Turkey necks are often overlooked when it comes to cooking meat recipes because they have been associated with being tough and stringy.
However, there is no reason why a good turkey neck recipe can’t be made that will produce juicy meat.
What Is The Best Turkey Neck Recipe?
The most common way of eating a turkey neck is by pulling off some of the meat from the bone.
This method works well enough if you plan on having a big meal, but it isn’t very appealing to those who want something more elegant and sophisticated.
A better option would be to cook the turkey neck as part of a larger dish such as stew.
A great example of this is one of our favorite turkey neck recipes below where we combine the turkey neck with vegetables, herbs, and spices to create a flavorful stew that is perfect for any occasion.
What Are The Ingredients In A Turkey Neck Recipe?
The most important ingredient in any turkey neck recipe is time.
You need enough of it so that the meat has plenty of time to cook through completely before serving.
If the bird isn’t cooked all the way through by the end of the allotted amount of time then the turkey neck won’t taste as tender as it could be.
The second key ingredient is salt.
Salt helps draw out moisture from the muscle fibers, making them more pliable and easier to chew once they are cooked.
Lastly, you want to use a high-quality poultry seasoning blend.
This blend should contain aromatic herbs like sage, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, and fennel seeds along with other spices such as pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and dry mustard.
How Do You Make Turkey Neck?
The first step to making any great turkey neck recipe is by removing the skin from the bone.
To remove the skin, place your turkey neck on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to cut along both sides of the neck bones until the entire skin has come off.
The next step is to separate the meat from the bones using either kitchen shears or a large chef’s knife.
Once the meat has been separated from the bones, rinse it under cold water to get rid of any blood residue, then pat dry with paper towels.
To prepare the meat, season it with salt and pepper, then add some olive oil to the pan and cook over medium heat.
When the oil starts to smoke, add the seasoned meat to the pan and sear each side for about five minutes each.
Place the cooked meat into a bowl and set aside.
Now it’s time to make the gravy!
In order to make the gravy, melt butter in a saucepan over low heat.
Add flour to the melted butter and whisk together, creating a roux.
Slowly pour 1/4 cup of milk into the roux while continuously stirring until all lumps disappear.
Continue adding more milk as needed until you reach the desired consistency.
After the mixture has thickened, add 2 cups chicken stock to the pan and stir constantly until heated through.
Season with salt and pepper and serve alongside your roasted turkey neck.
What Is The Cooking Time For Turkey Neck?
The cooking time for turkey necks depends on how thick your necks are.
Thicker necks take longer to cook than thinner ones so you may need to adjust the amount of time depending on their thickness.
There isn’t much information available about what the ideal cooking times should be as most people just assume that if you buy a whole turkey then the neck portion must be cooked properly.
They don’t realize that different parts of the bird have different textures which means that not all of them will require long periods of cooking time.
When preparing a turkey neck recipe, it is best to start by determining how thick the neck pieces are.
The thicker the neck piece, the more time you will need to prepare it before it is ready to serve.
Here is a guide to help determine how long you should expect each type of neck to take to become tender enough to eat:
- Thickest
- Middle-thickness
- Thinnest
For example, if you want to prepare a turkey neck recipe using thickish necks, you would divide the total number of minutes into two equal sections (e.g. 30/60) and add 15 minutes onto one section and subtract 10 minutes from the other.
For instance, if you had 3 hours total to cook your turkey necks, you would split your time into two halves of 1 hour and 45 minutes each, adding 15 minutes onto the first half and subtracting 10 minutes from the second half.
In this case, you should aim to finish off the first half of the cooking time while leaving the second half until after the main meal has finished.
If you choose to use thinner necks, you will only need to increase the duration slightly compared to thicker necks.
It is best to check out some turkey neck recipes online to get an idea of how long each part takes to cook.
Once you know how long each part needs to be cooked, you can begin to calculate your overall cooking time by multiplying the number of minutes required per part by the total number of parts needed.
How Many Calories Are In A Turkey Neck Recipe?
A typical serving size of turkey neck contains about 20 grams (0.7 ounces) of protein, 1 gram (0.04 ounce) of carbohydrates, 0 grams (0 ounces) of dietary fiber, 0 milligrams (0 micrograms) of cholesterol, and 6 grams (0.21 ounces) of total fat per 3/4 cup serving.
That means that one serving of this turkey neck recipe has roughly 220 calories, 15 grams of carbs, 5 grams of protein, 2 grams of dietary fiber, and 4 grams of fat.
The majority of the fats found in turkey necks come from saturated fats such as palmitic acid, stearic acid, and lauric acid.
They also contain small amounts of unsaturated fatty acids like oleic acid and linoleic acid.
The type of oils used in preparing foods determine how much fat they contain, so you may want to use olive oil if possible instead of vegetable oil.
It should be noted that most of the fats found in a turkey neck don’t contribute any health benefits whatsoever.
While some people believe that eating certain types of fish, poultry, and other animal products increases their chances of developing cancer, these claims aren’t supported by science.
In fact, studies show that consuming more than 10 percent of your daily caloric intake from fat actually raises your risk of heart disease just as much as eating too little fat does.
If you do choose to eat turkey necks, make sure you read labels carefully.
Some brands contain large amounts of sodium while others don’t list the ingredients at all.
If you find yourself unable to control your cravings during Thanksgiving week, try cutting back on the amount of salt you add to meals.
What Is The Fat Content Of A Turkey Neck Recipe?
The average turkey neck has around 2% fat on its own.
The skin on a turkey neck also contains high levels of moisture and collagen which makes it very tender.
As such, a good turkey neck recipe should not contain too much oil as this would make the meat dry out.
A great way to cook turkey neck is by roasting it at low temperatures over long periods of time so that the fat doesn’t burn off during the process.
As mentioned before, the skin on a turkey neck contains a lot of collagen and water.
These two ingredients work together to make the meat extremely juicy.
For optimal juiciness, you want to cook your turkey neck until all of the liquid evaporates from the meat and only the collagen remains.
Because the amount of fat on the skin is relatively small, you don’t need to worry about how much oil goes into your turkey neck recipe.
You could even skip adding any oil if you like!
What Is The Protein Content Of A Turkey Neck Recipe?
A great way to add more protein into your diet is by incorporating turkey necks into your menu planning.
While many people may think turkey necks are only used as filler meats at Thanksgiving dinners, you can use them any time of year to make mouth-watering meals.
The protein level in a turkey neck varies from one part to another.
The leanest parts include the skin on the underside of the bird which contains about 12 percent of total calories while the thighs contain 20 percent of total calories.
Other areas such as the breast meat and wings also contain high amounts of protein.
As mentioned earlier, turkey necks tend to be tough and stringy but if prepared correctly, these ingredients can provide excellent nutrients and flavor to your meal plans.
What Are The Carbohydrates In A Turkey Neck Recipe?
There are two types of carbohydrates found within your body – simple carbs and complex carbs.
Simple carbs include sugars such as glucose, fructose, and dextrose.
Complex carbohydrates contain long chains of sugar molecules which are linked together by glycosidic bonds.
These bonds allow the carbohydrate chain to remain intact after digestion.
Examples of complex carbohydrates include starches (such as rice), grains, beans, vegetables, fruits, and tubers.
Simple versus complex carbohydrates has become important to understand when cooking certain foods as different types of carbohydrates digest at different rates.
For example, potatoes require more time to break down than other starchy sources like peas.
This difference in rate of breakdown means you may need to cook them longer if you want to get maximum flavor from them.
The type of carbohydrates found in a turkey neck recipe varies depending on whether it is cooked on its own or combined with another ingredient.
If you choose to use the turkey neck alone, then the source of these carbohydrates should come from the ingredients used during preparation.
Complex carbohydrates tend to make up a larger percentage of the total food consumed while simple carbohydrates provide much less energy compared to their complex counterparts.
If you decide to combine turkey neck and ingredients such as corn, carrots, celery, onions, or bell peppers, then the source of carbohydrates becomes even more complicated since all of those items contain some form of starch.
The best way to determine what kind of carbohydrates are present in a particular recipe is to read through the entire list of ingredients before making any decisions about portion size.
What Are The Fiber Content Of A Turkey Neck Recipe?
If you thought turkey necks were just soft, fatty pieces of muscle tissue, think again!
Turkey necks contain more than 20% protein, which means they are full of nutrients that help provide energy.
They also contain about 3 grams of dietary fiber per serving, making them one of the best sources of fiber on the market today.
Dietary fiber helps your digestive system function properly by absorbing water into the body, preventing constipation and lowering cholesterol levels.
It has even proven to prevent heart disease.
Fiber-rich foods like turkey necks give us all something to look forward to at mealtime.
What Are The Vitamins And Minerals In A Turkey Neck Recipe?
A turkey neck has many nutritional benefits thanks to its high levels of protein (23%) as well as iron, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium and B vitamins such as thiamine, riboflavin and niacin.
Protein, along with water and fat, makes up about 80% of each turkey neck, so you get more than enough nutrients from just one serving.
The sodium content of turkey neck is quite low at only 1 mg per ounce.
This means that a serving size would contain less than half the amount of salt found in most processed meats like salami or ham.
If you need additional information on how much sodium is contained in different foods then check out our guide to healthy eating where we cover everything from fats and carbohydrates to proteins.
My blog is all about creating delicious meals with ingredients that are easy to find in your local grocery store. I’m passionate about making yummy meals that I can share with my friends and family.