It’s prime turkey season. Next week (and the many days following) will be an abundance of turkey-related meals all stemming from one roasted turkey on Thursday. But as well all likely know, not all parts of that turkey are equal. And just splitting the bird into “dark meat” and “white meat” isn’t nearly accurate enough. A wing flat and the tenderloin are lightyears apart in texture and flavor yet they’re both “white meat” sections. The same goes for the oysters and legs. They both might be dark meat but that oyster is a delectable morsel and the leg is a bone-splint-filled nuisance.
All of that is to say that it’s high time to rank every single part of the turkey. This ranking aims to give you an advantage when you head to the table on Thursday. Hopefully, you’ll be able to find the prime pieces of meat before anyone else and load that plate up just right.
Let’s dive right in and rank every part of the Thanksgiving bird!
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9. The Spine
The Cut:
Overall, there’s not a lot going on here. There are thin strips of meat, fat, and skin with a lot of marrow-filled spine bones. It’s funky and… trust us, no one is fighting over the spine of the bird at any Thanksgiving feast.
What It’s Good For:
If you’re butterflying (or spatchcocking) the bird, then you’re going to have an extra spine hanging around. The best use is for making stock. All that collagen, fat, bone, marrow, and skin will make for a great base for future gravy or part of a turkey noodle soup.
That makes this “cut” a full skip until the next day when you’re in soup mode.
8. The Wings
The Cut:
The wings are pretty overlooked during the rush to the dinner table. The tips will likely be singed beyond recognition. The flat of the wing will have a bit of stringy white meat with (usually) dried-out skin. The drummette might be pretty good, depending on how well-cooked the turkey is. Still, it’s going to be a little tougher white meat.
What It’s Good For:
This usually either gets thrown into turkey soup over the weekend or the meat is stripped off the bone and gets hacked up into a turkey salad for sandwiches. Overall, if you’re stuck with a wing this Thanksgiving, you have our sympathies.
That being said, if the wings are being smoked or roasted on their own, you might be in business.
7. The Legs
The Cut:
The leg is a very flashy cut from any Thanksgiving bird. But as far as dark meat goes, this is the most annoying cut. One, it can get overcooked due to its position on the outside of the bird. Two, there are about a million bone splints. You can’t bite into a leg and not hit one. That’s a deal-breaker.
What It’s Good For:
We guess you can spend time scrapping meat out from between those bone splints if you want. Otherwise, this is turkey soup and turkey salad territory. Also, if you take the time to scrape all the dark meat out, it works well in a turkey hash or turkey tacos on Friday morning.
6. The Neck
The Cut:
The neck is usually loaded inside the bird’s cavity — so don’t forget to fish it out! The cut is mostly bone, sinew, collagen, and fat with some brown meat. The meat becomes insanely well-seasoned thanks to all that fat and bone around it when cooked right. So while there’s only a small amount of dark meat on the neck, it comes with enough fatty goodness to make it pretty worthwhile.
What It’s Good For:
The easy answer here is stock. All that unctuous stuff in the neck helps your stock — and future gravy — shine. Think of it like oxtails. That being said, you can smoke, stew, and roast necks as a nice turkey delicacy. That small amount of dark meat will have tons of flavors built-in.
5. The Outer Breast Meat
The Cut:
Not all white meat is created equal. There’s a massive difference between the outer layer of breast meat and the tenderloin, nestled closer to the bone. The outer layer is the white meat you’re probably thinking of — slightly dry and a little grainy. It’s the meat you see when someone (erroneously) slices into a turkey breast while it’s still on the bird (always fully remove the breast before you slice it against the grain, folks).
What It’s Good For:
Even though this isn’t the most beloved meat at the dinner table, it has a lot of uses post-Thanksgiving. This turkey meat works on club sandos, in turkey salad, soup, hash, hot turkey sandwiches, and maybe even a leftover turkey casserole.
If you are stuck with it on Thursday, well … that’s what the gravy is there for.
4. The Tenderloin
The Cut:
We all know chicken tenders are better than chicken breasts and the same is true here. This is that aforementioned breast tenderloin that’s nestled right next to the bone. This is often the juiciest white meat and is pretty hard to screw up while cooking.
What It’s Good For:
We’d argue that this is the first cut of meat worth rushing to the table to get. It’s much softer and meatier than the outer breast (and a lot less grainy). This is good for building the perfect bite on your fork with mash and gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce all stacked on one satisfying bite.
3. The Thighs
The Cut:
This is the fatty meat that’s right under the turkey, so all the juices pass through on the way to the pan below. It’s the most flavored and often the juiciest (by far). Usually, the thighs are broken off and the bones removed, leaving big chunks of thigh meat on the platter, which will be gone pretty quickly.
What It’s Good For:
This is classic turkey meat. It works on its own and you won’t need gravy to help this piece of bird shine (unless the turkey is mercilessly overcooked). If there’s any leftover on Friday (there won’t be), you can also use this cut for anything we mentioned above and it’ll help that dish pop.
2. The Oysters
The Cut:
This is prime territory. The oyster, or sot-l’y-laisse (“only a fool leaves this behind” in French), is the most delicate and delicious part of the turkey that’s mostly meat (vs. our #1 entry, which is mostly fat). The morsels are on the spine in little cavities about 2/3 down from the neck. Like the thighs, this area collects all the fat and juices but the meat is about a million times more deeply flavored and fatty.
What It’s Good For:
If you’re carving the bird, these are usually yours. Those in the know will slice these morsels out and eat one and give the other one to the one they love the most.
Note: If you spatchcock or butterfly your bird, you lose these — a massive downside to that technique.
1. The Pope’s Nose
The Cut:
This is that little, well, nose at the end of the bird. It’s called the pygostyle and holds the preen gland. Basically, this is a little pocket of pure fat that’s held in crispy turkey skin. When it’s crispy on the outside and hot on the inside, this is like getting one or two bites of the purest essence of turkey. It’s glorious.
What It’s Good For:
You want to eat this immediately. It’s usually reserved for whoever is cooking as they’ll likely steal it and eat it well before the turkey hits the table. If you do see it there, don’t be afraid to knock down your asshole cousin to get it on your plate first — or maybe sneak into the kitchen, do some prep help, and see if you can score it early.