Turkey Meat Sauce
Updated Oct 08, 2025
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This hearty turkey meat sauce is the ultimate big batch recipe: rich, flavorful, freezer-friendly, ready to toss with pasta, layer into lasagna, or stash away for quick weeknight dinners. If you don’t tell your family it’s not made with beef, they won’t know!
There are some recipes you make just to get dinner on the table, and then there are they recipes that pay you back all week long (and then some!) This big batch Turkey Meat Sauce falls squarely into the second category. It’s a deeply flavorful sauce made with ground turkey and turkey sausage, simmered in canned tomatoes, sautéed onions and garlic, and the perfect balance of herbs and spices. It’s perfect for tossing with pasta, layering into lasagna, or freezing in portions so Future You will be thrilled to have dinner halfway done.
I swear by this recipe, and always have a couple of containers in the freezer, which have saved dinner many a time! Serve pasta with Turkey Meat Sauce alongside Roasted Honey Mustard Brussels Sprouts, Kale Crunch Salad, or Air Fryer Green Beans.
What's In This Post?
Big Batch Turkey Meat Sauce recipe: This sauce is amazing with any shape pasta, and also perfect for making lasagnas. Super freezer friendly!
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This recipe calls for a combination of ground turkey (I like to use 85/15%, which has a higher fat content and, therefore, more flavor) and two kinds of turkey sausage, hot and sweet. If you prefer to use all sweet sausage or all hot, go right ahead.
I like to brown the ground turkey and the turkey sausage together for two reasons. One, it’s easier and faster. Two, I have the impression (based on no scientific fact) that when they are cooked together, the seasonings from the much more flavorful turkey sausage season up the plain ground turkey, and that the two become one in a more delicious way than they would if they were cooked separately and simply met up later in the sauce. You are welcome to argue with me on this, though I’m sure we all have better things to do.
Big Batch Turkey Meat Sauce
This turkey meat sauce recipe makes a very generous amount of sauce, designed to use some for dinner tonight, some later in the week, and some to freeze for another time. Of course, you can cut this recipe in half. But ground turkey and turkey sausage are usually sold in one-pound packages, so if you buy one of each of the recommended varieties (sweet sausage, hot sausage, and ground turkey), you will end up with a lot of meat sauce, which in my book and my house is never a bad thing.
Here’s what I like to do: 1) Make one pound of pasta and serve several cups of the sauce with that the night I make it; 2) The next day, make a turkey lasagna with several more cups of the meat sauce and bake that for later in the week; 3) Freeze the rest of the sauce in two or three containers, so that pasta with homemade meat sauce is an option any night I’m in a pinch, and another lasagna is halfway there.
Ingredients
- Olive oil – For sautéing.
- Ground turkey – Don’t buy ultra-lean; go for 85/15% ground turkey if possible. More fat, more flavor.
- Hot turkey and sweet turkey sausage – Offers a nice balance of spicy, sweet, and flavorful.
- Onions, shallots, and garlic – Essential elements of any good meat sauce!
- Dried oregano and basil – For sweet, earthy, and peppery flavors.
- Red or white wine – Either a dry white or a dry red will amplify the flavors of the sauce. The alcohol will cook off from the heat.
- Crushed tomatoes – I like crushed tomatoes in puree vs. in juice, which creates a thicker sauce.
- Red pepper flakes – Optional, for a nice spicy kick.
- Penne, rigatoni, or ziti rigate – Any pasta will work; read the note below.
How to Make Turkey Meat Sauce
- Sauté the turkey: In a large saucepot with oil, brown ground turkey and the turkey sausages together for about 4-6 minutes. Drain.
- Finish making the sauce: Sauté the onion and shallots. Add the garlic, oregano, and basil, followed by the wine. Add the canned tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and turkey, and let simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a tablespoon of coarse salt, and return the water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions.
- Compose and enjoy: Toss the drained pasta with as much sauce as desired.
Make Ahead and Storage
The sauce will last for up to 4 days in the refrigerator and 6 months well-sealed in the freezer. Money in the bank, am I right?
What to Serve With Turkey Meat Sauce and Pasta
Turkey Pasta Sauce Know-How
Absolutely. This sauce freezes beautifully. Let it cool completely, then portion it into airtight containers or freezer bags. It will keep well for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat gently on the stove.
Stored in a sealed container, turkey meat sauce will keep in the refrigerator for about 5 days. It often tastes even better the next day after the flavors have a chance to meld.
You can pick from a variety of pasta shapes, from chunky shapes like penne, ziti, rigatoni, orecchiette, or cavatappi to long strands like spaghetti, linguine, or bucatini. Very thin pasta like angel hair might get a bit overwhelmed by the thick meaty sauce, as would tiny shapes like orzo or ditalini. It’s also terrific layered into baked pastas or lasagna.
Yes, you can skip the sausage and just use ground turkey. The sausage adds extra flavor and richness, but the sauce will still be hearty and delicious with ground turkey alone, though you may want to add about 50% more of the herbs, spices, and garlic.
If you like heat, add a generous pinch of crushed red pepper flakes when you sauté the garlic and onions. You could also use all spicy Italian sauce, skipping the sweet sausage.
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The Best Turkey Meat Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
- 1 pound ground turkey (don’t buy the ultra lean)
- 1 pound fresh hot turkey sausage (squeezed from the casing)
- 1 pound fresh sweet turkey sausage (squeezed from casing)
- 1 ½ cups chopped onion
- 3 shallots (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- Big glug or two of red or white wine (if you have a bottle open)
- 4 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (preferably in puree)
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 pound penne, rigatoni, or ziti rigate (optional; rigate means ridged, and those ridges help catch the sauce in the pasta)
Instructions
- In a large saucepot, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add both the ground turkey and the turkey sausages together and cook, stirring frequently and breaking up the meat so that it’s very crumbly and browned throughout, about 4 to 6 minutes. Turn it into a strainer and let the fat drain off.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the same pot over medium heat (don’t clean it! All those little bits of flavor from the meat will season the sauce). Add the onion and shallots, and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and basil and cook, stirring for 2 more minutes, until you can smell the garlic and herbs. Add the wine, if using, and stir for one more minute, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom, until the wine pretty much evaporates.
- Add the canned tomatoes and red pepper flakes, if using, and stir to combine everything. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Add the cooked turkey and sausage, lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Taste and season gently with the salt and pepper (the sausages provide a whole lot of seasoning).
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a tablespoon of coarse salt, and return the water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain, and toss with as much sauce as desired.
I also make this with a combo of ground beef and Italian sausage. Quarts live in my freezer and save me weekly from schedule colliding crazy nights.
Out standing !
I used ground beef with hot and sweet sausage.
2 teaspoons oregano
1 tablespoon basil
Pino Grigio 1cup or so
2 teaspoons sugar at the end!