We Have 18 Recipes for Ground Turkey That Are Easy and Full of Flavor (2024)

FAQs

How to make ground turkey more flavorful? ›

With ground turkey, you need fresh aromatics to season it. Chopped yellow onions, scallions, cilantro, and red bell pepper all help add flavor.

The best thing to do is to try to honor the natural taste of the turkey itself and aim for a lighter overall flavor profile in your meal. If you're craving the taste of beef but only have ground turkey at hand, adding some umami-rich Worcestershire sauce can help it emulate the red meat.

You may store uncooked ground poultry in the refrigerator 1 to 2 days. After cooking, you may keep it 3 to 4 days. Frozen raw poultry is best used in 3 to 4 months; cooked ground poultry, 2 to 3 months.

Instead of filling your bird with stuffing, fill it with aromatics. (News flash: Cooking stuffing inside a turkey can be dangerous.) The basics, like onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and sage, help lend that traditional Thanksgiving flavor. Take your aromatics up a notch by adding halved lemons or oranges.

Enhance Flavor with Seasonings

While ground turkey has a mild flavor, adding the right seasonings can make it truly delicious. Experiment with a variety of herbs and spices like garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cumin, or dried oregano. Don't be afraid to get creative and adjust the flavors to your liking!

Shady Brook is hands down my favorite ground turkey brand. They are consistent and I always know I am going to get a high quality, good tasting product. I love using it as a mix in to mac and cheese, pasta sauce, Shepard's pie, tacos, you name it, there are unlimited uses.

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.

If your Thanksgiving turkey is bland, it has probably been under-seasoned. Turkeys are big, and it takes a lot of salt and pepper to flavor the entire bird.

Raw turkey meat should be light pink or beige, depending on the type of meat and its fat content. The meat color becomes dull as time passes, which is normal. However, if the meat has a brown, gray or yellow or green hue, you will want to part ways with it.

Can you eat ground turkey 2 days after the expiration date? ›

“Exp. (or Expires)” – this is a true expiration date. The food is not safe to eat and must be thrown away. Leave meat, poultry and seafood in the store packaging before using.

Havern explains: "The maximum amount of time perishable foods can [spend] in the danger zone is two hours. At two hours, the food must be consumed, stored correctly, or thrown away. This includes all cooked leftovers, [chopped] fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products."

USDA recommends using cooked turkey within 3 to 4 days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. Turkey can be frozen for 3 to 4 months. Although safe indefinitely, frozen leftovers can lose moisture and flavor when stored for longer times in the freezer.

But as any poultry starts to go bad, it will start to turn an unpleasant shade of gray. If that pink hue starts to look slightly dull then it's time to use up your ground turkey immediately, and if it has a gray tint (even just a slight one), then it's time to toss it.

Leftovers can be kept for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator. After that, the risk of food poisoning goes up. If you don't think you'll be able to eat leftovers within four days, freeze them right away. Frozen leftovers will stay safe for a long time.

Mushrooms! Ground mushrooms to be exact. Trust me, with this juicy recipe, you will fall head over heels in love with ground turkey. Mushrooms add moisture, mouthfeel, and umami (beefy) flavor to the otherwise dry ground turkey.