Can You Cook Frozen Ground Turkey? – Best Tips to Follow

Can You Cook Frozen Ground Turkey? Turkey is a rich source of protein and has low cholesterol. It is an excellent substitute for chicken, beef, and other sources of meat.

It is a versatile and readily available meat source, and it can be used to make many delicious meals like pasta, salads, meatballs, tacos, lasagna, etc.

This type of meat can be eaten as whole or ground. Ground turkey is readily available in the markets, cheap, and can be utilized as a substitute for ground beef.

You can find ground turkey in both forms, fresh and frozen. Moreover, you can buy and store it in your freezer for future use.

Can You Cook Frozen Ground Turkey?

You can cook frozen ground turkey. Suppose you forgot to thaw frozen ground turkey overnight, then you can cook the frozen ground turkey directly without thawing it. However, it will take a comparatively longer time to cook. So, it is recommended to thaw the frozen turkey before use. 

Some Tips About How to Cook Frozen Ground Turkey

You have to increase the time of cooking. For example, if you used to cook it for one hour, you have to increase the cooking time to one hour and thirty minutes. The ground meat can also be cooked in a slow cooker or an oven.

These are some of the tips for cooking a frozen ground turkey :

• Take out the ground frozen meat from the freezer. Fill the skillet with a small amount of water and put the frozen turkey in it after unwrapping it.
• Do not pour a large amount of water. And it is supposed to be just enough to cover it from the bottom
• Next, you are supposed to bring the water to simmer. Do not forget to cover the skillet as well.
• The water will help prevent the meat from blazing and sticking to the pan. Make sure that you cover the pan. As a result, steam will be formed, and the process of defrosting will begin.
• When the water starts to simmer, and the meat starts turning brown from the outside, reveal the other red and frozen parts of the meat with the help of a knife or fork.
• Keep on adding some amount of water into the pan so that the meat does not burn. And keep on scraping off meat from the bottom after every 4-5 minutes that has turned brown.
• After the whole piece of meat is defrosted, you can add the vegetables of your choice like onions, capsicum, carrots, etc. Allow the water to simmer down, and you are almost done.
• When you notice that every part of the meat is thin and is breaking apart, it means that the meat is defrosted.
• Continue to cook the meat till the time it is thoroughly cooked and brown as it is supposed to be if you cook raw meat.

Some Ways to Defrost Frozen Turkey

You can defrost the frozen turkey in the microwave. It is a quick method as well.

Secondly, you can also defrost a frozen turkey in cold water, but it is a time-consuming process. Just put the packet of ground turkey in cold water for a few hours before cooking it.

You can thaw ground turkey in the fridge, the meat with this process turns out to be perfect in texture and taste, it can take about 24 hours to defrost the turkey in the refrigerator thoroughly. So, choose this method only when you do not want to cook it immediately.

Can Frozen Ground Turkey be Cooked in Air Fryer?

An air fryer is an ideal choice to cook frozen turkey easily and is a time-saving process. You can get fully cooked ground turkey in just 10 minutes.

All you need to do is preheat your air fryer up to 390 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius), put the turkey in the air fryer basket and keep on continually shaking it to cook it evenly. Cook it for ten minutes.

Ground Turkey Dishes

Below are some of the famous dishes of ground turkey:

Meatballs

Turkey meatballs can be cooked by giving the shape of a ball to your ground turkey meat. They can be served with tacos, snacks, or pasta.

Ground Turkey Pasta

Mix all the pasta sauces, herbs, tomato sauce, and ground turkey in boiled pasta. Top it with cheese and sauteed vegetables and place it in the oven to bake.

Tacos 

You can fill your tacos with ground turkey instead of beef. Fill your tacos shell with cheese, vegetables like onion, capsicum, tomatoes, etc. Topping of your choice, sour cream, and ground turkey meat. It is an easy and appetizing meal.

Frequently Asked Questions to Can You Cook Frozen Ground Turkey?

Conclusion to Can You Cook Frozen Ground Turkey

You can cook frozen Turkey. If turkey has not thawed, it can be cooked directly. But since cooking frozen turkey takes a long time it is always better to thaw it before cooking.