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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.Â
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.
When I shot my first turkey in 2018, I was determined to use the WHOLE bird; not all at once, mind you. Breasts for this, tenderloins for that, wing dealies on the smoker and maybe the drumsticks on it, too. Heck, EVERYONE who’s been to Fronteirland at Disney has snacked on one of those giant turkey legs, how hard could it be?
Apparently, very.
When I put the wings on my smoker and got them up to the right internal temp, I figured I’d eat them right away and savor the wild goodness. It was like biting into a steel-belted radial. I powered through, but I knew I couldn’t abuse my drumsticks in such a manner.
The first thing I did was scan Hank’s turkey recipes and stop on Turkey Leg Carnitas. This recipe is now bookmarked on my phone. It is that damn good.
I’m a sucker for juniper berries in wild game and this has those plus more fun for the mortar and pestle — peppercorns, coriander seed and cumin seed. The last batch I made in late March was highlighted by the fresh cinnamon sticks I had bought recently. If you’ve got old cinnamon sticks kicking around the pantry, you might want to replace them before making this. It really adds to the flavor profile.
After two hours, three domestic turkey legs were perfectly tender, with all of those cable-like tendons easily removable. A wild bird is a bit more jacked in the legs, so, like Hank says in the instructions, you should tack on some cooking time.
I can’t recommend this recipe any higher. If you’re one of those guys who only breasts out their bird, shame on you! You’re missing out on a great meal that’s relatively easy, but positively delicious. Give this a try with your next turkey.
Cleaning out the freezer and starting the new year with turkey legs in the pot…Carnitas for dinner!
Fabulous and awesome. A little chew–as expected–but not rubber. Flavors of chiles with a hint of the cinna chaser gets the thumbs up.
WOW!!! This is awesome! Huge hit at my house.
Great recipe! Used the legs and a thigh. Even the picky eaters enjoyed this one.
A big favorite in my house. Can’t say enough about how easy this and most of Hank’s recipes are to prepare. Give it the time needed. 4 hours has been a minimum for me.
I did this with the legs, thighs, and wings of my first turkey. A-ma-zing. I did it with the skin on, in a covered turkey pan, for size. Maybe I could have used less water. Picky-eater kid friendly. Thanks!
Hank, wondering how this might work if I smoked the turkey leg, thigh, and wing first?
Mike: it would work just fine. Go for it!
Awesome recipe.
Awesome recipe Hank! I used it on a mature Tom this spring and it took 5 hours to start falling off the bone. Big hit with wife and kids, thanks every recipe of yours that I’ve tried has been a winner, keep up the good work!
My go to for turkey thighs. Love, love it.
I’ve put the legs in a pressure cooker in much the same way and they are ready to debone in about 1/3 the time. They make a great gumbo too with andouille sausage added. Very rich flavor…Works great.
So glad I found your recipe! Hubby bagged a beautiful Tom yesterday. I took the legs, thighs, and back pieces and placed them in the crock pot with seasonings as you suggested (minus what I did not have, and plus some substitutions), a little meat tenderizer, put on for 10 hours, and WOW, that is some wonderful meat. Carnitas tonight! The broth is so fine too; think it will be a good base for maybe some taco soup. I simply love being able to use all the turnkey.
Forgot to add, the broth left behind tasted amazing as well. I used that for your Gravy recipe, and the pressure canned the rest. Thanks again!
Hank – Made this for 1 of 3 flavors of turkey this Thanksgiving. It turned out great. Dropped everything (minus breast meat) in the slow cooker before I went hunting, 10hrs later the meat slid right off the bone, and remaining tendons pulled away from the meat very easily. I shredded the meat and then put it in the food processor for about 5 seconds. Seared the meat in some duck fat, and made ravioli. I’ll be doing this many many more times.
Hank – I made this a few weeks ago, and I’m still thinking about it, so I had to post a thanks to you. We managed what we assume was a four-year-old bird this spring (slow season, he’s the only one bagged between three of us), and when I asked to keep the legs for this recipe, skepticism abounded. But, after lengthy simmering (probably 8 hours??), and tenacious picking and shredding, this turned out to easily be the best wild game meal I have ever made. Not hyperbole. We had enough for two to enjoy it over rice and beans the first night, and then tacos two nights later after a quick re-fry. I will note that, perhaps due to the bird’s age, it never quite reached fall-off-the-bone status (and I almost gave up hope when the hours dragged on) but it turned out plenty tender regardless. So THANKS for such a simple yet stellar recipe!
Came by the dark meat of a Tom last night at work; we work 24hrs in EMS and hunters like to come show of the day’s prize late at night. He said the plan was to breast it out, but having just seen this recipe I was stoked to ask if I could have the rest. Curiosity around here was piqued this morning when I loaded up the slow cooker with legs, thighs and wings. The only problem is that if this goes as well as anticipated, I may not be able to collect dark meat so easy next time. Always love your recipes here in TN.
What a great idea! I’ve used the thighs & drumsticks of wild turkeys in gumbo, but this sounds like another good use (to think, there are some hunters who breast turkeys out- what a waste).
What temperature do you use when braising the meat for 3 – 4 hours?
Kevin: I do it on the stovetop on low, but try 300 degrees Fahrenheit if you want to put the pot in the oven.
Some excellent ideas in here. The idea of crisping it up in hot oil after it has been slow-cooked and shredded is something I hadn’t really considered before…in the past, when dealing with very wet barbacoa (resulting in leaky, messy tacos), I would try and dry it out with a bit of masa harina, but you can overdo that, to be sure. Crisping it up in a pan would dry it out a little, and add a nice flavor.
I’m a new hunter this’ll be my second year attempting to bag a turkey, but if I somehow manage to I’ll be sure to save the legs for this!