Stuffed Turkey Wings
Turkey wings are like dark chicken wings but bigger and more flavorful.
This is your answer to better tasting chicken recipes that have become the boring cornerstone of your weekly dinner rotation.
I can only eat so many chicken breasts or thighs in a given week for meal prep. When I was picking up some pork belly for another recipe at a local butcher, I noticed they had frozen turkey wings. Turkey wings not only are larger than chicken wings, they have much more flavor. Not only that, they are pretty cheap coming in at about the same price as chicken thighs (roughly $3.00/lb). If you’re looking for a simple, new recipe to shake up your weeknight dinner schedule, give this a try!
In Cajun cooking, the idea of “stuffing” a piece of meat literally means to pack something with flavor. Usually, this includes salt, spices, and soffrito. This is how Cajun family’s coaxed a lot of flavor out of humble ingredients like these turkey wings. If you cannot find turkey wings, you can absolutely substitute with chicken thighs or chicken wings. For chicken wings, you’ll want to reduce that simmer time to about 20 minutes. The best part about this dish is the collagen rich gravy that is created as a result of the skin of the animals. It’s so rich and delicious that it coats your lips and makes them sticky. Don’t forget to have lots of napkins on hand!
Ingredients for Stuffed Turkey Wings
1/2 cup soffrito, split
3/4 - 1 lbs turkey wings, approximately 4-5 wings
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock or water
Thinly sliced scallions, for serving
Steamed white rice or jambalaya, for serving
Kosher salt to taste
Special Equipment
Dutch oven
Directions for Stuffed Turkey Wings
Using a pairing knife, make several slits along the length of your turkey wings on the front and back sides. Then, stuff about a teaspoon of your soffrito into each wing. You should have three tablespoons left of the soffrito to use in the base of your sauce. Cover the wings and set aside to marinade for a few hours, if not overnight.
When you’re getting close to cook time, remove the marinated turkey wings from the fired so they start to come to room temperature. Once ready, heat a Dutch oven with two tablespoons of oil over medium high heat. Apply a bit of Kosher salt to each wing before searing on each side until they are nice and brown. Remove the wings from the pan and deglaze with sherry.
Next, add in the rest of your soffrito and chicken stock. Bring that mixture back up to a simmer before returning the turkey wings to the pot. Toss in your Cajun seasoning. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until the sauce has thicken and the turkey wings are falling off the bone. You want the bottom of the pot to have a decent amount of that rich sauce.
Serve over rice or jambalaya, ladle with a bit of gravy, top with thinly sliced scallions!