Cajun Deep-Fried Turkey
Louisiana's outdoor turkey: injected overnight with butter, onion and garlic juice, hot sauce and beer, then lowered into a big pot of peanut oil at 350°F and fried in about 3 to 4 minutes a pound. Outdoors only, with a fire extinguisher.
Nobody can say who dropped the first turkey into a pot of oil. Rouses Markets, the Louisiana grocer, credits Cajun chef and television storyteller Justin Wilson as the first person to say publicly that he had seen someone deep-fry a turkey, back in the 1930s, and says that in the 1970s he was one of the few chefs making it, in something like a crawfish boiler. Local Louisiana histories, which we could read only in excerpts, point to a 1982 wire-service dispatch from Church Point, in Cajun country, as the first written record, and credit a 1996 magazine feature with making it a national craze. So the origin is DISPUTED, but the home is clear: south Louisiana's outdoor cooking, where crawfish-boil pots were already on hand.
It is also the most dangerous turkey in America. The National Fire Protection Association discourages home use of outdoor gas-fueled turkey fryers that immerse the bird in hot oil (as reported by the Tennessee State Fire Marshal's Office:). If you fry anyway, every safety rule below is part of the recipe.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Louisiana's outdoor turkey: injected overnight with butter, onion and garlic juice, hot sauce and beer, then lowered into a big pot of peanut oil at 350°F and fried in about 3 to 4 minutes a pound. Outdoors only, with a fire extinguisher.
🇲🇽 The original
In Mexico, where the turkey was first domesticated, the classic is turkey pieces braised in mole poblano, a dark sauce of dried chiles, spices, nuts and a little chocolate. See the Mole Poblano with Turkey (Mole Poblano de Guajolote) recipe.
🗳️ Roast turkey or deep-fried turkey? Vote: Roast turkey vs Deep-fried turkey →
Why it works the kitchen science
Seasoning from the inside
A crust of rub would scorch in the oil, so the butter and seasonings go inside the meat with a needle, and the skin stays dry enough to crisp.
Oil cooks fast
Hot oil moves heat into the bird far faster than oven air, so the skin turns crackling and mahogany while the meat cooks through in under an hour.
Step by step
- Step 1
Measure the oil first (a day ahead is fine). Set the empty fryer pot on flat ground outdoors, at least 10 feet from the house and never on a wooden deck or in a garage. Put the turkey, still in its wrapper, in the basket and into the pot, add cold water until it covers the bird by 1 to 2 inches, lift the turkey out and mark the water line. Empty the pot and dry it completely.
- Step 2
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk in the onion juice, garlic juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire, pepper, cayenne and beer. Cool until just warm. Inject it all over the turkey, in the breasts, thighs, legs, wings and back, from several angles. Put the turkey in a large food-safe bag or oven bag and refrigerate overnight.
- Step 3
On frying day, pat the turkey very dry inside and out and let any extra injection drain from the cavity; water and loose liquid make hot oil boil over. Fill the dry pot with peanut oil to the line, clip on the thermometer and heat over medium-high to 350°F, about 45 minutes. Never leave the fryer.
- Step 4
Turn the burner off. Wearing mitts and eye protection, lower the turkey into the oil very slowly, over about a minute, until it is submerged. Relight the burner and bring the oil back to 325°F to 350°F.
- Step 5
Fry 3 to 4 minutes per pound, about 36 to 48 minutes for a 12 lb turkey.
- Step 6
At about 35 minutes, turn off the burner, lift the turkey out slowly, let the oil drain from the cavity back into the pot, and check the temperature away from the oil: 165°F in the thickest part of the breast and the innermost thigh and wing. If it is short, lower it back in, relight, and fry 5 minutes more before checking again.
- Step 7
Rest the turkey 20 minutes on a rack over a sheet pan, then carve. Leave the oil outdoors to cool completely, several hours, before covering, straining or disposing of it.
Cajun Deep-Fried Turkey
Serves 12 · one 12 lb turkey · 2 hr 20 min total
Injection
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 2 tbsp onion juice
- 2 tbsp garlic juice
- 2 tbsp Louisiana-style hot sauce
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 7 tbsp (3 1/2 fl oz) beer
Turkey
- 1 turkey, 12 lb or smaller, completely thawed, neck, giblets, pop-up timer and any plastic or metal leg clamp removed
Frying
- About 3 to 4 gallons peanut oil, as measured in step 1
Method
- Measure the oil first (a day ahead is fine). Set the empty fryer pot on flat ground outdoors, at least 10 feet from the house and never on a wooden deck or in a garage. Put the turkey, still in its wrapper, in the basket and into the pot, add cold water until it covers the bird by 1 to 2 inches, lift the turkey out and mark the water line. Empty the pot and dry it completely.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk in the onion juice, garlic juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire, pepper, cayenne and beer. Cool until just warm. Inject it all over the turkey, in the breasts, thighs, legs, wings and back, from several angles. Put the turkey in a large food-safe bag or oven bag and refrigerate overnight.
- On frying day, pat the turkey very dry inside and out and let any extra injection drain from the cavity; water and loose liquid make hot oil boil over. Fill the dry pot with peanut oil to the line, clip on the thermometer and heat over medium-high to 350°F, about 45 minutes. Never leave the fryer.
- Turn the burner off. Wearing mitts and eye protection, lower the turkey into the oil very slowly, over about a minute, until it is submerged. Relight the burner and bring the oil back to 325°F to 350°F.
- Fry 3 to 4 minutes per pound, about 36 to 48 minutes for a 12 lb turkey.
- At about 35 minutes, turn off the burner, lift the turkey out slowly, let the oil drain from the cavity back into the pot, and check the temperature away from the oil: 165°F in the thickest part of the breast and the innermost thigh and wing. If it is short, lower it back in, relight, and fry 5 minutes more before checking again.
- Rest the turkey 20 minutes on a rack over a sheet pan, then carve. Leave the oil outdoors to cool completely, several hours, before covering, straining or disposing of it.
Adapted from "Cajun Fried Turkey," recipe courtesy of Louisiana Kitchen & Culture magazine (New Orleans). Our changes: we halve their injection (2 cups butter plus seasonings) to about 1 1/2 cups for a 12 lb bird; their black pepper amount is missing from the page, so 1 tsp is ours; we fry at 350°F, USDA's oil temperature, instead of their 365°F; we cook about 3 to 4 minutes per pound to USDA FSIS's 165°F in the breast, thigh and wing, instead of their 36 minutes and 180°F in the thigh; and we measure the oil level with water first instead of with the turkey in the oil. USDA's frying guidance (oil at 350°F; 3 to 5 minutes per pound; oil covering the bird by 1 to 2 inches; check 165°F out of the oil; a safe outdoor spot) is from a USDA blog post we could read only in excerpts. Equipment and fire rules are from the Lafayette, Indiana, Fire Department. Louisiana Kitchen & Culture. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Equipment: an outdoor propane turkey fryer with its pot, basket or hook and lifter; a clip-on deep-fry thermometer; an instant-read thermometer; a marinade injector; a grease-rated fire extinguisher; heavy oven mitts and eye protection.
- Choose a turkey of 12 lb or less; bigger birds overflow home fryers and cook unevenly. Two small turkeys beat one big one.
- Fry in dry weather only. Rain or snow hitting hot oil makes it spatter.
- Never put water on a grease fire. If a small fire starts, use the grease-rated extinguisher; if it grows, call the fire department (Lafayette Fire Department).
- Do not stuff a turkey you are frying.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Cajuns invented deep-fried turkey. Disputed: Rouses credits Justin Wilson's recollection of the 1930s; the first written record cited by Louisiana local histories is a 1982 dispatch from Church Point (read only in excerpts); no one person or year is documented.
- Fry until the thigh hits 180°F. Disputed: Louisiana Kitchen & Culture uses 180°F in the thigh; USDA FSIS's safe minimum is 165°F in breast, thigh and wing.
- Turkey fryers are safe if you are careful. Disputed: NFPA discourages them for home use because of the amount of hot oil involved (Tennessee State Fire Marshal's Office); fire departments such as Lafayette's publish rules for people who fry anyway.
- Never use water on a grease fire. Documented: Lafayette Fire Department.
- A partly frozen turkey can make the pot boil over. Documented: Lafayette Fire Department.
Every other turkey
Mole Poblano with Turkey (Mole Poblano de Guajolote)
Poached turkey under Puebla's dark, glossy mole: three dried chiles, charred vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruit, spices and a little Mexican chocolate, simmered for two hours.
Yucatecan Turkey in Black Chile Broth (Pavo en Relleno Negro)
Yucatán's jet-black turkey stew: turkey simmered in a broth darkened with recado negro, a paste of chiles toasted until nearly burnt, served with slices of "but," a pork and beef roll with whole egg yolks in the middle.
British Christmas Roast Turkey with Pigs in Blankets
Britain's Christmas bird, the Delia Smith way: buttered, covered in streaky bacon, roasted inside a loose foil tent, then unwrapped for a hot finish, with chipolata sausages wrapped in more bacon on the side.
Portuguese Christmas Roast Turkey with Oven Rice (Peru Assado no Forno)
Maria de Lourdes Modesto's Christmas turkey: soaked overnight in salted water with lemon, stuffed with bread, eggs and cured ham, roasted without a drop of basting, and served with oven rice that soaks up the drippings.
Puerto Rican Pavochón (Turkey Seasoned Like Pernil)
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Spatchcocked Roast Turkey
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Turkey Giblet Pan Gravy
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Leftover Turkey Tetrazzini (30 Minutes)
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Kentucky Hot Brown, Inspired by The Brown Hotel
Inspired by, not official: Louisville's open-faced roast turkey sandwich, smothered in Pecorino Romano Mornay sauce, broiled until bubbling and topped with crossed strips of bacon.
Meatballs of the World
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Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
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Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
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Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
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Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
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Lion's Head Meatballs
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Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.