Healthy Turkey Ragu Nachos – Delicious, low-calorie and low-fat nachos made with healthy turkey ragu. These nachos would make a great “fakeaway” meal for all the family, as well as a tasty snack for games night. Made with homemade turkey ragu, which is a great alternative to the classic beef ragu sauce, and is made with turkey breast mince and traditional soffritto.

WW and Slimming World Friendly

It’s that time of year again, January, when thoughts turn to healthy eating and maybe even dieting. I am still enjoying the Christmas cake and a few other naughty nibbles, left over from the festive period, but in a much more restrained way. We are eating very healthily at present, with at least seven or eight of our five-a-day each day. The fruit bowl (or should I say bowls, as I have two) are loaded with fruit, and there’s an abundance of vegetables in the pantry. Although there have been some pies and puddings on the menu, it’s mainly stir-frys, grilled meat & fish, soups and salads that are gracing our table. And, curiously enough, we are not at all hungry, as our fibre and protein has increased in each meal. However, we’re not wearing hair shirts, and we are still allowing ourselves some frivolous meals now and then, of which I class today’s recipe for Healthy Turkey Ragu Nachos as one. Made with homemade turkey ragu, it satisfies our craving for a takeaway or restaurant style meal, but is much healthier.

I LOVE nachos, and often order them when we go out to eat, and I have already posted a healthy recipe for Chicken & Corn Nachos with Jalapeno Dressing on Lavender & Lovage. But, today’s recipe for Healthy Turkey Ragu Nachos is more in keeping with the classic nachos recipe you might find in a Mexican or Tex Mex restaurant, it’s made with regular tortilla chips, has cheese and sour cream to dress it, albeit low-fat and has that essential meaty topping. It’s also WW and Slimming World friendly, and for WW which I follow, each portion is 7 Smart Points. The turkey ragu is a brilliant recipe, and is also shared below, as it can be used for all manner of recipes which use beef (or lamb) mince, such as Chilli, Spaghetti Bolognese, Lasagne, Cottage Pie, Shepherd’s Pie, Pizzas and Sloppy Joes (sandwiches). You can make a big batch, and freeze it, or keep it in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. I used turkey breast mince, which makes for a drier base sauce than beef, but it still has bags of flavour and texture to it.

Both recipes for Healthy Turkey Ragu Nachos and Turkey Ragu are shared below, on printable recipe cards, and for vegetarians, you can very easily substitute the turkey mince for Quorn mince, as I have done in the past. Serve these nachos with lots of salad on the side, and maybe some extra sour cream and jalapeno peppers for a bit of an extra kick, or even some guacamole if the extra calories are not an issue. The inspiration for this recipe came from a Weight Watchers cookbook I have, but I have changed the ingredients and proportions slightly. You can also adapt these two recipes yourself, as I have done, and I think adding mushrooms to the basic ragu mixture would be fabulous, as well as adding bacon or lardons for a less low-fat and low-calorie version. I hope you enjoy these Healthy Turkey Ragu Nachos if you make them, I’ll be back later this week with more new recipes and traveller’s notes, Karen

Turkey Ragu

Print recipe

Serves	4
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	35 minutes
Total time	50 minutes
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish, Side Dish, Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot
Occasion	Barbecue, Birthday Party, Casual Party
Region	Italian
By author	Karen Burns-Booth

Turkey Ragu - A wonderfully low fat and low calories, but VERY tasty alternative to the classic beef ragu sauce, made with turkey breast mince and soffritto.

Ingredients

Calorie controlled cooking spray (I used Fry Light)
2 x 400g tins chopped plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
500g 2% fat turkey breast mincemeat
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cloves garlic (peeled and minced)
1 stick of celery (trimmed and diced)
1 large carrot (peeled and diced)
1 onion (peeled and diced)
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Note

Turkey Ragu - A wonderfully low fat and low calories, but VERY tasty alternative to the classic beef ragu sauce, made with turkey breast mince and soffritto.

Directions

Step 1	Spray a large non-stick frying pan with the cooking spray and add the diced onion, carrot and celery mixture (soffritto) - cook over a gentle heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring all the time, until the vegetables are soft and golden brown.
Step 2	Add the minced garlic and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the dried oregano and the turkey mince and cook for 5 minutes, again, stirring all the time.
Step 3	Add the Balsamic vinegar and the tinned tomatoes to the turkey mince mixture, along with half a tin of water (using a tin from the tinned tomatoes), stir well and simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
Step 4	Use in spaghetti Bolognese, nachos, sloppy Joes, lasagne, chilli or cottage pie.

Healthy Turkey Ragu Nachos

Print recipe

Serves	4
Prep time	10 minutes
Cook time	10 minutes
Total time	20 minutes
Meal type	Appetizer, Lunch, Main Dish, Side Dish, Snack, Starter
Misc	Child Friendly, Serve Hot
Occasion	Barbecue, Casual Party, Halloween
Region	Mexican
By author	Karen Burns-Booth

Healthy Turkey Ragu Nachos - Delicious, low-calorie and low-fat nachos made with healthy turkey ragu. These nachos would make a great "fakeaway" meal for all the family.

Ingredients

1 x batch of Turkey Ragu (Recipe on Lavender and Lovage)
2 red chillies (trimmed and chopped finely)
300g red peppers, in brine (drained and chopped)
200g tortilla chips
100g reduced fat Cheddar cheese (grated)
4 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
sliced spring onions
salad to serve

Optional

chopped jalapeno peppers

Note

Healthy Turkey Ragu Nachos - Delicious, low-calorie and low-fat nachos made with healthy turkey ragu. These nachos would make a great "fakeaway" meal for all the family.

Directions

Step 1	Add the chopped chilli pepper to one batch of ready made turkey ragu. Stir in the chopped red peppers, and then pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas mark 4.
Step 2	Arrange the tortilla chips in a oven-proof baking tray or dish, and spoon the ragu mixture over the tortilla chips. Sprinkle the grated cheddar over the top and bake for 10 minutes until the cheese has melted and the turkey ragu is hot.
Step 3	Spoon the sour cream over the nachos and then scatter the chopped spring onions and jalapeno peppers (if using) over the top, before serving with salad on the side.