quantities).
- red pepper flakes- adds a touch of heat, but you can easily leave them out if you're serving to kiddos
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Step by step directions
1. Shake up sauce- You'll want to mix up the sauce before you begin cooking. In a small jar, add honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Shake it up, then set aside.
2. Cook turkey- Heat a non stick pan over medium heat. Add the ground turkey to the pan, and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring and breaking it up with a spatula.
3. Garlic & ginger- When turkey is cooked through and no pink remains, make a space in the middle of the pan. Add the minced garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring a bit, for 1 minute. Then mix it right into the ground turkey.
4. Sauce it up- Shake the sauce back up, then pour it evenly over the turkey. Let it cook for 1-2 minutes until bubbly and everything is coated in the sauce.
5. Portion out- Portion out the ground turkey + sauce into 2 cup or larger meal prep containers with steamed broccoli and rice. Refrigerate for up to 4 days, and heat it up until steaming hot in the microwave to serve.
Ingredient swaps
- rice- swap for cauliflower rice (or even zoodles) and try an alternative sweetener in the sauce to make this low carb
- honey- swap for brown sugar, maple syrup or monk fruit sweetener
- soy sauce- swap for tamari or coconut aminos to make it paleo-friendly (you'll need to swap the rice as well)
- ground turkey- may be swapped for ground beef, mashed tofu, or chicken thighs (chopped into cubes)
Storage
- fridge- store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- freezer- store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- thaw- overnight in the fridge.
- reheat- in the microwave until steaming hot.
More meal prep bowls
- 36 Healthy Ground Turkey Recipes
- Moroccan Inspired Meal Prep Bowls
- BBQ Meatloaf Meal Prep Bowls
- Healthier Firecracker Meal Prep Bowls
Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!
Korean-Inspired Turkey Meal Prep Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¾ cup uncooked rice 2 cups cooked
- 1 head broccoli chopped into florets
Turkey
- ¾ lb lean ground turkey see note 1
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger finely chopped
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons honey see note 2
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce see note 3
- 1 ½ teaspoons sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
Garnish
- green onions (optional)
Instructions
- Cook rice according to package directions. Portion out into four 2-cup capacity meal prep containers and allow to cool.
- Shake up all sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the broccoli and cook for 5 or so minutes, until slightly softened. Remove from heat and divide between meal prep containers.
- Add turkey to pan. Cook, breaking it up with a spatula, for 5-8 minutes, until completely cooked through and no longer pink.
- Make a space in the middle of the pan. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute, stirring up a bit.
- Give the sauce a shake up and pour over the ground turkey and garlic/ginger. Stir until everything is mixed through, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Divide turkey/sauce mixture between the meal prep containers. Sprinkle with green onions if desired.
Storage
- Once everything has cooled, store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
To serve
- Heat in the microwave until steaming hot, and enjoy!
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Tips:
Nutrition Information
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Darrin says
I loved this dish. I added more spice and probably need to tone back the sweetness a little. First one I made I didn't have ginger so I threw some allspice into the sauce and it was delicious.
Jasmine @ Sweet Peas & Saffron says
Hi Darrin, thanks for sharing your variations with us - sounds delicious! Glad to hear that you loved this recipe!
Susan says
Finger licking good!!! I served this to my bible study group last night and they kept getting up for seconds and thirds. I was amazed, especially since ground turkey can be bland, but this was fabulous. This is definitely a keeper. I served it with lettuce and we make lettuce wraps. Yum!!!
Jasmine @ Sweet Peas & Saffron says
Hi Susan, we are so glad that you loved this recipe, great idea to make lettuce wraps! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave a rating and review!
Lauren says
How much prepared meat to you count as a serving to get the nutritional facts at the end of the post?
Jasmine @ Sweet Peas & Saffron says
Hi Lauren! It works out to be roughly 1/2 cup of turkey per serving for this recipe. 🙂
Laura says
These were AMAZING! I followed the recipe as written except I used coconunt aminos instead of soy sauce. I cannot beleive how good the broccoli was warmed up! I never thought it possible, as I am a very picky broccoli-texture eater. I’ve just discovered your website and I am absolutely thrilled with all the ideas. Your meal prep ideas have been life changing due to the healthy ingredients and simple instructions you provide. Thank you!
Denise Bustard says
Hi Laura! I am so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe, and that you've found the other recipes so helpful! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know <3
Katie says
Wow! This was so yummy! Only change is that I was out of red pepper flakes, so I added a few drops of sambal oelek into my and my husband’s plates to give it a nice kick. Served some of the turkey to my picky toddler and she ate multiple spoonfuls!! (This is a huge deal) Husband and I each had seconds and we will definitely make it again. Thanks 🙂
Denise Bustard says
Hi Katie! I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed. Love your modification!! Thank you so much for coming back to leave a review, I really appreciate it!
Anna says
Great recipe!!
Can you freeze these?
Denise Bustard says
Hi Anna! Yes, you can freeze them for up to 3 months. I thaw before reheating, though I have reheated from frozen in a pinch. Hope you enjoy!
MIA FANTINO says
This was super easy! I used this recipe as a dinner for my family of 4. My son recommended that I toss the broccoli with the turkey to add some sauce to it next time. We did not want to double the sauce. I haven't tried this yet so we are not sure if it will work without doubling the sauce. Everyone ate this with Kimchi and said it was repeatable! Even though I served this in bowls I also put out bib lettuce leaves for those that wanted to have fun and make lettuce wraps with it. They all enjoyed it! Thank you!
Denise Bustard says
Hi Mia! So happy to hear you enjoyed! I think you might want to increase the sauce if you want the broccoli to get coated. Thanks so much for reporting back!
Jamie says
So good! I was worried that the meat would hold the only flavor and the veggies would be bland. But honestly the meat had so much flavor it complimented the veg well. I used a frozen snap pea stir fry mix with snap peas, bell pepper carrots water chestnuts and broccoli and it was great! My husband said it smelled great and tried a bite. Def going in my meal prep and dinner rotation. Very easy!
Denise Bustard says
Hi Jamie! Yay, I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed this one as it's one of my personal favorites! Great tips about the veggies. Thanks for reporting back!
Ella says
I was prepping this for lunch but, as I was cooking it, my picky 7 year old asked "what smells so good?!" She ate one of my lunch servings for dinner but I didn't mind. It really is delicious and comes together in no time. In the future, I'll double the sauce but this is perfect meal prep.
Heather Russell says
Made this as part of the meal prep challenge (which was great!) I had ground beef to be used, for extra sauce I just increased the amount of coconut aminos (soy), added a touch of water and a little less honey – super fast, and made for delicious lunches for the week!
Denise says
Hi Heather! Thank you so much for your review, and I'm so happy you joined us in the challenge! <3
Simone says
We had it with tofu and while it tasted great!
It was a bit dry, because there's no additional sauce for the rice and veggies. Next time I'll try to come up with an additional sauce, but we'll definitely have this again.
Fran Bellas says
This was a hit with everyone in the house (that eats beef). I used beef instead of turkey. Left out the Mirin and put in a splash of Rice Wine instead. Really quick to put together and holds up in the lunch prep containers for the week.
Denise says
Hi Fran, did you mean to leave this review on the teriyaki chicken post? This recipe does not have mirin in it 🙂
Mary says
This is the perfect lunch prep! Healthy and tasty, too. I love gochujang and will add that the next time I prep this meal. I added a little bit of red pepper flakes (maybe a shake or so)—just the faintest hint of spice/heat. The awesome thing about Denise’s recipes is that you can adjust and modify to fit your dietary needs as well as your preferences. With many of Denise’s recipes, you can swap ingredients to get the meal you need for you.
Denise says
I love that idea, Mary! Thank you so much for reporting back <3
Ashlynne says
This recipe was so good! I didn’t have any chili flakes, so I used Gochujang instead, and it was soooooooooo good. I was pleasantly surprised. Great for meal prep!
Denise says
Hi Ashlynne, I'm so happy you enjoyed! Great tip about Gochujang, thanks for sharing 🙂
Kathy says
This was delicious, I used ground turkey breast so it was a little dry but very flavorful. I may eat it for breakfast too tomorrow.
Denise says
Glad you enjoyed! Good to know about ground turkey breast!
Alessandra says
I'm just starting out in the whole meal prep journey, but this was so tasty! I made my rice in a rice cooker in the morning each day, just cause I don't love rice that's been in the fridge for a while, but other than that stuck to the recipe. Will definitely be making again, thank you 🙂
Denise says
So happy you enjoyed! Thanks for taking the time out of your day to leave a review, Alessandra!
Lori says
Does the nutrition data include the rice and brocolli?
Denise says
Yes, it includes all ingredients listed!
Darlene Blackwell says
My friends at work and I loved this recipe. It was so good and filling that I ate it for breakfast once.
Denise says
I'm so happy to hear this! Thank you so much for reporting back, Darlene!
Taeghen says
Can I freeze these with the rice and steamed broccoli? Or should I just prepare the rice and broccoli when ready to eat?
Denise says
Hi Taeghen! Yes, we are actually making this recipe in our freezer meal prep challenge! So long as you steam the broccoli before freezing you are good to go. This one is great after freeze/thawing!
Brittany Audra @ Audra's Appetite says
Can't wait to try that honey soy sauce!! 🙂
Sheri says
Sounds amazing…I’m gonna substitute the rice for caluflower rice for a bit healthier and less carb meal