I have a bit of an aversion to ground poultry, but this New York Times recipe looks so good: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1026216-turkey-stuffing-meatballs
Can anyone recommend a brand of ground turkey that tastes good?
Thanks.
I am not a huge fan of ground turkey but I find that I can actually eat Kochâs. I usually buy a pack of white and a pack of dark ground meat and mix them together.
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Since turkey is rather bland in and of itself, the âtastes goodâ is sort of hard to pin down. Iâd say look at the ratio of fat on the package, as the leaner versions will be less flavorful, IMO, as itâs just turkey breast.
Having said that, Shady Brook Farms is a brand I see most often in the markets in the Boston area and have purchased. They have varying levels of fat content. My sister usually buys 93/7, but I look for 85/15 if I can find it.
Keep an eye out for added ingredients, such as rosemary extract and carrageenan, as some say they can cause stomach distress.
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I think thatâs the brand I use for my turkey laab. Of course, the ingredients are so flavorful it probz wouldnât matter how the ground turkey tastes on its own (and Iâll never find out hahaha).
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Exactly. The other ingredients in a recipe with ground turkey help oomph up the overall dishâs flavor.
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I substitute ground turkey for hamburger, as its less than half the price.
I do add a splash of Worcestershire Sauce and Liquid Smoke to the mix. It âkind ofâ makes it taste a little closer to hamburger (if you close your eyes and donât really think about it 
).
It kind of reminds me of my college days (many, many years ago), when money was really tight and this one meat supplier (Murray Steaks - Baltimore) made up some meat flavored TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) patties. Apparently, these TVP patties didnât sell very well, so they discounted them â 100 patties for $10 (out of their - direct to consumer store front). I canât tell you how many boxes of these things I ate, but I think I was the only one buying them. Any who, as I ate them I remember closing my eyes and saying âthis is a hamburger, this is a hamburgerâ. I guess it kind of worked â I survived.
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Iâm not fond of ground turkey either. Probably the only brand Iâve used in the last 20 years is Jenni-O, maybe Butterball also. I went looking for some other brands to consider and came up with this. Iâm not familiar with the website but will be looking for one of these others.
I was interested in the history of ground turkey since I donât remember it from my childhood. Turns out, it first appeared ca 1980s. Mostly made from thighs and legs with very little white meat, skin and fat may be included. The presence of skin in the raw product means a nutrition label is required on the packaging. Likewise a claim of âleanâ or âextra leanâ requires a nutrition label. Government and National Turkey Federation regulations are given in the Wiki article.
I canât read the link today but tomorrow is a new day (and a new month!) and maybe Iâll be able to open it again 
I look forward to your report on how it turns out.
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This one from Kochâs
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Iâve been happy with turkey products from Diestel that I buy at Whole Foods.
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Add some minced sauteed mushrooms to the ground turkeyâŚadds much needed moisture and umami.
I buy stuff that has thighs ground into it. Makes it slightly cheaper but also helps with moisture content and flavor
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I never get the 97% fat-free stuff. Whatâs the point?
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Exactly. Its simply protein at that pointâŚat least tofu absorbs other flavors
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Thanks for these great suggestions. I realized that I could drive an hour to a turkey farm and probably buy great ground turkey there. But I want to make this recipe while we are in New Mexico, so I will probably look for ground turkey there at Whole Foods. I live in MN and (alas) do not recognize some of the store names listed in the suggestions.
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