Ground Turkey and Chickpea Curry
Ground Turkey and Chickpea Curry is a tasty stew that includes Greek yogurt, and people who like curry flavors will love this dish. This recipe is probably lower in net carbs than you might think, but skip the beans and double the turkey or add more vegetables if you want a curry dish that’s lower in carbs.
PIN Ground Turkey and Chickpea Curry to try it later!
This Ground Turkey and Chickpea Curry with ground turkey, chickpeas, tomatoes, yogurt, and curry powder was one of those recipes that end up tasting a lot better than they look, and I thought this was a delicious quick dinner option. I spotted the recipe on a blog that’s no longer online, but I skipped the rice and served it as a stew. I did change the preparation method a little, simmering the meat, chickpeas, tomatoes, and curry powder for a few minutes before I stirred in the yogurt.
This was inspired by a recipe from Rachel Ray, and I haven’t made too many recipes from her. I know some people love to criticize her for her perky personality and 30 Minute Meals, but I think anyone who can get more people into the kitchen cooking at home deserves some credit. This recipe from Rachel was definitely a keeper for me, loaded with flavor, frugal, and easy to get on the table in less than 30 minutes.
What ingredients do you need?
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- ground turkey
- onion
- Sweet Curry Powder (affiliate link)
- can of petite dice tomatoes
- can of chickpeas
- Greek yogurt
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- chopped cilantro for garnish, see notes
Can you make this turkey chickpea curry with chicken?
You can definitely make this curry dish with ground chicken or even chicken breasts cut into small pieces if you prefer.
How can you make this recipe lower in carbs?
This is a recipe I made when I was following the original South Beach Diet, and now I would make it into a lower-carb dish by adding more turkey in proportion to the amount of beans. You could also replace the chickpeas with more vegetables like red bell pepper and cauliflower if you wanted it to be even lower in carbs.
What if you’re not a cilantro fan?
If you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy cilantro, just replace it with thinly sliced green onion.
Can you make this a vegetarian dish?
You could make this recipe into a vegetarian chickpea curry by skipping the ground turkey and doubling the amount of beans. You might also add other vegetables if you’re taking that option.
How to Make Ground Turkey and Chickpea Curry:
(Scroll down for the complete recipe including nutritional information.)
- The recipe called for ground chicken, but the ground turkey I used was fine and easier to find!
- Brown the turkey in the olive oil.
- Push the browned turkey over to one side of the pan, add a little more oil, then add the chopped onions and saute onions for 3-4 minutes, until they are just starting to get some color.
- Sprinkle onions with the curry powder and cook a couple of minutes, stirring a few times, then stir the onion mixture into the browned turkey.
- Drain one can of chickpeas in a colander placed in the sink, rinse well with cold water, and let drain.
- Add chickpeas and canned tomatoes to the chicken-onion mixture and let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Then stir in the yogurt, turn heat to low, and simmer 3-4 minutes or until flavors are well blended.
- Serve hot, garnished with fresh chopped cilantro if desired.
Make it a Meal:
Spicy Mexican Slaw would make a great side dish for this recipe. This recipe would be delicious served over Best Easy Cauliflower Rice if you want a more substantial meal.
More Turkey or Chicken with Curry Flavors:
Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Curry Casserole
Chicken and Asparagus Bake with Creamy Curry Sauce
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Ground Turkey and Chickpea Curry
This Ground Turkey and Chickpea Curry is creamy from Greek yogurt, and this is a tasty stew.
Ingredients
- 1 T + 1 tsp. olive oil
- 1 1/2 lb. package ground turkey (see notes)
- 1 large onion, chopped in medium dice
- 2 T sweet curry powder (see notes)
- one 14.5 oz. can petite dice tomatoes
- one 15 oz. can chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans)
- 12 oz. Greek yogurt (see notes)
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Heat 1 T olive oil in a heavy non-stick frying pan, then add ground chicken or turkey, breaking it apart with the turner and sauteing until it is well cooked and lightly browned.
- This will take 7-9 minutes, don’t rush the browning step.
- Push the chicken or turkey to one side of the pan, add the extra tsp. olive oil, then add chopped onions and cook 3-4 minutes, until onions are just starting to get some color.
- Sprinkle onions with the curry powder and cook about 2 minutes more, turning a few times, then stir the onion mixture into the chicken.
- Add tomatoes with juice and drained chickpeas and let simmer about 5 minutes, or until some liquid has evaporated and flavors are well blended.
- Turn heat to low, stir in Greek yogurt, and simmer about 3 minutes more. (Don’t let it come to a boil after the yogurt has been added.)
- Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper.
- Serve hot, sprinkled with chopped fresh cilantro if desired.
- This can be served over rice, but I just ate it in a bowl as a stew.
Notes
Use ground turkey or chicken, whichever you prefer. I used Penzeys Sweet Curry Powder, but use any curry powder blend that you like. If you don’t have Greek yogurt, I would drain the yogurt in a fine strainer for at least 30 minutes to remove some of the liquid.
This recipe adapted from Chicken Chickpea Curry Bowls by Rachel Ray and found on Everything Rachel Ray.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 449Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 123mgSodium: 390mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 6gSugar: 6gProtein: 40g
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:
Served as a stew or with cauliflower rice, this low-glycemic dish is perfect for any phase of the original South Beach Diet as well as other low-glycemic eating plans. You could make a low-carb version of this by skipping the chickpeas and doubling the amount of ground turkey, and I think that sounds delicious!
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Stew 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 or on Facebook to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
86 Comments on “Ground Turkey and Chickpea Curry”
Love this recipe! I added a handful of frozen spinach/kale mix to have some greens and put this over some steel cut oatmeal I had leftover from breakfast instead of rice for an even more hearty meal. I made gluten free potato naan with more greek yogurt as a topping. Since we had leftovers (oatmeal made it even so much more filling) I dehydrated one meal for my husband to take on his winter hiking/camping trip next week. I will definitely be coming back to this recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Update: Just finished. I added 5.5 oz plain Greek yogurt, 32 oz vanilla Greek yogurt, 5 oz of sour creme. I feel like I should add coconut, but I’m not. I forgot earlier, I also added 1 red bell pepper and frozen fine shredded cole slaw veggies. That’s just the way I cook. Start with a base recipe for what I have and then open the cupboard, freezer and go for it. Have fun with it!
It tastes really, really good. I’m going to make a batch of Jasmine Rice and in the bowl it goes.
Glad to hear it worked for you. I used to cook like that (before blogging, now I have to measure everything and write it down!)
I just made this with a few improvisations. Where in the world did all my curry go to? I used chili powder and paprika. I only have 5 oz of plain Greek yogurt but 4 large containers of vanilla Greek yogurt. I might add a bit of that and some sour creme. I also had a bag of almost wilted romaine so I added that. I chopped celery,carrots and leeks. I also added a cup or two of homemade chicken broth. Gotta use what I have. It smells and tastes delicious so far. Here’s hoping I don’t ruin it with the yogurt combo!
Believe me, everybody is having to improvise in these troubled times. I hope it works, sounds like it might to me!
Just updated. Tastes really good!
Love your recipes-always the best.I used light sour creme, and it was a bit sour. Duh!
What can I do to counteract that?
Glad you’re enjoying the recipes. Sorry I haven’t made this with any different ingredients so I am not sure what to do about that.
Thanks Jessica, and I love hearing how you have adapted it with different things.
Loved this recipe! I think I've made it 2 or 3 times now, although I never seem to have yogurt on hand when I do :). Others may have done some if the same additons, but here a couple things I added and that have worked out great: shredded kale, zucchini chunks, Chipotle pepper, garam nasal a spice, and a pinch of ground ginger.
Thanks for sharing to your recipe. I think you might be my new fave food blog!
Sheri, glad you enjoyed it. I love the idea of adding spinach.
I made this and added some baby spinach. Everyone at work was super jealous of my lunch this week!
Sue, I think sour cream would be great for this.
I get migraines from yogurt so do you think I could substitute light sour cream for it?
Elizabeth, you are too kind! And I'm honored as well that Monica picked my recipe as one of the ones she featured!
What a delightful dish! I love to add chickpeas especially in a chicken curry dish. This is something my family will enjoy. Glad I found your recipe via Monica Bhide's curry collection today. What an honor to be included next to yours, Kalyn! Thanks for sharing !
Cheryl, lucky you to have curry powder from India. I like Madras brand, but haven't tried making my own.
I've made this twice, and it is TERRIFIC! Even better, it's fast, healthy, and inexpensive – a home run! The curry powder chosen is definitely key. I prefer Madras curry powder to anything sweet. I'm using Madras curry powder I got in India, and I'm a little worried about how this dish will taste when I have to replace it. I've heard the brand, Sun, is good and available at Indian groceries, so I'll try that next. I've also seen several recipes for making your own Madras curry powder online. If any of you have tried making your own curry powder, I'd love to hear how it went!
I just made this (I used turkey) and served it over oven-roasted veggies: cauliflower, carrots, onion and eggplant. Perfection. Really, really delicious and satisfying. Thank you!
This was delicious, exactly as written on day one. On day two, my family got Vietnamese pho for dinner and since that is definitely not SB friendly, I pulled out the leftover stew. Instead of the cilantro, I added the Thai basil and some beansprouts the others had for their pho. It was just enough of a twist to feel like I was eating some different than befor and it was just as delicious.
Thank you so much for your blog. It is my favorite and the one from which I cook the most. I send all my friends your way whenever I can!
Kaelyn, I feel so fortunate to have found you! I put my husband (who needs to shed 30 lbs) on SB Diet this week, and I need to lose 10. I bought the book in 2004, way before either of us were heavy; I have always been interested in nutrition & thought it sounded like a good diet to go on if we ever needed one. We did it in (a year after I had twins) & I lost my weight. But the recipes in the book get old, and I don't like the interface of recipes on their website.
I found you this Monday by Googling "South Beach Eggplant Pizza". We are going to a pizza party tonight after skiing, and we wanted to feel like we were eating something as gooey & cheesy and good as everyone else. I tested your recipe immediately, and we were floored. I just made your Turkey/Chickpea/Curry dish last night (AMAZING!) and bought ingredients for two more of your "30 Days" dishes.
You have an enthusiastic follower in me! I honestly can't thank you enough. You are making this easy. I am so inspired by your story, too. (I actually shoot for Women's World…I'm a freelance photographer based near Bozeman, MT & I shoot food/travel/portraits all over the US). I also have to tell you that your photography is EXCELLENT. I'm ditching my Pioneer woman subscription (bad photos, fatty recipes, too narcissistic of a personality & way too much contrived personal information ). I am switching to following YOU!!! I wake up every day now thinking, "What has Kalyn posted today?"
This dish is soooo tasty! (I skipped the yoghurt part and added some fresh ginger and garlic, two of my favourites).Thank you for the idea, it will definitely become a regular meal for me!
Coy Lou, just my opinion, but I don't think it will affect results that much to have a bit more fat.
Hope you mend quickly! This recipe has been in regular rotation in our house since you initially published it; it's great.