Juicy and bursting with flavour—these Grilled Butterflied Turkey Legs with Habanero Aioli are a game-changer for your Thanksgiving celebration. With the tendons carefully removed, every bite is tender and satisfying.
Seasoned with your favourite dry rub, slathered in BBQ sauce, and finished with a spicy habanero aioli, these turkey legs are perfect for enjoying while watching football with family and friends. It is a fun, handheld twist on classic turkey legs!
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Why Butterfly Turkey Legs?
Butterflying turkey legs has several benefits, making them ideal for grilling:
- Even Cooking: Butterflying flattens the meat, allowing it to cook more evenly. This prevents the outer parts from drying out while the thicker portions are still cooking.
- Faster Cooking Time: By opening up the meat, you reduce the overall thickness of the leg, which shortens the cooking time. This is especially useful for turkey legs, which can be dense and take a while to cook through.
- Easier to Season: Butterflying exposes more surface area, making it easier to apply your favourite dry rub and ensuring better flavour penetration.
- Tender and Juicy Results: Removing the tough tendons that run through turkey legs, especially after butterflying, helps achieve a tender bite. This makes the meat easier and more enjoyable to eat—no more wrestling with chewy tendons!
- Great for Grilling: The butterflied shape allows the legs to lie flat on the grill, maximizing contact with the grates for a deliciously charred exterior.
Ingredients
- Turkey legs
- Your favourite dry rub
- Olive oil
- Your favourite BBQ sauce
- Mayonnaise
- Habanero hot sauce
- Lime juice
- Green onions
See recipe card below for quantities.
Instructions
Butterfly and Prepare the Turkey Legs
Butterflying the Legs: To butterfly, place a turkey leg on a sturdy cutting board. Using a sharp knife, carefully slice down one side of the bone, opening the meat like a book without cutting all the way through.
Removing the Tendons: After butterflying, locate the tough white tendons within the leg. Use kitchen shears or a knife to carefully snip as many as you can out, making sure not to damage the meat. This will make the turkey much easier to eat and ensure tenderness. (See notes)
Season and Marinate
Pat the butterflied turkey legs dry with paper towels. Drizzle with the olive oil and generously coat each leg with your favourite dry rub, ensuring even coverage on both sides. Let the seasoned legs rest for at least 30 minutes
Grill the Turkey Legs
Preheat your grill to medium heat (about 450-500°F).
Place the turkey legs on the grill, bone side down first. Turn the heat down to low, close the lid and cook for about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. At the halfway point, I like to warm the BBQ sauce, which is totally optional.
In the last 15 minutes, brush the turkey legs generously with BBQ sauce flipping halfway through allowing the sauce to caramelize on all sides.
Once the turkey legs are cooked through (internal temperature of 165°F), remove them from the grill.
Prepare the Habanero Aioli
While the turkey is grilling, mix the mayonnaise, habanero hot sauce, and lime juice in a small bowl. Adjust the spice level to your liking. Set aside.
Serve
Drizzle with the habanero aioli and sprinkle with chopped green onions before serving.
Watch how these butterflied turkey legs were made here.
Notes
Turkey Leg Tendons: Turkey legs have both large, prominent tendons and smaller, less noticeable ones. The more visible, tougher tendons (often 6-8 in number) are the ones that are most commonly removed because they can make the meat chewy.
However, if you include all the smaller tendons and connective tissues, especially near the joint, you could easily count 14-16 tendons. These smaller ones typically are not as tough, so they are not worth focusing on removing them.
These tendons are located along the length of the leg, particularly concentrated around the thickest part near the joint. They are firm, white, and have a rubbery texture, making them easy to identify but sometimes tricky to remove. By cutting around these tendons and snipping them with kitchen shears, you can significantly improve the tenderness and eatability of the turkey legs.
Equipment
Cooked on the Hestan 36″ gas grill in Pacific Fog with the assistance of Hestan Culinary NanoBond cookware. Proud Hestan Ambassador. Opinions in the post are my own.
Leave a Comment
If you get the chance to try this recipe for Grilled Butterflied Turkey Legs please drop back and leave us a comment and rating here. Each review helps so much! Thank you! Elaine & James
Grilled Butterflied Turkey Legs
Ingredients
- 8 turkey legs
- 3 tablespoons of your favourite dry rub
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup of your favourite BBQ sauce
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon habanero hot sauce adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 3 green onions chopped (for garnish)
Instructions
Butterfly and Prepare the Turkey Legs
- Butterflying the Legs: To butterfly, place a turkey leg on a sturdy cutting board. Using a sharp knife, carefully slice down one side of the bone, opening the meat like a book without cutting all the way through.
- Removing the Tendons: After butterflying, locate the tough white tendons within the leg. Use kitchen shears or a knife to carefully snip as many as you can out, making sure not to damage the meat. This will make the turkey much easier to eat and ensure tenderness. (see notes)
Season and Marinate
- Pat the butterflied turkey legs dry with paper towels. Drizzle with the olive oil and generously coat each leg with your favourite dry rub, ensuring even coverage on both sides. Let the seasoned legs rest for at least 30 minutes
Grill the Turkey Legs
- Preheat your grill to medium heat (about 450-500°F).
- Place the turkey legs on the grill, bone side down first. Turn the heat down to low, close the lid and cook for about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. At the halfway point, I like to warm the BBQ sauce, which is totally optional.
- In the last 15 minutes, brush the turkey legs generously with BBQ sauce flipping halfway through allowing the sauce to caramelize on all sides
- Once the turkey legs are cooked through (internal temperature of 165°F), remove them from the grill.
Prepare the Habanero Aioli
- While the turkey is grilling, mix the mayonnaise, habanero hot sauce, and lime juice in a small bowl. Adjust the spice level to your liking. Set aside.
Garnish & Serve
- Drizzle with the habanero aioli and sprinkle with chopped green onions before serving.
Rate this Recipe
- If you make this, please leave a rating and review letting us know how it was! Each review helps so much! Thank you!
Such a great way to have turkey. Thanks for the great tips!
Thanks so much Shanley,
This coooking method is the only way I (Elaine) will eat a turkey drumstick! lol
Elaine & James