A healthy and delicious dinner made in one skillet and on the table in 30 minute or less! This Southwest Turkey, Vegetable and Rice Skillet is creamy, cheesy, full of vegetables, lean ground turkey and brown rice. It’s sure to become a family favorite!
It’s the first week back to school around here. I always remember the first week back at school. When you’re younger it’s much more exciting. New clothes, backpack, lunchbox and school supplies, life was simple and good. Then you hit high school and new clothes are about the only exciting thing you’re going back to school with. You saw your friends all summer so nothing new there, now it’s just back to classes and homework. I’m sure most parents look forward to school starting up again, now you actually have time to get things done that you need and want to do.
One thing, whether it’s summer vacation or back to school, you’ve gotta get dinner on the table. Some days it’s easier than others, but on those rushed days easy dinners are where it’s at. The rushed days are when I pull out my trusty skillet and make a meal where I can throw all of the ingredients into it. This Southwest Turkey, Vegetable and Rice Skillet is one I had many times as a kid and still love making it today.
In my collection of recipes, this one is actually called Ranchero Bake. Why it’s called that, I don’t know. I guess it might be something you would eat on a ranch, can’t say I’ve been to a whole lot of ranches lately. You don’t bake this dinner, although if you felt like heating up the house and taking an extra 20 minutes to make it you could. So, instead of keeping it’s original name I changed it up to one you might actually search for on the internet.
I also changed and added a couple ingredients to this Southwest Turkey, Vegetable and Rice Skillet to make it more to my liking. Instead of using white rice I switched it out for whole grain brown rice. I also subbed the sour cream for Greek yogurt and added in some fresh corn because it’s in season. A tip to make this dinner extra speedy is to use boil in the bag brown rice or even minute brown rice that you can pop in the microwave if you’re really rushed. I hope you enjoy this easy, one skillet Southwest flavored dinner as much as I do!
Yields 5-6 servings
15 minPrep Time
10 minCook Time
25 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 zucchini, diced (about 2 cups)
- 4 ounce can diced green chiles
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn
- 1 tomato, diced
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup plain non-fat or 2% Greek yogurt
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- When the skillet is hot add a couple teaspoons of oil or spray the skillet generously with oil.
- Add the ground turkey to the skillet and crumble it with a wooden spoon.
- Season with salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin.
- When the turkey is almost cooked through add in the onion and garlic and cook for approximately 2 minutes.
- Add in the can of green chiles and the zucchini and cook for another minute.
- Add in the cooked brown rice, corn and tomato and stir everything together.
- When the mixture is heated through add in the shredded cheese and stir until melted.
- Turn off the heat and remove from the hot burner.
- Stir in the Greek yogurt until everything is combined.
- Serve immediately.
More Skillet Dinners
Skillet Meatballs in Marinara Sauce
Lightened Up Skillet Chicken Parmesan
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