Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

This easy turkey and mango stir fry is a delicious way of making turkey the star of a healthy midweek meal. Velveting the turkey first keeps it deliciously moist and the lime juice and mint balance the recipe perfectly!

turkey mango pineapple stir fry in a bowl

Do you always go for chicken when cooking a quick and easy stir fry at home? I have to admit, I cook a lot of stir fries and I almost always make them with chicken instead of turkey. When I first made this mango and turkey stir fry it was very much a first for me.

But why?

Turkey is low in fat, high in protein and b vitamins as well as certain minerals including selenium, phosphorus and zinc. Overall, it's a pretty healthy choice. Heathwise there's no reason not to use cook more with turkey.

Some people claim that turkey can be a bit dry, which is why in this turkey stir fry the turkey strips are marinated for a short time first in a process called velveting. This helps keep the meat really tender and definitely stops it from being dry.

I think velveting is worth it if you're making this dish from scratch with raw turkey. However, you can skip it if you're looking for a recipe to use up roast turkey leftovers. You can also make it with chicken.

But why the sudden interest in turkey?

Well, a week and a half ago I attended an event organised by British Turkey at Westminster Kingsway College. We were treated to a cookery demonstration by Phil Vickery.

I have to admit that I felt a little embarrassed when questioned about the fact that I rarely cook with turkey. I didn't have a good response when asked why.

Was it because it just wasn't on my radar? Probably. But why not?

Apart from buying a whole bird at Christmas, turkey is usually fairly cheap and is also one of the healthiest meats around. There's no reason not to buy it, especially as it can be used in most of the dishes that are typically cooked with chicken.

Like many people, I realised I had a habit of buying chicken without even considering the alternatives.

The Turkey Recipes in the Demonstration

Phil Vickery showed us 4 different flavour combinations to go with the turkey. Each one was very quick to do.

They were all good but my favourite was the one with fruit (pineapple and mango), which is why it has been the one that I have recreated and adapted in the recipe below. Phil Vickery's original recipe can be found here.

I was actually surprised that I liked the turkey, pineapple and mango stir fry so much as I don't normally pair fruit and meat together. But, I think the lime juice and the mint balanced it out so it wasn't too fruity or sweet. I also omitted the teaspoon of sugar that Phil Vickery put in his version.

For me, turkey won't now just be for Christmas and I'm looking forward to being a bit more experimental with it over the next few weeks.

Ingredients for turkey and mango stir fry

To make this fruity turkey, mango and pineapple stir fry you'll need:

Turkey meat - I prefer to use turkey breast for this recipe. You can replace it with chicken. Slice the meat thinly so it cooks quickly.
Egg white
Cornflour
Sesame oil
Mango - I prefer to use a slightly underipe mango so it holds it's shape and doesn't turn to mush as it is cooked.
Pineapple - I usually use a fresh pineapple but tinned pineapple also works really well.
Mint leaves - You really need fresh mint not dried mint for this recipe as you need the freshness of fresh herbs.
Seasoning - A little salt and black pepper
Limes - Fresh limes are best as I use quite a lot of juice and they have a fresher flavour than bottled lime juice
Rice noodles - I like rice noodles iwth this reicpe but you can use egg noodles or soba noodles instead.

How can you adapt the recipe?

I adapted the turkey and mango stir fry from the original recipe, partly by making it less sweet and not including any sugar. If you want a sweeter stir fry, add a little sugar.

If you want to add more herbs then coriander (cilantro) is also delicious with this fruity stir fry.

I often add a thinly sliced chilli pepper to the stir fry as well. It goes really well with the fruit and lime juice.

You can of course make it with chicken or pork instead of turkey.

Can you make this with leftover roast turkey?

Yes! If you're looking for ways to use up your leftover Christmas or Thanksgiving turkey, just skip the velveting stage and use strips of cooked turkey meat. It will still be delicious.

It's definitely a really easy meal to make with leftover turkey!

What can you serve with this turkey mango stir fry?

I served it with rice noodles which made a lovely substantial meal. It is great with most kinds of noodles or rice.

As I love a little bit of chilli heat I also like to serve a drizzle of chilli oil over the top too!

What can you do with the leftovers?

Any leftovers can be kept in the fridge for up to three days although I do prefer to eat them sooner rather than later as I find the fruit doesn't keep as well as vegetables do after being cooked. It tends to go a bit more mushy when it is reheated.

What is Velveting?

Velveting is a technique commonly used in Chinese cooking. It involves marinating the strips of turkey in a mixture of starch and egg white for up to a day before cooking with it.

This forms a coating around the turkey so that when it is cooked, the juices stay in the meat, keeping it lovely and moist.

After seeing how easy it is and trying it for myself, it has become something I do regularly. Both at the demonstration and at home, the turkey stayed deliciously moist.

More turkey recipes

There are so many things you can do with turkey. Turkey thigh mince makes delicious burgers and is a healthier alternative to beef mince in a lot of dishes. Plus, you can just switch the chicken for turkey in a lot of the recipes on this site.

If you're looking for specific recipes using turkey then do check out some of these easy turkey recipes:

Recipe