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Let’s face it: Wild turkey legs, wings and to a lesser extent thighs can be unbearably tough, and the tendons are often as tough as bone.
The answer? Turkey carnitas. Simmering your drumsticks for a long time in fat or broth, then shredding the meat and serving it in a taco or burrito, or in whatever make you happy.
I am guessing you’ve eaten carnitas made with pork before. If you haven’t, it is a Mexican dish where you braise the meat in a nice broth until it gets tender, then brown it on one side only in some lard or vegetable oil. The result is both tender and crispy, which is genius. There’s a reason it sells out at Chipotle every day…
Most versions of carnitas are essentially confit — they cook the pork or whatever slowly in lard. This is fantastic, but it requires an awful lot of lard. I prefer to follow the braising method that Diana Kennedy uses in her excellent cookbook The Cuisines of Mexico.
You can of course use other meats here, too. I’ve use the legs from geese a lot, and it works great. Pork is traditional, pheasant is fine, and if you are blessed with a bear with good-tasting fat that would also work. And you can do it with venison, but I prefer a similar technique called barbacoa for here.
If I can give you one piece of advice here, it is to take your time. Turkey will get rubbery and nasty before it submits and becomes smooth and luscious. If you need more water, add more water. This recipe will require at least 3 hours of your time, maybe more if you are cooking an old Tom. Be patient. It’s worth it.
Why? Not only because turkey carnitas will blow you away with how good it tastes, but also because so many people toss out the legs of a wild turkey. I know dedicated, life-long turkey hunters who were raised to believe that wild turkey legs — thighs and drumsticks, not to mention wings — were inedible.
This is simply not true. In fact, the thigh is my favorite part of a turkey, and, once you strip the meat off those awful tendons, the drumstick meat is almost as good.
Give this recipe a go if you find yourself with a wild turkey. Please. You’ll be shocked how good it can be.
A note on the recipe: I’ve updated it since I first published this recipe years ago. It used to have 10 crushed juniper berries, plus a tablespoon of cracked black peppercorns and a tablespoon of crushed coriander seeds. I not longer do that, but if you love the old recipe that’s what you’ll need to add.
Turkey Carnitas
Ingredients
- 2 to 4 turkey drumsticks, or 2 turkey thighs
- 1 quart turkey or chicken stock
- 1 orange, sliced
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons oregano, Mexican if possible
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 3 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- Salt
- 5 tablespoons lard or olive oil
Instructions
- Set the turkey in a large pot, such as a Dutch oven, and add the turkey stock. Add enough water to cover the turkey, then all the remaining ingredients except for the lard. Bring to a simmer and add salt to taste. Cook gently until tender, anywhere from 90 minutes to 4 hours, depending on whether your turkey is store-bought, or, on the extreme end, an old wild tom.
- When it is tender, remove the turkey from the pot and let it cool. Shred the meat off the bones and, if using thighs, shred fairly fine -- remember this will be a filling for tacos or burritos. You can store the meat for up to a week at this point.
- To finish, add the lard to a frying pan and brown the meat as much as you like. I like a mix of soft and crispy, so I lay the meat out in one layer and crisp just one side.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just made this with the legs and thighs of a tough old gobbler and I cannot believe how good it turned out! I cooked it in an slowcooker instead of on the stove and it took a full 8 hours on high before the meat was ready to pull and shred. So you probably want to start this in the morning if you want it done in time for dinner. Searing one side of the meat in lard after shredding really brings it over the top so definitely don’t skip out on that part! Unfortunately I don’t have any more turkey legs in the freezer but I think I may have to try this one out on some antelope shanks the next time I make it!
This is now our absolute favorite thing to do with turkey legs now! I had been making them on the stovetop as the recipe suggested but just switched to the slow cooker this last time to save on overall energy costs, I did 8 hours on high after reading stove/slow cooker conversion charts online. I had to fish the meat out of the broth it was so tender, just fell off the bone! It could probably be cut a bit short, maybe 6-7 hours on high, but just wanted to share my experience with the slow cooker experiment. thank you for the recipe!
I cooked this for the family tonight with an Eastern I killed in AR this spring and it was a crowd pleaser. I used rendered duck fat I had saved in the freezer to crisp the turkey and it really put it over the top. A leg and thigh were the perfect amount for a family of four with two littles (5 and 7). I love introducing different types of wild game to my kids and Hank Shaw never disappoints. It’s a real compliment when the kids want leftovers for their school lunchbox!!