Tips for Seasoning Turkey Meat

As the world of science expands and more people become more educated on their daily dietary needs, the health food world is booming. New health food stores are popping up all over towns and gyms regularly advertise "season specials," encouraging new members to join in an effort to improve their fitness. Because of this new "healthier" world, man people are also trying to make changes to their every day diets that will benefit their bodies. One of these changes could involve replacing fattier red meats with leaner and cheaper protein sources, such as turkey. However, for anyone who has ever tried replacing ground beef with ground turkey in their favorite dishes, they have probably found that the trade off is one that is easily noticeable and often unsatisfactory. Still, the affordability and health benefits of the ground turkey over the ground beef can be enough of a motivation to stick with the change if the turkey meat is prepared correctly. Here are some tips for cooking ground turkey to help enhance its flavors and make it a more palatable dish.

Do not over cook the turkey meat. Ground turkey already has less natural flavoring than ground beef, and the longer you cook the turkey, the drier the meat becomes and also the more bland. While you obviously need to be careful not to undercook the meat for health safety reasons, you should always quickly remove the turkey from the stove once you have cooked it thoroughly. This way more of the meat's natural juices will remain in the turkey, thus making it both moister and more flavorful.

If you are cooking the turkey in a sauce (such as for a stir fry or a spaghetti sauce), leave the meat in the sauce for a bit longer than you normally would with ground beef before serving. Again, since turkey has less distinct flavoring it will taste better if you allow it to absorb a bit more of the sauce's flavor for longer. You may also want to cook your sauce with stronger spices than before, as these can also help overcome for the turkey's lack of flavor.

Finally, if you really don't know what to do to make your turkey taste better, just try using the same seasonings that you would with beef, only more of them. Stronger pre-made seasoning packets are a great solution for making your meat taste more interesting; some of these could include taco seasoning or curry seasoning cubes. Again, pick a spice/seasoning for your turkey meat that is fairly strong to keep this healthy meat appealing to your taste buds.