Grandma-Approved Turkey Spaghetti

This is the spaghetti that your grandma will be proud of. And guess what? We’re using turkey. Let’s get it.

All right, so look, I’m going to do it a little bit different. Sometimes I have my pasta already going, but this time I don’t.

So I already put some salt in there. Got my water nice and seasoned up, right?

Why You’ll Love This

This is the spaghetti that your grandma will be proud of. And guess what? We’re using turkey.

I can tell you this, that you can make turkey spaghetti and you might not go back.

But it’s really in the flavor though. And you’re not eating the red meat, you know, giving your body, you know, a little bit of a break.

Ingredients

salt
regular spaghetti noodle
an onion of this size
bell peppers
extra virgin olive oil
1.7 pounds of ground turkey
crushed tomatoes
tomato sauce
tomato paste
bay leaf
chili flakes
fresh garlic
chicken broth or stock
ketchup (optional)
Parmesan cheese

Instructions

I already put some salt in there. Got my water nice and seasoned up.
use a regular spaghetti noodle.
I’ve already diced down my onions. I just go ahead and dice, dice, dice, and just get them out the way.
I’m going to go ahead and prep my bell peppers. I cut this down like that.
I’m going to cut these down just like this, like the long way.
Then when it comes to dicing them, I’m going to dice them nice and small.
I’m going to go ahead and put some fire underneath the bottom here.
I want to start getting my olive oil, my extra virgin olive oil at that. Garlic and fuse.
I’m going to go ahead and add my onions right now.
I only do it for about three to five, three to four minutes.
Now I’m going to take this and go ahead and dump this in.
I’m just breaking this up a little bit so that it can start to cook.
I use a meat masher.
We just want to cook this till it browns.
I’m going to come in here and put the seasoning in after I put in all of the sauces.
Now you just take everything that you have and just add it.
I’m going to go ahead and turn this fire up to a meat. I’m going to go medium high. We want to get this nice and hot and get it to boil.
Now we add the rest of our ingredients. That was some chili flakes.
Last thing I’ll just put in here is this is a fresh garlic.
I got all of my garlic in there, you know, the fresh minced garlic.
thin it out here with chicken broth or stock, and then we cook it. We cook that down to the desired thickness.
I’m going to put this on simmer.
I’m going to put the lid on.
I got my pasta cooked in there. So, I’m going to go ahead and just bring it into the game.
I’m going to go ahead and put this top on now because we’re going to cook this for about 30 minutes right now.
Let it steam out.
Let me go ahead and get this plated.
We done hit it with the Parmesan cheese.

Cooking Tips

What you want to do is you want to make these al dente style.

We don’t want to overcook them. So I read the instructions on whatever type of pasta, you know, that I’m using.

I save all of this because there’s no need to waste no money.

You do this a couple of times and you got enough for a whole nother recipe, folks. Pro tips.

When you dice small, you know, that’s for the flavor.

I still like to see a little bit in there.

I like using the Dutch oven. I’m going to tell you why. Because, you know, when I’m done with it, instead of me putting it in another container, like sometimes we take this and we put it into our Tupperware, I’m going to do that. I’m going to actually keep this all together.

I like to use a little bit more. Because I like all of my spaghettis, any of my sauces to be a little bit more on the meaty side.

Listen, what makes things key is when you have great ingredients, right? And they leveled up, then whatever you’re making, if you’re making it for me, it’s already leveled up. Plus you’re using leveled up ingredients and everything to cook with. Then that ensures right off the bat that whatever you’re doing, it’s going to be leveled up real easy.

When you cook it with turkey, it has like a water content to it, right? This is why I don’t ever put the top on anything, especially when I’m doing, using turkey, right?

I use a meat masher. This right here is plastic. It won’t scratch up my porcelain, since I’m using my Dutch oven.

It makes it so much easier for me to get in here and break this up and make it ground.

We just want to cook this till it browns.

I like to see this nice and ground and fully cooked.

I don’t have my bay leaf. When I do spaghetti, come on, folks, you know we got to have that bay leaf, right?

I like to go a full one.

I love my press. I’m going to tell you why. When you press it like this, look, hit it with the back of something firm. All of that went in there, and you don’t really get no waste.

If it cook down and get thick again on me, but I’m going to put the lid on, even if it does do that, right? Don’t worry about it because you can add some more stock or broth to it, and you can thin it out just the way you like it.

You make it today, and then, you know, it’s even better the next day. Why? Because all of these flavors are going to get inside of that pasta. These are pro tips, folks.

I just like to keep scraping this. You know, keep it nice and clean on the sides so nothing helps with the cleanup, folks.

I’ll let you guys in on a little secret. I like to put ketchup. I don’t care who made it. If I made it, you made it, or whatever, as long as it’s not sweet. But I always put ketchup in there, and if you ask me, ketchup ain’t nothing but sugar.

Since I’m using a Dutch oven, I need it to, like, you know, breathe just a little bit. So, we’ll let some of the steam and the condensation that builds up in the inside come out because I like it to be a little bit on the thick side.

It’s really in the seasoning. That’s the whole thing.

When you season it the proper way, I’m telling you, it comes up better. I mean, it comes up great. There really isn’t no difference.

Serving Suggestions

Do you guys like your noodles separate? I mean, you want your pasta to be separate from, meaning we can put the pasta on a plate, and then we can come and do a ladle over the top. Or do you like yours cooked even?

I like mine cooked.

I like to put ketchup.

We done hit it with the Parmesan cheese, all of that.

Man, this right here is right. And to be 100 with everybody out there, listen, I don’t even use beef no more.

I said this before in other videos. I grew up eating that way. But listen, when you season it the proper way, I’m telling you, it comes up better.

I want you guys to tell me what would you do? What would you add?

Grandma-Approved Turkey Spaghetti