This 35 minute Ground Turkey Alfredo Casserole is an easy and delicious weeknight meal with ground turkey, pasta, mushrooms, mozzarella, and Alfredo sauce!
This healthier meal uses pantry ingredients and it's so comforting and delicious, it will quickly become a family favorite. This is also a great casserole to take to pot luck dinners or a neighbor in need!
Jump to:
- 👩🏻🍳 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- 🥘 Ingredients Needed
- 🔪 Instructions
- 👪 FAQs
- 💭 Expert Tips and Tricks
- 📖 Substitutions and Variations
- 🔊 What readers are saying...
- 🥫 Storage and Reheating
- ⏲️ Make Ahead Instructions
- 💡 What To Serve With This Dish
- 🍲 More Casserole Recipes You'll Love
- 📋 Recipe Card
- 💬 Reviews and Comments
👩🏻🍳 Why You'll Love This Recipe
This ground turkey Alfredo casserole is a favorite with my family! It's a quick and delicious meal that everybody loves, and it's packed with flavor. Plus, ground turkey is a great option for lean protein that you can feel confident about serving to your loved ones!
Just like my classic Ground Turkey Pasta Broccoli Dinner, this turkey Alfredo pasta is beyond easy to make and your family will never get tired of it!
🥘 Ingredients Needed
- rotini pasta - I love using the tricolor rotini to add some color to this dish, but you can use regular rotini or another kind of pasta.
- ground turkey - a fantastic substitute for ground beef, turkey fulfills the same role but it's much better for you.
- salt & pepper
- Alfredo sauce - using store bought Alfredo sauce is a great shortcut for this recipe and it tastes just as good!
- mushrooms - add a subtle earthiness as well as some extra nutrition.
- mozzarella - gets nice and melty to give your casserole a creamy and cheesy texture, and part-skim mozzarella keeps this dish leaner.
🔪 Instructions
- Add the ground turkey to a skillet with salt and pepper.
- Cook until browned.
- Prepare rotini according to box directions.
- Drain the pasta and return it to the pot, along with turkey, Alfredo sauce, mushrooms, and mozzarella.
- Mix until well combined.
- Transfer to a large baking dish and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and melty.
👪 FAQs
This sauce is typically made with butter, heavy cream, and Parmesan cheese. An Italian sauce, it was named after Alfredo di Lelio, who added butter and Parmesan to noodles for a simple combination that happened to take off!
Absolutely, it's a simple sauce to make for yourself at home! This recipe from The Salty Marshmallow outlines a simple method for creating your own sauce if you want to try the homemade route.
Yes! They're very similar texturally, and though poultry tends to be a lighter color than beef and a slightly different flavor, when cooked in sauces and with other ingredients, the difference typically ends up becoming negligible!
I like to use lean ground turkey to really go for a heart-healthy ingredient, as lean turkey is lower in saturated fat. Feel free to try other levels of fat content and see what you and your family like best!
💭 Expert Tips and Tricks
- This dish will be fine baking in just about any dish--just be sure it's deep enough to fit everything! You may need to adjust baking times to account for the difference as well.
- Fresh mushrooms are incredible in this recipe. Just slice them up and microwave for a couple of minutes, then drain out some of the liquid.
- Cooked cauliflower rice is another way to make this dish even more healthy and filling, and your family probably won't even know the difference!
Ground turkey pasta casserole is a perfect recipe for meal prepping, a quick weeknight dinner, or to bring along for potlucks or cookouts. Everybody will be asking for seconds!
📖 Substitutions and Variations
- To switch things up, use a tablespoon or two of ranch dressing mix!
- For extra veggies, try peas, spinach, broccoli, or tomatoes.
- Other great add-ins would be bacon bits or some fresh basil.
- Any pasta will work for this turkey Alfredo casserole. Penne, bow ties, and even spaghetti would also be perfect!
🔊 What readers are saying...
"Just made this wonderful easy dish. I loved it as well as my picky eating daughter!!"
- Keiana
🥫 Storage and Reheating
Ensure your casserole has cooled before transferring to an airtight container and storing in the fridge. It will last for about 5 days.
To reheat, you can pop your leftovers in the microwave and heat for a minute. If they're not heated through, continue in increments of 30 seconds.
This recipe also freezes well and would last in your freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat from frozen, I recommend leaving your pasta in the fridge for a while, overnight if possible, to defrost before microwaving.
⏲️ Make Ahead Instructions
If you want to make homemade Alfredo sauce, you can certainly make that ahead of time and store in the fridge until it's time to put this recipe together. You may also be able to cook your pasta beforehand, though it may need a bit more time in the oven if it's coming from the fridge.
💡 What To Serve With This Dish
While this casserole has some veggies already, serving alongside a healthy side dish is the perfect way to create a filling and nutritious meal! Pair with Roasted Brussels Sprouts or Air Fryer Green Beans for quick and easy veggies. You can also make these Air Fryer Eggplant Fries, or some Easy Drop Biscuits!
🍲 More Casserole Recipes You'll Love
- Vegan Baked Hummus Casserole - With healthy and cancer-fighting ingredients, this unique casserole is a must-try!
- Easy Hamburger Casserole - A filling weeknight dinner, this is a twist on hamburgers that the whole family will love.
- Crock French Toast Casserole - This breakfast casserole is great for a lazy weekend or for a special occasion brunch.
- Southwestern Casserole - From Fit Foodie Finds, this casserole is loaded with chicken, veggies, and cheese!
Ground Turkey Pasta Casserole
Love this recipe? Awesome! Please give it a 5 star ⭐ rating below! And if you make this, snap a photo and tag me on Instagram. You can find me at DizzyBusyandHungry or #dizzybusyandhungry!
📋 Recipe Card
Ground Turkey Alfredo Casserole
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Cook the rotini as directed on the package.12 ounces rotini pasta (I used whole grain)
- While the rotini is cooking, brown the ground turkey, adding the salt and pepper.16 ounces ground turkey, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper
- Drain the rotini, put it back in the pot, then add the ground turkey, Alfredo sauce, mushrooms, and about half of the shredded cheese. Mix well.15 ounces Alfredo sauce, 9 ounces mushrooms, drained, 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- Place the pasta-turkey mixture in a large baking dish (I used an 11 x 7, but other sizes will work) and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Sprinkle with the chopped parsley before serving, if desired.2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Notes
- I like to use very lean ground turkey and part-skim mozzarella to keep the calories in check for this dish.
- I have used other sizes of baking dishes - 9x9, 9x13, 11x7. They all worked fine, just be aware that if you are using a smaller size it will need to be deep enough to hold all of the pasta and turkey mixture.
- Try throwing in a tablespoon or two of ranch dressing mix to jazz this up a little!
- If you have fresh mushrooms, they taste amazing in this recipe. Just slice them and then microwave them for about 2 minutes on high to soften them and remove some of the liquid.
- Add in some cooked cauliflower rice if you want to sneak some additional nutrition in to your kids.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate. The nutritional values for your final dish may vary based on measuring differences and products used.
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Andrea
Quick and easy to make. Just fantastic on a busy weeknight. The whole family loves it.
Beth
This recipe is perfect! Quick, easy and my whole family will gobble it up!
Keri
This is such an easy casserole to make, and it's so delicious. The whole family loved it!
Rachel
Love how quickly this recipe comes together! Delicious and easy!
Emily Flint
This was exactly what I was looking for and my son loved it too! This reminds me of something I had as a child and I'm so glad to find it again.
Keiana
Just made this wonderful easy dish. I loved it as well as my picky eating daughter!!!!!
Danielle
This looks delicious! Although I'd skip the mushrooms in mine.
Edward Antrobus
Well, you've certainly come a long way with your photography! I can't think of any aspect of the two pictures that isn't improved!
Kristin King
Thanks, Edward! I have worked really hard to learn how to take better pictures! I still have lots to learn but it is so much fun to see the progress!
Michelle F.
That looks really good. I love that it has turkey in it.