Turkey and Potato Casserole

What do you do with the last two or three potatoes in the bag?

Here's a quick (prep-wise) casserole that you can do ahead of time, store in the refrigerator and stick in the oven when you're ready for dinner.
Or, you can do your prep work and bake it all at once.

This is a super easy recipe and it's good for those days you are too tired to cook, but still want something homemade-tasting. Plus, there's not a whole lot of chopping to do, and once it's in the oven, you can walk away and do other things while it bakes. I think the total prep time for me was less than 10 minutes, and that included scrubbing the potatoes, chopping the onions and garlic and slicing the potatoes.


Here's what you'll need for the basic casserole:

1. Half a pound of ground turkey meat (If you want to serve more than two people, I would use a pound of meat.)

2. 1 onion chopped

3. 2-3 cloves chopped garlic (Optional. If you don't have any fresh garlic on hand, you can use a few shakes of garlic powder.)

4. 2 medium potatoes, thinly sliced (I used yellow potatoes, scrubbed and unpeeled, but you can use russet or red potatoes, whatever you have. If you are serving more than two people, then use 3-4 potatoes, depending on the size.)

5. Cream of mushroom or Cream of anything soup (I used cream of chicken soup, non-condensed. If you use a condensed soup, just add 1/4 cup of water or chicken broth to the concentrated soup.)

6. Salt and Pepper

7. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (teaspoon or two)

8. Freshly chopped flat leaf parsley for garnish (Optional. If you don't have any on hand, it's okay.)

9. Shredded cheese (Completely optional. I used a Mexican four cheese blend, but sharp cheddar or jalapeño jack cheese, if you like it spicy, would work well too.)

Start by browning the ground turkey in a teaspoon or so of extra virgin olive oil.  Then add the onions and garlic. Season with plenty of salt and pepper. Drain off any excess liquid that may have rendered during this process.

Layer the bottom of a casserole dish (I just used a small dutch oven) with potatoes.
Season the potatoes with salt & pepper.

Then add a layer of turkey meat mixture and pour half the soup mixture over it. Add another layer of potatoes (season with salt and pepper), turkey meat, and the remaining soup mixture. (At this point, if you want to save it for later in the day, let it cool a little bit and then put it in the refrigerator, covered. It will be ready for you when you're ready to eat at dinner time!)

Bake, covered for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Here it is:  Turkey and potato casserole.

Now, I wasn't too thrilled with this, so I added some cheese and put it back in the oven, uncovered for a few minutes until the cheese melted. You don't have to add the cheese, but I wanted to give it another layer of goodness. (For a crispier cheese layer, put it under the broiler for a few minutes.)

To serve:

Scoop out casserole onto a plate or bowl and sprinkle with parsley.

(NOTE: If you use non-condensed soup like I did, it might come out a little saucier, in which case, I'd just serve it in a bowl.)

This is just the skeleton of the casserole recipe. You can add whatever you want to it during the saute phase: celery, bell peppers, corn, peas, carrots, mushrooms, whatever you have on hand! Of course, this can also be done with ground beef or ground chicken. Basically, you can be as creative or "uncreative" as you like! If you don't have a lot of ingredients around, you can still make the basic version of this and it will taste great. But, if you want to jazz it up a bit, you can add different flavorings and veggies to your own liking.