Talk of Turkey in November? Don’t worry. This isn’t another recipe about how to prepare a traditional turkey in accordance with the American pagan harvest celebration known as Thanksgiving.

Unpopular opinion, especially during this time of year, but I think a Thanksgiving turkey is pretty boring. I’d even go as far as to say it’s annoying. For starters, in the weeks running up to the holiday, you’ve got to endure people on the internet getting irrationally riled up about how to best prepare the bird (dry vs wet brine, smoked, deep-fried). And then there’s the experience of eating it: trying and failing to find the least-dried-out cut of the bird, picking at your overflowing plate of different dishes all covered in the same gravy, listening to your brother-in-law ranting about the “Kenyan President” for the 13th year in a row at one end of the table while at the other end a distant relative waxes philosophical about white versus dark meat — all while the drone of the televised NFL game between two teams you don’t care about emanates from another room. It’s an annual exercise in sadism and turkey is at its centre.

Another hot take: I think ground turkey is the best thing to come from Meleagris gallopavo.

Now I’ll admit, ground turkey is not a particularly exciting or inspirational ingredient at first glance. But I’m of the belief ground turkey (or “minced turkey”, as it’s known in this dark and dreary country) can be a substitute for ground beef in almost all situations. As proof, just wait til I swap out beef for turkey next time the old lady tries to make her coveted and “authentic” bolognese…

As to this dish: let me set the scene: There we were, on a weeknight, our pantry nearly empty. A Sainsbury’s delivery was due the following day, but we needed to make dinner that night. We had thawed half a kilo of turkey but we didn’t have the ingredients we needed to make our ground turkey go-to’s: Dicko’s chilli or our healthy spin on shepherd’s pie (recipe and witty name forthcoming).

We did have some Chinese noodles, a lot of ginger and garlic, and some soy sauce. This was what we came up with.

Ground Turkey Stir Fry Noodles

Jake

For those days when you can't be bothered to cook but still want something tasty. This will take you less than 30 minutes to make.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian, Chinese

Servings 5 servings

Equipment

• Chef's Knife
• Wok

Ingredients

  

For the sauce

• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine
• 2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar ("Chianking")
• 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

For the Stir Fry

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 thumb-size piece fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated
• 2 Thai chilis or jalepenos, chopped
• 2 bell peppers, chopped
• 500 gr ground turkey (approx. 1 lb)
• 300 gr egg noodles (prepared according to package instruction)

For the garnish

• 6 green onions, sliced
• 2 tsp sesame seeds (toasted)
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves, chopped
• Sriracha sauce (to taste)
• Lime wedges
• Sesame Oil (to taste)

Instructions

 

For the sauce

• Start by making the sauce by mixing all the liquids (soy sauce, rice wine, black vinegar, and fish sauce) together and then adding and mixing the cornstarch to thicken it up. Set aside.

For the noodles

• Cook noodles according to package instructions. Make sure to do this right before the stir fry is ready, otherwise they're gonna be sticky and not very nice. Ideally, you want to start cooking them when you're almost done with the next step.

For the stir fry

• Heat the wok over high heat and add oil. When hot, add onions and cook until translucent, about 3-5 mins. Stir constantly to avoid burning the onions, as woks get quite hot. Add turkey and cook until brown, another 3-5 mins. Add the peppers and chilis and cook for 3 mins. Add garlic and ginger, cooking for 1 min. Add cooked noodles and sauce.

  Cook all ingredients for another 2 mins. Be sure to constanlty stir.
• Add garnishes as desired.

Keyword Easy and quick recipe ideas, Meal Prep, Noodles Recipes

Thoughts on Ground Turkey Stir Fry

If you ask me, there’s truly nothing better than a stir fry, particularly when it’s a homemade one. The feeling of mirth that comes from making something that tastes as good as the takeaway? We’re all for it. Plus, as for almost all things homemade, this is definitely a healthier option. Our bank accounts also prefer homecooking, paricularly at the end of the month.

The Basis of a Stir Fry Recipe: what if I don’t have…

Garlic and ginger are the non-negotiables. The secret is also in the sauce. The rest is flexible. Like egg fried rice, the best thing about stir fry is that it’s forgiving: got ground beef in the fridge rather than turkey? Use it. No bell peppers but there’s broccoli? Sure. Don’t have egg noodles? Switch for rice! And if you’re on a low carb diet, switch for cauliflower rice instead. As for most of our recipes, combinations are pretty much infinite, so you can adapt everything to your own taste.

If you don’t care much about authenticity or following a very specific recipe, you can start improvising with mixing different flavours as we did. The Kitchn has an excellent introductory guide to help you with this.

If you liked this ground turkey stir fry noodle dish, try this:

And if you need more turkey ideas…