Spicy Turkey, Green Bean, and Mushroom Stirfry

This Ground Turkey and Mushroom Stirfry is becoming a staple in our house. With lean ground turkey, mushrooms, green beans, and a delicious homemade stir-fry sauce, this meal is quick, easy, and nutritious. Serve it with healthy fried rice, quinoa, or sesame soy edamame for a delicious dinner.

Stir-fries are always high on the list when I need a quick and easy dinner. They are packed with veggies, lean protein, and can be made in 20 minutes or less.

Lately, this spicy turkey, mushroom, and green bean stir fry has been on repeat in our house for both dinner and meal prep. It's full of flavor, keeps well in the fridge, and can be served so many different ways. Plus this stirfry is packed with protein, and nutritious veggies, and tastes like takeout. 

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I like to serve it with some brown rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice, which can now be found in the freezer aisle for faster prep! It's also great for lettuce wraps, over noodles, or turned into a tasty Asian rice bowl.

Why You'll Love These Ground Turkey and Mushroom Stir Fry

• Healthy and nutritious: With 27 grams of protein and tons of fresh vegetables, this is a meal that tastes amazing and is good for you. It works for almost any dietary needs including keto, low-carb, Paleo, Whole30, or gluten-free.
• Ready in 20 minutes: This meal couldn't be easier to throw together! Use sliced mushrooms, prepped green beans, and frozen garlic cubes to save even more time. Serve it with precooked rice or quinoa for a truly fast and easy meal.
• Versatile: Make this meal spicy or mild. Try it with different vegetables. Change up the protein. This recipe can serve as a blueprint to make so many healthy stir-fries.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Here is everything you'll need to make this tasty meal.

• Ground turkey: The base protein in this recipe is ground turkey. I like to use 93% lean ground turkey since it is a little more flavorful than 99% lean, but both work great. You can also use ground turkey, ground beef, or ground beef. Or swap in thinly sliced chicken, pork, turkey breast, beef, or shrimp.
• Mushrooms: Any type of mushroom works in this stir fry including cremini mushrooms, sliced white button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, baby bella, or portobello. Or use a mix of mushrooms.
• Green beans: Fresh green beans add crunch and color to this recipe. Swap in sugar snap peas, asparagus, cabbage, or bok choy if you like.
• Garlic and ginger: Fresh garlic and ginger add so much flavor to this dish. If you don't have fresh, the next best option is frozen cubes. If you don't love ginger, consider adding some sliced onion, shallots, or green onions.
• Chili paste: To make this spicy, I like to add sambal olek or Sriracha to the ground turkey and veggies. Leave it out if you don't love things spicy or serve it on the side.
• Chinese 5 spice: This spice blend contains star anise, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, and fennel seeds and adds warmth to this dish. It creates a unique, delicious flavor. If you don't have any on hand, you can skip it. 
• Stir fry sauce: The sauce in this dish contains chicken broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and cornstarch. If you like a sweeter stir-fry sauce, you'll want to add some honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar as well. 

How to Make this Spicy Turkey, Mushroom, and Green Bean Stir Fry

As I mentioned, this dish couldn't be easier to make and takes just 20 minutes.

1. Stir fry the vegetables

To make sure the vegetables don't get overcooked and soggy, it's best to cook them first. Heat the sesame oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Then add the green beans and mushrooms.

Cook for 6-8 minutes until they are tender-crisp. They should still have some texture and the green beans should be bright green.

If you add additional vegetables, adjust the cooking time as needed.  Remove the veggies and set aside.

2. Brown the ground turkey

Start by cooking the ground turkey, breaking it up as it cooks with a wooden spoon. Once it is browned, add the garlic, ginger, chili paste, and Chinese 5 spice. Cook for about one minute until the spices are nice and fragrant. 

3. Add sauce and combine

Combine the chicken broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add sweetener if you like.

Add this to the ground turkey along with the cooked mushrooms and green beans. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.

Side Dishes and Serving Ideas

As I mentioned, I do like to serve this stir-fry over a grain like white or brown rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice. Other sides that would work well include:

• Grains: Serve this with steamed white rice, brown rice, quinoa, farro, or fried rice.
• Vegetables: Although this dish is already packed with veggies, it tastes great over cilantro lime cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, or spaghetti squash. It also tastes great as a turkey lettuce wrap with fresh herbs like basil, cilantro, parsley, or mint.
• Egg rolls: Veggie baked egg rolls or spring rolls make a yummy side. Don't forget the dipping sauce!
• Bowls: Turn it in a tasty Asian Ground Turkey Bowl with steamed rice, shredded carrots, cucumbers, sliced onion, edamame, and herbs. This is a great option for meal prep.

Ideas for Customizing Ground Turkey Stirfry

Some of the ingredients in this dish can be polarizing. Show of hands for who likes mushrooms? A room always seems to be divided on this one. Don't worry though, you can change it up easily:

• Change the vegetables: If you don't like mushrooms, leave them out or swap them for another veggie, like broccoli, corn, cabbage, or water chestnuts. You can use almost any vegetable in this dish! It's even delicious with diced sweet potatoes or butternut squash, just increase the cooking time.
• Change the protein: You can easily swap out the ground turkey and instead use ground beef, chicken, or pork. If you don't like ground meat, you can also use thinly sliced chicken or beef as well. Shrimp will work too, just remember it cooks faster.
• Make it mild: If you don't like spicy food, you can skip the chili paste or leave it on the side.
• Vegetarian: If you'd like to make this vegetarian, swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth, and instead of using ground meat, try tofu, a vegetarian meat product, or seitan.

Best Stir Fry Sauces

One easy way to change up this recipe is by changing up the sauce. Stir-fries are kind of a nebulous dish. They can mean a lot of things and carry a lot of different ingredients. That being said, to stir-fry means to cook (fry) meat, fish, or veggies over high heat while stirring constantly.

So you can pretty much do this with a million different protein/veggie/sauce combinations, which is great for cooks like me who get bored with the same old meal over and over again. 

Since there is no set recipe for one kind of stir-fry, it would stand to reason that there's also not one set sauce for a stir-fry. Typically though, a lot of sauces start with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, broth, rice vinegar, and some kind of chilis or chili sauce if you like it spicy.

For a sweeter sauce, you can add pineapple or orange juice instead of broth. If you love ginger, add extra. The same goes for garlic, chilis, cilantro, oils, or even crushed peanuts or cashews. Stir-fries are really just a basic base to which you add your favorite flavorings and ingredients.

Here’s a basic stir-fry sauce recipe:

• 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth (more if you are cooking lots of veggies)
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos)
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp. Asian garlic chili paste (adjust to taste, this will be spicy)
• 2 tsp. ginger, minced
• 1 tsp. Chinese 5 spice
• 2 tsp cornstarch (or arrowroot for low carb, Whole30, Paleo)
• Directions: Mix all of the ingredients above. When your stirfry ingredients are just about cooked, add the sauce and let thicken. This is enough sauce for about 6 cups of veggies/protein. 

Storage, Leftovers, and Meal Prep

If you are lucky enough to have leftovers or make this for meal prep, here's how to store it.

• Fridge: Let the dish cool completely and then store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. Reheat in a hot skillet or the microwave.
• Meal prep: Store this dish with a side dish like steamed rice, noodles, cauliflower rice, or quinoa. 
• Freezer: Let the dish cool completely before freezing in an airtight container. Pack in individual dishes with grains or freeze a family-sized portion. Let defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat in a skillet or the microwave. Note that the vegetables will soften significantly after freezing.