Wild Turkey Leg & Thigh Barbacoa

Many hunters throw the legs and thighs out with the garbage after they breast their wild turkeys. Now don’t get me wrong not all hunters do this but I would say more than 50% do. I was talking to a good friend who is a big time turkey hunter in the south and he said “I was raised being told there Isn’t enough meat on them to even bother with”. Now this misconception is keeping hunters from some of the best meat on the bird.


Now legs are full of tendons so cooking them like you would a store bought bird just won’t work. It’s all about slow cooking these cuts and breaking down the toughness that comes with legs. Once you’ve slow cooked the legs you can literally pull the tendons off because they are hard as rocks. The meat will just fall away.

Thighs to be are the top notch cut when it comes to wild birds. It’s dark, moist and tender when cooked just right. Bellow your see a simple slow cooker recipe that creates a truly stunning meal with meat most throw out. 


Wild turkey Barbacoa 

2-4 turkey legs & thighs

½ cup cilantro, chopped

1 cup red onion, sliced

2 chipotle in adobo sauce, chopped

2 cups game stock or beef stock

2 jalapenos, chopped

2 limes, juiced

8 oz of green chilies

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon cracked pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano          

Pinch of salt

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

 

Directions:

 

1.       Mix pepper, cumin, oregano, salt and red pepper. Rub mixture evenly on all sides of turkey

2.       Turn crockpot to high and add remaining ingredients, mix together

3.       Add turkey to mixture and put lid on and walk away for 7-8 hours

4.       Enjoy the amazing smell from your kitchen every time you enter the house

5.       After 7-8 hours of cooking remove turkey legs and thighs and place in large glass bowl, with two forks shred meat

6.       Add meat back to liquid in crockpot and mix together

7.       Remove from crockpot place on your favorite tortilla and cover in your favorite toppings

We love adding a fresh homemade Black Bean & Corn Salsa. See recipe below. 



14 thoughts on “Wild Turkey Leg & Thigh Barbacoa

  1. Why kill an animal and then turn around and disrespect it by only using part of it. I shot a nice turkey this fall a week before Thanksgiving. Marinated the breast & leg & thigh and then baked in an oven roasting bag for 3 hours. Awesome! Your turkey barbacoa recipe sounds perfect for the other half of the bird. Thanks for posting!

  2. I am trying this recipe this week. My pieces are skinless. Would you do anything different with skinless legs and thighs?

    TIA,
    Andy

  3. It’s in the pot, will let you know how it comes out, probably going to be a little hotter than average but w queso fresco and guac as a topping it’ll balance out.
    I’ll post a report later!
    -Tonto

  4. Found your site a month or so ago. . Easter week d was our opener here in Cali and I got my two. Processed them and made the legs with this recipe It is AWESOME!! The soup left in the cooker is fabulous!! I used chicken stock instead of beef and layers the bottom with poblanos. Thanks for sharing all of your recipes! (Made summer sausage out of the rest of the bird mixed with boar)

    1. Awesome man, I know I am a California kid also and went out and chased and bagged a couple as well. Check out instagram for more killer ideas bro!!

  5. Making this for a party I am going to tomorrow. It is supposed to be a bee themed party, so I will be adding a little honey and making a honey chipotle sauce as a topping, and I will be using the tiny street taco tortillas, so that this is more of an appetizer. Should I leave the skin on and then just remove it when I shred it? This recipe is perfect because I have to work tomorrow, so crockpot is perfect!

      1. Oops, left it on, will remove it when I get off work lol. One more question, should the meat be fully submerged in liquid in the crockpot? Thanks!

          1. Just wanted to say thanks for putting this recipe up. The wild turkey street tacos were a huge hit at the dinner party last night and was a great conversation starter. Lots of compliments from people who said they don’t normally like wild game. I will definitely be making this again. Just got a text from the party’s host, they were having the leftovers with eggs this morning and raving about it.

  6. Used this recipe on a bird last year and turned out great. Thinking about tryin it with deer shanks. Anyone gave it a shot?

  7. Hey. Have you ever noticed that thighs on wild turkeys are WAAAAYY tougher to make sufficiently tender to eat? I’ve had decent success with the legs, but the thighs are different. They are much drier. I’ve cooked them 12 hours, on low in a crockpot and they’re still tough/chewy. I’m just about done bothering with them. I’m about to attempt a 24 slow cooker braise with some thighs I harvested. I will report report. IF they’re not good after that I’ll just end up tossing them to the dogs in the future.

    1. so actually longer is not always better. What I found that helps out is the following

      1. debone the thighs
      2. cut down to smaller chucks
      3. marinate before cooking

      all three of these steps help make it more tender while cooking. Sometimes the longer you cook the more it dries out even with liquid in the pot. I also found that boiling it until it falls off the bone if you want to go that route works really well as also. Hopefully that helps.

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