Ground Turkey Rice Casserole
This Ground Turkey Rice Casserole has peppers, mushrooms, Mozzarella, and Feta to kick up the flavors, and this is just so delicious! Check below if you’d prefer a lower-carb casserole with turkey.
Pin Ground Turkey Rice Casserole so you can make it later!
When the weather is cold I’m always thinking about Casseroles because I love the way you can cook once and then eat the leftovers several times. And when the idea popped into my mind to make a ground turkey casserole that was really amazing, I worked on this Ground Turkey Rice Casserole for a few weeks to get the flavors I thought were just perfect! Although this recipe does use brown rice, there’s a lot of ground turkey, green pepper, mushrooms, Mozzarella, and Feta and just a little bit of brown rice for a relatively carb-conscious casserole with rice. I tried it out on several people who all said it was a keeper!
Of course I know some of my readers wouldn’t make a casserole with rice, so check out my ultra-popular Low-Carb Turkey Casserole that uses cauliflower rice or Low-Carb Turkey Enchilada Casserole if you’re looking for a casserole with turkey that’s extra low in carbs!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
- cooked Uncle Ben’s Brown Rice (affiliate link)
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- Cremini mushrooms
- onion
- green bell pepper
- Greek Seasoning (affiliate link)
- Greek Oregano (affiliate link)
- ground turkey
- salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
- sour cream
- chicken broth
- crumbled Feta
- grated Mozzarella
Can you make this recipe with leftover turkey?
You could definitely make this recipe with leftover cooked turkey; just use about 3 cups of diced turkey in place of the ground turkey. Or check out my Leftover Turkey Casserole for a more traditional turkey casserole idea.
Want low-carb casserole recipes?
Check out My Favorite Low-Carb and Keto Casserole Recipes for a delicious collection of my favorite casseroles that are low in carbs!
How to make this ground turkey casserole:
(Scroll down for complete printable recipe including nutritional information.)
- I used my Zojirushi 3-Cup Rice Cooker (affiliate link) to cook the brown rice. (I only used part of it, and froze some rice for another time.)
- While rice cooks, wash mushrooms, cut into slices or half slices, and cook until nicely browned. Put mushrooms in a large bowl.
- Chop onions and green pepper, cook until starting to brown, then add Greek Seasoning (affiliate link) and Greek oregano and cook a few minutes more. Put the veggies into the bowl with the mushrooms.
- Heat a little more oil in the frying pan and cook the ground turkey until it’s nicely browned. Put the browned turkey into the bowl. Season the meat with a little salt and fresh-ground black pepper.
- When the rice is cooked, mix in 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice.
- I used both Mozzarella and Feta to give the casserole plenty of cheesy flavor.
- Mix together the sour cream, chicken stock, 3/4 cup crumbled Feta, and 3/4 cup grated Mozzarella.
- Gently fold the sour cream/cheese mixture into the rice/meat/vegetables mixture.
- Put the mixture into a glass or crockery casserole dish and sprinkle with the other 1 1/4 cups cheese. (I used my favorite 12 cup glass casserole dish, but anything close to that size will work.)
- Bake the casserole at 375F/190C with the lid on (or covered with foil) for the first 20 minutes. Here’s how it looks when you take off the lid.
- Put back in the oven and bake about 20 minutes more, or until the top is nicely browned and the casserole is bubbling. Serve hot.
- This keeps well in the fridge and freezes well, and it can be reheated either in a covered dish in the oven or in the microwave.
More Favorite Dinners with Ground Turkey:
Asian Lettuce Cups with Spicy Ground Turkey
Thai-Inspired Ground Turkey Stir Fry
Ground Turkey Soup with Mushrooms and Spinach
Cheesy Stuffed Poblanos with Ground Turkey
Ground Turkey Green Chile Tacos
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Ground Turkey Rice Casserole
This Ground Turkey Rice Casserole has brown rice, mushrooms, green pepper, Mozzarella, and Feta for a ground turkey casserole that's truly delicious and also easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
- 6 tsp. olive oil, divided (more or less depending on your pan)
- 1 lb. brown Cremini mushrooms
- 1 medium onion, chopped into smallish pieces
- 1 green pepper, seeds removed and chopped into smallish pieces
- 1 tsp. Greek seasoning
- 1 tsp. Greek oregano
- 1 1/2 lb. ground turkey
- salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup chicken broth
- 3/4 cup crumbled Feta
- 8 oz. grated Mozzarella
Instructions
- Cook brown rice according to package directions. (I cooked the maximum amount in my Zojirushi 3-Cup Rice Cooker (affiliate link) and froze the extra for another time.)
- Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Spray a glass or crockery casserole dish with non-stick spray. (I used my favorite 12 cup glass casserole dish, but you can also use a rectangular dish and make a slightly flatter casserole.)
- Wash mushrooms if needed and cut into thick slices or half slices.
- Heat about 2 tsp. oil in a large non-stick frying pan and saute the mushrooms over medium-high heat until they’re slightly browned and all liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Put mushrooms into a large plastic bowl.
- Heat a little more oil in the frying pan, add the chopped onion and green pepper, and cook over medium-high heat until the onion and peppers are starting to slightly brown.
- Add the Greek Seasoning (affiliate link) and Greek oregano and cook about 1 minute more. Add the vegetables to the mushrooms in the bowl.
- Heat a little more oil in the pan, add the ground turkey, and cook over medium-high heat until the turkey is nicely browned and any water that’s released has completely evaporated. (Nearly all ground turkey will release some water, even if you buy high-quality ground-in-store turkey.) This will take about 10 minutes; don’t rush the browning.
- Season the turkey with a little salt and fresh-ground black pepper and break apart with a turner as it cooks. (I like to use a potato masher to break the cooked turkey into small pieces.) Add the browned turkey to the bowl with the vegetables. Stir the cooked brown rice into the turkey/vegetable mixture.
- In a small bowl mix together the low-fat sour cream, chicken stock, crumbled Feta, and 3/4 cup of the reduced-fat Mozzarella. Gently mix the sour cream mixture into the rice/meat/vegetables mixture.
- Put it into the sprayed casserole dish and spread around so it’s slightly pressed down and flat. Top with the other 1 1/4 cups grated low-fat Mozzarella.
- Bake covered for 20 minutes, then remove the lid (or foil) and bake another 20 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned and the whole casserole is bubbling. Serve hot.
Notes
This keeps for several days in the refrigerator and also freezes well. It can be reheated in a tightly covered dish in the oven or in the microwave.
Recipe created by Kalyn.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 632Total Fat: 42gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 182mgSodium: 920mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 2gSugar: 5gProtein: 44g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This Ground Turkey Rice Casserole has 19 net carbs in a small serving, so it may be too much of a splurge for low-carb diets. But it’s loaded with low-glycemic ingredients and will work for Phase 2 or 3 for the original South Beach Diet. It’s recommended to use lean ground turkey and reduced-fat cheese for South Beach. For a lower-carb casserole with these flavors, I would use more turkey and peppers and less rice, or check out my Low-Carb Turkey Casserole for a turkey casserole that uses cauliflower rice.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Casserole Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This ground turkey casserole was first posted in 2014. It was updated in 2021 with better intructions and more information.
25 Comments on “Ground Turkey Rice Casserole”
Excellent! My son wont eat mushrooms so I switched those for a bag of fresh spinach and as always swapped the sour cream for Greek yogurt. It was delicious! Appreciate the recipe!
So glad you like it, and glad you are enjoying the recipes!
This was sooooo delicious! I swapped yellow, orange and red peppers for the green and added some chopped spinach. And I opted for fat free feta. Thanks so much for one our new fave go-to casseroles!Â
YAAY, so happy to hear you enjoyed it!
I don’t know why the nutritional information wasn’t showing, but I republished it so it shows now. I don’t figure out serving size, other than to say how many servings are in the whole dish. This is NOT a low-carb recipe; if you’re wanting a lower-carb version this casserole is similar with less carbs and a bit less calories.
I continue to love this casserole after making it many times. Tonight, I subbed cooked cauliflower rice for the rice for a lower carb option and it was just as delicious. No other changes necessary.Â
Glad you are enjoying it! I actually do have a few newer casseroles on the site where I’ve adapted an older recipe to make a cauliflower rice version! Sounds like I need to do that for this one.
I never comment on blogs, but this was AMAZING! Scaled it back to 4 servings with no trouble. I am so excited for leftovers!! Thanks for the great recipe
So happy you liked it, and thanks for commenting!
Wow! This sounds like a casserole I could really sink my teeth into. Looks delicious, Kalyn!
Bill @ www.southernboydishes.com
Thanks Bill, glad you like it.
Kim, so glad you enjoyed it and thanks for letting us know that freezing was a success.
I made this ahead of time and froze it. Baked half thawed, it took a little longer, but was OH SO DELICIOUS!!! My whole family absolutely loved this! I have added it to my weekly rotation! Yummmmy!
Jules; I haven't done that. I'm guessing it would work, but can't say for sure. If you do try it, it would be best to let the casserole come to room temperature before you bake it. Let us know how it works!
Has anyone tried putting this together the day before and baking the next evening?
Elizabeth, so glad it was a hit!
I agree with Racheal…I did the same substitutions but also subbed beef for turkey as that is what I had. My husband said "put this in permanent rotation"… absolutely delish!!! thankyousomuch …
So glad you liked it, and good to hear that Greek yogurt will work!
Thank you so much for this recipe Kalyn! I absolutely loved it. I subbed Greek yogurt for the sour cream and used regular oregano because that is all I had on hand, and it still came out fantastic. Next time I plan on doubling it and freezing half.
Thanks again!
I would freeze it after cooking. In fact, I have a few single-serving containers of this in my freezer right now!
Delicious! If you were going to freeze it, would you cook it in the oven first & then freeze it? Or freeze it at the end of assembly, but before putting it in the oven?
Thanks Lydia; this was really good, with ingredients I usually have around.
Pam, thanks for the thumbs up for this. When you save a recipe it won't pick that recipe unless you're clicked into the permalink page; click on the recipe name to open that individual post and then save.
Kalyn,
When I click on this to save to recipe box, it saves green beans and some kind of sauce..help
Pam
This is a delicious casserole. We were the recipients of some of these leftovers and ALL of us loved the taste. Will definitely make it…thanks Kalyn.
I love everything about this casserole, and especially that you've used my (new) favorite, Greek Seasoning, to bring it all together. I am willing to turn on my oven in warm weather to give this a try. Thanks for linking to my turkey meatball recipe.