Spiced Turkey and Butternut Squash Skillet with Goat Cheese is the perfect one-pot fall meal–low in calories, full of healthy ingredients, and bursting with flavor!
Anyone else ready for fall?? This is my favorite season of the year. It’s still warm enough for backyard BBQ and pool time during the day, but it’s starting to get cool enough for snuggly blankets and movies by the fireplace at night.
Not to mention that some of my favorite foods come into season during the fall. Apples, pears, brussels sprouts. Most importantly, fall/winter squash! Butternut and delicata are my favorites.
One of the things I absolutely love about the myWW program, especially Purple and Blue, is that I can put together a mainly 0 SP meal while splurging on things like full-fat cheese, nuts, or healthy oils. These kinds of flavorful fats make a meal much more complex and filling.
This skillet meal is a perfect example of that. There are multiple levels of flavor thanks to the warm spices and tangy goat cheese, but you’re still eating lean meat and lots of veggies.
My favorite part of it all is the sweetness of the butternut squash. It mellows out the spice and compliments the cheese.
Maybe even better about this one? It’s all cooked in one skillet and is finished in 30 minutes. Perfect for a quick but impressive way to switch up your menu!
Ingredients for Spiced Turkey and Butternut Squash Skillet with Goat CHeese
- 99% lean ground turkey
- butternut squash
- fresh baby spinach
- onion
- garlic
- spices: smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne, salt, and pepper
- perhaps the most important ingredient: goat cheese!
As you can see here, I’ve used regular paprika when I don’t have smoked around. If you do that, add a couple of drops of liquid smoke to the mixture. If you use just plain paprika as it, the skillet meal won’t be as complexly flavored.
I make my life a lot easier by using precut butternut squash. This makes it a lot quicker as a weeknight dinner. I truly despise peeling, seeding, and chopping butternut squash. I’ll do it on the weekends when I have more time, but a shortcut like this is a lifesaver.
The spinach is my way of making this a complete meal by adding in a leafy green. You could use kale, chard, arugula, whatever you like!
And don’t skimp on that goat cheese! It really is the star ingredient that brings everything together. I’ve even added more to make this 4 SP per serving on my plan (purple).
Although goat cheese is my favorite in this dish, feel free to play around with the spices and kinds of cheese you use. I could see an Italian spin on this using ricotta or a Mediterranean take with feta. Get creative!
Since this meal is so low in points/cals, you’ll have room for a delicious fall dessert, like Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins or Apple Pie Turnovers.
I’d love to hear from you if you make this recipe! It makes my day when you share your pics on Instagram and tag me (@litecravings). Don’t forget to use #litecravingsrecipes to make sure I see it. If I don’t get a chance to scroll through my tags quickly enough, I won’t see your post. I always make a point to look through the hashtags, though, so I’ll see it there!
Spiced Turkey and Butternut Squash Skillet with Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1.5 lbs 99% fat free ground turkey
- 5-6 cups cubed butternut squash
- 2 tsp ground cumin, divided
- 1 tsp smoked paprika, divided
- 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 cup water
- 3-4 cups baby spinach
- 1/4 cup goat cheese
Instructions
- In a very large skillet (I used a 14"), sauteed onion and garlic in cooking spray until slightly browned.
- Push the veggies to the side of the skillet, add olive oil to the middle, and sear turkey on top of the oil. Season with 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp paprika, and 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Break turkey into chunks as you cook it.
- Once turkey is cooked, add in butternut squash along with remaining 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, and 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Add 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook on medium-low until squash is slightly soft, 10-15 minutes.
- Uncover and add spinach. Mix until wilted. Top with crumbled goat cheese.
Notes
Nutrition
I’m wondering if you have ever frozen the leftovers and how they keep?
I haven’t tried that, but I bet it would freeze fine without the goat cheese. Just add that in when you defrost.
I made this today. It is absolutely delicious. My husband is very finicky (pita when it comes to food) and he ate and loved.
Awesome! Love it when even picky eaters are satisfied.
Quite honestly, one of the BEST Healthy, WW Friendly, Quick Food I’ve eaten!! Very, Very Yummy! Although, I don’t believe I could realistically get 6 – 1 1/3 cup servings for 2 points!! , I didn’t care. So I probably ate one third to one half. I will adjust points accordingly. I used the Chavrie mild Goat Cheese Spread. It’s points were lower. And the flavor it gave to the dish was fantastic. Thanks for the recipe. Gina
Wow! That’s so good to hear! I’ll have to try that kind of goat cheese next time.
Made this tonight for dinner, super yummy! The goat cheese is just delicious.
The goat cheese totally makes it! Thank you for the comment. 😊
I agree on the goat cheese! It definitely needs a stronger flavored cheese. Feta or parmesan might also work? I subbed 1.5 tsp taco seasoning for the cayenne. We prefer spice vs heat!
Sounds fabulous! Other people have tried feta and loved it.
Have you ever substituted sweet potatoes for the squash? Would the cooking time remain the same?
I haven’t tried that yet, but I bet it would be great. Yes, you’d need to increase the cooking time and bit. And if you’re following WW, make sure you load everything in the Recipe Builder since sweet potato has points and squash does not.
Any suggestion for an alternative
to the spinach ?
You could just leave it out. Otherwise, any leafy green, like kale or arugula, would work. 🙂
So delicious! Hubby, kiddos, and I all really enjoyed it. We will add this to our recipe rotation for yummy weeknight meals. Thanks Geri!
Yay!! So good to hear, Jodi.
This really is an amazing recipe! My husband who doesn’t “like” spinach devoured this recipe. My kids who are grossed out by veggies and ground meat loved it too. A recipe that my entire family loves is a blessing, thank you:)
Wow!! That’s so cool to hear. Getting your family to eat their veggies and enjoy it is always a win!
This is my favorite recipe of yours, ever! I have made this for my family, recommended it to a friend (who just told me she made it for a friend who had a baby), and it is so good! It’s simple, but so flavorful and I love how the goat cheese brings it all together! This will always be one of my faves!!
Molly, you are the sweetest! Thank you for taking the time to comment on all of the recipes that you love. It helps my blog so much! 🙂
Made this last night for the family it was soooo good! Flavorful with a little kick. Thanks for another great recipe!
Yay! So good to hear.
This recipe was highly recommended to me. Can’t wait to make it but I was wondering what you serve it with. Ie potato lodes rice..??
It’s really a complete and filling meal on its own, but a side salad or roasted veggie would be great. Hope you like the recipe!
This was sooo sooo good! A new favorite of ours! Thank you!
Really good! Only thing I would suggest is more salt but that’s easily added to taste. Just switched to purple and loving this recipe for low points!
Agreed! I like things on the saltier side, but I always make my recipes a little less salty so people can adjust.
Fantastic medley of flavors! My whole family loved it. Will make it again and again!
This is a great fall dish! I added black beans, some cinnamon and a little nutmeg. I also only had mozzarella cheese for the top and it was just Yummy!
I’ve made this dish several times and love it so much! Do you know if it works with frozen squash? Or have any suggestions for making it with frozen squash?! Thanks!!
It definitely works with frozen squash! Just add it in a little later in the cook time. Only needs like 5 minutes to thaw in the skillet.
This is fabulous. I decided to double up the seasonings except the cayenne and it was perfect for me.
So glad you loved it! Thank you for time to let me know 🙂
Absolutely delicious! Used some acorn squash too since I didn’t have enough butternut squash. Can’t wait to make it again! Thanks for another amazing recipe!