Turkey Leg Recipes

ROASTED TURKEY LEGS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Rinse the turkey legs and pat dry.
• Stand the turkey legs upright (as if the turkey were standing). Press a knife downward into the deep tissue, creating 2 or 3 long pockets. Press a piece of celery into each opening. Pull back the skin on the legs, rub with butter, and season with a little salt. Put the skin back into place, rub with more butter, and season lightly with salt. Lay the legs in a roasting pan.
• Roast uncovered for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the legs are golden brown and the internal temperature is 180 degrees F (82 degrees C) when taken with a meat thermometer. Add more water if needed while roasting, and baste occasionally with the juices or butter.

ROASTED TURKEY LEGS

Steps:

• Pat the turkey legs dry with paper towels and place them in a large roasting pan. Avoid rinsing poultry in the sink; that will just spread bacteria around your kitchen.

HOW TO COOK TURKEY LEGS, THE EASIEST (AND MOST ELEGANT) THANKSGIVING MAIN DISH

Steps:

• Up to two days before making turkey legs, remove from packaging and arrange on a baking rack or cooling rack. Sprinkle liberally with salt and rest in the fridge until skin is dry. When ready to cook, remove from fridge half an hour before cooking and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Mix the salt, pepper, paprika, and oregano in a bowl. Rub on turkey legs, pressing under skin if possible. Use a pastry brush to then coat the legs in the softened butter. Return to rack and place in a roasting pan. Cover with foil. Meanwhile, mix melted butter and wine together to baste turkey with.
• After 20 minutes, uncover the legs, and brush them with butter and wine mixture. Return to oven for 20 more minutes and baste again. After an hour, check to see if the meat has reached 165°F. If not, return to oven for 5-10 more minutes. For crispier skin, slide under the broiler, on low, for about two minutes. Remove rack from roasting pan and let drumsticks rest for 10 minutes.
• Put the roasting pan on the stove or transfer drippings to a saucepan. Stir in wine, cornstarch and rosemary, constantly swirling to thicken. Once the gravy starts to bubble, remove from the heat, strain into a heatproof dish and serve immediately with the drumsticks.

BARBECUED TURKEY LEGS

Steps:

• The day before, make a dry brine: Put 2 wire racks on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Mix together the sugar, chili powder, mustard powder, garlic powder, cayenne and 1/2 cup salt. Pat the turkey drumsticks dry. Put 2 drumsticks in a large shallow bowl and sprinkle generously with the dry brine, rubbing it into every nook and cranny. Transfer to one of the wire racks. Working in batches, sprinkle and rub the remaining drumsticks with the dry brine and transfer to the wire racks. Sprinkle the drumsticks on the racks with any remaining dry brine. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 8 hours and preferably up to 24 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the drumsticks, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through cooking, until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer measures at least 200 degrees F, about 2 hours. Let cool to room temperature. Transfer the drumsticks to large re-sealable plastic bags. (The turkey can be made ahead up to this point and refrigerated for up to 24 hours.)
• Preheat a gas grill to medium-low or prepare a charcoal for medium-low indirect heat: bank one chimney starter-full of lit and ashed-over charcoal briquettes to one side of the grill. Set up a drip pan on the other side to avoid flare-ups. (Be sure to consult the grill manufacturer's guide for best results).
• Brush the grill grates with oil. Put the drumsticks on the grill (or indirect side if using charcoal) and cook, turning and basting with the barbecue sauce every 5 minutes, until the drumsticks are deep amber on the outside and heated through, about 15 minutes.
• Let cool for 5 minutes, then wrap the exposed bone-end of each drumstick with foil and serve while warm.

BRAISED TURKEY LEGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Rinse turkey legs and pat dry; season all over with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Heat a large Dutch oven over high heat and add olive oil. Add turkey legs, skin side down, working in batches, if necessary. Cook, turning, until turkey legs are browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer legs to a plate and discard all but 1 tablespoon of rendered fat from Dutch oven.
• Deglaze with white wine and cook, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot and slightly reduced, 2 minutes. Lower heat to medium-high and add carrots, celery, and leeks to Dutch oven and cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add thyme, sage, bay leaves, and stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and add turkey legs, skin side down; cover and transfer to oven. Cook for 40 minutes. Uncover, turn turkey legs, and continue cooking uncovered until legs are tender, 45 to 50 minutes more.
• Transfer turkey legs to a serving platter. Skim fat from top of braising liquid and discard; season braising liquid with salt and pepper, and spoon over turkey legs. Serve garnished with chopped parsley and thyme.

EASY ROASTED TURKEY LEGS

Steps:

• In a large bowl pour in all of the Turkey Broth/Stock (Could also be Chicken Stock) and marinate the uncooked Turkey Legs overnight, or at least 3 hours, in the refrigerator.
• After 3-8 hours in the refrigerator, take a large roasting pan with a wire rack, remove the refrigerated legs from the bowl of broth---use tongs and place directly on the roasting rack/pan. Sprinkle generous amount of salt, black pepper, and onion powder on each leg. Spread foil across the top of the roasting pan to keep the legs covered while roasting in a pre-heated 350F oven.
• Meanwhile, melt a stick of butter in a saucepan---until it's liquified.
• 8 legs usually take about 1hour and 45 minutes to fully cook. The legs need to be turned/flipped with tongs, basted (brushed with the melted butter) and then re-seasoned with just the onion powder and black pepper--- every 20 minutes during roasting.
• Turkey legs are usually done after insterting a meat thermometer that registers 175F in the thickest part of the leg, however, they do keep cooking even after they're removed from the oven.
• The cooked turkey pan juices and drippings are usually used to flavor gravy and stuffing.