These flavorful deep fried turkey wings are soaked in a flavorful brine and fried until crisp and golden brown. Best of all, this recipe works with drumsticks as well! So grab your favorite turkey cut and let's get frying!
Fried Turkey Ingredients
- Turkey wings - This recipe works for turkey drumsticks as well.
- Frying oil - Peanut oil is best, but any high-temperature oil, like canola oil, will work well for frying. Olive oil will work, but it isn't ideal.
Important: You may find your grocery store only sell turkey wings that are already sealed in a salty solution. Do not brine your wings if you purchase these or they will be incredibly salty! However, they will still be perfect for deep frying.
Turkey Wing Brine
The salty brine saturates the wings with flavor by denaturing the protein in the meat. This is a fancy way of saying it allows the meat to hold more moisture, bringing the flavors of the brine in along with it.
Since the wings aren't thick and meaty a four hour brine will work just fine. Thicker cuts of meat often require a longer soak. I typically brine in a sealable plastic bag because it allows the liquid to cover the meat easier, and with less.
Brine Ingredients
- Water - Feel free to swap out some beer for your water for even more flavor.
- Salt - Use kosher salt specifically. Table salt will be too salty.
- Brown sugar - You can substitute white sugar if needed.
- Apple cider vinegar
- Garlic
- Red pepper flakes - Omit if you are sensitive to heat. Alternatively, you can use hot sauce instead.
- Black pepper
- Bay leaf
How to fry turkey wings
Turkey wings are considerably larger than chicken wings, so it is important you have an appropriately sized skillet for frying. I use my largest cast iron skillet for this recipe. It is not only large enough to accommodate multiple wings, but it also has tall sides to contain the oil. Alternatively, you could use a traditional deep fryer instead if you have one.
The wings don't need to be completely submerged in the frying oil, just add enough to cover at least half of the wing. The wings will be flipped while frying to ensure they cook evenly. Heat oil to 350 degrees and gently add the turkey wings into the hot oil. Deep fry turkey wings for 14 minutes per side until the meat is 165 degrees.
After frying, drain your crispy wings on a paper towel, or a cooling rack, to remove the excess oil prior to serving. For even more flavor, you can dust the fried wings with your favorite seasoning, like my Creole seasoning, or an all-purpose poultry seasoning.
More Turkey Recipes
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Deep Fried Turkey Wings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 turkey wings
- oil for frying
Brine
- 6 cups warm water
- ½ cup kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 bay leaf
Instructions
- Mix together the brine ingredients in a large bowl until the salt and sugar has dissolved.
- Pour brine into a large sealable plastic bag and add turkey wings. Set in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
- Remove turkey and discard the brine. Pat the wings dry.
- Add enough frying oil to submerge at least half of the wing in a large skillet, and heat it to 350 degrees.
- Place the turkey wings in the hot oil and fry for 14 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- Remove from oil and set on paper towels to drain, then serve.
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