These turkey taco meal prep bowls are made with juicy turkey taco meat, corn, pico de gallo and brown rice and are simple, but filling. Make them ahead for four delicious lunches.
Meal prep is the best way to ensure that you avoid wasting a whole bunch of money buying your lunch...some of my favorites include these honey sesame chicken bowlsย and these caprese chicken salad bowls. These turkey taco lunch bowls are perfect if you are craving Mexican food!
These meal prep bowls are not only one of the most popular meal prep recipes on Sweet Peas & Saffron, but one of my personal faves as well!
Inspired by a burrito bowl, but with turkey taco meat, brown rice, corn and a quick pico de gallo for a pretty and delicious meal.
Think of this as a really loose recipe that you can adapt with your favorite toppings.
Reasons you'll โก this recipe
- so tasty!
- they are simple to prep and make 4 lunches
- the recipe is easily adaptable
Recipe Video
These meal prep bowls are super simple to prep, but it always helps to have a visual. Watch the video below to see exactly how this recipe comes together. You can find more of my recipe videos on my YouTube channel.
Don't forget to pin this post to save it for later!
Which ingredients do we need?
This recipe is highly adaptable and are loosely based on a burrito bowl. Here are the components:
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- turkey taco meat- swap the turkey for ground beef, crumbled tofu, or your favorite protein. I used my homemade taco seasoning.
- brown rice- cooked in my rice cooker. See How to Cook Brown Rice. Swap with long grain white rice, quinoa or cauliflower rice.
- corn- from a can, frozen or fresh corn work as well
- pico de gallo- normally I don't love tomatoes in my meal prep but since it's meant to be somewhat 'juicy', it works well in this one!
- cheese- optional but recommended. I used shredded mozzarella!
Other toppings that would be great in this recipe?
- roasted sweet potato
- avocado slices (add just before serving)
- salsa
- black beans
- bell peppers
Are these served hot or cold?ย
They are meant to be served cold, however you can certainly heat them up! If you do plan to heat, I might store the pico de gallo separate and add it in after heating through.
Can I use chicken?ย
Yes, you certainly can. I would cut the chicken into small pieces, sautee until cooked through, then add the taco seasoning + water to make the sauce.
Can I make this vegan?
Yes, you can! I would follow directions for the tofu taco 'meat' in this Tofu Tacos post.
What about low carb?ย
I would swap the rice for cauliflower rice (here's How to Make Cauliflower Rice!), swap the corn for bell peppers or your favorite lower carb veggie, and maybe add in some healthy fats like avocado to make it more filling.
More delicious meal prep ideas
- Cold Sesame Noodle Meal Prep Bowls
- Maple Ginger Cashew Chicken Stir Fry
- Vegan Spring Roll Bowl Meal Prep
- Easy Buddha Bowlsย
- 38 Easy Lunch Meal Prep Recipes
Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!
Turkey Taco Meal Prep Bowls
Ingredients
Rice
- ยพ cup brown rice (uncooked; may be swapped for quinoa or long grain white rice)
- โ tsp salt
- 1 lime (zested)
Turkey
- ยพ lb lean ground turkey (beef or chicken may be swapped)
- 2 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning
- โ cup water
Salsa
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes (halved)
- 1 jalapeno (finely chopped)
- ยผ cup red onion (finely chopped)
- ยฝ lime (juiced)
- โ teaspoon salt
Other:
- 12 oz can corn kernels (341 mL; drained)
- ยฝ cup mozzarella (shredded)
Instructions
- Cook brown rice according to package directions, adding the lime zest and salt to the cooking water. Allow to cool slightly before portioning out.
- Add turkey to a medium pan and cook over medium heat, breaking it up with a spatula until no longer pink (approximately 10 minutes).
- Sprinkle the taco seasoning over the cooked meat, then add the water. Stir and simmer for a couple of minutes, until sauce has thickened.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before portioning out.
- Combine all salsa ingredients and toss together.
- To assemble lunch bowls, divide ingredients evenly between four 2-cup capacity meal prep containers.
Storage
- Store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- You may serve cold or warm up in the microwave before enjoying (see * notes)
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Tips:
Video
Nutrition Information
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Sarah says
Great recipes, they look so great. I. just wanted to make you aware - rice can give you very bad food poisoning (iโve experienced it firsthand!)
Please see this link for safe ways to store rice and they recommend not using past one day....
https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/food-and-diet/can-reheating-rice-cause-food-poisoning/
Denise says
Hi Sarah! I'm sorry that you experienced food poisoning, and I can see how this would make you very cautious about rice! I can assure you that if handled properly, rice is 100% safe to eat...I've read up to 5 days after cooking, but personally I don't do longer than 4 days. The key is to get it in the fridge as quickly as possible, as the harmful bacteria replicate at room temperature. I have been doing this for years and have never had any issues...we even freeze rice at our house.
Georgia says
Iโm literally in the process of making these to this weeks lunch and Iโm so excited to try them out! Do you re-heat it for lunch or eat it cold?
Denise says
Hi Georgia! I've done it either way! Some people like to keep the salsa separate to re-heat but I just heat the whole thing ๐
Chantelle says
I made these last night for my boyfriend and I for the week. We loved them! For a man who loves eating out for lunch regularly I was extremely pleased that he liked this healthy (made at home) lunch! Thanks!! I'll be grabbing more recipe ideas for sure.
Denise says
I'm so happy to hear this, Chantelle! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review ๐
Molly says
Hi!! Would this recipe work with ground beef instead of turkey? And also do you just store it in the fridge for the week? Thanks!! ๐
Denise says
Hi Molly! That would work. Yes, these are stored in the fridge, they are not freezer-friendly. Hope you enjoy it!
Denise says
I'm so happy you enjoyed them! Ground turkey is one of my favorite proteins to cook with-- so easy! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review, Jasmin ๐
Jenn D says
LOL i totally use instant brown rice if I have to use it. I just don't have time for full on cooking rice! This looks amazing, and I don't know why I haven't made these before!
Denise says
Anything to save a little time in the kitchen is OK with me, LOL! Hope you enjoy!
Teresa says
I made these last night and they are so yummy! I did remove the seeds of the jalapeno and I'm glad I did it was spicy as it was. I loved it! Please keep the meal prep recipes coming.
Denise says
I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed them, Teresa! Thanks for reporting back ๐
BRI says
These were amazing. As a pescaterian i did sub the turkey for morningstars veggie "meat" crumbles and used bens ready rice. Great idea for food prep. Tasted amazing nevertheless. Thank you!
Denise says
lad to hear that the veggie crumbles worked! Thanks for reporting back ๐
Kerri says
This is only my 3rd week doing meal prep and I am LOVING this one! I actually am looking forward to lunch! This is perfect for my Weight watchers points too! This entire lunch bowl, comes to just 5 points on my plan. It doesn't get better than that! I can't wait to see other meal preps you have - AND lets not forget how easy and simple this was to put together! 5 stars in my book ๐
Denise says
I'm so happy to hear that, Kerri! Thanks so much for your review ๐
Ben says
How many servings do this make? Cheers
Ben says
Oops just read that it makes 4, my bad!
Laura Ketchie says
Just bought some meal prep containers and this was the first recipe I used with them. I was not disappointed! My husband and I were so pleased with this flavorful, healthy lunch. Looking forward to having it tomorrow, as well. Thank you for the GREAT recipe! It will be on rotation!
Denise says
YAY! So happy you liked them Laura. I hope you enjoy your lunches all week long!
Julia says
I didn't realise till I read this post how long it's been since I've had tacos, this looks so tasty and I've never tried a taco bowl before!
Julia // The Sunday Mode
Kaitlin says
Just wanted to tell you that these were great! I take them out of the fridge about 30 mins - an hour before I want to eat them and they're are delicious!!!
Denise says
I'm so glad you enjoyed them, Kaitlin! Thanks for reporting back ๐
BRIANNA says
Can you eat these for lunch AND dinner? I see everyone using this as just lunch but when I meal prep, its usually for both lunch and dinner.
Denise says
Absolutely, we routinely eat the 'lunch prep' recipes for dinners. These are great if you want to cook everything ahead and just pull them out to enjoy.
Beth says
Does the nutritional stats include the shredded cheese?
Denise says
Yes! There's really not much cheese in the recipe...you could certainly add more if you'd prefer ๐
Renee says
Where does all the sodium come from? This looked great until I saw sodium amounts.
Denise says
Let me check up on that for you, sometimes ingredients can be 'off' on certain counts in My Fitness Pal.
Denise says
I just put it back through MFP and it came out at 655 mg sodium. You can reduce this by using low sodium taco seasoning and/or omitting salt from the salsa ๐
Carrie says
Itโs very easy to make your own taco seasoning and omit the salt all together. This is what I do because of an on going blood pressure issue
Jen says
Hi there these look amazing. Want to try them out. Do you have the instructions on how to crockpot the rice?
Thanks chikie
Denise says
Hi Jen, I've never cooked rice in a crock pot before? I have a rice cooker I really love, this one here (affiliate link): http://amzn.to/2yJNTNi
Dawn McCray says
Is there a reason you use glass containers versus plastic?
Denise says
Hi Dawn! I'm obsessed with my glass Snapware storage containers (these ones here: http://amzn.to/2ksdEzy). I love glass because you don't have to worry about any chemicals seeping into your food when you re-heat, they don't stain or hold flavors of other food you've stored in them, they heat more evenly, and I swear, the food just tastes better in them. They are more of an investment than plastic, but I've found them to be more durable than our plastic ones...we'v only ever broken one container in a whole year, and that's with really heavy use ๐
Cassie says
Hi, 3-4lbs sounds like an awfully large amount of mince for 4 servings, that's about 3 500g packs in Australia? Just double checking ๐
Denise says
Hi Cassie, it's just 3/4 of a pound, not 3-4 pounds. Sorry for the confusion!
Reng says
Wow ... This looks yummy yummy,
Denise says
Thanks, Reng!