Turkey meat: benefits, calories, recipes

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-18 00:50

Turkey meat is considered the most dietary of all types of meat. In America, this product is traditionally used for the main Christmas dish. Turkey appeared on the shelves of our country relatively recently. Nevertheless, private farmers increasingly prefer this type of bird. Today in our article we will talk about what can be cooked from turkey meat (with recipes), about its dangers and benefits, and calories.

Composition and calorie content

Turkey meat contains a large amount of complete protein with a set of amino acids (AA), essential for humans. When you include turkey in your diet (per serving), the body will be replenished with half the daily intake of selenium, and turkey surpasses even beef in iron content. In addition, the meat in question contains the following macro- and microelements:

• phosphorus;
• zinc;
• magnesium;
• potassium;
• copper.

There is a large amount of vitamins in the turkey, which are so necessary for the body - these are B vitamins. Meat also contains biotin and choline. The presence of unsaturated fatty acids in it, which have very useful properties, deserves special attention. For a properly balanced human diet, the ratio between omega-6 and 3 is especially important. All these indicators, as well as the calorie content of turkey meat, can be seen in the table. Data shown is per serving or 110 grams.

The table of calories and fat content in turkey meat is presented below.

Part carcasses	Calories, kcal	Fats, g	Cholesterol, mg	Omega-6: omega-3	Rich fats, g
Turkey breast skinless	153	0, 84	94	10:1	0, 27
Breast skin on	214	8, 4	84	11, 4:1	2, 38
Legs	236	11, 14	96	13:1	3, 47
Thighs	178	9, 68	70	13:1	3, 01

What is useful turkey meat

Turkey meat is digested by a person by 95%, this figure is even higher than that of dietary chicken meat. Turkey contains very little cholesterol, which means that the use of such a product will not have a harmful effect on people with atherosclerosis and obesity. The composition of the meat contains potassium and a large amount of unsaturated fats, which will benefit blood vessels and the heart. The content of phosphorus in it and low fat content allow the most complete absorption of calcium. Therefore, its use will be very useful for the prevention of joint diseases and osteoporosis.

By the way, turkey meat is almost twice as high as beef in terms of iron content, which makes the product very useful for people with low hemoglobin levels in their blood. Turkey meat contains a large amount of another very important element for the body - zinc. It strengthens the immune system, as well as male power. According to available data, the systematic use of the product prevents the development of malignant tumors in the human body.

Benefits and harms

Turkey meat is superior to beef in sodium content. Most often, it gives the body only benefits: it normalizes all metabolic processes in our body and, surprisingly, replenishes blood plasma. Due to the presence of sodium in meat during cooking, you can not add s alt to the dish, which, of course, will be beneficial, especially for people with hypertension. If this rule is not followedbenefit can turn into harm, because if you s alt the turkey, you get an excess of sodium.

Harm instead of good when eating turkey meat dishes can get people suffering from gout and kidney disease. This happens due to the high content of protein in the meat.

Important information

As it turned out, the benefits of eating this meat are much greater than the harm. Therefore, it is highly recommended to include this product in the diet. It is especially useful for the following categories of citizens:

1. Pregnant and lactating women, children of any age (due to folic acid content and hypoallergenicity).
2. Persons suffering from insomnia, prone to stress and depression (has hypnotic properties and contains derivatives for the production of serotonin - the hormone of happiness).
3. The product is necessary in the presence of great physical exertion, as well as for people in the postoperative period or with diseases (high protein content).

Turkey in the children's diet

Russian pediatricians also talk about the beneficial properties of turkey. Soft turkey meat is the most suitable for feeding children from six months. It is hypoallergenic, well absorbed by the baby's body, delivers large doses of protein to it, which are necessary for the most complete growth of teeth and the musculoskeletal system. Turkey puree is a product worthy of special attention if the baby is not growing well or has frequent mood swings.

Turkey Selection Tips

When buying turkey, you shouldspecify in what form you wish to purchase it: fresh, chilled or frozen. To date, a huge selection of products is presented:

• whole carcass;
• chunk carcass;
• loin;
• minced turkey;
• separate parts in the substrate - thighs, breast, wings, drumstick, offal.

When buying, you should pay attention to the appearance of the product, as for the carcass, it should be well-fed, fleshy enough, and the breast and legs should be thick. As for the skin, it should be light, with a beautiful yellow tint, without spots and moist. You can check the freshness of the product as follows: press the carcass with your finger, if the dent straightens immediately, then the turkey meat is fresh, and if not, it is better to refuse the purchase.

Storage

Turkey meat should be stored in the refrigerator in a plastic bag only if you are going to cook it right away. You can store no more than a day. When defrosting meat, be aware that it must be cooked immediately, because microorganisms begin to multiply in it very quickly, which, when re-frozen, will not disappear, but remain in the product.

Cooking

There are a lot of culinary recipes with turkey, it can be boiled, baked, fried, smoked, stewed. Delicious cutlets, pates, sausages and canned food are obtained from it.

It takes a lot of time to prepare a dish from this product. For example, for the complete readiness of baked turkey meat in the oven (whole carcasses)it will take about 3 hours. Such a product is brewed from half an hour to one and a half hours. The readiness of a roasted turkey can be determined by piercing it, if the juice is clear, then the dish is ready.

The cooking time table is shown below.

Variety	Boiling time, min.	Other cooking time, min.
Breast	30	36
Shanks	50	60
Thighs	60	72
Turkey carcass	180	_

Turkey roll with sun-dried tomatoes

We offer to prepare a delicious and interesting dish of turkey meat for the festive table. The meat of this bird is perfectly absorbed by the body, contains a minimum amount of cholesterol, it contains many useful vitamins. To work, we need the following components:

• turkey fillet - 4 kg;
• dried tomatoes - 2 tbsp;
• sl. butter - 400 g;
• bacon - 350g;
• thyme - a pinch;
• basil - to taste;
• olive oil. - 6 tbsp. l.

Dried tomatoes are cut not too finely in an arbitrary shape. Divide the turkey fillet into portions, beat off, lightly s alt and pepper. For every beatena piece of filling is laid in layers in the following sequence: first bacon, then tomatoes, then thyme, basil, and finally butter. Everything is sprinkled with olive oil, rolled up, tied with a strong thread. Bake the rolls for 30-40 minutes at 180 degrees.

Turkey Chop

Turkey chops fried in a pan have excellent taste. All cooks, even beginners, want to cook turkey meat juicy, for this it is properly coated with sour cream. Ingredients:

• 500g turkey;
• 30g cheese (preferably hard cheese);
• a pair of eggs;
• spices;
• flour for breading;
• oil pods. for frying.

Turkey fillet is cut into slices of 7-8 mm. The meat is beaten off with a kitchen hammer, seasoned with spices. A batter is made from eggs and grated cheese. First, the chops are rolled in a cup with flour, then released into an egg-cheese batter and placed in a heated pan. The pieces are fried alternately on both sides. The turkey meat prepared according to this recipe is very tender and tasty, besides, the dish is simple and quick to prepare.

Foil-roasted turkey

Foil-baked turkey meat is well baked and the result is juicy and fragrant. It is very important to ensure that during cooking the meat does not overcook and does not become too dry. For baking, you will need the following products:

• 700 g turkey fillet (you can take a whole bird);
• 3 tsp various spices;
• 5 spoons (std.)soy sauce;
• s alt to taste.

Turkey meat is washed with running cold water and blotted with a paper towel or napkin. In order for the fillet to be evenly saturated with spices, using a sharp knife, we make deep cuts in the meat. Seasonings and, if desired, various herbs should be chosen to your taste. We put the fillet in the container, add our spices to it and pour everything with soy sauce, mix well. If you like garlic, you can put it in the incisions made. After that, the product is carefully wrapped in foil, good tightness of the package is necessary so that the juice does not run out.

After that, put the meat in the package in the refrigerator for three hours to marinate. After this period of time, place the meat in an oven with a temperature of up to 220 degrees. It should be baked for fifty minutes. If you want the product to have a golden crust, shortly before the end of baking, unfold the foil. Take out the finished dish and cut into portions.