Garlic Butter Grilled Wild Turkey Tenderloins

If you’ve ever breasted out a turkey, you know there are two strips of meat that lie under the main breast meat right up against each side of the keel bone. These tenderloins aren’t really attached to the breast meat and will fall away if you try to cook them together. I like to package and save the tenderloins from our birds separately from the breast. Four to six of them make a great family meal.

Baste these grilled tenderloins with a blend of garlic butter and hot sauce for loads of flavor.

If you do save the tenderloin, do yourself a favor and remove the strip of tendon that runs down the center. It’s tough and chewy, and not very pleasant to eat. Simply run your knife down one side of the tendon and back up the other to remove it. You will be left with two strips of tender meat.

Remove the tendon for maximum tenderness.

For this recipe, we thread the tenderloin on wooden skewers that have been soaked in water, then pop them on the grill, basting the meat with the flavorful sauce as it cooks. I like to serve these over spicy peanut noodles, but they go great with grilled vegetables, any starch like potatoes or rice, or just about any style of pasta.

These skewers pair well with spicy peanut noodles.

The sauce is simply a stick of salted butter, melted, ½ cup of Crystal hot sauce, ½ cup of grated cotija or Parmesan cheese, 5-6 cloves of freshly minced garlic, and a tablespoon or two of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley.

Freshly minced garlic adds more flavor than jarred minced garlic.

Blend the ingredients in a cup or bowl for easy basting.

Blend the sauce ingredients into the melted butter.

Thread the meat onto the skewers, making sure the thickness of the meat is even over the length of the skewer and from one to another so that everything cooks evenly and finishes at the same time.

Place the turkey on a preheated 365-degree grill. I used the Barq 2400 from Myron Mixon Smokers. As soon as you add the meat to the grill, brush the tops with the sauce mixture.

Start basting as soon as you add the meat to the grill and repeat with every turn.

Grill for 20-25 minutes or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees, flipping often and basting with sauce at each flip.

Baste with each flip, then cook for at least 5 more minutes after the final basting.

Rest the skewers, loosely tented with foil, for 5-10 minutes before serving.