15 Tips You Need When Cooking With Ground Turkey

Ground turkey is a versatile type of ground meat made by combining the remainder of white and dark meat and leftover skin from meat processing. According to ButcherBox, the majority of ground turkey is made from darker portions of the bird because the white meat is significantly more expensive and hard to come by. The fat percentage of ground turkey is close to 15%, making it a comparatively lower fat content than ground beef. ButcherBox notes that ground turkey tends to run a bit leaner than ground chicken too.

Because of its leanness, ground turkey has a reputation for being a bland ground protein. But instead, you should think of ground turkey as a blank canvas for your favorite recipes and applications where you would instead use ground beef or chicken. Here are some of our tips for working with ground turkey, regardless if you're adding it to your favorite taco night, slow cooker chili, or grandma's homemade meatball recipe.

Ground turkey this, ground turkey that. Many folks adhering to low-calorie meal plans choose ground turkey as a replacement for ground beef. But are there any health benefits to cooking with ground turkey instead of other popular ground meats?

Healthline notes that unless you're substituting out especially fatty and rich ground beef for 100% lean ground turkey, there are very few health benefits to making the swap. A bit more protein can be found in 93% and 85% lean ground beef than in turkey with the same fat percentage. Although beef has lower total fat than turkey, turkey is especially low in saturated fat. The website also notes that the micronutrient and mineral profiles of beef and turkey are relatively similar, but the turkey might have a higher sodium content because it needs to be seasoned more than the beef. 

Ground turkey is a type of poultry, so you will have to cook it to a different internal temperature than ground beef to ensure it is safe to eat. According to information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ground turkey should be cooked until it has an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Ground red meats (including beef, veal, and pork), in comparison, should be cooked to a minimum of 160 degrees F and do not require a resting period. 

The only way you can tell if your ground turkey is adequately cooked is to use a food thermometer. You should stick the metal part of the thermometer in the thickest part of the meat and avoid touching gristle, bone, or fat. Allow the temperature reader to stabilize before removing the probe. To prevent disease transfer, rinse off the probe with soap and water each time. 

Meatloaf is a Sunday-night dinner staple, and what other way to make it better than to add a bit of ground turkey to the mix? If you're adding a medley of meats like ground beef and veal along with the turkey, you should remember to turn up the seasoning. If you plan on adding turkey to meatloaf, you should consider seasoning with onions, garlic, chili powder, or hot sauce to enhance the flavor. The benefit of using vegetables and sauce-based seasonings for turkey meatloaf is that you won't contribute to a higher fat content (which is arguably the reason why most people choose to use turkey instead of other meats). You can also stick to earthy flavors with the addition of thyme or mint. 

Our go-to seasoning recommendation for meatloaf, though, is either barbecue sauce or Worcestershire sauce. Barbecue sauce is common in southern meatloaf recipes and is more savory than ketchup. Worcestershire sauce is an umami flavor bomb made with fermented anchovies, tamarind paste, molasses, onions, garlic, spices, and vinegar — all of which sit in a tub for months until perfectly flavored. Although Worcestershire sauce is a flavorful addition to any meatloaf, it is not suitable for folks with seafood allergies and depending on the brand, may not be gluten-free either.

To cook or not to cook — that is the question. When you're making a hearty turkey chili recipe with ground turkey, you should always cook the turkey first before adding other ingredients, like beans and chopped tomatoes, to your stock pot or Dutch oven. Browning the meat, regardless if you're using venison, beef, or turkey, is a critical step in crafting a flavorful chili. This is because of the Maillard reaction — a chemical change in color, flavor, and aroma that occurs when sugars and amino acids are heated. The Maillard reaction only occurs when meat is dry cooked, like searing on a pan, rather than if the meat is wet cooked, like boiling. This is due to the Maillard reaction occuring at temperatures higher than the boiling point of water. And not only does boiling your turkey sound disgusting, but it won't create the dark color or the flavorful, meaty aroma that makes chili so appetizing.

Lettuce wraps are a delicious, filling appetizer or light entree. These wraps are traditionally made with a meat filling, veggie topping, and flavorings from a mix of Asian sauces (like hoisin sauce). Then, the wraps are folded in a fresh lettuce leaf for both portability and crunch.

If you're looking to cut back on saturated fat without skimping on flavor, you should try substituting turkey for other meats in your lettuce wraps. You'll need to cook the turkey in a pan until golden brown; we recommend using sesame oil as a flavorful oil choice that will also keep the meat moist as it cooks. Be careful not to overcook the meat and beware of smoking. According to SFGate, plain sesame oil has a higher smoke point (around 410 degrees F) than toasted or cold-pressed sesame oil (around 350 degrees F), so we recommend choosing your cooking oil with care.

Once the meat is finished cooking, season liberally with dark soy sauce, honey, hoisin sauce, chili flakes, and salt. Serve with fresh veggies and toasted cashews.

When the weather starts to get colder, you'll want to have easy, filling meal ideas on hand. One way to use up the ground turkey in your fridge is to add it to a shepherd's pie. A turkey shepherd's pie has less saturated fat than the typical beef recipe — and you likely have all the ingredients you need to make a shepherd's pie in your pantry or freezer.

You'll want to start by browning your turkey in a pan until the turkey has an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, turkey can still appear pink after its temperature has reached the safe temperature of 165 degrees F. Therefore, the only method to reliably check your ground turkey to see if it's done cooking is to keep a meat thermometer handy. After your ground turkey has reached this temperature, you should liberally add tomato paste, broth, and Worcestershire sauce. Turkey is bland, so you will have to add more seasoning than you would with a beef-only shepherd's pie.

You'll need ingredients to draw flavor to ground turkey. Food personality Antoni Porowski adds a bit of homemade hot honey — made by combining sweet honey with a subtle heat from red chili flakes. He goes on to note that this trick works for drizzling on the meatballs in the last couple minutes of baking. Cooking the meatballs on the stovetop with honey will only cause the meatballs to burn. You can add as much or as little hot honey as your tastebuds desire, but Porowski goes on to recommend adding a pinch of flakey sea salt for texture regardless of how much honey you use. 

If you want to go a step further with the sweetness of honey, you can make a teriyaki sauce with honey, soy sauce, ginger, and brown sugar. Once the meatballs are finished baking in the oven, you can simmer the meatballs on the stove for about 10 minutes before serving. This sauce is flavorful and viscous enough that you may not even be able to tell you're eating ground turkey.