Looking for a delicious & healthy Bolognese using ground turkey? If you are a meat eater, you would probably agree that ground beef has more flavor than ground turkey. However, the red wine and extra seasoning in this recipe bring this ground turkey Bolognese to life, making it super tasty. I like to make this when the kids are yelling for pasta and I’m trying to be healthy!

Turkey Bolognese Ingredients

For this recipe, I prefer to use 1 pound of 93% lean ground turkey. In addition, you will need 1/2 of a chopped yellow onion, 2 cloves pressed or minced garlic, dash of salt, 1/2 cup red wine, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, and one jar of your favorite marinara sauce. Optional ingredients include mushrooms or any other veggies that are lingering in the fridge nearing the “end of their time”. I don’t like wasting food, so I’ll add some extra nutrients into the mix when available. Chop them up finely so they can shrink down and become part of the sauce. Another optional ingredient is a pinch of crushed red pepper. If serving with pasta, I would recommend 1 lb. of spaghetti or your family’s favorite. We also love the pasta shells in our family.

How to Make this Easy Ground Turkey Bolognese

First, prepare onions and any other vegetables by peeling and / or cleaning them. Then chop and dice the onion, then set aside. Next, heat a large skillet over medium heat 2 T olive oil. Begin to brown the ground turkey, using a wooden spoon to break it up into pieces as it cooks. Halfway through cooking the turkey add the chopped onions and sauté for 5 – 7 mins. If you are using other vegetables, such as mushrooms add them in and cook for 5 more mins. Next, add garlic and cook for 1 minute, and then add Italian seasoning, salt, and crushed red pepper (if using). Then stir and let cook for 1 minute.

ground turkey, chopped onions, and chopped mushrooms sauteing in a pot.

At this stage, you are ready to pour in the red wine and bring it to a slow boil for 1 minute, stirring to coat the meat and vegetables with the wine. (If you have added a lot of extra vegetables, you may need more wine.) After 1 minute, turn the heat down to simmer out some of the liquid. When most of the wine has evaporated into the meat and vegetables, then pour in the jar of marinara sauce.

Stir the sauce, mixing the meat & veggies combo with the wine and marinara sauce. Let the sauce simmer for at least 10 minutes, and up to 30 minutes to allow the sauce to absorb all of the flavors.

While the sauce is simmering, cook pasta according to package directions. Serve Bolognese sauce over the pasta and top with grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Substitution Tips and Serving Suggestions

While I do love a bowl of pasta, I’ll opt for some roasted or sauteed veggies on the side or substitute spaghetti squash for the pasta.
To make this sauce even faster, substitute fresh garlic and salt with 1/2 tsp garlic salt.
We love these pasta bowls from Crate and Barrel, and if you love serving family style at the table, check out this large pasta serving dish on Amazon.
A nice salad to pair with this dish is this Simple Italian Salad.