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Rich and hearty Turkey Ragu makes a wonderful family meal. It’s simmered with tomatoes, herbs, and a splash of red wine for deep flavor. Serve over your favorite low carb noodles.
Comfort food is so named for a reason. It refers to meals that please our palates, fill our bellies, and make us feel cared for. It’s not gourmet, it’s not fancy, but it reminds us of coming together with friends and family for really good food.
Comfort food may not solve all of our problems, but it can make things easier to bear for a little while. And this Turkey Ragu is one such meal.
We’ve had a tough few months in my house, so I created this flavorful keto meat sauce for a family meal. While it didn’t solve all of our problems, it did bring us together and give us some comfort.
Healthy low carb comfort food
Comfort food does not have to be heavy, unhealthy, or full of carbs. It can be wholesome, nutritious, and keto friendly too. I have many recipes I rely on when I need comfort food, like Keto Beef Stew, Keto Chicken Pot Pie, and Buffalo Chicken Soup.
This Turkey Ragu was such a hit with the kids, so I know it will become a staple recipe. They had theirs over pasta, but I served mine with noodles made from Egg Life Wraps. It was the prefect low carb base for soaking up the rich, delicious sauce.
This is also an excellent low carb high protein recipe. With 22.6g protein and only 5.4g, it’s healthy and hearty at the same time. It also stores and freezes really nicely so go ahead and make a double batch. You will thank me later!
Ingredients you need
- Onion: As always with low carb recipes, keep the onion to a minimum. It still provides plenty of flavor, but keeps the carbs lower.
- Celery: Classic ragu often includes both carrots and celery. But for this lower carb version, we skip the high carb carrots and keep the celery.
- Seasonings: Fresh garlic, Italian seasoning, and red pepper add great flavor.
- Ground turkey: Obviously a turkey ragu recipe is going to use ground turkey. But you can also make this with ground beef.
- Red wine: Use a dry red wine or chicken broth, if you prefer.
- Diced tomatoes: I used some I canned myself this summer, but any good brand of diced tomatoes will do.
- Low carb marinara: Read the labels on the marinara bottles as many contain added sugar. Rao’s makes a terrific low carb marinara sauce.
- Pantry staples: Olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Step-by-step directions
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot and shimmering, add the onion and celery and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until tender, about 4 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more.
3. Add the turkey and cook 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until mostly cooked through. Stir in the wine and continue to cook until evaporated by about one-third.
4. Stir in the marinara sauce and diced tomatoes. Simmer another 15 minutes, to allow the flavors to meld.
5. Serve over cauliflower rice or your favorite keto noodles.
Expert tips
If you choose to do this recipe with ground beef, you may want to drain some of the fat before adding the wine. Otherwise it can be a little greasy, but that’s also entirely up to you!
Red wine deepens the flavor of the ragu, but you can use some broth if you don’t use alcohol. It won’t reduce as well as wine, so you may need to cook it a little longer.
The Egg Life wraps make perfect keto noodles. But you can also use zucchini noodles, shiritake noodles, or Palmini. You can even serve this ragu over my easy sautéed vegetables or mashed cauliflower.
Frequently Asked Questions
Jarred tomato sauce and pasta sauce often contains added sugars and isn’t appropriate for low carb or keto diets. But there are several good brands like Rao’s and Yo Momma’s that you can use. My rule of thumb is that the sauce should have less than 6g of carbs per ½ cup serving. Make sure you check the serving size too, as some are listed as only ¼ or ⅓ cup.
This Easy Turkey Ragu recipe has 6.6g of carbs and 1.2g of fiber per serving. That comes to 5.4g net carbs per serving.
Leftover turkey ragu can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. You can also freeze it for up to 4-6 months. Thaw overnight or transfer to a pot and heat on the stove.
More recipes you will love
This is the ultimage keto meatloaf recipe! Super juicy and flavorful, it comes out perfectly every time. And making it in your crockpot means clean up is a snap.
Moroccan Lamb Stew is loaded with flavor and nutrition. Tender chunks of stew meat low carb vegetables, and rich broth make it a perfect one-pot meal.
Make creamy mushroom chicken in no time in your Instant Pot! So easy and quick, this mouthwatering low carb meal will become an instant family favorite. Oven instructions included too!
Turkey Ragu Recipe
Rich and hearty Turkey Ragu makes a wonderful family meal. It’s simmered with tomatoes, herbs, and a splash of red wine for deep flavor. Serve over your favorite low carb noodles.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 279kcal
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- 2 medium celery ribs chopped
- Salt and pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 ½ lb ground turkey
- ¾ cup red wine or chicken broth
- 1 cup low carb marinara like Rao’s
- 14 ounces diced tomatoes
Instructions
-
Heat the oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot and shimmering, add the onion and celery and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until tender, about 4 minutes.
-
Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more.
-
Add the turkey and cook 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until mostly cooked through. Stir in the wine and continue to cook until evaporated by about one-third.
-
Stir in the marinara sauce and diced tomatoes. Simmer another 15 minutes, to allow the flavors to meld.
-
Serve over cauliflower rice or your favorite keto noodles.
Notes
Storage Information: Leftover turkey ragu can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. You can also freeze it for up to 4-6 months. Thaw overnight or transfer to a pot and heat gently on the stove.
Nutrition Facts
Turkey Ragu Recipe
Amount Per Serving (1 serving = ⅙th of recipe)
Calories 279
Calories from Fat 138
% Daily Value*
Fat 15.3g24%
Carbohydrates 6.6g2%
Fiber 1.2g5%
Protein 22.6g45%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
