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Try this delicious Turkey Sweet Potato Stew for something that’s a bit unusual to make in the slow cooker. This turkey stew has ground turkey, sweet potatoes, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, chili garlic sauce and coconut milk, and it’s great served over cauliflower rice!
PIN Turkey Sweet Potato Stew to make it later!
I’m still updating older recipe favorites where I feel the photos need improvement, and I’m happy to have new photos for this Turkey Sweet Potato Stew! The recipe started out as a sweet and spicy pork stew I spotted in Real Simple Magazine years ago, and my version with ground turkey has had quite a few fans through the years.
Of course when I’m updating a recipe I often make a few small changes that I feel will improve it from the original version. In this recipe I originally added a little brown sugar to balance out the flavor of the sweetener, but this time I used Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link), which I thought was great in this. (Read here about why I like Monk Fruit Sweetener if it’s new to you.)
I also increased the amount of turkey for more protein and this time I ate the stew over cauliflower rice instead of the Ben’s Brown Rice I used in the original recipe. And see below for some suggestions for making a version of this turkey stew that’s lower in carbs.
This recipe cooks on high in the slow cooker and it’s done in about three hours, so it would be a good option to start after lunch on the weekend, and if you’re lucky you might even have some leftovers to eat during the week!
What ingredients do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
How can you make the Turkey Sweet Potato Stew lower in carbs?
When it’s served without rice or cauliflower rice, this turkey stew recipe has about 15 net carbs per serving. If you want to make this into a recipe that’s lower in carbs, you could replace all the sweet potato with butternut squash, which has only about half as many carbs. Another option would be to use only one sweet potato and replace the other one with a lower-carb vegetable like a chopped turnip, chopped red bell pepper, or chopped zucchini (added towards the end of the cooking time for zucchini.)
What gives Asian flavor notes in this Turkey Sweet Potato Stew?
For sure this is not an authentically Asian dish. But the stew has lots of Asian flavor notes from chili garlic sauce, ginger, garlic, and coconut milk.
Want more ground turkey recipes with Asian flavors?
How to make Turkey Sweet Potato Stew:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Heat 2 tsp. olive oil and cook the ground turkey until it’s nicely browned.
- Spray slow cooker insert with olive oil and put the browned turkey into the slow cooker.
- Then add the other tsp. of oil and brown the onion. Add it to the slow cooker over the turkey.
- While the turkey and onions are browning, peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1 inch pieces.
- Mix together the soy sauce, chicken stock, sweetener of your choice, chile garlic sauce (affiliate link), Minced Ginger (affiliate link), and Minced Garlic (affiliate link).
- Add the sweet potatoes to the slow cooker and pour the sauce over.
- Cook on HIGH for 2 1/2 – 3 hours, or until the sweet potatoes are soft and starting to break apart.
- When sweet potatoes are done, add a can of coconut milk and sliced green onions, turn heat to low, and cook 30 minutes more.
- Make the cauliflower rice (or cook some brown rice) during this time if desired.
- Serve hot over cauliflower rice or cooked brown rice if desired. I like it with more sliced green onions to garnish!
More Tasty Ideas with Ground Turkey:
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. lean ground turkey
- 1 T olive oil (divided)
- 1 small onion, chopped in pieces about 1/2 inch
- 2 large orange sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces about 1 inch (see notes)
- 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce (gluten-free if needed)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/3 cup plus 2 T Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (see notes)
- 2 T Chili Garlic Sauce (see notes)
- 2 tsp. minced ginger (see notes)
- 2 tsp. minced garlic (see notes)
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1/2 cup green onions sliced in 1 inch pieces + more thinly sliced green onion for garnish if desired
Instructions
- Spray CrockPot with non-stick spray. I used a 3.5 quart CrockPot (affiliate link) for this recipe.
- Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a heavy frying pan and brown the ground turkey, breaking it up with the turner as it cooks. This may take 7-8 minutes but don’t rush the browning step. Put browned meat into the CrockPot.
- Add 1 tsp. more olive oil if you need it and cook the onions until they are soft and lightly browned, about 4-5 minutes. Add onions to the CrockPot.
- While the turkey and onions are cooking, peel the sweet potatoes and cut into pieces about 1 inch square. Add sweet potatoes to the CrockPot.
- Mix together the soy sauce, chicken broth or stock, Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link), or sweeteners of your choice, Chili Garlic Sauce (affiliate link), minced ginger, and minced garlic and pour over ingredients in the CrockPot.
- Cook on HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until sweet potatoes are done and starting to fall apart just a little. (I stirred it a couple of times, but it’s not essential.)
- When the sweet potatoes are done, add the can of coconut milk (affiliate link) and the green onion pieces, turn heat to low, and cook 30 minutes more.
- Serve hot, over cauliflower rice or Uncle Ben’s Brown Rice if desired, and garnished with thinly sliced green onions.
Notes
To Make This Recipe with Leftover Turkey: Follow instructions above to cook sweet potatoes in the slow cooker with the sauce, then add 3-4 cups diced leftover chopped turkey about 10-15 minutes before you add the coconut milk.
Sweet potatoes are often called yams or sweet yams in U.S. grocery stores. Two tablespoons of chili-garlic sauce was plenty spicy for me but use more if you prefer! I love this recipe with Golden Monkfruit Sweetener, but use any sweetener you prefer. I used minced ginger from a jar and minced garlic from a jar.
Recipe inspired by Sweet and Spicy Asian Pork Shoulder from Real Simple Magazine.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 547Total Fat: 34gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 158mgSodium: 1090mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 3gSugar: 8gProtein: 46g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Sweet potatoes may have too many carbs to make this Turkey Sweet Potato Stew suitable for a strict low-carb eating plan (although check the nutritional info; you may be surprised). See suggestions in the post for replacing some or all of the sweet potato with a lower-carb vegetable. Sweet potatoes also make this recipe limited to phase 2 or 3 for the original South Beach Diet, and if you’re making this for South Beach, they would recommend lean ground turkey (with less than 10% fat) as well as light coconut milk.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Stew Recipes or Slow Cooker Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2011. It was updated with better photos in 2017, and the recipe was last updated with more information in 2023.
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