Need Help with Ground Turkey

[ri*smom]

We bought a bunch a ground turkey on sale and we made turkey burgers, but didn't care for them. We cooked them just to temp, but still blah on the taste and the texture. Anyone have a success or tips you can share? We still have four packages to muster through!

[MandaRenee]

I love ground turkey. Seriously I LOVE it and its all we buy. We occasionally buy ground beef if we want to make actual hamburgers but that is it.

We use our ground turkey in spaghetti, tacos, chili, stew, etc. We cook and season it just like we would beef. But we don't use it for burgers, we don't care for it that way either.

[mauimagic]

We use a lot of ground turkey too - same as Manda. If you really want to make turkey burgers - go to Foodnetwork and check out their recipes - much more intersting with all the goodies they add. On its own - ground turkey does not have much more than a bland taste - once you find uses that you like - I bet you'll be adding it regularly to your shopping lists!! Let us know!!

[Contrary Housewife]

Did you get the frozen kind in the tube or the fresh kind in the styro pack? I find the tube turkey has a stronger flavor and is best covered up in dishes like chili or tacos where you can season the heck out of it.

The fresh turkey has less dark meat in it so it is not as gamey, and I prefer it for cooking with. It can be bland, so I tend to mix it with something else, for example my lamb gyros are half lamb and half turkey. The turkey cuts the strong flavor of the lamb. I will also use it with beef in chili, with a little beef broth to help the flavor. Another thing I use it for is sloppy joes, again a good way to hide any off flavor.

By itself, turkey is usually too dry for something like burgers. It has not got a lot of flavor, but you might be able to use something like poultry seasoning on the fresh ground turkey, to kick it up a bit.

[Lady_V]

Okay... here is a tried and true family 'thing'. When I stood my ground over 25 years ago, my Mom decided to 'try' ground turkey.

At first, like you, the family didn't care for it... then she made a turkey-loaf. Ground turkey, ketchup, bread crumbs, spices (you know, your regular meatloaf ingredients) and applesauce. Not a lot of it (about 1/2 cup per package of turkey), but something about the applesauce changes the flavor/texture of the ground turkey.

I do not eat beef, pork, deer, etc (basically, if it didn't come from an egg, I won't eat it) and my family can't really tell the difference anymore, and I don't use applesauce anymore because they are so use to the taste.

[Josephhgoins]

Good Luck! I tried it and gave up and went back to beef. I read an article that said most of the ground turkey has just as much fat as beef.

Beef just taste so much better, so I eat ground beef in my burgers and meatloaf and save the turkey for the rotisserie or deep fryer.

[starsapphire]

For turkeyburgers I make fat patties and season with season salt, garlic powder and a little bit of italian seasoning. Don't cook too long or it dries out.

[craftypam]

I have a funny story about ground turkey. When my ds's were young I bought some ground turkey. I decided I was going to make porcupine meatballs and not tell anyone that I used ground turkey including dh. I served it and watched them eat taste it. Everyone loved it and now 20 years later I've never made them with beef again. I also agree they taste bland for burgers, but when you put sauce and spices in it it tastes fine.

[Shya]

We usually have ground beef, pork, and deer on hand, but when ground turkey goes on a really good sale, I usually buy some. Like the pp, I usually use it in porcupine meatballs.

[LucyLou]

You can try mixing it 1/2 turkey 1/2 beef.

We make Monterey Turkey Burgers (even my bil who is a total red meat carnivore asked for the recipe).

3/4 pound ground turkey
2 scallions, minced
1 Tblsp soy sauce
1 Tblsp ketchup
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

Mix together and form into 4 burgers. Cook 6-8 minutes each side or until cooked through.
I think this is from a weight watchers cookbook.


We make Rachel Ray's Turkey stuffing meatloaf (tastes like thanksgiving)I scaled it down to one meatloaf.

* 1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus some for drizzling
* 1 tablespoons butter
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 2-3 ribs celery from the heart, with leafy tops, chopped
* 1 bay leaf
* Salt and black pepper
* 1/2 bag stuffing cubes, such as Pepperidge Farm brand
* 1 tablespoons poultry seasoning
* 2 cups chicken stock,
* 1.5 pounds ground turkey or ground turkey breast
* 1 eggs

Preparation

Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.

Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoons EVOO and 1 tablespoons butter. When the butter has melted into the EVOO, add the onion, celery and bay leaf to the skillet, season with salt and pepper and cook until tender, 10 minutes. Add the stuffing cubes to the skillet, season with poultry seasoning and then moisten with 2 cups chicken stock. Remove the bay leaf. Place the stuffing in a bowl and cool.

Once cool enough to handle, add the turkey and eggs and season with salt and pepper. Mix the turkey with the stuffing. Form the meat mix into 1 long loaf on a nonstick baking sheet. Drizzle the loaves with EVOO and cook in the oven for about an hour, or until brown and cooked through (165°F internal temperature on a meat thermometer).

[Hamada]

I will use ground turkey in any recipe calling for a ground meat.

When it comes to burgers however you really need to season the meat well. Otherwise there really is no flavor. You could also try adding a package of dried onion soup mix to the meat with just a small amount of water. That should help to season the meat.

[dcompton]

I'm with Josephhgoins on this one. I tried it, mixing it with beef in the highly seasoned things, but the taste, and mostly, the texture were just wrong. I stopped using it too. Anyway, it's as expensive as ground beef around here.

If it's ever on a huge sale I might try it again with some of these recipes, so thanks for all the suggestions.

[Libby]

Turkey burgers didn't work for me either. But I did try it again with grated onions (a la Rachel Ray) with the juice b/c the turkey is so lean and tasteless. We also put a ton of garlic and freshly ground black pepper and super finely diced peppers into it. Wasn't too bad. Tried it once with ground pork - MUCH tastier...I tell yas - the pig can save anything! lol

If you don't like it as a burger even after mixing it with other ground meats, make em into meatballs, cook and freeze for later when you can smother em in sauce or use it as you would with reg ground beef

Try googling "Rachel Ray Turkey Burgers" there's a plethora of recipes there

[foxxyroxie]

I'm not fond of the 'plain' turkey burgers either. But you can use your standard meatloaf recipe only using salsa instead of ketchup and pan cook them in patty form they're not too bad. Of course you can cook it in loaf form too.

But you can use ground turkey in tacos, spaghetti, sloppy joes (sloppy gobblers), chili.... it's the spices that make it less bland. I also make turkey breakfast sausage too.



TURKEY BREAKFAST SAUSAGE

1 lb. ground turkey
1 tsp sage (or to taste)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper or cayenne (or to taste)
1/4 cup finely ground bread crumbs*
1/2 tsp salt and black pepper.

Mix ingredients together and place in zipper storage bag. Let flavors meld overnite and form into patties and pan fry in a little bit of oil or add just a bit of water (to prevent sticking to pan).
*Can use oatmeal... you can pulse in food processor or blender to make a finer consistency.