Healthy Turkey Bolognese
This post contains affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
Turkey Bolognese is a tasty, low calorie pasta sauce that’s easy to make for a hearty, high protein meal. It’s sure to be a family favorite!
If you love rich, hearty Italian Bolognese sauce but want to cut back on calories, this low calorie pasta sauce recipe is exactly what you’re looking for!
There are plenty of reasons to make this turkey Bolognese recipe:
- Full of veggies. Each 1.5 cup serving of sauce has two servings of vegetables in it! Because the veggies are minced so small, even picky eaters won’t realize they’re hidden in there.
- Low in fat and calories. Turkey Bolognese is much lower in calories and fat than recipes using ground beef!
- No dairy products. Some Bolognese sauce recipes use heavy cream or whole milk to add richness. This recipe doesn’t need it!
- It’s a lean, protein-packed, hearty dinner. If you think ground turkey isn’t high in protein, think again! Plus, the vegetables bulk up the sauce, helping it taste rich and hearty.
We love our regular Healthy Crockpot Tomato Sauce with Ground Beef Meatballs or Turkey Meatballs, but it’s nice to switch things up now and then. This is a delicious and simple Italian meal.
Ingredients
Substitutions and Variations
Meat: You can use ground beef or ground chicken in this recipe. I don’t recommend using ground pork, only because I think the sauce would be a bit greasy, but it would work.
Wine: You can add 1/2 cup of red or white wine to this before turning it on to cook if you are not strict paleo/Whole30. It’s not necessary, but it does add flavor.
Dairy: We make our Bolognese sauce without milk, but traditional Bolognese does call for it. You can add 1/2 cup whole milk to this recipe if you’d like.
Veggies: Feel free to use other vegetables. We sometimes add 1 cup chopped mushrooms along with the carrot, onion, and celery. If you don’t have a certain amount of veggies, you can mix and match with others. A little less carrot or celery, etc. will not drastically affect the flavor.
Fresh herbs: We prefer to use fresh herbs. If you prefer to use dried, use 1/3 less, or a 3 to 1 ratio of fresh to dried spices. For example, you can use 3 tablespoons of fresh chopped herbs or 1 tablespoon of dried herbs.
How to make Turkey Bolognese Sauce
This is just a summary of the steps involved in making the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card for the full instructions, or click on the Jump to Recipe button, below.
- Prep the ingredients so that they’re ready to use when you need them. To save time, feel free to chop the veggies a couple of days beforehand. Just store them in the fridge in airtight containers until you’re ready to start cooking.
The key to the sauce’s thick consistency is cutting the vegetables SUPER finely. This can be difficult to achieve with a knife, so we typically use a food processor.
- Brown the ground meat. Set aside.
- Sauté the carrot, onion, and celery.
- Add all remaining ingredients to the pot and let it simmer.
- The sauce will thicken up as it cooks. It is seriously is so delicious, and your whole house will smell heavenly.
Serving Suggestions
My favorite way to serve this low calorie pasta sauce is over spaghetti, with some freshly shredded parmesan cheese on top!
For a lower calorie, low carb meal, serve the turkey bolognese over zucchini noodles or shirataki noodles.
storage
Refrigerator: This pasta sauce actually tastes better after the flavors have had time to meld together. It’ll keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezing: You can freeze Bolognese sauce for up to 3 months. We like these containers for freezing. Transfer the container to the fridge a day or two before you want to reheat it.
Reheating: Reheat the turkey Bolognese over medium heat on the stove, or at 50% power in the microwave. Avoid using high heat when reheating—it can cause the natural sugars in the tomatoes to burn, giving the sauce a bitter flavor.
If you love turkey, check out my collection of healthy ground turkey recipes!
Other healthy Italian dinner recipes:
Low Calorie Turkey Bolognese
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 ½ cups minced carrots
- 1 cup minced celery
- 1 cup minced onion
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 56 oz low sodium crushed tomatoes (2 28 oz cans)
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt optional
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
Crockpot Instructions:
- In a pan over medium high heat, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Brown ground turkey for 5-7 minutes. When fully cooked, remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic to the pan. Sauté until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the cooked ground turkey, vegetables, crushed tomatoes, basil, parsley, black pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes.
- Stir together. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours, stirring every hour.
- Serve over your favorite pasta or zucchini noodles.
StoveTop Instructions:
- In a pan over medium high heat, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Brown ground turkey for 5-7 minutes. When fully cooked, remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic to the pan. Sauté until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the cooked ground turkey back to the pan, along with the crushed tomatoes, basil, parsley, black pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes.
- Stir to combine and simmer for 1 hour, uncovered, on medium- low heat, stirring every few minutes.
- After 1 hour you can serve this sauce, but it’s best when simmered on low heat for 6-8 hours. This allows the flavors to come together and for the meat to be super tender.
- Serve over your favorite pasta or zucchini noodles.
Notes
- Nutrition shown is for 1.5 cups of Bolognese sauce and does not include pasta.
Nutrition Facts
How to prevent soggy zucchini noodles
I commonly get asked how to avoid watery zucchini noodles. I have two tips for you on how to avoid soggy zucchini noodles.
- Squeeze the water out of them REALLY well! I use a thick, absorbent, clean dish towel to squeeze the water out of the noodles. The towel should be damp when done. I then lay the zucchini noodles out on a paper towel lined baking sheet or bowl until I’m ready to use them.
- Don’t add the zucchini noodles to the dish until you are ready to serve. If you’re meal prepping, you can place the chicken/veggie mixture into a container and place your raw zucchini noodles on top. When you’re ready to eat, microwave or heat over the stove to avoid mushy noodles.
This is a frequently made meal in our house. Wondering if we can throw everything into the crockpot uncooked instead of making everything on the stove before placing it in the crockpot. Has anyone tried this?
I would not do this. It will not have a good texture. Definitely at least brown the meat beforehand!
This is currently simmering on my stovetop for dinner tonight (serving over spaghetti squash) and it smells amazing. Just waiting for my husband to get home to enjoy dinner, however I have sampled it several times and it is absolutely delicious. Been simmering for about 2 hrs. now but might try it in the crockpot next time and add some green pepper. Thanks for a fantastic recipe, this one is a keeper.
Healthy and hearty! This recipe is rich in flavor.
A must try!
So glad you liked it, Rachel!
Really great (and healthy). We loved it. I added 1/2 cup red wine. The flavor was amazing….we will definitely make again. Soooo good! Thank you
Absolutely delicious! My husband is very picky (when it comes to healthy dishes). He said this one is a keeper! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Do you think I could puree it all together and it be just as good? My hubby is VERY picky and doesn’t do veggies.
I wouldn’t puree the ground meat. I would use a food processor and pulse the vegetables very finely. You really can’t taste them.
Thank you for your reply, I was referring to the sauce ingredients (I apologize, I wasn’t clear,lol). I’ll let you know how Mr. Picky likes it lol
Delicious!!! I love making homemade sauce and this one is soooooo good! And the extra vegetables make it even more healthful! We had it with cheese ravioli and it was so good. I made enough so I could have leftovers for lunch. And still enough sauce to put a container In the freezer to have a quick meal another time! That’s a win-win in my book!! Thanks Liz, every recipe of yours that I have made is so good and your directions are so easy to follow. ❤️
Do we let this recipe simmer covered or uncovered for one hour?
Per the instructions: Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour, uncovered, on medium- low heat, stirring every few minutes.
This recipe was delicious and easy to follow. Will def make again!
Thanks, Paula! Glad you enjoyed it!
DELICIOUS!! Just made this and I ended up what wouldn’t fit in my Tupperware with a spoon it was that yummy!
Only changes I made: ground chicken and only did 28oz of tomatoes as I had started the recipe by the time I realized I only had 1 can (rookie mistake!). Making it this way resulted in a crazy chunky and delicious sauce which was phenomenal! 10/10 recommend!
Also utilized the pro tip you share on Instagram of using a food processor to dice veggies- life changer!
So glad you liked it, Kaitlin! Thank you!!
I will definitely make this recipe again! I loved how there were so many veggies. I added a cup of mushrooms and it was amazing!!
Love the extra veggies!
Made this last night and my whole family loved it! Definitely kid (and picky adult 🙄) approved!
So glad everyone enjoyed it!
I have picky eaters in my house but the healthy Bolognese is absolutely amazing and everyone loves it! It is almost a weekly staple… You got a love when a eight-year-old asks for it! This was easy to make and delicious at the same time, thank you!
Love to hear that, Christine! Thank you! It’s perfect for sneaking in veggies for picky eaters 🙂
In the ingredients it says turkey mince, but in the method it says ground beef…which should I be using?
Thanks for pointing out that typo. You can use whatever ground meat you like. We prefer turkey but beef or even ground chicken is great!
This is the best recipe on the internet for so many reasons. It’s so delicious and easy and a true kitchen confidence boosting meal – like you make homemade sauce that you can call your grandma and brag about. It freezes SO WELL so you can make a double batch and always have some on hand. Finally, this recipe taught me to mince my veggies in my vitamix and my life had been changed for the better.
This is so sweet – thank you so much Lauren!! I’m so glad you like the sauce! And chopping your veggies is a gaaaaame changer!
Could this be made in an instant pot on the pressure cook setting? If so how long would it take? Thank you. I am excited to try this recipe.
I’m sorry but I don’t have instant pot instructions for this recipe. We have not been able to make it with out getting a burn message in the instant pot.
No worries, I just used the slow cook option on the instant pot.
Loved the addition of veggies in this recipe! It was a hit with my family. I put it on slow cook for 1 hour in my instant pot because I wash in a rush and it still turned out delicious. It would have been even better if I left it for the full time. Will definitely make again! Thank you!
Thank you so much, Mona! Glad you liked it!!
I haven’t tried a recipe from the Clean Eating Couple I haven’t loved yet. I’ve made this recipe a few times with either turkey or beef and it did not disappoint. It’s so incredibly easy! Super delish.
So glad you liked it Kim!! You’re the best, thanks for always making our recipes and sharing them 🙂
Being Italian, my kids have had nothing else to compare my sauce to! We decided to try out this recipe and we were quite surprised how good it was! Will definitely keep this recipe in mind!
Glad you liked it, Tina! We’re Italian too.. homemade sauce is the way to go!