High Protein Turkey & Squash Breakfast Hash

Martha M. Henze, MPH, MS, RDN - Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Global Public Health Epidemiologist

High Protein Turkey & Squash Breakfast Hash is a versatile and budget friendly recipe. It is one of 200+ dietitian-approved recipes that will be available with the MyNetDiary Premium membership later this fall!

Quick, Tasty, Versatile and Budget Friendly!

I love recipes that are less than five ingredients and can be enhanced with what I happen to have in the refrigerator at the moment. This turkey squash hash is one of those versatile and budget friendly recipes.

With three main ingredients of onions, ground turkey, and summer squash, this recipe is a treasure for a cook looking for something simple and fast.

Summer squash is a type of squash, like zucchini, which has a peel you can cut through easily with a knife. This is as opposed to winter squash which has a shell as hard as a pumpkin and includes, acorn squash, spaghetti squash and butternut squash. You can find summer squash in grocery stores all year long.

In the fall, the radio announcer in the small town where I grew up in South Dakota used to warn its citizens that that it was "door locking season" if you parked your car on Main Street. Otherwise, one should not be surprised to find a zucchini the size of a baseball bat in the back seat upon return. The common South Dakotan belief was that zucchinis were plentiful and meant to be shared.

For people trying to lose weight, one cup of zucchini is filling and contains only 21 calories.

Enjoy this recipe with variations listed below the recipe. The variations are a great way to use up leftovers in your refrigerator so you don't need to go to the grocery store. Note that in MyNetDiary, the recipe name is simply "Turkey Squash Hash."

Turkey Squash Hash

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 large onion, raw
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pound ground turkey, 99% lean
3 cups summer squash, raw, sliced
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

Chop onion and saute in olive oil until tender.
Add turkey and brown until no longer pink.
Cut up summer squash into slices like a bicycle wheel. Cook in water until tender.
Combine all ingredients in a skillet and heat on low until warm.

Nutrition facts per serving (7 oz): 179 calories, 5.1 g total fat, 6.4g total carb, 1.6 g dietary fiber, 28 g protein, 223 mg sodium

Variations of Turkey Squash Hash with an Ethnic Twist

All of these variations add even more nutrition and tasty flavors. You can add enhancements during the cooking process or as toppings after the hash is done. If you are cooking for a crowd or picky family members, this recipe lends itself to a buffet approach by serving the hash as the main item on the buffet and offering little dishes of toppings (ideas below) for each person to add according to one's personal taste.

Greek Twist