Ground Turkey Entomatadas Give Dinner Plenty of Pizzazz

closeup of entomatadas

Written by Ericka Sanchez, Nibbles and Feasts

As someone who cooks every day and eats just about anything, I wasn’t ready for the challenge of a finicky five-year-old at the dinner table. When my son was a baby and I began to introduce solids in his meal schedule, the process was easy. We had fun getting messy—some of the veggie mush landed on the floor, some splattered on my clothes, and some smeared all over my son’s face. I was happy that the remaining half made its way into my son’s mouth…and that he loved it. We looked forward to it because it was a great bonding moment for both of us. Little did I know this would not be the case a few years later.

Now that my son has an opinion of his own (and is very vocal about it), mealtime can be daunting for our entire family. I had to take this situation under control creatively and quickly. Thinking back to my childhood, traditional Mexican entomatadas were at top of my list of favorite dishes, so I decided to begin our new and improved menu with my favorite kid-friendly meal.

Entomatadas, a dish resembling enchiladas without spicy, dried chile in the sauce, is a very popular dish among kids. I grew up eating entomatadas and I loved the tomato sauce-drenched corn tortillas stuffed with chicken, cheese, or beef. Because increasing our vegetable intake has become our number one goal, I decided to keep this family favorite as healthy as possible and used lean ground turkey meat with an addition of tender Mexican squash.

To my surprise, my son loved the taste of tangy-sweet tomato entomatadas and devoured every last bite of vegetables and ground turkey meat. Give this delicious recipe with simple ingredients a try! You can stuff them with your child’s favorite vegetables and protein, and even your most finicky eater will request these time and time again on your family’s weekday meal menu.

Ground Turkey Entomatadas

Serves 12

Ingredients for dish

½ onion, chopped
1 pound ground lean turkey
3 Mexican squash, chopped
12 tortillas
5 tablespoons canola oil for frying tortillas, divided
Cilantro sprig for garnish (optional)
Queso fresco for garnish

Ingredients for sauce

4 Roma tomatoes
4 cups water
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 medium garlic cloves
½ large onion, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder

Directions

Preheat oven 325°F.
In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon canola oil over medium heat. Add onion and ground turkey, using a spatula to stir and break them apart. Add the squash and continue to cook until meat is cooked through and squash is tender. Set aside.
Boil tomatoes in 4 cups water until skins begin to peel off; about 10 minutes. Blend boiled tomatoes, ½ large onion, garlic cloves, tomato sauce, chicken bouillon, and ½ cup water. Place sauce in a bowl large enough to dip tortillas in.
In a large skillet, heat 4 tablespoons oil and lightly fry tortillas one by one, about 10 seconds on each side, then dip in tomato sauce mixture.
Extend each dipped tortilla in a separate plate and stuff with ground turkey mixture. Roll and place in an oven-safe, 8-inch dish.
Once all entomatadas are placed in oven dish, pour remaining sauce evenly over them. Place in oven and bake for 7-10 minutes to keep warm.
To serve: Garnish with sprinkled queso fresco and cilantro sprigs (optional). Enjoy!