Name: Roast Turkey Leg Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 105 min
Ingredients: 8 Turkey legs; 1/2 cup Oil or butter; 2 teaspoon Salt; 1 teaspoon Parsley (optional); 1 teaspoon Paprika (optional); 1 Onion (sliced); 4 cloves Garlic (sliced); Brussles sprouts; Mushroom; Broccoli; Rutabaga; Potato; Carrot; ...

Turkeys aren’t for Thanksgiving only nor turkey legs are confined to Disney land exclusively. Tasty and easy roast turkey leg recipe for home!

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Although turkeys are the foundation of the modern American civilization turkey legs haven’t become popular food because of the cultural heritage of the first settlers. There is the traditional Thanksgiving meal with the immensely big whole turkeys.

A fun fact that ovens in the States are that big only to accommodate the whole turkeys at Thanksgiving. The other part of the World must go Hungry when they want to prepare whole Turkey as their oven is not up to such enormous tasks.

Also, a fact that the name Turkey for the birds come from Turkey the country, not intentionally but rather mistakenly as it is mostly the case when people make up names for things that are not marketed extensively for them. But even so things tend to go awry just look at a Biro for one example.

Funnily enough Biro who invented the ball point pen was also from Hungary. We’ll never know if he liked Turkey but judging about the two countries past probably not that much.

When the birds first came to Europe and distributed by the conquistadores of Spain (it’S pain there is no pun here isn’t it) the good old people of England mistook them for a kind of bird from Turkey. Hence, they started to call them like turkey bird and the name stuck.

Probably not many people in Turkey are entirely happy about it but it must be nothing compared to how the French who live in the culinary tower of ebony must feel when ordering French fries. It must be excruciating.

But everything looks more troubling when we are hungrily lining up for our turkey legs. It’s not a coincidence that our grandmothers said that nothing should be decided on empty stomach. The world is a much more relaxed place after dinner.

Even more after a turkey so they say. It’s a commonly held belief that turkey makes people drowsy but for some reason no-one seems to blame the outrageous amount of carbs that is served as a side dish at such occasions.

Not to mention certain sugar stuffed marinades and sauces that are used to personalize the experience and make us to long for those delicious bites long after we remember the moments only from photos.

Luckily, when we prepare our own dinner or legs on the go, we don’t have to put up with all the commercially enhanced flavor modifiers. We can use ingredients that fit into our diet and worldview as long, of course, as we aren’t vegan. As there is no vegan turkey, yet.

Turkey legs can be prepared countless ways augmented with never-ending possibilities from spices and herbs of our preference. If we aren’t inclined to wait out the time required to roast them in the oven, there is always a possibility of slicing the meat off the bones and cook them on the oven top such as our braised turkey leg here.

Otherwise preparing turkey legs roasted in the oven requires little care and attention but a lot of time to get it done properly. When the meat is cut with a knife and the juices run clear without traces of pink, the meat is considered to be ready.

Although, some pink juices at the bones could still be present, due to the porousness of the bones, it doesn’t mean it isn’t safe for consumption only that it’s may not done to our liking. If the meat inner temperature reaches 165°F / 74°C, it is considered safe to eat by the FDA.

Reaching the required temperature to be safe for consumption doesn’t mean that it achieves the texture we would like to have though. Generally, that could take a little longer and achieved by roasting the legs in a 325°F-350°F / 160°-180°C oven for about 90 minutes.

Ingredients:

8 Turkey legs
½ cup Oil or butter
2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Parsley (optional)
1 teaspoon Paprika (optional)
1 Onion (sliced)
4 cloves Garlic (sliced)
Optional roast side dishes:
- Brussles sprouts
- Mushroom
- Broccoli
- Rutabaga
- Potato
- Carrot
- …

How to roast turkey legs:

Clean the legs from remaining feathers if there are any then place them onto a tray.
Sprinkle salt over them then flip them over and apply salt again.
Clean the garlic cloves, cut them in half along the long side then slice long square based stripes out of them. As we are going to stick these into the meat mind not to cut them too thin.
Make narrow holes into the thighs.
Stick the garlic sticks there. It should be done on both sides around 6-8 holes in total.
Sprinkle spices and herbs of choice that will provide additional flavors to the dish on top like parsley, paprika or onions and carrot.
Close the top of the tray and put it into the 325°F-350°F / 160°-180°C preheated oven for 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes take the top off.
Add more vegetables if desired which can be served as side dish with the turkey legs. It’s an optional step that can be left out entirely or done right before the meat was placed into the oven the first time. It all depends on the texture of the vegetables we are after. The less time in the oven the less soft the vegetables will be. Try to move the vegetables around the meat to allow the direct air flow.
Roast for 30 minutes more then move the tray to the topmost rack in the oven. Move the turkey legs over the vegetables if necessary and roast until the meat gets a golden brown color then flip them over to do the other side as well for about 15 minutes.