Does anyone ever cook with ground turkey?

[momof4girls]

I have a package in the freezer, and I would really like to make something yummy with it. I havn't any recipes that include nutritional info and I am afraid of making something without knowing the points value. I know this isnt a recipe board....but it has more traffic then the recipe boards. ANy ideas out there?

Thanks

Angie

[catnip]

I use ground turkey to make chili, meat sauce, meatballs, etc. I generally use it in dishes that you add sauce to. My boyfriend, who is a big beef eater, loves my chili.

[Bumby]

There are different types of ground turkey. One kind, which I surmise is made with dark turkey meat, has the same calories/fat % as lean hamburger. So, as an alternative to the fattier ground beef, it's o.k., but depending on the kind you have, it may offer no advantage over lean ground beef.

[momof4girls]

Thanks Bumby, I had no idea. I will have to get it out and take a look. I was under the impression that there was a big difference between ground turkey and ground beef....light or not.

[catnip]

Going by the nutrition information on the kind I buy, it is 1 point for one oz. Another reason why we use it is that it is much lower in cholesterol than beef. In that sense I do see an advantage, but if your cholesterol isn't high then I guess it doesn't really matter. My boyfriend takes Lipitor so we don't have beef too often. It is true that some ground turkey (or chicken) is made with the skin so it can be very fatty. You need to check the nutrition labels and be careful what kind you buy.

[lalala]

I love ground turkey, but I only buy breast meat. Its around 2.99/lb at my local coop and its hormone free. I make a bunch of different dishes with it. Its sort of tasteless so it works as a tofu substitute if you want to pack alot of protein in and your family is wary of meatless items. I use it in turkey-apple breakfast sausages,
turkey chili, spaghetti sauce, cassaroles and often I like to season it with italian seasoning and mix it with frozen veggies for a quick lunch.

I agree with everyone else, the dark meat is very similiar to ground beef. I haven't purchased or eaten ground beef in 17 years, but watching a friend make sausage patties with dark turkey meat reminded me of hamburger.

[lighter]

I cook with ground turkey a lot. I buy the lean ground. Ground turkey can be very dry so you must put something with it for moisture. It makes great turkey meat loaf, turkey burgers and great meat balls with sauces. I will put a couple of recipes for you in the poultry section. Any recipe that calls for gr. beef you can use gr. turkey if it has something to put some moisture in it.
Last week in a low fat cooking class the member that was to purchase the ingredients for turkey burgers bought fresh ground turkey breasts. It was so hard and dry it was like a rock.

[pippin]

I also make tacos with ground turkey (along with chili and spaghetti sauce). If you make burgers with it, add a bit of barbeque sauce or worcestershire sauce for flavor (or "Kitchen Bouquet" if you want to add color too).

I've also been known to brown some up and add it to the Zero Point Garden Veggie Soup (makes it one point, but adds a bit of protein to the soup).

[VDS]

I use ground turkey in almost any ground meat recipe that has quite a bit of seasoning in it. Chilies, spaghetti sauces, casseroles, etc. I also sometimes mix it with very finely chopped mushrooms (for Moisture and tenderness) and egg white (for binding it together) in meatballs or loaves. There is an OLD WW recipe, from the first Jean Neiditch book, called Potted Veal Balls. I use ground turkey with mushrooms for it instead of veal. This has been a staple in our house for more than 25 years.