Delicious and healthy Italian Polenta Skillet is a fun weeknight dinner that’s ready fast. Made with lean ground turkey meat and veggies, it’s the perfect dinner that everyone will love.
Break out the skillet, because this is going to be your new favorite meal. Full of flavor and easy to make, it’s a sure crowd pleaser with all of those delicious Italian flavors.
Italian Polenta Skillet is a recipe that combines all of the classic Italian meat sauce flavors you love, with convenient and delicious prepared polenta tube. Toped with mozzarella and parmesan, this cheesy meal can’t be beat!
For another delicious polenta dish, be sure to check out this delicious Lemon Polenta Cake, a naturally gluten-free cake that’s super tasty!
How to Use Tubed Polenta
If you’ve never used tubed polenta before, it can seem odd. Quite literally it is cooked polenta that is compacted into a vacuum sealed, easy to use tube.
Tubed polenta is a great shortcut to making polenta from scratch. Plus, similar to chicken, it is a blank slate when it comes to flavors and easily takes on whatever flavors you add.
In most grocery stores, tubed polenta is found in the either the refrigerator section near the tofu, or in the pasta section. I always buy tubed polenta from Trader Joe’s, which you can get in store for less than $5 per tube. You could also try out their super simple recipe for Polenta Pizzaiola.
To use tubed polenta, just slice and serve. The creamy texture makes a great side dish or create this Italian Polenta Skillet and have a heathy and hearty main course.
Another fun way to use tubed polenta is to crisp it up a bit along with some garlic and add it as croutons to your salad. You can also, brush with oil and grill it alongside your meats and veggies. Give it a try and you’re sure to love it.
Italian Polenta Skillet
I have always loved making skillet meals. For one it gives me a reason to use my Le Creuset Skillet pan, which is always a good thing. Also, skillet meals are simple to put together, like my tasty Skillet Burrito.
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For this recipe, my inspiration came from traditional Italian meat sauce on top of pasta. But here, instead of pasta I used tubed polenta.
The sauce is both hearty and healthy. You’ll find that using just a little bit of ground turkey meat can go a long way when adding mushrooms and spinach to the mix.
Moreover, I decided to make things super simple by just using jarred marinara sauce. My two absolute favorite jarred marinara sauces are Rao’s Marinara Sauce and Victoria Marinara Sauce. They taste just as good as homemade!
To start, just slice the tubed polenta into eight slices and crisp up in your skillet. Meanwhile, make the sauce using ground turkey and whatever veggies you have on hand. Here I used mushrooms, onions, and spinach, but broccoli or carrots would be tasty too.
Then just pour the sauce over the polenta slices. Lastly, add on the cheese and broil until bubbly. It’s really just that simple.
Italian Polenta Skillet is a fun take from the regular pasta with meat sauce. And it’s a great way to sneak in veggies. Guaranteed, this is going to be a new family favorite. Enjoy!
For another easy skillet meal, don’t miss this delicious Stuffed Peppers Skillet made with Italian sausage!
More Healthy Italian Weeknight Dinners
- Turkey Vegetable Spaghetti is a healthy and delicious take on classic bolognese sauce.
- Italian Stuffed Zucchini Boats are an easy to make and a great low carb option.
- Tortellini Primavera is a cheesy and delicious weeknight meal made in one pot using whatever veggies you have on hand.
Italian Polenta Skillet with Turkey and Vegetables
Equipment
- 10-inch oven proof skillet
Ingredients
- 3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
- 1 18 ounce tube prepared polenta
- ½ pound ground turkey
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- ½ cup onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 1 cup spinach, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons basil, chopped
- 4 ounces mozzarella slices (shredded works)
- ¼ cup parmesan, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven broiler. Place oven rack in top position closest to broiler.
- Slice the polenta into 8 equal-sized slices. Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a oven proof skillet over medium heat. When oil is heated add polenta slices and cook about 5 minutes on each side until crispy and light golden brown. Remove pan with polenta from heat and set aside.
- In a saucepan, heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Add in the ground turkey and break up with a spoon. When cooked through (about 5 minutes) add in the mushrooms, onion, garlic, and oregano. Cook until mushrooms and onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add in the marinara sauce and spinach. Bring to a simmer and cook to thicken slightly, about 4 minutes. Stir in the basil. Carefully pour the meat mixture over the polenta in the skillet.
- Sprinkle parmesan over the skillet then lay on the slices of mozzarella. Place pan in oven and broil until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 3 minutes. Top with basil if desired.
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An 80 year old widower here in Indiana who stumbled onto your page. Saw the picture of the Polenta skillet and fell in love. Got the recipe saved and then checked the kitchen. Have everything BUT…. I’m going to use Italian sausage links sliced along with the mushrooms, broccoli coarse-chopped, the Rao Marinara and diced tomatoes with basil. Lots of cheese too 8D. Plenty of leftovers I’m sure. Making it tomorrow. Let’s not forget crusty bread.
Thanks for the nifty idea!
Yay! I’m so happy you found me. I hope you love this recipe. It’s one of my favorites 🙂
Great easy recipe. I substituted Swiss Chard from my garden (instead of spinach), and Chicken sausage (instead of gr. turkey). Added artichoke hearts. Turned out delicious! Thank you.
I’ve made the about three times now with multiple variations. I use less tomato sauce (actually just some paste with olive oil)., kale, cannelloni beans, turkey sausage and leftover pork. Delicious!
Love all of these suggestions! Thank you 🙂
I omitted the ground turkey and substituted sundried tomatoes for the mushrooms. It was delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Hi! Can you make polenta and spread it in the pan? Then proceed with the recipe? Thanks
That works!
First time using polenta. It was a hit here at my house! Thanks for the great new recipe.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
This was really good, 😋thank you. My husband doesn’t usually like polenta but he loved this. Will definitely be making this again😊
So happy you loved it!
Wow! I’ve never tried anything like this before, but it looks so unique and tasty! Definitely going to give it a go thanks for sharing!
Now I have one more recipe to make with polenta! Thank you for this recipe
Can’t wait to make this! It looks so delicious and flavor filled!
This is a great idea for a delicious quick one-pot alternative to pasta with bolognese!
And much healthier too!
What a great recipe to try for dinner. Loaded with full of flavors. Thanks for sharing