This Mediterranean turkey bake recipe uses turkey instead of chicken for a low fat healthy meal that's great to prep in advance. Just what you need for an easy midweek meal recipe!
I make a lot of recipes with chicken as it's just such an easy meat to cook with and so easy to come up with simple dinner ideas at the last minute. However, sometimes I like to switch things up and use turkey instead. Turkey is even lower in fat than chicken and nearly as economical too. For lots of chicken recipes I will use turkey occasionally for a change and for this recipe, I sometimes use chicken! It works just as well!
The reason I love this turkey bake recipe is that it is so easy to prepare. Not only is it easy to prepare but you can choose when to prepare it then just leave it in the fridge until you're ready to pop it in the oven.
It's the ideal type of dinner to make if you don't have much time but still want to try and eat fairly healthily.
What makes this turkey bake recipe so tasty?
The thing that makes this turkey casserole so tasty is a simple 3 ingredient marinade. I've talked about marinades a lot here on Searching for Spice and there's a reason for that. Often it's just a marinade that takes a simple meal from good to excellent. For this recipe I marinate the turkey in a simple mixture of crushed garlic, balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.
Why bother with the marinade?
There was time when I would skip the marinade stage of a recipe and yes, if you're short on time then it's not essential. However, the garlic, olive oil and balsamic marinade helps flavour and tenderise the meat so it's even more tasty after it has cooked.
If you have time, it's definitely worth marinating the turkey first.
How do you make this Mediterranean Turkey Bake?
This turkey bake is really simple to put together. First I put the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and crushed garlic into the bottom of the dish I intend to bake the recipe in and stir them together.
Then I put the turkey on top and coat it in the marinade.
At this point I put it in the fridge to marinate for any length of time from up to 24 hours in advance. So, this means you can prepare the marinade the night before, the morning you plan to make the recipe or just an hour before it goes in the oven. Do whatever suits you best.
Next I prepare the vegetables and before the turkey casserole goes in the oven, I just put them on top of the turkey. If you're preparing the chicken the night before, you can also chop the vegetables the night before too to save time. Just put them in an airtight container so you can quickly assemble the recipe before you bake it.
Can you adapt this Mediterranean Turkey Bake Recipe?
Feel free to vary the meat that you use. Chicken works just as well as turkey in this Mediterranean bake. You could even use a meaty fish such as cod or pollack.
Don't feel you have to stick to exactly the same vegetables. The onions don't have to be red. They just look pretty! You can use an orange, red or even green pepper. Why not add courgette or aubergine too?
What can you serve with this Mediterranean turkey casserole?
I love to eat this with some fresh bread. Why not try my garlic and herb butter quick bread or this simple soda bread?
It's also great with a baked potato as the sauce flavours it beautifully. You could just serve it with rice or couscous.
Recipe
Mediterranean Turkey Bake
Ingredients
- 300 g turkey breast
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow pepper sliced
- 1 red onion cut into 8ths
- 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon chopped basil
- 2 tablespoon olives
- pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Put the turkey in the bottom of an oven-proof dish and coat in the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and crushed garlic. Put in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour and up to 24 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 180°c
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the baking dish and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
More Easy Bake Recipes
I love recipes that are simple to prepare and cook. I hope you find inspiration in one of these recipes!
Pin for later
Keep in touch
Do let me know if you make this recipe or any of my other recipes. I love to get feedback from readers.
You can also stay up to date by following on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Honest Mum
Flavoursome casserole, make something similar often and love how versatile turkey is!
Corina
Turkey is so versatile but I just don't use it enough and this is also a really easy recipe to adapt too.
sarahhillwheeler
As Chantelle says, simple to make and it looks very healthy and tasty.....haven't had turkey for a while so will have to remedy that!
Corina
It's always good when something is healthy as well as tasty and easy!
Chantelle Hazelden (@MamaMummyMum)
so simple to make, I use turkey in a lot of recipes!!
Corina
I really should use turkey more often but I have a habit of just buying chicken and then deciding later what to do with it.
Julie
A very delicious looking casserole, packed full of tasty flavours. Congratulations on the birth of your baby, hope you and your baby are well.
Corina
Thank you so much. We're all doing well and luckily the baby is spending a lot of time sleeping. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of my toddler!
MyKabulKitchen
This looks nice and fresh, I love how easy the prep is 🙂
Corina
Yes, that's one of the great things about this meal. Even if you are reallylpushed for time you can probably still manage to throw it together.
lawstudentcook
This looks delicious 🙂