This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Ground turkey picadillo is a lighter variation of the traditional Cuban picadillo dish. This briny, sweet, and flavorful dish is made with ground turkey, a tomato-based sauce, and all your favorite briny components like Spanish olives and capers.
Easy and Lean: Turkey Picadillo
Traditional picadillo is made with ground beef, but to lighten it up a bit and to brighten the usually bland flavor of ground turkey, I made this turkey picadillo and you know what? It’s just as tasty as the original and leaner!
This turkey picadillo has got everything that I love in a savory dish. It’s comforting, briny, sweet, and full of flavor. I think what truly makes this turkey picadillo stand out is the briny flavor from the liquid of the olives and capers. Combined with the seasonings, vegetables, and meat of this dish, everything just comes together beautifully. You’ll love how quick this comes together too and it’s a great meal prep dish!
Recipe Variations
- Feel free to swap the ground turkey with another lean ground meat like ground chicken. I also don’t like 99% fat free ground chicken or ground turkey. It tends to be too dry so try to look for packaging with higher amounts of fat.
- Golden raisins can be substituted for regular brown raisins, or use both.
How to Serve Turkey Picadillo
- Make it into a rice bowl (white or brown rice) and add your favorite toppings on top! I personally would add more olives, haha
- Use flour tortillas and use the turkey picadillo as a filling to make a burrito or several tacos! Add some lettuce or a cabbage slaw and you’ve got yourself a tasty handheld meal.
- Scramble some eggs and make a turkey picadillo scramble for your morning! Top it with your favorite salsa for some extra spice.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
To store: allow mixture to cool then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To reheat, warm through in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave or in a skillet on the stovetop.
To freeze: allow mixture to cool then evenly divide mixture into Souper Cube trays or freezer-safe containers. Freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, place the mixture into a pot or skillet on the stovetop and thaw and warm through on medium heat.
To meal prep: allow mixture to cool then divide evenly into airtight microwave-safe containers for the week. Feel free to add the picadillo onto a bed of rice for a well-rounded meal to grab and go. To reheat, microwave until warmed through.
Turkey Picadillo
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound (454 g) ground turkey
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- 15 ounce (425 g) can of tomato sauce
- ½ cup (118 ml) water
- ⅔ cup (90 g) chopped Spanish manzanilla olives plus ½ tablespoon brine
- 2 tablespoons capers plus 1 tablespoon brine
- ⅓ cup (48 g) golden raisins
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add a little cooking oil. Brown and break up ground turkey.1 pound (454 g) ground turkey
- Add in the onions, bell pepper, and garlic and cook until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the cumin, paprika, and cayenne. Stir to incorporate.1 large onion, 1 red bell pepper, 4 cloves garlic, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- Add the tomato sauce, water, olives, capers, brine, golden raisins, and bay leaves. Stir to combine.15 ounce (425 g) can of tomato sauce, 1/2 cup (118 ml) water, 2/3 cup (90 g) chopped Spanish manzanilla olives plus ½ tablespoon brine, 2 tablespoons capers plus 1 tablespoon brine, 1/3 cup (48 g) golden raisins, 2 bay leaves
- Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Season with salt, to taste.Kosher salt
- Serve over rice and enjoy!
Nutrition
Photographs by Eat Love Eat
This is one of my Husband’s favorite weeknight meals and he asks for it at least once a month. We add extra capers to ours just because we love the flavor, but otherwise make it as written. Thank you for this tasty addition to our cooking lineup.
Thanks for the feedback, Victoria! So happy to hear this is one of your husband’s favorites.
We LOVED this! So flavorful!!! I used all of the ingredients including the brine from both the olives and capers. I also added 2 tablespoons of chopped peperoncini peppers.
Love this recipe, Thank you so Much!
So it took so long, just made batch #12.
This is delicious! Definitely will make again. Made it exactly as per recipe and found golden raisins (yay!). Thank you!
I used mild Italian sausage instead of the turkey the second time I made it. My husband liked it much better. We love this dish.
I made this turkey picadillo recipe. It is very different from my Mexican mother’s recipe. I used Kalamata olives i had in hand. I happened to have some green tender garbanzo beans in the pod. Some quick shucking and into the pot they went. It was so DELICIOUS. My family wants me to start making it regularly. Yum!!! Please dont tell my mom.
Can you use either golden or regular raisins? (The recipe calls for golden but looks like brown in the pics.)
yes, either is fine! my grocery store didn’t have golden raisins so i made them with regular (as pictured)