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Turkey tacos are a beautiful thing.
And while ground turkey tacos are nice — I use ground turkey sometimes to make my Sonoran picadillo — my turkey taco meat is made with turkey breast. Wild turkey breast in this case, but store-bought works just as well.
Sure, you can also simmer the legs for turkey carnitas, or crock pot them then coat them in a sauce, like my Yucatecan turkey. Both make great turkey tacos. Or, you do as we do here, and brine and sear turkey breast, then chop it.
Turkeys, you may or may not know, were domesticated by the Maya and Aztecs a few thousand years ago. As a result, Mexican cuisine is loaded with recipes for pavo, or, if you are south Mexico, guajolote. Turkey tacos, oddly, aren’t really a thing there. So this is not an authentic Mexican turkey taco.
Nope, my recipe is a hybrid of American and Mexican influence. Traditionally seared turkey breast, but with jack cheese. Mexican roasted poblanos, but nothing unusual beyond that. Avocado, cilantro, maybe some green onions, that’s it. You could add diced tomato.
I make my own corn tortillas, but you could use whatever tortilla makes you happy, corn or flour, even hard shells. I won’t judge.
I also use a wild turkey here, a Rio Grande I hunted in the nearby Sierra Nevada. You could use any sort of turkey of course, and there is no reason you can’t use a store-bought one. Only thing is you won’t need to brine the store-bought turkey.
To brine a wild turkey breast, cut it into three pieces. You’ll notice a turkey breast is shaped like a teardrop, with a thick end and a thin one. Slice off the entire thin end, which will look like a triangle. The remaining breast will be thick. Slice this in half crosswise to make two pieces roughly the thickness of the end piece.
Dissolve 1/4 cup of kosher salt in 1 quart of water (I use Diamond Crystal) and submerge the turkey breast. If you need more brine, make more in that ratio. Brine the turkey in the fridge overnight. Remove and pat dry before proceeding with with your turkey tacos.
An alternative to brining is to marinate your turkey breast. I really like a marinade of tequila, a little salt, and cilantro, plus lime. It definitely adds something to the tacos.
I cook my turkey tacos by searing them over very high heat in a comal or skillet. You want to get browning on the outside without overcooking the center. It’s OK for the meat to have a blush of pink, but you want it neither rare nor desiccated. Let the pieces rest a bit on a cutting board, then chop.
This is key: I’ve seen many other recipes for turkey tacos with slices of turkey breast. You can guess what happens when you bite into your taco: Your teeth pull the entire piece out. Chopping prevents that tragedy.
Keep in mind that this is my rendition of turkey tacos. There is no reason you can’t change the cheese and toppings to suit your own taste. Some other good options would be a simple pico de gallo, some other salsa, such as my salsa negra, shredded cabbage or lettuce, Mexican cheese… you get the point.
Turkey Breast Tacos
Ingredients
MARINADE
- 1/2 cup tequila or mezcal
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- Salt
- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds turkey breast
TACOS
- 2 to 3 green chiles, poblanos, Anaheim, chilaca or green bell
- 2 tablespoons canola, sunflower or grapeseed oil
- 1/2 pound shredded Monterey jack cheese
- 1 or 2 avocados, sliced
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 3 tablespoons chopped green onions or scallions
- lime wedges to serve
- 12 to 20 corn tortillas
Instructions
- Cut the turkey breast into four or five pieces of about the same width and salt them well. Mix the tequila and lime juice and submerge the turkey breast in this. I do this in a Ziploc bag. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 1 hour.
- Roast all your peppers, seed and remove the stems and cut into strips or chop coarsely. This can be done a day or two ahead. If you are doing this ahead, toss the roasted chiles with some lime juice and salt and keep in the fridge.
- Get a comal or skillet very hot over high heat. Get a tortilla warmer or some kitchen towels ready. Heat the tortillas for a minute or so on each side, until they char just a touch and puff up. Keep them warm in the tortilla warmer or in the towels.
- When you are ready to make tacos, pat the turkey breast dry. Cut the marinated turkey into about 10 pieces of roughly equal size. Coat with the oil.
- Sear the turkey pieces on the hot skillet for about 2 minutes per side. You want a nice sear, but without overcooking the meat. Set aside as they are finished.
- When the turkey is ready, chop it into pieces you want to eat in a taco. Put it back in the skillet with the poblanos and the jack cheese. Toss for a minute or so to melt the cheese and mix well. Serve immediately in the tortillas with the toppings.
Notes
Keys to Success
- Use high heat and a high smoke point oil like canola to get a great sear on the turkey, then let it rest on a cutting board for a few minutes to fully cook through. Then chop small.
- If you don't want to roast your own peppers, you can use canned ones.
- I prefer corn tortillas here, but flour tortillas work well, too. You won't need as many. Either way, make sure they are warm and soft.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this recipe with organic ground turkey breast. I am dairy free, so did not use the cheese, but used everything else. I used Anaheim and green bell peppers and just roasted them in the pan with the turkey breast. I put a little cumin in the recipe. I did not put tequila in. I was good. I served it with Mexican green rice. Thank you for sharing.
I would like to make this today but obviously, I don’t have time to brine or marinade.
Any thoughts on putting the marinade in with the turkey and cooking sous vide for a couple of hours, then hopping it up and giving it a quick sear?
We made these tacos using wild turkey, having marinated it for 2 days … seriously one of the best meals we’d ever enjoyed … and we’re old!
One change we did find to our liking was that, after a day, we cooked up a little bit of the turkey, and found the lime came through too much — quite possibly NOT the recipe’s fault as we are not precise with measurements on this kind of thing. So we added some brown sugar and a little fig vinegar.
The turkey tasted more like the most heart-healthy pork you could imagine.
We seriously couldn’t believe our good fortune as we wolfed down and, alternately, savored each bite!
Just made this for the first time. It was AMAZING! We will definitely be making it again! This just re-motivated me for turkey hunting in a couple weeks!
Made this recipe in early May after shooting my first turkey, and we have made it at least half a dozen times since! It is absolutely delicious and it is amazing how different types of tequila really change the flavor!
The roast pepper and turkey yucatan links are no longer working.
Looking forward to this, I’ve got the turkey marinating now.
Mitch: Fixed it! Thanks for the heads up.
I made this with chicken and it’s awesome! The tequila lime marinade is the key to great flavor. Keep up the good work!
Hank,
Looks awesome, had hoped do this with the turkey legs from my first gobbler this week, but he had some nasty-looking gangrene in his right thigh and left drumstick – somebody probably took a careless shot at him in a prior season, because it wasn’t something I could’ve caused between shooting and butchering. Should the breast meat still be okay if the infection was just in his legs, or is the whole bird a lost cause?
Dan: Yes, the breast meat should be fine if it looks and smells fine.
Hank, Really like this recipe. Wonder how it be with pheasant? Keep up the great comida!
Clark
Hank,
Look delicious!
Tad