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8 Greats: Kitchen-Tested Ground Meat Recipes

The GREAT thing about ground meat is substitution, cost and flavor. Ground chicken recipes or recipes with ground beef can be easily substituted with ground turkey. Just watch the cooking time (make sure all ground meat is cooked thoroughly) and ground turkey recipes can easily cooked as a recipe for ground beef. The same works with ground chicken recipes. Here are our favorite Eating Well Kitchen-Tested recipes with ground chicken, or if you're looking for easy recipes with ground beef or turkey, just substitute the meat!

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Chicken Cordon Bleu Burger

The classic flavors of Chicken Cordon Bleu—ham, Swiss cheese and thyme—inspired this easy chicken burger. We like using regular ground chicken, which is a blend of thigh and drumstick meat, to help keep this burger juicy, but feel free to use 100% ground chicken breast if you’d like a leaner burger. You’ll cut 20 calories and 1 gram saturated fat. Serve with roasted broccoli.

Tip: To oil a grill rack, oil a folded paper towel, hold it with tongs and rub it over the rack. (Do not use cooking spray on a hot grill.)

Stovetop Variation: Coat a nonstick...

Source: EatingWell View Recipe

Apple Turkey Picadillo

This twist on the Latin American staple is made healthier with lean ground turkey and crisp apples. It doubles well. Try tucking it into whole-wheat tortillas or serve over instant brown rice for a quick and healthy supper.

Per serving: 249 calories; 8 g fat (1 g sat, 5 g mono); 45 mg cholesterol; 18 g carbohydrate; 30 g protein; 4 g fiber; 488 mg sodium; 366 mg potassium; 0 g added sugars

Carbohydrate Servings: 1

Exchanges: 1 fruit, 4 very lean protein, 1 fat

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (40% daily value), Iron & Vitamin A (20% dv).

Scaling Disclaimer:...

Source: EatingWell View Recipe

Turkey Albondigas Soup

Albondigas, Spanish for “meatballs,” star in the traditional broth-based Mexican soup. Our version uses turkey rather than beef or pork for the meatballs, and we’ve pumped up the volume of fresh vegetables in the mix.

Tips: To make fresh breadcrumbs, trim crusts from whole-wheat bread. Tear bread into pieces and process in a food processor until coarse crumbs form. One slice of bread makes about 1/2 cup fresh crumbs.

Poblano peppers can be fiery or relatively mild; there’s no way to tell until you taste them. Find them at most large supermarkets....

Source: EatingWell View Recipe

Whole-Wheat Fusilli with Beef Ragu

This chunky, full-bodied sauce is a good match for hearty whole-wheat pasta. We've augmented a little lean ground beef with mushrooms to get a rich, meaty sauce that has a minimum of saturated fat.

If you're only serving 2 or 3 people, toss half the sauce with 6 ounces cooked pasta; freeze the remaining sauce. If you're serving more than 6 or are just feeling industrious, you can easily double the sauce recipe

Pasta cooked al dente has a lower glycemic index than overcooked pasta, and whole-wheat choices are lower than white.

Per serving: 319 calories; 3 g fat (1 g sat, 1...

Source: EatingWell View Recipe

EatingWell Sloppy Joes

Our updated Sloppy Joe takes lean ground beef and adds chopped cremini mushrooms and diced fresh plum tomatoes, all in a zesty sauce. Served on a whole-wheat bun, it’s a hearty dinner sandwich that will please adults and kids alike.

Per serving: 233 calories; 6 g fat (2 g sat, 2 g mono); 28 mg cholesterol; 31 g carbohydrate; 14 g protein; 5 g fiber; 436 mg sodium; 504 mg potassium; added sugars

Carbohydrate Servings: 2

Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 1/2 very lean meat

Nutrition Bonus: Zinc (20% daily value), Vitamin C (15% dv).

Scaling Disclaimer: EatingWell...

Source: EatingWell View Recipe

Creamy Hamburger Noodle Casserole

The EatingWell Test Kitchen takes lean ground beef and combines it with whole-grain bulgur, egg noodles and a creamy tomato sauce in a baked casserole topped with Cheddar. With less fat and calories than the original skillet meal, this dish is sure to become a new family favorite.

Ingredient Note: Bulgur is made by parboiling, drying and coarsely grinding or cracking wheat berries. It simply needs a quick soak in hot water for most uses. Look for it in the natural-foods section of large supermarkets, near other grains, or online at kalustyans.com, lebaneseproducts.com.

Per...

Source: EatingWell View Recipe

Mini Meatloaves

Traditional meatloaf is made with ground beef, pork and veal; here we replace the veal with ground turkey for a tender, flavorful and leaner version of the classic. Baking individual portions in muffin tins speeds cooking, standardizes serving size and produces a moist, delicious main dish.

Baking individual portions of meatoaf in muffin tins speeds cooking, standardizes serving size and produces a moist, delicious main dish.

Per serving: 209 calories; 12 g fat (4 g sat, 5 g mono); 94 mg cholesterol; 5 g carbohydrate; 20 g protein; 0 g fiber; 391 mg sodium; 338 mg potassium;...

Source: EatingWell View Recipe

Sausage, Mushroom & Spinach Lasagna

This cheesy lasagna is full of spicy Italian turkey sausage, whole-wheat noodles, mushrooms and spinach. A serving of this version has about one-third the fat and saturated fat, and only half the calories of the original. Use soy-based sausage for a hearty vegetarian variation.

Ingredient Note: Whole-wheat lasagna noodles are higher in fiber than white noodles. They can be found in health-food stores and some large supermarkets.

Per serving: 333 calories; 14 g fat (5 g sat, 3 g mono); 41 mg cholesterol; 28 g carbohydrate; 26 g protein; 7 g fiber; 655 mg sodium; 606 mg...

Source: EatingWell View Recipe