Tarragon chicken with creamy white beans
Tender chicken in a creamy white bean sauce with fresh tarragon.
About 30 min · 375 kcal · 43 g protein per serving
One pan
Turkey and lentil bolognese
A slow-simmered tomato sauce with turkey, lentils and pasta.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 12 September 2026; not yet cooked in a test kitchen or photographed, so the times and yield are estimates. How we develop our recipes
What still needs a real kitchen
- Confirm the sauce thickens in 20 to 25 minutes
- Photograph the finished plate
- Time
- About 45 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 2
- see below
- Energy
- 580 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 38 g
- per serving
Ingredients for 2 servings
Check off ingredients as you go.
Contains gluten. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:
- passata. Some passata is salted; check the label.
- orzo. Most dry pasta is just wheat and water, but some contains egg; check the packet.
Cooking steps
Warm the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and carrot for 8 minutes, stirring, until soft and sweet.
Add the turkey and cook for 5 minutes, breaking it apart, until it has lost its pink colour.
Add the lentils, passata and oregano. Simmer, half covered, for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until thick and the turkey is cooked through.
Cooked when: 74°C / 165°F in the thickest part. A food thermometer is the reliable way to tell.
Cook the orzo in boiling water, following the packet. Drain it, return it to its pan and fold the sauce through.
The useful detail
Finely diced vegetables become part of the sauce rather than separate chunks. Twenty minutes is enough for carrot cut small to disappear into the tomato and sweeten it.
Make it work for you
One serving is Half the sauce with 60 g of pasta (dry weight). You can switch to a smaller portion in the ingredients above; it is three quarters of this, and it contains correspondingly less energy and protein. It is an option, not a goal.
Chicken mince instead of turkey
Softer, with the same safe endpoint.
Per serving: about 10 kcal less, about 1 g less protein, about the same fat.
Spaghetti instead of orzo
The traditional shape; the sauce clings differently.
Per serving: about the same energy, about the same protein, about the same fat.
All lentils and no meat
Use 300 g of cooked lentils in place of the turkey for a vegan sauce. Nutrition is not recalculated, and it will be lower in protein.
Allergens: No change.
Estimated nutrition
Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.
A bolognese with lentils standing in for half the meat, which is where the fibre comes from. It is the most substantial plate in this group.
| Energy | 580 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 38 g |
| Fat | 13 g |
| of which saturates | 3 g |
| Carbohydrate | 80 g |
| of which sugars | 13 g |
| Fibre | 12 g |
| Sodium | 150 mg |
Show calculation notes
Each ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g. The whole recipe is added up and divided by 2. Raw weights are used for meat, fish and vegetables; beans and lentils are drained weights. All of the oil is counted as eaten. Added salt is not included; sodium from stock, bread, cheese and tinned food is.
| Ingredient | Weight used | Source | Energy | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| olive oil | 4.5 g | FDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 40 kcal | 0.0 g |
| onion | 60 g | FDC 170000Onions, raw | 24 kcal | 0.7 g |
| carrot | 80 g | FDC 170393Carrots, raw | 33 kcal | 0.7 g |
| turkey mince | 220 g | FDC 172850Turkey, ground, 93% lean, 7% fat, raw | 330 kcal | 41.2 g |
| cooked lentils | 150 g | FDC 172421Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt | 174 kcal | 13.5 g |
| passata | 300 g | FDC 170460Tomato products, canned, puree, without salt addedCalculated with FoodData Central's unsalted tinned tomato purée record, the closest match to sieved passata. | 114 kcal | 4.9 g |
| dried oregano | 0.5 g | FDC 171328Spices, oregano, dried | 1 kcal | 0.0 g |
| orzo | 120 g | FDC 169736Pasta, dry, enrichedFoodData Central records dry pasta as one entry rather than by shape. Orzo is the same durum wheat pasta, cut small. | 445 kcal | 15.6 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 2 | 1162 kcal | 76.8 g |
Per serving the energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, grams to the nearest whole gram and sodium to the nearest 10 mg. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.
Storage and reheating
- In the fridge
- Cool, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 3 to 4 days. The sauce is better on the second day. Store it separately from the pasta.
- In the freezer
- The FDA chart gives cooked poultry dishes 4 to 6 months in the freezer for best quality.
- Reheating
- Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout.
Checked against US Food and Drug Administration, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety, FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures and FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart. UK guidance from the Food Standards Agency is shorter, at two days for most leftovers.
Try another recipe
Turkey meatballs with roasted pepper sauce
Tender turkey meatballs in a smooth pepper sauce, served with orzo.
About 40 min · 585 kcal · 42 g protein per serving