Preventing Dry Ground Turkey Starts At The Grocery Store

Ground turkey can be an ideal lean substitute for ground beef (and is also the meat with the most protein), replaced in a one-to-one swap in anything from burgers to meatloaf and meatballs to casseroles and lasagna to meat sauce, taco meat, and chili. But since ground turkey has less fat than beef, it can easily become dry when you cook it. There are a few tips to prevent that from happening, and they begin at the grocery store.

The key factor when buying ground turkey is fat content and having the best lean-to-fat ratio depending on how you'll be cooking it. The leanest is made from breast meat and has just 1% fat while thighs and drumsticks produce the highest fat for ground turkey at 15%. Prepared store packages are typically a mix of white and dark meat, with a common ratio of 93% lean and 7% fat. Stores also make other lean-to-fat ratios, so check the label to make sure you get the right one you need.

Ground turkey with a higher fat percentage is better for burgers, meatloaf, and meatballs, which are basically bundles of meat with seasonings. These will more easily dry out and have less flavor without more fat. A lower fat percentage is okay for foods that come with sauces, like lasagna, casseroles, meat sauce, taco meat, and chili (like pumpkin and turkey chili). The ground turkey is broken into small pieces and cooked in saucy liquid, allowing it to absorb both moisture and flavor.

There are more ways to keep ground turkey moist — particularly for foods that are the most prone to getting dry. Grate water-heavy vegetables like onion or mushrooms and mix them into the meat before cooking it for moisture and flavor — grating instead of chopping ensures more liquid comes out of the vegetables. Ketchup, barbecue sauce, or mayonnaise blended in will also help keep the meat tender and tasty. You could even directly add fat to the turkey, introducing more richness with olive oil or grated butter  – Ina Garten even has a tip for grating butter without any mess: Just grate over a piece of parchment.

How you handle and cook ground turkey also plays into battling dryness. You don't want to manipulate the raw meat any more than is necessary to mix in the ingredients and form it into patties, a meatloaf, or meatballs, or crumble it into small pieces. Why? Handling it too much will make it turn out dry. You also have to be careful not to overcook the turkey, which is done once it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. But it shouldn't be removed from the heat any earlier, as ground turkey needs to be cooked through to be safe to eat.