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You are here: Home / Recipes / Sous Vide / Sous Vide Turkey Legs

Sous Vide Turkey Legs

Nov 15, 2018 · 19 Comments

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sous vide turkey legs

In this sous vide turkey leg recipe, you’ll learn how to prepare turkey legs sous vide style for two ways. First, Thanksgiving style with traditional savory herbs. And second, BBQ style sous vide turkey drumsticks for any day of the year. Once you learn the steps, you’ll be able to prepare sous vide turkey legs that are tender, juicy and falling off the bone.

Choosing turkey legs to sous vide

You can butcher your own turkey legs, or, my favorite, buy dark meat turkey legs in bulk to sous vide. If you’re serving turkey for Thanksgiving, it’s a great idea to cook extra dark meat turkey legs so more than two guests can enjoy them. 

Time and temp for Sous vide turkey leg_0263

Some butchers will sell more than the standard turkey drumstick. If you sous vide a turkey thigh, for example, you’ll want to leave it in the water bath a couple extra hours. 

Sous vide turkey time and temp

Turkey legs aren’t one of the sous vide recipes you have to sous vide for 24+ hours. You can, but there’s no need as this method creates juicy turkey legs that come together at 155 degrees in 4 hours.

Sous vide turkey leg with vacuum sealer in bag

Finishing sous vide turkey legs without pinkness

Turkey legs weights can vary, so this preparation uses a similar technique as my popular sous vide turkey breast recipe. To prevent pinkness, after the turkey leg sous vides for a few hours, there is a final step. Either bake or broil the legs in the oven, depending on the internal temperature.  

If your turkey legs reach safe poultry temperatures from the sous vide bath alone, you can broil or sear them. To sear, add hot oil to a medium-hot pan and sear the leg skin side down. If you have the time, I’d suggest instead to broil the legs for 3-5 minutes for a completely crispy skin.

Here’s a side dish you can make in under 10 minutes… sous vide asparagus is so tasty!

Sous vide turkey leg seared in the oven

Thanksgiving sous vide turkey legs

The final step in the oven adds a crispy skin to the turkey leg, without drying it out. To make your turkey leg Thanksgiving style, crisp the skin in the oven with butter and seasonings. Garlic and fresh herbs like thyme, sage and parsley are great choices.

Time and temp for Sous vide turkey leg_0263

BBQ sous vide turkey legs

If you’re looking for an “everyday turkey leg” instead of a “Thanksgiving turkey leg”, add a generous coat of BBQ sauce before broiling or baking.

The sous vide turkey legs with BBQ sauce are so delicious, we stocked up on turkey legs in early November. I’m looking forward to batch cooking sous vide turkey legs when it’s too cold in Portland to grill or smoke them outside.

Which sous vide sides to make with turkey legs?

These sous vide brussels sprouts and garlic dill carrots are the perfect side for sous vide turkey legs. 

See these easy leftover turkey recipes for inspiration on using leftovers. 

Readers also love these sous vide recipes

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  • Sous Vide Spare Ribs with BBQ Sauce
  • Sous Vide Turkey Breast
  • Sous Vide Pulled Pork
  • Sous Vide Short Ribs
  • Sous Vide Onions in Beer
  • Sous Vide Cookbooks for Beginners
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Print
Sous vide turkey leg with bbq sauce cooked to the perfect time and temp_0287

Sous vide turkey legs (Sip Bite Go)

The guide to tender, juicy sous vide turkey legs with crispy skin. Make them in batches and serve them with bbq sauce, or make them in bulk to please all the dark meat eaters at Thanksgiving.

Course Dinner, Thanksgiving
Cuisine American, BBQ
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Resting time 10 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes
Servings 1 people
Calories 1345 kcal
Author Jenna Passaro

Ingredients

  • 1 turkey leg
  • 1/2 tsp garlic salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tbsp ghee (Whole30 compliant) or butter / oil
  • 1/2 tbsp shallot diced
  • 2 tbsp BBQ sauce or Whole30 compliant sauce orThanksgiving seasonings

Instructions

  1. Set the sous vide machine to 155 degrees. Make a paste of the garlic salt, pepper, and ghee. Season the turkey leg with the paste. Vacuum seal the turkey leg in a bag.
  2. Sous vide at 155 for 4 hours.
  3. When the sous vide bath is complete, remove the turkey leg from the bag and pat it dry. Add your choice of seasonings (as in blog post) OR BBQ sauce to the skin, and broil the turkey on high for 3-5 minutes to until golden and crispy.

  4. Rest turkey for 10 minutes, then serve.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

I’d love to see your juicy turkey legs! Find me on Instagram @sipbitego and tag #sipbitego when you post your version.

Nutrition Facts
Sous vide turkey legs (Sip Bite Go)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 1345
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Danielle says

    November 15, 2018 at 7:30 pm

    These are great step by step directions! I’ve never tried to sous vide anything before, but now I really want those turkey legs!5 stars

    Reply
  2. Caroline says

    November 15, 2018 at 7:38 pm

    I’ve still to try sous vide at home but can see it being good with turkey that does run the risk of going dry. Looks good.

    Reply
  3. Tisha says

    November 15, 2018 at 8:01 pm

    These turkey legs sound amazing! So flavorful!5 stars

    Reply
  4. Haley D Williams says

    November 15, 2018 at 8:12 pm

    So much better than going to the fair for a turkey leg! These sound and look amazing!5 stars

    Reply
  5. Jere Cassidy says

    November 15, 2018 at 9:29 pm

    I learned sous vide in culinary school but I don’t do it at home. Your turkey makes me want to use this technique at home now.5 stars

    Reply
  6. Mary says

    December 24, 2018 at 12:18 pm

    I love the idea of using sous vide for Turkey legs!5 stars

    Reply
  7. Azin Bastan says

    March 19, 2019 at 2:12 pm

    Oops I made the mistake of adding the bbq sauce in the vacuum seal bag. Is that okay?

    Reply
    • Developer says

      March 23, 2019 at 8:51 pm

      Yes! That should be fine. How did they turn out?

      Reply
  8. Clarice says

    June 25, 2019 at 1:31 am

    Wow! This looks absolutely delicious. It may not be Thanksgiving but my family would be happy to have one this weekend. Thank you for sharing the recipe. Can’t wait to try.

    Reply
  9. Marysa says

    June 25, 2019 at 6:09 am

    I have never heard of this dish before. Sounds like an interesting recipe to try.

    Reply
  10. Christine says

    June 25, 2019 at 1:38 pm

    Ooh I’ve never made something like this but it looks delicious, I will have to try it!5 stars

    Reply
  11. tweenselmom says

    October 9, 2019 at 5:28 pm

    You really love legs! Maybe I can try these ideas for chicken legs, after all chicken and turkey are family, right?

    Reply
  12. Annemarie LeBlanc says

    October 10, 2019 at 2:12 am

    I want to try this recipe soon. I will check if I can find where to buy just turkey legs. What I usually see in our local store are whole turkeys. If I can’t find any, I will try to make this using chicken drumsticks.

    Reply
  13. Sundeep says

    October 10, 2019 at 4:56 am

    This turkey legs looking so yummmmm…. I am going to try this this weekend. Thanks for sharing recipe. It looks like easy to make4 stars

    Reply
  14. Joanna says

    October 10, 2019 at 7:20 am

    The turkey leg looks so delicious, especially the bbq version. I have seen often chefs using the sous vide at Masterchef but I don’t know where I would put such a big machine in my small kitchen.5 stars

    Reply
  15. Arun Dahiya says

    October 10, 2019 at 2:42 pm

    I am planning to use sous vide too. And your turkey leg looks perfect. Can’t wait to make it.

    Reply
  16. Laura says

    October 12, 2019 at 8:53 am

    I love chicken and this looks so delicious. Thank you for the recipe x

    Laura
    https://pinkfrenzymissl.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  17. Colleen ( YA-YA ) Kelly-Prola says

    April 20, 2020 at 8:25 am

    Can I make 2 or 3 legs at a time? If so what adjustments should I make. I frequently find recipes for 1 steak, 1 turkey leg etc – I’m fairly new to Sous vide so attempting to figure out how I can do enough food for more than 1.
    Thank you for any assistance.

    Reply
    • Jenna says

      April 26, 2020 at 11:30 am

      Hi Colleen!

      Yes – you can sous vide turkey legs in multiples – just make sure they aren’t clumped together in a bag.

      So if you’re using a zip loc bag with the water displacement method to lower it into the sous vide bath – you’ll want to only put 1 turkey leg in a bag so there is plenty of air flow.

      If you’re going to use a vacuum sealer to cook turkey legs sous vide style, then you can fit multiple in a bag – just leave 1″ between to make sure the hot water gets to them.

      The reason the concern for the area to be open around the turkey legs and for them to not clump up while sous viding is because they won’t cook properly if they’re all on top of eachother.

      Let me know how I can help further.

      Cheers
      – Jenna5 stars

      Reply

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