Sloppy Ground Turkey White Bean Skillet

Picture beans on toast, but elevated into a filling, higher protein meal, and you’d get this incredibly comforting Sloppy Ground Turkey White Bean Skillet! Serve with toasted bread for an easy family-friendly dinner in 30 minutes.

What are the ingredients in this Sloppy Ground Turkey White Bean Skillet?

What I love about this recipe is that nearly all of the ingredients are pantry staples or condiments you might already have in the fridge. All I had to buy was the ground turkey!

Here’s everything I used in this recipe and a little explanation for each:

• butter – Who doesn’t like onions cooked in butter? Nobody I know! I think using just one tablespoon of butter helps add flavor to the onions and to the final skillet dish.
• yellow onion & garlic – Literally can’t make a savory dish without these ingredients. Do I have a problem or are they just that good?
• ground turkey meat – Look for 93% lean ground turkey! Since this dish is so saucy, there’s no worrying about the ground turkey drying out.
• tomato paste – I tested this recipe without tomato paste, but I could tell it lacked a certain depth of flavor. So we’re balancing the ketchup with a little more tomato-y goodness!
• cornstarch – This is the thickener for the sauce. I find that adding it into the cooked meat is a great way to disperse it evenly and keep it from clumping up.
• chicken broth – A little chicken broth is perfect for not only deglazing the bottom of the pan to get all the good flavor bits, but it also adds flavor itself.
• ketchup – When testing this recipe, I started with a can of tomato sauce, but soon realized a bit of sugar was needed to counter all the acid. Enter ketchup!
• barbecue sauce, yellow mustard, worcestershire sauce – Along with ketchup, these are our ingredients that give incredible flavor to the tomato based sauce. These are also some of the ingredients in my Sloppy Joe Tater Tot Casserole!
• white navy beans – Any brand works. I like how small these beans are compared to the large great northern beans or butter beans. We just need one can with the liquid drained out.
• Rotel – If you’ve never used Rotel before, it’s a smaller can of diced tomatoes and green chilis. Incredible for chili, soup, and beans in a tomato-y sauce!
• half and half – Adding just 1/4 cup of some kind of cream or dairy free alternative really helps make the final dish creamy and comforting. For
• dried red pepper flakes – These are optional, but I definitely prefer them. If you’re serving to kids, maybe leave these out! Otherwise, it’s not spicy, just a bit of background flavor.
• fresh ground black pepper & fine sea salt – Always good to add salt at various stages of the cooking process to bring all the flavors out. Having a fresh ground black pepper grinder is underrated!
• for serving, sliced & toasted bread – My favorite is to stop by the bakery at the grocery store and grab one of those large French bread loaves. At home, I’ll slice it up and toast the slices, then dip into this sloppy bean skillet. SO GOOD.

Related: Fall has the best, most comforting food. Here are my Favorite Fall Recipes For Your Next Meal Plan!

Equipment you’ll need to make Sloppy Ground Turkey White Bean Skillet:

There are a few pieces of kitchen equipment I think you’ll need to make this recipe turn out as good as can be. Here are my recommendations:

• For a cutting board, I recommend this Greener Chef XL Bamboo Cutting Board (affiliate link!). I use mine almost every day! The XL size is perfect and not too huge. I use it for everything except cutting raw meat.
• For your chef’s knife, definitely look into getting yourself a Misen Chef’s Knife (affiliate link!). This is an affordable, all-purpose knife useful for everything, but especially cutting the vegetables in this recipe.
• For your skillet, any nonstick you like will work, but I always use my GreenPan 10-Inch Non Stick Fry Pan. I have the bigger size too!
• A good set of wooden utensils is a must-have for all kitchens. I use a wooden spatula for this recipe, plus it doesn’t scratch my nonstick pans. I love this 3-Piece OXO Wooden Spoon Set (affiliate link!)!

How to make Sloppy Ground Turkey White Bean Skillet:

To make this recipe work, all you have to do is put ingredients into the pan at different times. The onions and meat are first to cook, then we make it saucy, and finally we add in the extras (beans, tomatoes, half and half).

Start with a non-stick skillet that’s at least 10 inches – it will fit in this size, but it will be tight. If you want more room to work, you can use a 12 inch skillet, deep skillet, or a Dutch oven. If you’re prone to making a mess while stirring, I’d suggest the bigger pan 😉

Melt the butter in your skillet over a medium heat. Add the onions and stir to coat them in the butter. Cook the onions for about 5 minutes, then scoot them to the sides of the pan with your spatula to make room for the ground turkey. You want as much surface area of the ground turkey touching the pan as possible!

Add the turkey and let it brown without touching it for about 3-4 minutes for some good browning. Then, use your spatula to begin breaking the meat apart into smaller pieces as it finishes cooking all the way. If there’s a lot of liquid, you can remove some, but a little is fine. Make a well in the center and add the garlic. Stir the garlic in and let it cook for a minute until you can smell it.

Next, make another well in the middle of the pan to expose the bottom of the pan. Add the tomato paste here, and then directly after, sprinkle the cornstart all around the sides of the pan on top of the meat. Stir everything together, evenly dispersing the tomato paste, until the cornstarch has fully absorbed and no dry spots remain.

Next, slowly drizzle in the chicken broth and use your wooden spatula to scrape off any bits from the bottom of the pan (this is called deglazing!). Stir together well so the liquid is absorbed by the meat cornstarch mixture. After that, reduce the heat to low before adding in the rest of the sauce ingredients: ketchup, barbecue sauce, yellow mustard, and worcestershire sauce. Stir everything together to disperse the sauce ingredients around.

Finally, dump in the cans of beans and Rotel. Stir everything together gently, and then let it come to a low simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you have time, feel free to let it simmer a little longer, but it’s not required. Just make sure it’s all stirred together well.

Turn the heat off, but leave the pan on the burner. Get the half and half and the remaining seasonings, including the dried red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper. Stir those ingredients in, then get a spoon and give it a taste to see what you think. If it needs a little more umph, add a bit more salt. I personally add even more fresh ground black pepper to my bowl.

Serve immediately with toasted bread of choice. We like to slice and toast a loaf of French bread, but any bread will be delicious with this saucy skillet. If you don’t have any bread, that’s okay too. It’s a delicious, comforting dish any way you serve it.

Best tips for making Sloppy Ground Turkey White Bean Skillet:

Here are my best tips for making this meal successfully in your own kitchen:

• Avoid using 99% lean ground turkey, as it is too lean and you can easily tell it’s ground turkey. Fat = flavor!
• Don’t rush it! Give each part it’s time to cook. Add ingredients in steps helps develop the flavor better than adding everything all at once.
• Don’t be afraid to taste and see what’s going on in the dish in the final steps! Depending on your barbecue sauce, you might want more salt or pepper.

What to serve with Sloppy Ground Turkey White Bean Skillet:

The absolute best thing to serve with this skillet recipe is some kind of toasty bread. Anything works, but if you have time to grab a loaf of French bread from the bakery section of the grocery store, that’s my favorite!

This meal has it all, but if you do want to add something else, a good side salad with sliced cucumbers would go well to help the meal stretch up to four portions easily.

Ways to meal prep this recipe:

This recipe makes great leftovers, and works well if you want to cook it ahead of time and reheat later. No worries about this saucy dinner drying out! And if you want it even more saucy on reheat, add a little more chicken broth.

Though I haven’t tried it personally, I do think this recipe would freeze well. I have frozen chili before, and this is a similar type of dish. See below for specific freezing instructions.

How to store leftover Sloppy Ground Turkey White Bean Skillet:

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

How to freeze Sloppy Ground Turkey White Bean Skillet:

Freeze portions in freezer safe containers with tight fitting lids for up to 3 months for best quality. This would also freeze well in 2-Cup Souper Cubes Trays.

Remove from the freezer the night before eating and then reheat normally, or defrost slowly in the microwave until hot and steaming all the way through before eating.

How to reheat Sloppy Ground Turkey White Bean Skillet:

Reheat cold turkey white bean skillet in the microwave loosely covered for 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Another option is to use a HotLogic Mini Oven (affiliate link!). See my full review and how it works here!