Ground Turkey? Good or bad?

Options
13»

Replies

  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    Options
    choppie70 wrote: »
    If you are buying ground turkey to save on calories, then make sure you are reading labels carefully. Not all ground turkey has less calories than ground beef.

    This. I buy it if it's cheaper than beef and if it works for whatever I'm making (chili but not burgers).

  • goalreacher998
    goalreacher998 Posts: 22 Member
    Options
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    gebeziseva wrote: »
    When you say "eating with meals" I have the impression that you're eating it along your meals thinking that eating turkey is some sort of a slimming substance.
    It is not.
    Turkey could be a good substitution for other fat meats and that's why it is sometimes recommend. But not "added to" the fat meats if you see what I mean. It is not "slimming" in itself.
    I personally avoid it because it has no taste to me. Tastes like toilet paper (yes I've tried lol).

    Good catch. I reread the OP and am also perplexed at the use of the phrase "eating with meals" and also the concept of adding olive oil and eating it plain - that sounds like one of the worst uses of ground turkey I can imagine. I use it because it is lean, so adding olive oil defeats that purpose; and because it is so lean it is also pretty flavorless so I only use it "in" things like tacos, chili, spaghetti sauce, etc. I actually usually cook 1-2 lbs of ground turkey and 1-2 lbs of 80/20 ground beef and combine them into 1 lb portions in ziplock bags - then use those 1 lb portions for cooking weeknight dinners. I almost never eat plain ground turkey, even on a burger.

    I guess I worded that weird, but eating it with meals meant putting it in stuff. :/
  • dfwesq
    dfwesq Posts: 592 Member
    Options
    I second the "read the label" suggestion. Just because it's turkey doesn't automatically mean that it's lean.

    For ground meat, about 90% lean or more is pretty lean. You can buy it even leaner than that, 93% or even 95% lean, if you want. It's an easy way to save calories.

    Lean turkey (or any other meat, really) is likely to dry out during cooking unless you add something to keep it moist. If you're cooking it in soup, in a sauce, or with a lot of added vegetables, that should take care of it. Otherwise, you'd probably want to add some healthy fat. Buying very lean meat (turkey or anything else) and adding a healthy fat like olive oil is a good way to reduce saturated fat, if that's important to you.
  • hdrenollet
    hdrenollet Posts: 147 Member
    edited May 2017
    Options
    I love using ground turkey for tacos and sloppy joes. I always get the 99% lean which is lower in calories compared to lean ground beef and I honestly just think it tastes better. My kids like it too.

    This is what I normally use:

    4n19sykm9mr7.png
  • Birdie1952
    Birdie1952 Posts: 48 Member
    Options
    hdrenollet wrote: »
    I love using ground turkey for tacos and sloppy joes. I always get the 99% lean which is lower in calories compared to lean ground beef and I honestly just think it tastes better. My kids like it too.

    This is what I normally use:

    4n19sykm9mr7.png

    This is what I use also. I will take half of the package (10oz) mix it with sage, salt and pepper flakes. Make it into 5 patties. Fry in a little avocado oil until done. After it cools wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. Just take out of a morning and heat in microwave for 30 to 60 seconds and eat with a boiled egg. Makes a delicious breakfast in a hurry. I use this stuff for burgers and tacos too.

Categories