Wild Turkey Souvlaki with Tzatziki

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Shawn West

Field Staff Writer at Harvesting Nature

I grew up in a family of anglers and hunters, and time spent in the Ontario outdoors with my father, siblings, uncles, cousins, and friends figured large in shaping who I am now. The most valuable lesson of the outdoors that I learned as a youth was that nothing took more importance than respecting the life of the animal that you had just hunted.

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As summer draws to a close, and as my province works back to some semblance of normalcy following the COVID-19 pandemic, I am looking forward to having a few late-summer backyard get-togethers. When friends and family gather at my place, I always try to work a little wild game into the menu, and this recipe is a delicious, easy, and accessible way to introduce non-hunters to wild turkey. Souvlaki, for simplicity’s sake is nothing more than meat on a stick, and nothing simple or more primal than that, so if you already enjoy your wild turkey breast smoked, roasted, or cured and turned into sandwich meat, this is another great way to savor that spring turkey you worked so hard to harvest.

Tender cubes of wild turkey breast marinaded in flavourful Greek spices and served with either traditional Greek salad or warm pita bread with tzatziki sauce and hummus, this dish has been a hit with everyone I’ve made it for. Bright with citrus and garlic, with an unmistakable hit of oregano, if you happen to eat this while drinking a cold beer or a glass of crisp white wine, then all the better.

Enjoy this with friends before summer runs out.

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Wild Turkey Souvlaki with Tzatziki

Recipe by Shawn WestCourse: Wild Recipes

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

4

hours 

Cooking time

30

minutes

Ingredients

• Wild Turkey Souvlaki

• 2 pounds wild turkey breast, cubed

• 2/3 cup olive oil

• 1/2 cup white vinegar

• 2/3 cup lemon juice

• 8 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 tbsp oregano

• 2 tsp paprika 

• 2 ½ tsp each of salt & ground black pepper

• Tzatziki Sauce

• 3 cups plain Greek yogurt

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

• Zest and juice of one medium lemon

• 1 English cucumber, split and seeded

• Salt to taste

Preparation

• In a glass bowl, mix together the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, and seasonings, then add the wild turkey meat and mix thoroughly.
• Cover with plastic wrap and place the meat and marinade in a fridge for 4-8 hours.
• After splitting the cucumber lengthwise, use a spoon to remove and discard the seeds, and then grate the cucumber into a bowl.
• Add a sprinkle of salt to the cucumber and squeeze out any excess water, using paper towels or a clean cloth.
• In a separate bowl, thoroughly mix the yogurt, olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice and zest. Combine the grated cucumber to the yogurt mixture, and season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate the tzatziki for 1-2 hours.
• Heat a grill to medium-high heat and oil the grill to prevent the souvlaki from sticking.
• Remove the turkey from the marinade and thread the meat onto the skewers.
• Add the meat to the grill, turning every 3-4 minutes until browned and thoroughly cooked (a safe internal temperature is generally accepted to be 160-165 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Serve with warm grilled pita bread, a heaping dollop of tzatziki, and some hummus. This is also great with tomatoes, olives, feta, and sliced cucumber